Year: 1871

ulCuLSs HOuJ VIII HCL " bA1C etpesA I
ments selected, without suspicion
But 6 o'clock come, and no minister.
at 9:20 my IOYer went out and pre-
tended to despatch messenger to hel
friend. But she came not. 1 now
knew she had not been communicated
with. My charmer seemed not at all
disconnected, but was half-distracted.
What should I do? Our names were
registered as married. There could be
no move made at that house without
creating q hub-bub, which ] now SAW
she would not hesitate to raise. She
protested that she should 60 with me
TO a minister on the morrow. To cut
a long story short, she by her bold
ness and prOtestatiOns and promises,
accomplished my ruin. Who shall
depict my anguish on the morrow,
when she cOOliy informed me that her
talk about the clergyman was Cnly q
ruse, and that she had no intention of
marrying me. But she soon found
that she had gone too far. I became
so violent that she feared 1 would
commit suicide, and promised to mar
ry me in few days if would keep
quiet. This would not do. She had
deceived me once, and though ] loved
her as madly as ever, I would not
ANtoJ uC1s 1OWcl1OS CHCllA1lS5 L IuSlOu
out of the hotel and went hurriedIy
towards the docks, intending to drown
myself. She ran after me, and Just as
1 was about to take the fatal leap laid
her hand upon my shoulders and ex-
claimed, as she jerked me backwards,
'What fool you are to take on so.
If you are as bad as that I will marry
you. 1 saw my friend Judge Blank
in her office as 1 came by. Come to
her; she will marry us quick enough"
T. consented TO go. As we entered
the Office, / saw look of intelligence
pass between the "Judge" and my
lady that would have seemed to me
to mean more than their common
place greeting had I not been so in
fatuated. A witness was called, and
the ceremony " as gone through with
decently enough. kissed the bride
rapturOusiy when it was over, and she
said, smilingly, "NOW, you feel better
I suppose" I was very happy for
while then. My wife appeared to be
very fond of me, and, like so many of
my sex, I seemed to forget all her
treachery and cruelty, now that she
was really mine. I wrote my parents
that was married and happy. What
she wrote to her parents l do not
know, as she would not show me her
letters, while insisting on reading all
of mine. Towards the end of our
honeymoon, however, she seemed to
weary of me. When l wanted to stay
at home, in q continual routine of
sweet talk and caresses, she wanted to
be out shopping, or riding, or gossip
ing with her acquaintance. One day
an old friend of mine took me aside
and asked me if I was sure that my
certificate was genuine. He
told me, moreover, that it was q cur
rent talk in the town that there was q
year old child at a founding hospital
in Boston, that bore q striking Tesem-
blance to my wife. This maddened
me with suspicion again. 1 hunted up
the supposed judge who performed the
and found she was q petit
Jogging lawyer, who had been bribed
to be in readiness, in case of emergen-
cy, to perform a mock ceremony.
Close enquiry also convinced me that
the child referred to was really my
"wife's," and that we might thus aO-
count for long visit she paid to Bos-
ton the previous year. Such cold
bloOded villany, in q girl of seventeen,
appalled, me. I rushed home and con-
frOnted her with the facts I had learn





for support, and with my reputation,
as found, already blasted, was pa
ralyzed, I seemed to lapse into a state
of dumb despair, with no inclination
to try suicide again. We fell into a
routine life. She had got control of
a legacy left by n rich relative, and
SO had plenty of money; whereas l
having never really learned to do any
thing well, having always relied upon
my beauty as a means of making q
living and marrying well, found my
selfquita at her mercy. She hired a
comfortable little house in the suburbs
for us, and when ] was resigned and
did not upbraid her, seemed to be still
quite fond of me. One day l wrote
to her mother complaining of how I
had been treated. She wrete an in
sulting reply, telling me that 1 was
rightly served for daring to think of
a marriage alliance with her family
and informing me she hal no doub
her daughter would desert me as she
had similar fool a year ago. For her
part she did not care what the young
woman did in such ways so that she
did not run in debt. She knew that
all girls must SOW their wild oats be-
fore they SOW any worth keeping, and
she admired her spirit.


AS the months wore on l had the
satisfaction OfleaTning that my COM
paniOn would again become a mother,
and hoped this new tie would bind
us so closely that she would consent
to real marriage. l spent many
happy hours brOOding over this, and
dreaming of possible future happiness
in store for us. But she seemed to
regard the matter very lightly, and
was more than ever in company. I
was often grieved to see how familiar
she was with other men. At length,
in due course of time, my eyes were
blessed with the sight of my beauti-
full boy. For a while it really seemed
that it would prove a tie to bind us
more closely. She even talked much
i'll those days of marriage. But in a
few days she became quite Indifferent
to both the child-and myself; in fact
left him entirely to my care. At last
things came to a crisis. One day as
sat bewailing my fate, and feeding
the baby with aTrOwrOOt, she came in
accompanied by middle-aged, finely
dressed lady, who seemed to devour
me with her eyes. / shrank back in
dignantly from her gaze; at which they
both smiled, and heard my pretend
ed wife whisper, "He will soon get
over it." begun to suspect how the
matter stood, and when they went
out made up my mind what course I
would pursue. That night, rs 1 eX-
pected, the hard hearted mother of
hay child coolly told me that she was
/ tired Ofme aud the ''bTat' too, and


was bound to be rid of us both. Fur


thermOre, that the lady who had called


was very rich and very much in love
/ with me, and that she would take us
both and provide well for us, If l would


agree to it. Indignantly secuted this
idea, and holding the babe up before
! her, imBl0red her by that innocent
! fruit of her treachery to repent of her
evil work and make me the only repa-
ration in her power by marrying me


and leading Yirtuous life hencefOrth.
4 She laughed at me; said ! was taking