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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 1908)
5 BEING 3"nORTY Ms CASE'S STOGY OF MIC FID.CT RIITI FD HE RPUBLES Qf BY oLWLLL FO&D. - AH ENGLIShMAN FROM CORSICA THE SUNDAY OREGOXTAX, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 27, 1903. IlDSON SPEAKIN" about birtlcrs, you ought to . TirTson. tlmt huttles for us. Sure! Why not? Fay, you don't think me xnd Sarti' livin' on the cheap, tin you? Had an Idea T -was lettin' her In for a four-room flat romance, eh? Well, pponce it off. So long: as I was travelin' sinirie. the bonrdln'-housa was Kood enousrh for me; but when I romes to pick cit a plare for Mrs. Shorty Me Carve to now her trunks, the best is none too srood. AVe had only one talk about that. "Well." says Sadie, as we was romin bark from our yachtin' trip. "I sup pose I oupht to buy a house some where." "For why " says I. "For us to live In. stupid!" says she. "Oh. no. Sadie." says I. "You don't fcuy any house for me to live In not yet. I don't care how else you blow In your surplus, but when it i-omes to pro vidin' the latch-keys, that's up to me. nd I'm on the job." Sadie, she just laughs, and reaches out and well, there wa'nt .anyone lookin'. and she's got the right. She says If that's the way 1 feel. why. It Koes. aad she wa nt stuck on havin" a house. "You could worry alone with a few furnish'-d rooms for a while, could you?' says I. 'T il po wherever you say. Shorty," says slit. "Trainin" you is a cinch." says I. "I'll look up the ads." That's only a bluff, thougrh. I'd had my eye on this new Hotel Perzazzer ever sin-e they put on'the jrreen copper roof, Ami when I hrars how the man ner Is an oid rK'lar of mine. I don't lose Rny thne after we've landed in cailln' him up on the 'phone. "Billy." says I. after he's through jnllyin' me on the honeymoon business, "how about ore of them two-ln-tiie-famllv-and-no-dog- suites of you-s? Got tl:e 'ed.tin fias up on any of 'em?" "Why. certainly." says i:e. "I can live you choice of half a dozen." "That's nice." says I. "But do they come so steep I'll Iiiivm to rob a bank every time I pay the rent?" Ftiliy says lhcy tion't. "Of routse." he jroes on. "if you wish a Central Park exposure " "I don't." says I. "It might be ratcii in". What looks Rood to me is that southeast corner with the windows loohin' down Kifih-ave. Xow give me your bargain day figures for a bunch of turre and bath." And say. knowin' that Alfy t. and a Jo: more of the same kind was re'Iar lodirers there. I braced myself for a Jolt. t that. too. the figure he names takes more'n half the breath out of me. "Cee:- says I. "that'd buy a house and lot on Staten Island. Maybe I can stand it. thouch. We'll come up and look you over." And when I helps Sadie out of the cab at the carriage entrance, and she finds it's the I'erzazzer I've picked out. she's tickled to death. Billy coms out of his satin finished mahogany office and does the B-uiue act for us himself. When we re let out on the seventh floor he l'-ads us to our corner and explains the Rood points, like pointin' out that the rooms is all done in Iooey Cans. "I was just noticin' that." says I. "And some of them nutchmen knew what was what, didn't they? How does It strike you. Sadie?" "Oh. it s perfectly bully!" says she. Well. say. it's all of that. Every chair hack lias a hand-embroidered picture on it. the ruics was handsome enough to frame, and there was more knobs and electric buttons and switches than you ould learn how to use in a month. Tiier wa'n't a fancy stunt, from straln ln' tiie air to makin' your own iee. that hadn't been worked in. But the little private din i n'-tom. with the round table and tii candles, (rets me. There's no chasiu' out for your grub, if you don't want to. All you have to do Is write out your bill of fare, drop it In a rut.e. and inside of half an hour it's liiKsed In under the sliver covers by a butler who la there to do the food J.ijrirlln'. "Home could never be like this. Sadie." says I. "Let's go send up the trunks." I ll bet Pinckney couldn't have done it quicker himself, for by dinner time next day we're all seitled. even to my knowin' which three hooks in the two rlosets was mine, and just what corner of the third bureau drawer I could keep my la indry in. Then we starts gettiu' acquainted with Tidson. "ourse. I've seen plenty of butlers be fore, havin' knocked around more or less amonc folks that keeps 'em reg'lar, but I never thought to have the bossin' of one myself. So. when this chap in the dinky black coat and red vest shows up the first mornin' and begins bandin' out the grape fru'.i and soft boiled eggs, I get a bad