Jasper Banner, Volume 2, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1855 — THE SECRET CABINET; Or Two Can Play at that Game. [ARTICLE]

THE SECRET CABINET; Or Two Can Play at that Game.

It was a cold winter’s evening: the -- ru.-y chair close to llic corn er-*v£-the* .stove, and sat smokmg his long clay pipe wiili great co.llpLuccn.cv , while Ins mil.nati; ii’ieii 1, \ o.i tJrote, employed Exactly in the same manner, occupied the opposite corner. Ail wad quui in the House, for B. ounker’s wife and children we.u gone to a masked ballj and secure from fear of interruption, tlie two friends indulged in a conlidenlial conversation. ‘ 1 cannot think," said Van Grote, “why you should refuse your consent to the marriage. iderKenrode can give his daughter a good fortune, and you-say your son is desperately-in “1 don t object to it,” said Broun* ker. “It is my wile who will not hear it.” '‘And what reason lias she for refusing.'” • One, which 1 cannot tell you,” euid ins friend sinking his voice. "Oh, a mystery —come, out with it. You Know 1 have been open arid l.auu w’ith you, even to giving you my opinion of your absuid jealousy of your wile.” ‘Jealous of my wife?—nonsense! Have I not just sent her to a masked ball?” ‘1 don't wonder you boast of it.— 1 should like to have seen you do as much when you were first married, l-o be sure, you had reason to look sharpely alter her, for she was the prciuestg.rl in A mterda n. Unfortunately, she has taketHwieh advantage of your iovtf, that the gray mare has become the better horse, and you refuse an advantageous match for your son to gratify her caprice.” “You are quite wrong, my good friend, 1 never allow any one to be

I my master here but myself; and in the present iutsniice J cannot blarne Clotilda. The secret of her refusal lies iti a herring pie." “A helling pie! ’ exclaimed Von Grote. ♦—-*Tes a herring pie. You may remember that it was‘a favorite dainty of mine, and that thy wife could not endure the smell of it. Well, during the first year of our marriage, 1 must confess Iwas a little—a very hide—jealous of Clotilda. My situation obliged me to keep open house, and among the young sparks that visited us none gave me more uneasiness than the handsome Colonel Berkcnrodc- The reputation that he bad already acquired of gal lan try was enough to create alarm, and the marked all ention he paid my w ile convinced me it was well founded. \\ hat could 1 du? It was impossible to forbid him the house, for be had it in his power to deprive me of government contracts; in Other words, to ruin me. After pondering deeply on the subject, 1 decided on 'cluing nothing, until danger should become imminent; all that was necessary w as to know how things really stood. Having just purchased this house, 1 caused a secret closet to be made behind the stove here. It com mumuates with my piivite room, and from it 1 could overhear everything that passed in this apartment, without ri.-koi being discovered. Thank I God, 1 have Into no use for it for the dast Twenty ~years, and. ihiTi tai, I ilo not even know what has become of the key. Satisfied with this pre- au- , lion, 1 did not hesitate to leave Clotilda w hen any of her admirers paid her a \ i.-it, tklTuglNJ promise you thaf some of the ColtuJ s. gallant ?-peach--05 1 n ce “Upon my word,” interrupted his friend, ‘‘you show a most Commendable patience. in your place 1 jjJ4oula ha\ e contented myself with . lb. bidding my wife to receive hisvisits.’ ‘ There spoke the old bachelor. — But as 1 did not want to drive her Headlong into his arms, 1 went a dis ' .lerenl way to work. Day after day 1 was forced to listen to arguments of the seducer. Aly wife —1 must own she made a stout deieiise —at one time tried ridicule, at another entreaty, to deter him from his pursuit of her. He began to 10.-e hope m propurlion as I gamed it, till one day he bethought himself ol threatening to blow his brains out if she would not slro whim stnne com-' passion. Aloved <tt this proof <>l- fire strength of his passion, she burst into tears, and pleaded ihat she was I notfree—m short,stiegave him to understand that 1 was an obstacle to his 1 happiness. Berkenrode was touwell! skilled m the art of seduction Dot to sec that he hud gained a point, lie ravril, cur.-ed me as the cause of his -b om Iwr iii'e-ase sJie beeetH+!wwi4++w’ She slopped him peremptorily; but 1 never closed an eye that night, and Clotilda, though she di 1 not know 11 watched her, was as uneasy as myself. On the following day a circumstance occurred that increased her agitation. While at breakfast, a message came from the co ik asking to see me alone. 1 desired him to come in (as-1 was not in the habit of'j interfering in domestic uilai.s,) and communicate his business in my presence. When the man entered he was pale as a ghost, and scarcely secured to know what Ite vvas about. At last hp told me he had received a packet containing a small bottle, three hundred guilders, and a note, in w Liu li he was requested to put thecontents of the former in the first herring pie he should prepare for me. He was assured he might do so without fear, as the contents of the bottle were quite harmless, and would give axlelicions flavor to the pie. An additional reward was promised if he complied with the request and kept his own counsel. The honest, lidlow, who was really much attached to me, said he was convinced there must be some thing wrong in the as- 1 fair, and should not be happy till the bottle and money were out of his hands. I pourd a few drops of-the liquid on a lump of sugar and gave it to my wife’s lapdog. It fell into convulsions, and died in a few minutes. The case was now plain; there had been an attempt to poison me. ‘ Nevershnll 1 forget Clotilda s pale face as she threw herself weeping into my arms.” “Poison! A murder!’’ she exclaim-' ed, c!a«ping me as if to shield me from

