Rensselaer Republican, Volume 20, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1887 — THE RICH HUSBAND. [ARTICLE]

THE RICH HUSBAND.

” Wonders will never cease," said Mrs. | Noakes, as she opened a letter she had j found lieside .Tier. piste at breakfast. I “Here is Cousin Corner coming home I after a’l ttseae y< are’. And snrlra letter. Just listen, mi dear: D*nr Counit: 1 sntyidw yon have nil made up i ye.,r min4Mhal.l am .Fa-t; Mt I'm alive, m you I Mt. * —t Im tired ul muru money- |. gruutrtrnt Srrt tfrnrr wtrj have mvie-In tmien • klr* that they need something eltein ibeworM. I I mean,to etid my <iny.- ninons my '.relatives; and I between rod iin.l me, 1 tihiill pirt them to the | Met. 1 want to find mil who ate really my friend j ■■4 whocoirt me for nsaaoii*. an 1 what 1 a»k I you ur do is to make tjieni think iuv a very poor man quite mil of picket; Blew hie ten laugh-j i.g out loud as 1 write. You should bear me. Tki make them think that I'm poor, and that it would be n charity to n«k meta pay them vi-iti and to invite me now anil then to dinner, and all that. There I am again laughing*until the rosm rings. And in this way I am discover my true irio ids. 1 shall come to your house first, dretM-d iu character.. I know it is alt old joke, quite a thing out of the .plays an 1 novels, but I trust 1 will succeed Your* affectionately. IiIIAIUAII CokNBK. P. S.—lxpecl me Thursday O. C. •If that isn’t the most amufitig thing,” said Mrs Noakes—“coming home eo BO" rich tiiat he hr snsoictotw of hisTtdalives, and afraid of being courted fbrhis money. And a bachelor, too! Dear, dear! Poor Obaliah Corner, who used to be the bla-k sheep of the family, and wf oiti w.‘ believed would never come to any good! How everything dots change about in this world! Life is a checkerboard, to be sure. % William, what a splendid tiling it would lie for Araliella Muffit.' 1 < ‘‘What would be a splendid thing for Arabella—a checker-board?” asked Mr. Noakes. > ‘Oh, Mr Noakes,” cried his wife, “don't pretend to be stupid, because you are n<t, my deary and y m don’t do ▼ourself jussice. I mean’Cousin ObSdiah.” “Cousin Obadiah would tie a good tiling for Arabella. Oh—yes—yes—-y-e'td” said Mr. Noakes. “Ob, I see; you rm an a gobi match fordier?” But Arabella Muffit, though a mostexcei- • lent person, is no longer young, and she’s never been handsome, ivy dear.” “Thai’s so ridiculous.” said Mrs. Noakes. “Arabella is much younger.than Obadiah, and by no means as plain as _kejs. Bn) thatl® fbjß men. The older and uglier they get the younger and prettier they think their wives should be. Boys of 20 sometimes fall in love with women of JO, blit men ©I 60 never think of any age beyond 16 wh ti they choose wives.” “Very nne;inrrtul,“ said Air. xhakes “And very ridiculous,” said Mrs Noakes “At ah events. 1 have an affection for Arabella, and I’ll’ do alLl can to ’ further her interests; and don’t forget that we must, keep Obadiahs secret from the rest of the relatives. 1 shall give Arabella a hmtof the real state of. the ease. But no- another soul shall know a word beyond what Obadiah has told me to tell them.” “ .Well, women must be match, makers. I srtpp •*•<. said Mr. .W.iak, ,-. as he swal lowed ..esp ot coffee and glanced at he dock; "bui don't calculate too ; much on success in this affair, my dear.” Then he took his ha' and coat and departed .tor those regions .cplloquiajiy.. ( known as "town, ’ where men of busi- i ruse hide themselves the best part of the day:, and shortly ..After Mrs, Noakes. ; having arrayed herseH for the-prome-nade, went out also, her purpose being a ■ confidential interview with the Arabella, ' of whom she had spoken toherhusband. i Arabella Muffit, known among her friends as Ifttle Miss Muffit, was a verv email black-eyed lady of 45 years old, who lived in a tiny house, principally furnished of fancy work that had been IBshioffable for the last twenty-five years. She had no near relatives, and could" remember none but the grandfather who left her the small property on which she now lived, but she had connections who took tea with her occasionally and with whom she dined at times; for the. rest church-going, needlework, and books occupied t her time. She opened the door for Mrs. Noakes her.el and having kissed her on both cheeks escorted her to the bedroom above, Where she waa busy with a chalr-i cover. ‘N ow We can have a nice chat,” said ; she. “And. you will qtay to lunch, won’t] you, Martha?” z ’Martha promised to stay, and having taken off her cloak and hat dropped into • a chair and produced Obadiah Comer’s letter. “There," said she. “read that, Arabella.” ArabeHa read it, changing (0 : 0r a 3 B } le did bo. . ‘ “Dear Are,” she said, “how romantic j . he. must bc.\ He nerer o ea to be ro-! mantle; 1 changed very - uiucu m these uve-and-twentv rears.