case of stage fright. Sadie catches me watchin" him with niy mouth open and gives me a dig with her slipper under the table. "Hi?" says I. "Ain't I doing things richtT" "fon t look at him as though he was a curiosity," she whispers. "Hut he is. to me." says I. "Then order him about a bit." savs She. "'p!" says I. "I ain't got the nerve nd say. ttut vra. straight. Id as fx'tl te'iik of givin orders to Marcon! arwitt how to call up Poidhu through, the air: for if any one ever knew his busi- r.rsK from the ground up. it was this party of the second part. He ain't one of the stiff-necked. sour-face kind. same's I've seen. He's limber all tTie way from h s head to his hels. and everv lime he puts down a plate he bend in four places. Tiiat was some i:rprin constderln' that he's getMn" a'omr towards lh? where th hinges usually rusts up. You could easily tell be waft tryin' to keep with, in the age Mmif. fer th hair is nicely slicked over b;s bald spot and the ear tab whiskers W a lo elv blue black, such as you get bv usm' resiorer rg'la r. But he ur has the butlin' game down to an art. He moves around without makn any more noie than a tralne-I r-:rse. never seemin to bo in any rush, but always on ' hed. He's got h:s mind on thft work. too. Just as you're abou to think you re-d the pepper, you look up and find him bandin you the silver shaker. A'ong wth it be has the mild est voice and gentleM ways, and One of the nice old Jo Jefferson faces. I couldn't help get tin Interested in Tidson richt away, and after I've got nr bein' skittish I tries to work up a 1 HI friendly dialogue. Tie wa'n't mueb. of a converser. Tidon wa'n't. Sadie sys it's because he knows his place too well. "f expect I'll never get to know mine," says I; "for I'm goin to teach Tidson to b sociable if I go hoarse tryin. It s a week or ten days, though, be fore I makes any headway. And then ore night after dinner, just as I starts to go into the next room, where Sadie was chlnnin Mrs. Purdy Pell. I acci dent llr brushes a fork off on the floor. 4 "ours. I don't know any better'n to make a dive for it. Tidson dives too. my shoulder takes him In tbe breast bone, and then eomethin rattles out of Ills pocket. Miscdn" the fork. I picks up the other thing. It's a curious kind of a trinket j jl' . . ! h ... n- i I, i 'fii TT ' . . , : . : HE CHUCKS THE RIB for a butler to be carry in a round, carved bone affair, about a foot Ion;, like tbe handle to something. I was just heflin' It. when my thumb hits some sort of a button, and out conies a loner. .lini. wicked lookin blade, a? sharp ami shiny as u new razor. "Hello!" a I. "What kind of a patent can-opener is this, Tid'onT" Pay. of all the sickly attempts at a frrin. the one he tries was tne t orsi failure I ever watched. He pets rea' ashy arounw the gills, the ,liand he sticks out trembles like lie was havin a chill and them sharp little eye. of his was luc1 to what I wa hnhlin' up. "It s it's only a kepsake. sir says be. fifty I. "Strikes me it's one of the kind that calls for explanations. Now what are you walkin' around loaded up this way for. eh?" Tidson. he mumbles something" about beln' porry. "Now se hrre. TfdsonI" .pays I "I ain't one to pry Into anybody's private fadu; but so Ion as ou have the run of these rooms I can't stand for any assas Filiation hardware like this. Why. I'm surprised you such a mild, tame, house. broke Englishman, too!" "Pardon." says he, "but I arn not English." "But you are an aitch dropper. says T. Tidson's shoulders go up and his palms go ont. "That I liave learn. says he. "Oh"" says I. "Goes with the business, does It? Well, I thought you was odd colored for a Cockney. Just where do yo.i hail from, then?" " "orlca." says he. "You don't say!" says T. "Well, that explains the cutlery. But wh was it yon was plannin to use this keepsake on? Me?" "Non. non. non !' savs lie. wavin' his hands and shakin his head. "Well, who then?" says I. "A knifo lik that means business. Come, give up!" It was like pullin' a cork out with Lincoln's this love-making, and she refund Mi. Lincoln's offer. She found him "defi cient in those little links which make up the chain of a woman's happiness.' she said. The affair seems to have been a rather vigorous flirtation on her part, which had interested and perhaps flat tered Mr. Lincoln. In the sincerity cf his nature he feared he bad awakened a genuine attachment, and ids notions of honor compelled him to find out. When finally refused, he wrote a description of the afTair to a friend, in which he ridiculed himself unmercifully. "I was mortified, it seemed to me. hi a hundred different ways. My vanity was deeply wounded by the reflection that