A STREET SCENE.

— ■■■♦ ■ HOW A GREAT RACE WAS EON.

(By Obsbbveb.)

'* Hurry on, boys' or we'll be too late to see ihe fun," were the words of a Thames arab as he, followed by abbot a dozen i .-ompanions, sped along Campbell street iboul 1 o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bavins jost finished a good dinner, ind being willing enough myself ■o wimesß" a liitle fun," as the boys called it, I followed leisurely in the rear of the boy army, and soon found that the cause if ihe excitement was the behaviour of lie lady who figured in TLureday'a AiwebriSEß as tho heroine of the social drama •milled " An Extraordinary Honeymoon," Arrived at ihe scano of what I first saw was the Judy engaged in ib'rowing out hor good man's blankeie, which with no iegree of gentleness, she flung into the Irain in front of iho premises. She had a letormined look upon her face, which leemed co say, " oh, ( Paddy, my dear, if you wore only wrapped up in tho blankets f would, be satisfied."

Paddy however evidently did not care ibout .being ssrvad in that way, for, on oolting round (o seo where the poor bride{room wa«, I saw that lie was "taking it •jasy" by ilia wlieelrighl'a shop, not far off, nil ho appeared to be quito pleased with he riisianee that lay between him and bis maddened wife. '

j. Awll)6rel9iiiiemoralifQalittlß.Thescene | brought very vividly to my mind a few | words altered by Culonel Davis (Shang-eye) it an excuraiou at Hikutaia u month or bo •iack. Sbangeyewas addressing a merry jroup upon die marriage law, and upon one y»uiig- lady asking tbe reason why be ! had never married be answered be had two reasons for running in single harness, md briefly he gave bis reasons to the following effect: (1) He did not believe io the words" I will." He thought that il should be "I will try," for then tbo i sacred vow would not be. broken so often* ! To illustrate his contention, the Colonol refoirod to the case of a husband who I promised nt the altar, to love and'eherish his wife un'il death severed the connection. The vow was mado in all good faith, rind !• he happy hasbandat that time folly in- ! tended to act accordingly, But tome time after, bis beloved happened to take a liking for strong drink, and went from bad to worse. Too often had be to go oat into the ! jtreet and lead herhorae,and as (hie, together with blows and curses, happened so frequently, the husband's reßpact for his wife begau'to wane, and ultimately ended in iliuost hatred for the wife, who on the wedding day promised to.be the one bright star of his life, " Now" said the Colonel," you 1 mast all see tbe-force of my argument; if that man had only promised iotrg and lovo his wife until dra'h, instead of using ilia emphatic I will, the vow would not have been broken in tbe course of events which followed. Therefore you will per* ceive tbe necessity for amending tho marriage law, and until that is accomplished I will never get married. Supposing I did go to the altar, and if the parson woald not accept the words M will try,' then I would 101 l him he could keep Joey— mean* iog bis lady—himself. My second reason for not getting married" continaed the Colonel, "is because I have never yet met a woman fool enough to have me."

This of course caused a good laugh, but some of those present were evidently pressed with the truth ot the Colonel's ts! marks with regard |o the marriage vow being so of«en brokerj, and as I Blood look* ing upoo that pitiful scene in Campbell street on Sa'urday afternoon, I thought that if Colonel Davis wcro only present he p/onkl have in the case of Paddy Bnd his wife a fitting illustration for his next discourse on tho samo subject,

I must, however, roturn to the subject of this 'sketch. A short lime after Mrs O'Neill threw the blankets into tho guttor, she wandered up and down the footpath, in front ' of the, pala»iul residence. of Robert Turner Esq, who, some of the boys said, had fortified tho entrance io his domicile with a barricade of kerosene tins, but I cannot vouch for tho (rath of this" statement At last taking courage, Mrs O'Neill ventured down the road nearly opposite to where Paddy had established himself, and who, I uiieht mention, was surrounded by a vory large number of people, both old and young—Constable Davy, who Had been watching her like an eagle waiting an opportunity lo pounee upon iis prey, moved slowly bvar towards her, but she must have thought discretion was the better part of valour, and that elm Who tights and runs away Will iivo to fight another day; for she began a qnick-B'eb march towards her home, CotisUblo Davy, Itowovo;

