ROMANTIC DRAMA.

Ashburton Guardian, 25 October 1879, Page 3

ROMANTIC DRAMA.

A Hungarian paper recounts in graphic terms a little drama which took place in a little town near Pesth in the shop of a chemist or apothecary, whose assistant had cultivated the affections of a fair maid living not far off. The course of true love encountered in this case very few obstacles, and, indeed, seemed in a fair way of proving an exception to the general rule by running smoothly to its orthodox conclusion ; for the proprietor of the establishment having died, the assistant fojnd himself in a position to make a bid for the shop and the business, and was in course of negotiating the transfer of the property to himself. The two lovers were exploring the premises, and no doubt indulging in bright visions of the future, when a sudden apparition presented itself in the shape of a legal officer charged with the duty of affixing seals to the goods and chattels. The assistant and his fiancee, whose attachment to one another had not yet been published to the world, were struck with sudden confusion and alarm, and the latter made her escape into a wardrobe, upon which her admirer quickly turned the key. The official proceeded to make out liis inventory, and sealed up the door of the wardrobe, as well as those of the other rooms and receptacles. He then departed, leaving the custody of the whole place in the charge of the young man, and specially directing his attention to tne severity of the legal penalties enacted against those who break or allow to be broken the ssals attached in the usual way. There remained now to the hero of the tale hut two courses, either to allow the lady to endure the pangs of semi-starvation in a position described in the ballad of “ The Mistletoe Bough,” to incur the grievous pains and penalties of the criminal law, or to disclose all, and invoke the clemency of the testamentary court. The latter was the course ultimately adopted ; but it was many hours before the requisite authority could be obtained, and the too rash or timid ady could be released from her uncomortable hiding place.