I had so long been too stupid lo discover her Intentions, and at the same time never doubting that I understmd them perfectly: and also that she. whom I had taught myself to believe nobo ly else would have, hail actually rejected me with all my fancied great uess. A nd. to coo the whole. I then for the first time began to suspect that I was really a little in love with her. Hut let it .ill go! I'll try and outlive it. Others have been made fools of by the girls, but this can never with truth be said of me. I most emphatically, in this Instance, ma le a fool of myself. I have now come to the conclusion never again to think of marrying; and for this reason I can never be satisfied with any one who would be blockhead enough to have me. Lincoln's Knpngemcnt to Miss Todd.. Busy as Lincoln was with law and politics the first three years after he reached Springfield, he had become en gaged to one of the favorite younj women of Springfield. Miss Mary Todd, the sister-in-law of one of Irs political friends, Xinian W. Kdward. Miss Todd came from a well-known family of lyxiivgton. Ky. She had come to Springfield in lKif to live with her sister, Mrs. Edwards. She was a brilliant. witty, highly-educated girl, ambitious and spirited, with a touch of audacity which only made her more attractive, and she at once took a leading position in Springfield society. There were many vounsr unmarried men In town, drawn there by politics, and Mr. Kdward's hand some home was opened to them in the hospitable Southern way. She received much attention from Douglas, Shields, Lincoln, and several others. It was soon apparent, however, that Miss Todd prefered Lincoln. As the ln timaev between them Increased. Mr. and Mrs. Edward? protested. However honor able and able a man Lincoln might be. tie mas still a "plebeian. How cauld Mary Todd, brought up in a cultured home, ac commodate herself to so grave a nature. TICKLER INTO THE COURT. your lingers; but I backs him into a cor m r, throws a scare into him about rmpin' up the house detective. and fin'IIy he unloosens. And say. it's al niost as good as readin' it out in a ten cent magazine. The tale begins way back when Tid son Jules something, he pays his real name is was a Ray young Corsicite. wcarin a red sash and herdln' goats, and tend in out on all the chowder parties from his ward. A Sso there's Felice. She's the only daughter of a district boss, or some big gun, but she's more or less a mixer. Anyway. Jules gets to know her real well, takin Iter to mati nees and fo on; but all on the quiet, for he wa'n't hardly In her class. Ac cordin to his description, Felice was one of the cherry ripe kind, all curves and red tints, a reg'lar brunette Maizy May. Jules must havo been a likely lookin lad then himself, for Felice turns down a lot of swell dressers, wears the brass breastpin he gives her. and lets him hold her hand while they're partln at the gate. It was all goin" lovely, when the old folk pet wise, a-nd then there's ruc tion?. Felice is &hnt up in the ba'k chamber while the old gent gets out the carvln knife and ca.ses the merry goat herd Into the next county on the jump. Takin' that as a hint. Julejs keeps right on till he gets to Paris. Then, with the old homestead crossed, off the map and not h in com in In, he looks around for some easy job with jcood pay. By rights that was where he should have found himself sore-eyed and sorry. But before lie has time to starve he get himself knocked down by a cab horse on the Rue de Bom bom and the gent that yanks him out from under the wheels in time to save his ribs is so worked uj with gratitude over the chance that he sets up a pint of red wine, listens to Jules'? hard luck story, and ends by tellln him where to call next mornin before the whistle blows. The noble rescuer turns out to be Kmll Three Love Affairs Con i nucd Krom Page Two. so dull an exterior? Miss Todd knew her own mind, however, and seems to have believed from the first in his future Some time in 1S40 they became engaged. But it was nor long -before there came th.e clashing inevitable between two per sons whose it asies and ambitions were so different. Miss Todd was Jealous and exacting. Lincoln frequently failed to accompany her to the mcry-maklngs which she wanted to attend. She re sented this indifference, simply . a lack of thought on his part, and some-times she went with any escort who offered. If the lovers made up, it was only to fall out again. At last Lincoln became convinced that they were incompatible, and resolved that he must break the en gagement. Hut 'the knowledge that the girl "loved him took away his courage. He felt that lie must not draw back. and lie