The Humours of Elopements.

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 2090, 27 September 1899, Page 3

The Humours of Elopements.

Love, which laughs at bolts and bars, has done many daring and ingenious feats m pursuit of its object, but it has never until lately-snatched one of the ladifs of the Sultan's harem from under the very nose of that monarch and run away with %er The story reads like a bold flight of fiction, but it is a fact ; as none know better than the Sujtanand ihe happy pair who eluded the vigil'a'nbe of his satellites. A youag Englishman (it is so of teh-an Englishman \fhp does this kind oiihing) made tho acquaintance of Zulfahra, one pf the Sultan's wives, at one of );&« mosques where, jealously guarded by $ eu.bueh, she had gone to pray, durinsf 4he festival of the Leilat el Kadrat. To see Zulfahrs was to lore her, and to love her meant, for the bold yonng Englishman, to win her. By bribing the eunuch l^e arranged further meetings, to wjjJcF Ziilfahra was not averse, and finjply succeeded m smuggling his lady-love on board a ship and esoapiug with her >o Bombay. A lover fqually daring— one, Samnel PadersoD, of Connecticut— carried off his lady-love on a «nf^-plough, through one of the most storm? that even America has iriowri, The parents of Miss Martha JBurgj, of .Redding, irere slrongly opposed to the wooing of Samuel Patterson and forbade her under terrible penalties to correspond with him any longer. When Samuel, who is a grocer's clerk m New Y-oric, heard of thi«, he took his courage m both hands, and also took the seven o'clock express from New York, although a bliezard was raging at the time. To his -dismay he found that the express did not stop at Kedding; but, as it dashed through Ihe station, he jumped from the train into an 'avalanche of snow.' Fighting his way through the heavy drifts and the gale, he reached the house where his fiancee was awaiting him. and together they made their way back to the station. Here they encountered a serious check. The snow had fallen so heavily that all trains were stopped. Just as they were beginning to despair, a snowplough bound westward came snorting and lumbering up to the station. It stopped for a moment, and m that moment Samuel Patterson and his bride-to-be were aboard ; the engineer was taken into the plot, and m another moment they were lighting their way through snow and wind towards New York and the altar. Dublin was recently the scene of an elopement which had m it some elements of the ludicrous. A man, who already had a wife and child, fell violently m love with his mother-in-law, of all poople m the worl-l, and the two lovers eloped together to Belfast. They were followed by their friends, and ultimatly brought back to Dublin m a condition of penitence But the flume of lovo was only sm mldering; for a few mouths ago they eloped ngain, and for once a man and his mother-in-law arc presumably happy together t't. Petersburg has been perturbed by tyro elopements m high life within a year. A well-known Countess recently eloped with her husband's valet ; and now another Countess, a young and charming widow, has eloped with a young footman who has been some years m her service. Every day for many mouths the Countess had found an exquisite bouquet of (lowers on her toilet table. The tribute of affection was as puzzling as it was pleasing, until one day she surprised the footman kissing her portrait with the passionate ardour of a lover. The Countess, far from being annoyed at the presumption, threw her arms around the young man's neck and assured him that his love was returned. Within a few hours she was on her way to Berne, m company with the footman and two maid-s, and here she was married to her humble lorer. Ihe Countess has bought a castle and an estate m Bulgaria, where it is expected the emancipated footman will soon blossom into a man of title.