AN AMAZING MARRIAGE

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 213, 8 September 1899, Page 5

AN AMAZING MARRIAGE

MARRIED, SEPARATED, AND THEN MARRIED AGAIN.

That "truth is stranger than fiction" has often been exemplified, but never in a more intensely dramatic fashion, surely, than the folloAving, which a correspondent of the "Scotsman" vouches for: —

In a certain Scottish village in February, 1873, that is twenty-six years ago, A , a shop-assistant of eighteen or thereabout married Aliss B——, his master's daughter, a girl of equally immature age. Unfortunately, they had no capital, and as matrimony under any condition is considered more or less of the nature of a lottery, their risk Avas beyond the

average

According to an agreement previously entered into the youthful husband and wife continued to reside with the hitter's parents. Tho arrangement might have proved entirely satisfactory, but for the fact that the mother-in-law Avas meddlesome and the son-in-laAv high-spirit-ed. In a short time dissension arose, accompanied Avith snarling and all other manifestations of ill-will. In such an atmosphere the connubial bliss of the young folks could not be said to expand. Indeed, life soon became almost unendurable, for time, instead of curing, only aggravated the evil.

After a year's trial, therefore, A came to the conclusion that he Avas unable to hold out against the combined attacks of father, mother, and daughter, and resolved to put an end to it. He purposed going abroad. Luckily, no ehildrenu had been born, and as one and all Avere tired of these incessant bickerings, his proposal Avas hailed Avith satisfaction by the parents, and Avith reluctant acquiescence on the part of his Avife. Without delay, a form of separation was drawn up, signed, and Avitnessed, and carried into effect by A taking his departure.

The unhappy youth having thus shaken the shackles of matrimony entirely loose, resolutely turned his face to Australia. There he remained for several years, engaging in one or two enterprises of an unremunerative nature. Getting disheartened, he eventually shipped to America, where he. was so fortunate in the next feAV years that he Avas able to purchase a small farm. Moreover, as time Avent on, his prospects grew ever brighter. He engaged in numerous speculations, Avhich turned out so profitable that he Avas able to add acre after acre to his possessions, until he became master of one of the finest ranches in the Avest.

And now comes the amazing part of tbe story. A—— has a friend in Brooklyn. New York, who succeeded, after much persuasion, in extracting a promise that he Avould leave his lonely life and come and taste of the pleasures of the city for a while. Accordingly, in fulfilment of this pledge, A— journeyed doAvn one day in the autumn. On arriving at his friend's house he Avas introduced to a number of A-isitors, among whom he recognised the spouse of his youthful days. She, on her part, failed to detect in the swarthy American the object of her early affection; a circumstance Avhich. if Aye consider the lapse of years, and the fact that after his departure she had assumed her maiden name, is not to be Avondered at.

For A the situation had a pectiliar fascination, and during his stay he contrived to occupy a good deal of time in agreeable conversation Avith the demure Miss B. Among other things he learned that her parents Avere both dead, and that she lived Avith a married sister in Illinois, who Avas on terms of intimacy Avith their hostess.

On the last clay of his visit, nnd almost at the last hour, A disclosed his relationship, and followed it up by expressing a desire to assume his discarded rights. Surprised alike at the announcement and proposal. Miss B. nevertheless acquiesced, and to the astonishment of everybody the couple were married Avithout delay.

In all probability, Aye should never have become acquainted Avith this romantic, development, had not the twice-married pair turned tip in their native village not very long ago. Their honeymoon, which had been delayed, so to speak, for something like a quarter of a century, was spent in visiting Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Oban, Inverness, and other places. Then they left to take up the broken thread of their domestic life somewhere in the Far West. That it Avill be happier there is no reason to doubt.