became profoundly miserable. How could be make, this brilliant, pas sionate creature to whom he was be trothed happy? A mortal dread of the result of the marriage, a harrowing doubt of his own feelings, possessed him. A reflective nature founded in melancholy, like Lin coln's rarely undertakes even the sim pler affairs of life without misgivings. When It came to forming the most deli cate and intimate of all human relations, he staggered under a storm of uncer tainty and suffering, and finally broke the engagement. So horrible a breach of honor did this seem to nim that be called the day when it occurred the "fatal first of January, 1&41." A False Story Corrected. The breaking of the engagement be tween Miss Todd and Mr. Lincoln was naturally known at the time to all their friends. Lincoln's melancholy was evi dent to them all. nor did he. Indeed, at tempt to disguise it. He wrote and spoke freely 4o his intimates of the despair which possessed him, and of his sense of dishonor. The episode caused a great amount of gossip, as was to be expected. After Mr. Lincoln's assassination and Mrs. Lincoln's sad death, various ac counts of the courtship and marriage were circulated. It remained, however, for one of Lincoln's law partners. Mr. W. If. Herndon. to develop and circulate the most sensational of all the versions of the rupture. According to Mr. Herndon, the engagement' between the two wa.s broken In the most violent and public way possible by Mr. Lincoln's failing to appear at the wedding. Mr. Herndon does not pretend to found his. story on any personal knowledge of the affair. He was' in Springfield at the time, but did not have then, nor, in , ' - r- . .J . ..VM e ae:. . :. Bourdonne, none other. New one on you. eh? Never mind. Iook at the next bottle of brilliantine you see on the bar ber's shell none genuine without the signature. That's him. He takes Jules into the shop, Riviu' him a label-pastin job. wil h a chance to double as night watch and sleep behind the boiler. The whole thing Is a cinch. About twice a day Jules is paraded in the front office as the man that Kmil rescued from a horrible death, and every now and then his par is raised. If it hadn't been that he kept worry! n' about-Felice he'd been happy as a clam. But the longer he's away from her the worse he feels. Kmil begins to kick, because he don't look cheerful enough for an ex hlblt; so Jules lets out what's the mat ter. "Well, well!" says Kmil. . "That's too bad." Then he fixes up a scheme for Jules to take a trip home, have a talk with Felice, and maybe bring her on to the brilliantine fact'ry. where there's a good openin for a bright, girl. It works as smooth as lard. Felice was tired of the village anyway, and Jules looks such a swell in his new city clothes that she most tears the shingles on the back shed slldln' down to meet him. For a month or no Jules is as merry as if he was one of the chorus In a musical comedy. Him and Felice pastes label side by side, and durin the lunch hour Jules plans how they'll have a quiet weddin' and furnish three rooms over the delicatessen store. Then Kmil butts in. lie begins ban gin over the bench to watch Felice work, and the first thing she knows she's promoted to the office and set to addressm circulars. From that on the plot gums up. but Jules don't mistrust anything until one pay day when, without warnin, he's handed his release. "How's thip?" says he. "Have T been pastln' crooked or aanything?" Emil says no. but they always run short handed durin the Summer, and he might call around again next Fall. "But how about my dear Felice?" says Jules. "Oh, she's all right." sas Emil. "She's quite as much of a peach as you de scribed; more so, in fact. And, seeing that you'll be carrying the banner for pome time, I've decided to marry her myself." At that Jules throws a fit; but when Felice steps in and explains through the desk grating that she's sorry, but he's only a false alarm, while Kmil is the deed, did he ever have, any social rela tions with the families in which Mr. Lincoln was always a welcome guest. His only authority for the story fa a re mark which he says Mrs. Ninlan Ed wards made to him in an interview: "Lincoln and Mary were engaged; every thing was ready and prepared for the marriage, even to tho supper. Mr. Lin coin failed to meet his engagement cause, insanity." Jf such a thing had ever occurred it could not have failed to be known, of course, even to its smallest details, by all the relatives and friends of both Miss Todd and Mr. Lincoln. Nobody, however, ever heard of this wedding: party until Mr. Herndon gave his ma terial to the public. One of the closest friends of the