danger. “Merciful Heaven, protect us both! ’ “1 consoled her with the assurance that i was thankful to my unknown ' enemy, who was the means of showing me how she loved me. That day Berkeurocle came at the usual hour; but in vain did 1 take my seat in the hiding-place—he was not admitted. 1 afterwards found that she had sent him a letter, threatening, if he ever I came again, that her husband should be informed of all that had passed. 'He made many attempts to soften i her resolution, but to no purpose. A (year afterward he married. No acquaintance has ever existed between the two families, and now you know why my wife refused her consent to 1 our son s marriage with Berkenrode’s daughter." j • i cannot blame her,” said Von thole. “Who would have thought that Berkenroiie, a soldier, and a Liuau-oft-hon'or, could have been capatiie oi such a rascally deed? ’ •lili ha, ha!” laughed Brounker: "and do you think it was the General why sent me the, poison?” "W hy who else? ’ “Aly-tlf, to be sure! The whole was my own contrivanre, and it cost ‘ uie three hundred guilders m a present to my cook; but it was money well laid out, tor 1 saved my wile and gut rid ot her troublesome lap.- , dog al the same time.' j "Do you know, Biounker, I think it was rather a shabby trick to leave cßeTirtiirode under such an imputativii. Ami now that your son’s hup- ; ~pmtsTcTepends on your wife’s being, undeceived ” "1 am aware of all that; but to undeceive her now is not so easy as -y I disbelieve a circumstance in which, lor the last twenty years, she has put implicit faith? 1 He was interrupted by the enhance of Frau Brounker. Her cheeks were Hushed, and she saluted \ on Grote rather strtHy. — "W hat! not at the ball, Clotilda?” asked her husband. | "A'o; 1 had a bad headache,” she ' replied, "and Alaurice had promised to taae charge of his srster. But 1 have come to tell you that I have been thinking over hrs marriage with i Alina BerKeiirode, and have altered! my mind on that subject. In short 1 .shall withdraw my opposition to the, mutch." ; / The friends looked at each other in : astonish.neiru - ? j % "By the by, love,” . she continued, "here is a key 1 found some time ago; i think it must belong to you.” " W <ll, Clotilda,’ said her husband, striving to hide his confusion as he took the key, "this is good news about the inariiage ” “Suppose you and your fi iettd cel- > ebrate it by a supper. There is a herring pie in the house, and you HfiyUtoLfeiV Wat it Is pmsened. warn riT(i She leit the room. Brounker looked foolish, and Von Grote rubbed his hands us he exclaimed: ■ "Caught hi your-own trap! ‘He! who digs a pit tor his enemy, shall tall into it himself.’ ” “Nevertheless," replied Brounker, 1 •1 think 1 have got well out of mine. ’ Giving him tub News. —On Tues-j day evening, during the play of Hamlet, at Phoenix Hall, the news of the fail and destruction of Sebastopol arrived just as 'Taylor, as Hamlet, Was in his death scene exclaiming-' h. j , -aww —“O, I die, Horalio; The potent poison quite o’ercoines my. spirit,; I cannot live to hear the news from England." A friend of the Allies immediately ( 'cried out—“ Die away, old fellow;' Sebastopol is takccn!"’—Petersburg Va. Express. The Visit Retu.ned. — Voltair and Piron were passing some time in a cottage. One day Piron wrote on Voltait’s door, “rogue.” As sbon as Voltair saw it, he went to see Piron, j who said to him: "What has procured me the pleasure of seeing you?” "Sir,” replied Voltair, I saw your j name upon my door and 1 came to return your visit.” r / , j “What is that dog barking at?’ asked a fop, whose boots were more polished than his mini. “Why, because he sees another puppy in your boots,” said a bystander. [ _*■ of The Night.”—Mosqeitoe«, dogs, frogs, Katy dids, and Know Nothings.