■ ''evidently did not wißh to bo frustratod in his plans by letting her escape so easily, so • he too went off at a good pace, Tho priz.luGOuyht did lifcewipe, at tbo samo moment, ..'Vf'timllnus as tho sporting reporters say, a splendid «'nrt was efl'ooted, and though Svlliß coiistablo was heavily handicappod— /.'.Marling from scratch—ho mado excellen ' runniui/, much to tho delight of the small ; -jboye and. tho laige crowd of spectmorc, , by this limo had socured all the p'aoes • i; ;bf van'agei Asjbocnnsiablo beautifully 'clcaied the waior jump like au old steeple ' chaser,onoimperiinent little urchin cried ; out, "Ob,<rilJinliei)iy «ffi 'Davy' tlm ! -tlio ' pcelor' will'loacli the time firai; his . '{join's aro so One'ami good.'' Howevor, nn exciting raco homo rnsued, and a? Moon's hr.nso w,ib paused Mrs O'Neill hud a goodjlend of übont 42 yardf. Bul-all the tamo she now commenced ip eliow si/inn of heavy tunning. Her', hair became ■ dishevelled, and her drusd flyiog opoo, flic / lookeil very much like a man ! ac. She

: however uminlnincd Iter lead, though is wus .gradually decieasinjf. Constable Davy run- •. niatr slron/jly and well; aud when pussirg Jj'urnei'ii vacant ulk'tnicn , Mrs O'Neill had ODly "oboiu 'fin or twelve yards to 'lie pood. BnUvt'cn this point and the eain in frim if her house the race was veiy c.seiiing, antkvotybody appeared to bo ia a etate of i'ormen l . The reuiuining ponion of the ' dis ance was quickly covered, bolh sprinturß running all .hoy km w. Mrs O'Neill's object.being to,get inside her hmtso firs', and the constable's lo'cnp'iuo her before plio accomplished her desired ond. Mrß O'Neill, however, after a hard struggle, • boat her opponent bynbnu' three yard*, and ■as tho defta'ed constable walked away, many were the laughs al his expt nse, . Conslable Davy was no', however, In ■bo beaten. Ilu weni down again lo thb wheelwright's shop, watched very closely .by the one lis wished to capture. As s'io would not vonturo fur lior than Turner's whilst he was in view, he had lo resort to 'another maccouvor, whotehy she might be enticed nway from home; 60 lie walked away as if he hod given up 'he game, and went apparently towards Grahamsiown. But on gottiog out of Mrs O'Neill's sight ; ho quickly stole round at tho back of. the wboelwtighl's shop and pa'iently wai od for the result. Nor had ho long to wait, lilts O'Neill, probably thinking that he had gone, marched down the stroot again, and this time crossed the road in front of the shop where Iter Inisbami was; and then, • Conslablo Davy, coming from thefback of . building, completely took her unawates. She ran for the foo'pa'.h again, but tho constablo was 100 quick. Liko a Mag at bay, Mrs O'Neill sought shelter beside the .•walls of Pat. Hennessy's mamion, whero n etrugglo between the .two ensued, the result being thai Mrß O'Neill was over.* como. by the Samsonian strength of the . constable. Sha resisted for a good' while, but Constable Bern arrived onihe scone, and whether the prisoner felt safe in his hands, or whether be can cast n spoil over his quarry, I am at a loss to say, bin. she • appeared to quieten down at the touch of his hand. Iu fact she struggled no more, but quickly got up, and taking hold of one of his arms and ono of Constable Davy's, alio walked betweon thorn lo the police station, Tlmnco she was subsequen !y conveyed to Shortland gaol; and sho will probably bo brought bofore the Police Court lo answor for her strange conduct.