Lln- colns throughout their lives was cousin of Mrs. Lincoln. Mrs. Grimsley, afterwards Mrs. 1 r. Hrown. The first six months of their life in tbe White House she spent with them. Some months bef ore Mrs. Brown's death copy of Mr. IJerndon's story was sent her, with a request that she write for publication her knowledge of the affair. In her reply she said: "IId Mr. Lincoln fail to appear when the Invitations were out, the guests in vited, and the supper ready for the wedding? I will say emphatically, 'No.' "There ma y have been a little shadow of foundation for Mr. Hern don's lively imagination to play upon, in that, the year previous to the mar riage, and when Mr. Lincoln and my cousin Mary expected soon to be married. Mr. Lincoln was taken with one of those fearful, overwhelming- periods of depression which Induced bin friends to persuade bim to leave Springfield. This he did for a time: but I am satis fied he was loyal and true to Mary, even though at times he may have doubted whether he was responding as fully as a manly, generous nature should to such affection as he knew my cousin was ready to bestow on him. And this because it had not the over mastering depth of an early love. This everybody here knows: therefore I do not feel as if I were betraying dear friends." "Tho Most Miserable Man Living." But while Lincoln went about his daily duties, even on the "fatal first of January.'" his whole being was shroud ed in gloom, lie did not pretend to conceal this from his friends. Writing to Mr. Stuart (his law partner) on January 2':, he said: "I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on earth. Whether i : .' -;: ' : :; y ; . ' y':y.-- ' '; ' DRAWINGS BY F. VAUX WILSON. one best bet, his Corsica n blood goes up to fever heat. Inside of the next three days Jules is thrown out of the fact'ry four times, and on his last trip ' a husky porter kicks him all. the way to the gate, while Felice stands at the wind-qiv and grins. Just at that point he buys this trick knife with the spring blade. 11 is next move Is to stand on the church steps and make a vow that, so long as he can hate, he will follow the trail of this cur-r-rsed Kmil Bourdonne until he has a chance to carve his initials on his In ner works. But he's up against a shifty customer. Mr. Bourdonne not only has him put under bonds to keep the peace, but he gets him run out of tiie district. t So Jules' drifts into a table d'hote place and learns to be a waiter. He settles down for a long wait, too. Every report he gets of Emil only plies up the agony. The weddin' has been pulled off in tine shape, the brilliantine business is boom in', and' the happy couple is movin' into a double-breasted mansion with a foun tain on the front lawn. Jules sharpens tip his knife and hisses Corsica n cuss words through his front teeth. Next he hears that Emit has opened a London branch and has moved across the Chan nel. Jules trails along, too. He grows side whiskers and hires himself out as a butler, havin' a fool idea that he'll be on hand somewhere when Kmil is a.ked to dinner. But there's not bin' doin. The calendar moves on, year after year. Kmil has got to be a reg'lar brilliantine king, with his name blown in a million bottles every season, while Jules is only front butler for a man that runs an ale brew ery. At last Ju!es gets word that Emil has gone into the export business so big that he's just likely to turn up in New York as anywhere; so he comes over here. Findin' the wages better and the tips bigger, he stays. And that's the whole bist'ry down to date. 'And how far back was it. do you say. that Felice squeezed the lime juice in your eye?" -says T. 'How long?" says he. "Why, vignt, vignt-et-u ne twenty-two years this Spring, sir.' 'A grouch old enough to vote:' says I. Gee!" "With that I looks him over careful, to see if he, really means It. And say. come to size Tidson up once more loose jaw, wide eyes, stoop shoulders, and all T could make a new gue$s. It's a case of I shall ever be better T cannot tell. I awfully forebode I shall not. To re main as I am is impossible. I must die or be better, it appears to me." A curious situation arose the next year 1 S 4 1' l which did much to restore Lincoln to a more normal view of his relation to Miss Todd. In the Summer of 1841 his friend. Joshua Speed, who had sold his store In Springfield and returned to Louisville. Ky.. had become engaged. As his marriage approached he In turn was attacked by a melan choly not unlike that which Lincoln had suffered. He feared he did not love well enough to marry, and he con fided his fear to Lincoln. Full of sym pathy for the trouble oi his friend, Lincoln tried in every