REAPING A WILD OAT.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1127, 19 December 1883, Page 4

REAPING A WILD OAT.

LITERATURE.

(Continued.)

One tooth gone. Her other! teeth likely to go. , Perhaps.uv ;two .or three years she woul(|; not haye ;a-t,qoth in her head except the artificial snbstiiutcs supplied by the surgeon dentist extraordinary. Was she tp diie a spinster ? Or was she to put’ off being a bride until she would have to tell her bridegroom that all her teeth were,artificial ?

* Never shall that be my fate !. Before another tooth goes I will have signed the name of Yoxall for the last time.’;

The first appearance in public with hier new tooth was at a gardentparty, and Mr Cornelius Crambone was one of the guests who assisted at the display of flowers and toilettes. ‘Suddenly the sun became clouded, and there was a sharp summer shower. The company retreated to the house. Miss, Yoxall and Mr Crambone found shelter in n secluded arbour. Mr Crambone thought of his condition when the tender corn, caused by the cheap boots, compelled him to rest in the waiting-room ; hs was mindful that the six months of the Qnambush aid was nearly over, and therefore he was emboldened to be very attentive to the "three-thousand-a-yenr spinster. Miss Yoxall did not for. an instant forget ihat she had an artificial tooth in her mouth, nor the resolve she hod made, and so did not discourage the gallant advance. Cornelius did not talk much, but he tried to tell a tale of love with his eyes, and Amy was rather blushful, and seemed to mostly gaze at thf tesselated floor.’ A critical pause. Amy dropped her handkerchief. Cornslius stooped and picked up the gn ige and somehow or other as he handed her the embroidered cambric, his band touchedJierhand, and (heir faces came so close together that n collision of lips seemed inevitable. He held her handy and there was a sympathetic tremor. The shower was over, but instead; of going into the house they passed out through the garden gate. When Amy was in her carriage she asked Cornelius if he was going her way, and he replied, ‘ Assuredly, your way is ray way, with your permission.’ So, thanks'to the tender corn and the hot roll, Mr Cornelius Crambone, three weeks after the garden party, was congratulated by Mr Qnambush on the public announcement of his engagement to Miss Yoxall. The wedding was a pageant worthy of the wealth of the bride; A church dignitary, assisted by a rector and two curates, tied the* knot, in the presence of a crowded and fashionable congregation, Never was bridegroom more nervous. His responses were inaudible, and his hand shook so that he dropped the ring. He was more composed daring the breakfast, but when he was -seated in the carriage that was to convey the happy pair to the railway station, he looked very pale, and the voice in which he asked his best man, Captain O’Keefe, to start the postillions, was husky. The day after the return from the honeymoon, Mr Crambone went to his club, and among the letters wailing for him was one carefully sealed, and as he opened it he muttered a curse, and ordered a glass of brandy and water. He read as follows:—•

1 Majaba Villa, Park Tillage.

* Dear Corney,—Come to me as soon as yon get this note. lam awlully in the shorts and just in the humor to cut off my nose for the sake of doing ditto to your beak. Of course you thought you would never see me again, but when I read aboht your Incky spec in the papers, I packed up and crossed the ocean. Got here in time to be at the wedding. How yon shook when you saw your dear Dottie’s face in the church, and also when yon saw me pelting the bride with rice J I still keep to the name of Lomax. If yon don’t call on me, I shall on you. * . * Your loving Dottie.’

He swallowed the brandy and water, left the' White Kid, and drove to the establishment of Mr Augustus Quambush. He handed Mrs Lomax’s note io the maker of men of fashion.

‘My dear Mr Orambone, this is a fgame that is played every day; There has been a youthful indiscretion, and now the milliner’s dummy fancies that the sartorial block will dance to the tune of hash money. Prompt defiance is sure victory. Let her, if she will, tell all she knows; bnt not a-penny for her silence.’

* There is a peculiarity about this case,’ said Mr Orambone, nervously * I met her in Melbourne, and just for a spree, and to make it comfortable for her in colonial society, 1 went through a ceremony of marriage with her that was not lawful or binding.’; ‘Mr Crambone, I am sorry for myself because ray money is lost, but I am not sorry for you. I can i forgive any vied but folly, which is ihe worst of all vice.’ * Why is your money lost ? It was a stupid spree,: hut the man who is in the hands of that woman is a helpless fly. I tell you the ceremony was not binding, for she was a married woman. .When it came to my lost thousand we were in New York, 6nd her husband, Lucius Lennox Lomax, appeared and bullied me out of £500.'

‘ ;An. awkward business,’ said Mr Quambnsh,, ‘ but it can be managed. Our course is still defiance. If Mrs C. hears of the affair ■ her back may be up and her claws unfurred, but that won’t affect your settlement of £BOO a year for toothpick money. Shall Igo with yon to see the person ? It is better for you to have a witness.’ In the little parlour of the little house called Majuba Yilla, sat Mrs Lomax, a gorgeous brunette in the prime of full womanhood. She was nursing and playing with a lapdog, and did not rise to greet Mr Crambone and Mr Quambnsh.

‘ Quiet; Tip. A lady’s lapdog should not have snch a quick scent for prey. How are you, Corney ? Ah, I see you an attack of th« frights.’

‘ Madam,’ said Mr Qnambush, ‘wo are hero on a matter of business that can he settled in ja ppnple qqinutes.f ’* Wlio are yon ?’ asked Mrs Lomax.

* I am the friend of Mr Cornelius Cram bone,,and my name ; is Augustus, Qnambush.’ j ; * There, Corney,’ said Mrs Lomax, with a light laugh) 1 yon. see how true,is my favourite proverb, that the foo) who has blood in bis body will never be without a leech that sticketh closer than a brother.’ ‘■l.did not bring my.friend here to be insulted !’ : V ■ “Of course not, Gbrney, you brought him here because ‘ you were afraid to come alone. It is hot every man who has the. courage of my lap dog.’ ‘ We happen to be here,’ said Mr .Qnambush, ‘ to tell you that my friend Mr Crambone, is not the least afraid of you, that he will not give yon a sixpence to hold your tongue, that he defies yon, and that if yon choose you may publish my friend’s absurd spree with you. Do you understand, madam? We defy yon, and any more letters will bo treated as attempts to extort money.’ ( To be continued.)