He must be 67 now. And to think of his having made a forlnne and wanting to prove his friends sißcejre. Martha do you think you ought-1* betray him?” “No, I do hot,” aaid Martha, “and I - shall lei) noons but you. I had a motive in telling yon, and he says in a p. Htscript he’ll be here on Thursday; I want you to dine with tU on Thursday and meet him.” 4 Poor Araliella looked in the glass sadly. “He’D find ma dreadfully changed,” said she, “Uul I’ll come, Martha." “Bits ’ you, we all change! We can’t help that,” said Mrs. Noakes. “I never worry about It;” and then they fell to talking about Obadiah and what he used to do, and what had been doing, and found the subject so interesting 1 that they kept it up . over the cold j chicken, sponge cake; etc., shat com- | posed their lunch. When ThurktUy evening arrived it found little Miss Muffit in Mrs. Noakes’ parlor,witting opposite a burly looking man, whose nose was rather red and | wh<si eves were not honest, candid ) ey< sßy any means, tie wto dressed very shabbily, to say the least, and hail whispered to Mrs. Noakes in the hall, “Take notice of this coat; it carries out I the character, doesn’t it? I look like a ' s edy bld man who had had ill luck, don’t I,” ap.d he pudged Mr. Noakes withoneelbow and Mrs. Noakes with the other, while they mentally agreed that he did look the character meet thoroughly. On the whole, it was a rather pleasant evening, and Arabella and Obadiah got on finely. He promised to take tea at her housein a few days and saw her home at 10 o’clock. The rest of the connections, not having read Obadiah’s letter, were not deHghttrtl at his return. They saw him shabbier that ever, and were very careful to keep at a distance. Mrs. Ndakes often smiled to herself to .think what, a difference, that letter would have made in their conduct if they had known ii; but she wisely held her tongue and left a fair field to Arabella. In a little white, to her joy and the great surprise of Mr. Noakes. Obadiah -Corner actually proposed to dittle Miss Muffit and waa accepted by her. “Such a rplendid thing,” said Mrs. Noakes. ‘ Such a .wonderful thing for Arabella, and it shall all come out now!” Thereupon Mrs.,Noakes wentcalling >• :. ng reAiives showing Obadiah’s letter every where and creating great excitement. • ... ; “A i.d wbat can he see in little Miss Muffi'?” said one mother of many daughters. “And though 1 say.it—who,, perhaps, should not—there’s my Marguerite—such a beauty.” “But Maguerite was very rude to Cousin Obadiah,” said Mrs. Noakes.' . “The idea of an old man like that marrying—with relatives lie cou'd .leaxejmMhmg-iQlld——-—sa. “But men don’t leave everything to relatives who insult them,” said Mrs. Noakes. Besides, Obadiah is not very old—not. old at all. It’s just splendid for \rubella, and she was the only one who was civil to hiip, you know.” Then Abe went, away, leaving the con-, nections generally envious of Miss Muffit and angry with her also, as one wlio had been wiser in her generation than they. • And Miss Muffit, so hap_py_that she began to grow plump was making, up a ■pearl colored ,silk dress, and had sent sogxA’jieyla thathad behn left to Biejr l >y her grandfather to the jeweler’s to be ; reset,' and sat one evening building, castles in the air. with her feet on the ier.dt-r of the grate, when the he'll rang and hereld/’rly lover was shown in. There was no light in the room but that of the fire; and as she wouid have lit the drop-lamp, he stopped her. ‘;I want to- talk a - little,” he said, “and I like talking in a half-light. Arabella, I’ve a question to ask, and I want you tn arswer rqe truly.’ I' want you to promise solemnly that you’ll tell me the truth.” “I will,” said little Miss Muffir, faintly. “Whatever the question is, I’ll tell the truth, Obadiah.” “Well, then,” said Obadiah, “did you see the letter I wrote Cousin Noakes?” The blood rushed to Miss Muffit’s face in the darkness. I—l—. Yes, I saw it,” she said. “I know no one else did,” said Obadiah. “But yon—she showed it to you? ■Well, I intended she should. I wrote it to-be seen, I never thought Cousin Noakes could keep a secret. Arabella, I’m a poor man and a rascal! I have met with nothing but failure. You are rich in comparison. , You've a home ami twelve hundred a year. My letter was only a trap. I wanted every one to See it. and hopsd to Settle comfortably i down among my friends with the i tation of being a rich bachelor with a ■ fortune 10 leave behind him. You only saw the letter. You only were civil,and I offered myself to you meaning to impose on you until .we were safely married. I cared very little for you then Arabella! I wanted a home that was all.” - .7: ” J" , 4 Oh,” cried little Miss Muffit, 'as if ■ something had stung her. - "But smee then.” said Obadiah, look-. ing miserably into the fire, “since, Lnen i’ye found out howgood you were—how good, how sweet—l’ veeome to love I yo% Arabella, and tofeel that I mustn’t lay a trick on you. It waa natural you* tmouid like uuc iffioughw of & rich

! band—and then we were great friends ”aa boy and girl. I don’t blame you, land can’t ebeat you. I think it will I break my miserable old heart • But I good-by, good-by. I’ve eome to aay good-by, and beg your pardon,my dear. They’ll say you had a lucky escape. 8o you have. I’m going.” He aroae, but little Mine Muffit aroiw too. : “Obadiah,”»hesaid ‘I never thought of the money. Obadiah, don't think ;hat of me. And denyou care ioT me now?” “The only tiling in the world I love,” he. Then she held out her tremixing i hand. “Stay, Obadiah,” said she. And he caught her hind and kiwted it, and in the darkness she heard him sob. So they were married after all, and Obadiah has turned out better than could have been expected, and only Mrs, Noakes knows of that bridabeve confession, and qhe, you inay be sure, keeps the secret.