way to persuade him t hat his "twinges of the soul" wore all explained by nervous debility. Mr. Speed's marriage occurred in February. In March Speed wrote hini that he was "far happier than he had ever expected to be." Lincoln caught at the letter with an eagerness which is deeply pathetic: "It cannot be told how it now thrills me with joy to hear you say you are far happier than you ever expected to be. I am not going; beyond the truth when 1 tell you that the short space it took me to read your last letter gave me more pleasure tlmn the tot a 1 sum of all I have enjoyed since tho fatal 1st of January, 1S4I. Since then, it seems to me, I should have been en tirely happy, but for the never-absent Idea that there is one still unhappy whom I have contributed to make so. That still kills me. I cannot but re proach myself for even wishing to be happy while she is otherwise. She ac companied a large party on the rail road cars to Jacksonville last Monday, and on her return spoke, so that I heard of it. of having enjoyed the trip. exceedingly. God be praised for that." Evidently Lincoln was still unrecon ciled to his separation from Miss Todd. Tn the Summer of 1S42, only three or four months after the above letter was written, a clever ruse on the part of certain of their friends threw the two unexpectedly together; and an under standing of some kind evidently was come to, for during the season they met secretly at the house of one of Lincoln's friends. Mr. Simeon Francis. It was while these meetings were going "on that burlesque encounter occurred between Lincoln and James Shields, for which Miss Todd was partly responsible, and which no doubt gave just the touch of comedy necessary to relieve their trag edy and restore them to a healthier view of their relations. The Lincoln and Shields Duel. At the time when Lincoln was visit ing Miss Todd at Mr. Francis house, the Whigs were much excited over the fact that the Democrats had issued an order forbidding tbe payment of state taxes in state bank-notes. One of the popular ways of attacking an obnoxious political doctrine in that day was writing ' ' ' pipe dream. Maybe lie had been real wrathy once, when he was young and full of ginger; but twenty-odd years of steppln' soft and lively to answer the buzzer, of bowin' and sera pin and holdin' the door open, had simmered bim down until he wa.s as harmless as an air gun with a busted spring. What he'd had his mind set on all this' time wa'n't spill in' somebody's gore, but gettiu t he soup on the table hot and krepiu the glasses filled. And all there was to this revenge business was just an afterglow. It was keepin' his mind stirred up and makin his hair fall out : hot it didn't amount to anything more'n a brain bug. He'd never hurt anyone. "Here. Tidson." says I. here's j,our keepsake. Better close up that pocket with a safety pin. Me? No. I ain't sayin a word. Oh, that's all right. For get It." Havin' a lino on Tidson like that. T feels more at home when he's around. i-or one thing. 1 know lies human, just like the rest of us, which is a lot bottcr'n try in' to throw a bluff that he's just some kind of a handy machine. When T passes the story on to Sadie, she feels the same, and we both tries to cheer him up. And then about three days later I gets the grand Jolt. I come up in the elevator that afternoon with a foreign lookin couple who got off at our floor. The man Is a tall, skinny, hook nosed gent with gray hair and black bushy eyebrows, an:' a. complexion like a saleratus biscuit The lady was some younger, about as thick n a sugar barrel, with three chins and a walk like a coal barpe In a heavy sea. They treads down the corridor in tow of a bell bop that's showin 'cm their suite. Just as I'm turnin' the knob in my door I sees some one lean in' up .against the wall. It's Tidson, his face white as a napkin, and his fingers doin the empty clutch act. "Hello!" says T. "You look like you'd been seein things." "Mais oui!" says he, hoarse and husky. "Kmil Felice!" "What !" says T. "The cross mated pair that just went by? Sure of 'em?" "Diable!' says he. "X would know him In" "I'll take your word for the rest," says T "That bein' the case, hand over the knife." "I I have destroyed it," says he. hold In' up his arms. "Do you wish to search ?" "Well, T was almost will in" to believe letters from some imaginary backwoods settlement and showing how Its applica tion affected his part of the world. Lin wrote a letter to a Springfield 'paper from the "Lost Townships," signing it "Aunt liebecca." In It he intimated that the only reason for issuing such an order was that the state officers might have their salaries paid in silver, and James Shields, auditor of chc state, was ridiculed unmercifully in the better for his vanity and his gallantry. It happened that there were several young women in Springfield who had received rather too pronounced at lent ion from Mr. Shields, and who were glad to see him tormented. Among them were Miss Todd and her friend. Mtss Julia Jay no. Lincoln's letter from the "Lost Townships" was such a success that they followed it up with one in which "Auut IJebecca" proposed to the gallant auditor, and a few days later they publishe I some very bad verses, signed ".ath leen." celebrating the wedding. Springfield was highly entertained, less by the verses than by the fury of Shields. I fe sent a friend. ( Icuem 1 Whitesides. to the paper, to ask fur the name of the writer of the communica tions. The editor, in a quandary, went to Lincoln, who ordered that his own name be given as the author of letters and poom. This was only about ten days after the first letter had appeared, and Lincoln left Springfield in a day or two for a long trip on the circuit. He was at Tremont when two of his friends. E. F. Merryman and William Hiitl-. drove up hastily. Shields and his friend Whitesides were behind, they said, the Irate Irishman vowing that he would challenge Lincoln. Soon Lincoln received a note in whi.-h the indignant auditor said: "I will take the liberty of requiring a full, positive and absolute retraction of all offensive allusions used by you in these communica tions in relation to my private character and standing as a man. as an apology for tbe insults conveyed In them. This may prevent consequences which no one will regret more than myself." Lincoln immediately replied that since Shields bad not stopped to inquire whether he really was the author of the articles, had not pointed out what was offensive in them, had assumed facts and hinted at consequences, he could not sub mit to answer the note. Shields wrote again, but Lincoln simply replied that he could receive nothing but a withdrawal of the first note or a challenge. To this he steadily held. Seconds were imme diately named Whitesides by Shields, Merryman by Lincoln. Lincoln and Merryman drove to gether for the rendezvous across the Mississippi In a dilapidated old buggy, in the bottom of which rattled a num ber of broadswords'? It was the morn ing of the 22d of September when the duellists arrived in Alton. There are people still living In Alton who remem ber their coming. "The party arrived about the middle of the morning," says 5 P '! him; but thinks I'd betier give him th feel down, just for luck, hen along comes the bell hop. "They want lunch in 7.V right away." says lie, and Tidson slides off to get tho order. If Sadie'd been in she might have known w hat to d; but she's out. so I walks up and down the rooms, thinkin' It over. I, hated to ring up Billy with any such weird tale, or to km por Tidson into trouble If he didn't deserve it. But the more I chews it over the un easJer I gets. There he i. called upon to serve a couple f parties lhai had siM'h used him bad. even if it did happen ' Jong time back. And here was I. knowi'i' the inside fa.Ms, and lttlu things run. Two more turns, and I finds myself mak in' a dash down the corridor for "it. Some one had Just gone in. and T fetches there in time to put my foot against the door before the catch sprfnc. Then I waits a nrnute. wonderin : whet her or no I'll ma ke a monkey of myself if I butts in. All t can hear is silver rattlin'; so I guesses that Tidson is in there si-ttin' out the lumh. Will they spot him for J ulcs the a ensr ? Or won' l t hey s-e hi in any more" u folks usually notices the waiter? It' they don't, will Tidson break louse and try l- finish Kmii with the sugar tongs? Say. In the short time I stands there t dug up all kinds oi answers, each one worse than t lu last. Then 1 hears somr words I don't understand not loud and excited, but low and Jerky. A t last I catehes somei!iin- fr.miliar. The lady sa.s it. in a .sort of a grunt, and it sounds like "Mrroy!" That's enough for me. I pushes in through the door just in time to see Tid son bandin' her a plate of chick n sand wiches. Then I tumbles. It wa'n't a call for help she whs givin. She was just bein polite In French. And as neither of 'em was lookin my wa 1 has time to duck behind a dour drapery. But the ik-x: view was a hair raiser. Tidson has backed off into the corner, and is fishin' down Hie back of his coat collar after something. And what do you think'.' Blamed If lie don't pull out that toad sticker of his. snap mit the blade, and put it on the servin tab! ready for use. a'd as calm and quiet as "f it was part of the job. Kver have one of them nightmare when you' re bein' rha se by some hi ark thing and can't yell? That was the con dition my throat was In then. I wauM to sing out the worst way: but it sems like 1 couldn't. Maybe I didn't reallv try. I stands there, all gnosefleyh. ready to make a jump into the room. I guess I could have done that. But, after layin' his knife out. Tidson tends strictly to business. Kmil don't require much waitin' on. as all he's doin is nibblin' at some dry toast, like the dyspeptic he looks. But the lady ha a different kind of appetite. She keeps Tidson on the hop. supplyin' sandwiches and crackers and cheese and jam. 'And the way she tucks' in reminds you of ;l sm usage mill run n in overtime. Twt bites, and a chicken sandwich is done for. while her hand is reach In for another, until the whole plateful is Kon" Then she begins pilin In great hunks of Swiss cheese and jam on crackers. Fni a food destToyin' exhibit, it was the goods. And all the time Tidson is step pin' around, eyelu' first her and then Kmil. She was pourin down her third cup of tea when I sec Tidson walk to the porvin' table and pick up the knife. "Now." thinks T. "here's my cue!" But jut .n 7'm about to dash to the rescue, he step; to the window. lifts the sah and ehiickT that rib tickler as far into the open court as he can sling it. As he bring out the tray J slios through the .door after him. He don't seem much surprised to see me. cither. "Well." says 1 . "the reunion was all ore sided, wa'n't it? They didn't reim-m-bi r you, eh? But what made you chanze your mind so sudden about usin' the knife?" "Bah !" says he. givin" the shoulder shrug. "Did you see her fed? Piable He is welcome." "Tidson." says I, "you're a deep thinker." T didn't tell Sadie until the next day. after the pair had left. "What a mean thing for him to any !"' says she. "I didn't think it of Tidson, really.. Wouldn't that get you dizzy, eh ? (Copyright's! by the lejoelat d Sunday M.ig azins. Incorporated, t Mr. Eil ward Levis, "and soon crossed the river to a sa udba r which at the time was. by reason of t lie low wa t'-r, a part of the Missouri mainland. The wen pons were in t he keeping of tho friends of the princi pa Is. and no ca rc wa s taken to concea 1 them. N;t tu ra I ! y there was a grca t desire among t ho male population to attend the dud. but t he managers of the a ffa ir won Id not permit any but their own party to board tho ferry boat." The party had scarcely reached the sa nd ha r before they were joined by some n n expect ed friends. Li ui-ol n and Merryman. on Iheir way to Alton, had stopped at White I la II for dinner. Across the street from the hold lived Mr. Klijah Lott. an acquaintance of Mcrryman's. Mr. L"tt was pot long in li i ul i n g out what wa s on foot, and as soon as I ho d tie 1 1 ist s had depa rted he d rove to 'a nd I ton. w here he knew that Colonel Jnhn J. Hardin and secern! other friends of Lincoln wen attending court, and warned them of th- troiibh-. Hardin and one or two others imme diately st a rted for Alton. They a i -rived in time to calm Shields, and to ! a til the sjfuiiiitl in :t 1 1 i n t h i cr in a t 1 1- vi "with honor to all concerned." The Lincoln-Shields duel had so many farcical features, and Mi;s Todd bail u ti wit li ngly been so inurli to Ida me f.ir it. that one can easily see that it might have had considerable influence on the relations of the two young people. However that may be. something: had' made Mr. Lincoln feel that he could re new his engagement. Karly in October, not n fortnight after the duel, he wrote Speed: "You have now been the hus band of a. lovely woman nearly eight months. That you are happier now than the day you inarr.'ied her 1 well know, for without, you would not be Ii ing. Hut I wa nt to ask a close quest Ion : Arc you now in feelings as well as judgment glad that yuu are married as you n re?' We do not know. Speed's answer, nor the final st niggle of the ma u's hea rt . "e only know that on November' 1. JS4J. Lincoln was married, the wedding being almost impromptu, (Copyright, lflns, by the M Clure Co.) $1,000,000 by Bull-righting. London Ulov,t' The retirement of a popular bullnghtpr 1n Spain creates almost us much sensa tion as that of a prime minister. The latest to retire from the ring is Anton! Fuentes, In conformity with tradition, has just cut off his "coleta," tho lock of hair worn on the crown of the head, which Is only cut when the bullfight r has given up the rang once and for ail. The celebrated matador is not 4' yer i s old and made his debut at th age of U. Since then he has figured in about bullfights and made tome thing like OufOM out of it.
