A MAN WITH TWENTY WIVES.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1108, 19 September 1873, Page 3

A MAN WITH TWENTY WIVES.

A MORMON ROMANCE. Chapter I.—The Mormon's Departure. The morning on which Reginald Gloverson was to leave Great Salt Lake City with a mule train, dawned beautifully. Reginald Gloverson was a young and thrifty Mormon, with an interesting family of twenty young and handsoihe v ivea H s unions had never been blessed with children. As often as once a year lu> usi d to go to Omaha, in Nebraska, With a mule train, for goods; but although he had performed the rather perilous journey many times with entire safety, his heart was strangely sad on this particular morning, and filled with, gloomy forebodings. The time for his departure had arrived —the high-spirited mules were at the door, impatiently champing their bits. The Mormon stood sadly among his weeping wives. " Dearest ones," he said, " I am singularly sad at heart this morning, but do not let this depress you. The journey is a perilous one—pshaw 1 I have always came back safely heretofore, and why should I fear ? Besides, I know that every night, as I lay down on the broad starlit prairie, your bright faces will come to me in my dreams and make my slumber sweet and gentle. Tou, Emily, with your mild blue eyes ; and you, Henrietta, with your splendid black hair ; and you, Nellie, with your hair so brightly, beautifully golden; and you, Mollie, with your cheeks so downy j and you, Betsy, with your—with your —that is to say Susan, with your—and the other 13 of you, each so good and beautiful, will come to in'e in sweet dreams, will you not dearests 1 " Our own," they lovingly chimed, " we will ! "

" And so farewell! " cried Reginald. " Come to my arms, niy own," he said, "that is, as many of you as can do it Conveniently at once, for I must away." He folded several of them to his throbbing heart, and drove sadly away. I But he had not gone fat when the trace of the off hind mule became Unhitched. Dismounting, he essayed to adjust the trace ; but ere he had fairly commenced the task the mule, a refractory animal, snorted wildly and kicked Keginald frightfully in the stomach. He arose with difficulty, and fecibly tottered toward his mother's house, which was near by, falling dead in her yard, with the remark, "Dear bother, I've come home to die." "So I see," she said, " where's the mules? "

Alas! Reginald Grloversoh could give ho answer. In vain the heart-stricken toother threw herself upon his inanimate foiiri, saying, ■' Oh, my sou—my soul! only tell me where the mulea ate, and then yoti may die if you want to." In vain—in vain ! Reginald had passed on. CttAjfES Its—FtrttEßA* TfiAJtfINGS. The mules were never found. Reginald's heart-broken mother took the body home to her unfortunate son's Widows. But before her arrival, she indiscreetly sent a boy to burst the hews gently to the afflicted wives, which he did by informing them, in a hoarse Whisper, that their " old man had gone in." The wives felt very badly, indeed. "He was devoted to me/' sobbed Emily ; "And to ttie.' f said Maria, " Yes," said Emily, "he thought considerably of you, but not so much as he did of me." " I say he did ! " "And I say he didn't! " xiTHe did!" " He didn't! " " Don't look at rile With your squint eyes ! " " Don't you shake your red head at toe !" " Sisters," cried the black-haired Henrietta, " cease this unseemly Wrangling. I, his first wife, shall strew flowers on his grave." "No you won't," said Susan. "I, bis last wife, shall strew flowers On his grave. It's my business to strew." "You shant—so there!" said Henrietta. " You bet I will, " said SUsari, with a tear-suffused cheek. " Well, as foT ffie," said the practical Betsy, "I ain't on the strew much, but I shall ride at the head of the funeral procession." " Not if I've been introduced to myself, you won't," said the goldeii-haited Nellie, " that's my position. You bet your bonnet strings it is." " Children," said Reginald's mother, "you must do some crying, you know, on the day of the funeral; and how many pocket-handkerchers will it take to go roUnd ? Betsy, you and Nellie ought to make one do between you." "I'll tear her eyes out if she perpetrates on a sob my handkercher! " said Nellie. " Dear daUghtet -in - laws," said Reginald's mother, "how unseemly is this anger. Mules is five hundred dollars a span, and every identical mule ra y poor boy had has been gobbled up by the red man. I knew when my Reginald staggered into the door-yard that he was on the die, but if I'd only 'hunk to ask him about them mules ere his gentle spirit took its flight, it would have been four thousand dollars in our Pockets, and no mistake. Excuse the r eal tears, but you've never felt a parent's feelings." " It's an oversight," sobbed Maria, ' Do not blame us ! "

Chapter lit.—Dust to Dust. The funeral passed off in a very pleasant manner, nothing occurring to mar the harmony of the occasion. By a happy thought of Reginald's mother, the wives walked to the grave twenty abreast, which rendered that part of the Ceremony thoroughly impartial. That night the 20 wives, witli heavy libirts, sought their 20 respective couches. In another house, not many leagues from the house of mourning, a greyhaired Woman was weeping passionately. " He died," she cried, " he died without signifying, in any respect, where them mules went to." Chapter IV.—Married Again. Two years elapse between the third and fourth chapters. A manly Mormon one evening, as the sun was preparing to set among a select assortment of gold and crimson clouds in the western horizon—although for that matter the sun has a right to " set " where it wants to, and so, I may add, has a hen—a manly Mormon, I say, tapped gently at the door of the mansion of the late Reginald Gloverson. The door was opened by Mrs Susan Gloverson. "Is this the house of the widow Gloverson 1 " the Mormon asked. " It is," said Susan.

"And how many of them is she 1 " inquired the Mormon. " There is about 20 of her, including me," returned Susan. " Can I see her ? " " Tou can " " Madam," he softly said, addressing the 20 disconsolate widows," 1 have seen part of you before. And although I've already 25 wives, whom I respect and tenderly care for, I can truly say that I never felt love's holy thrill till I saw thee ! Be mine ! be mine ! " he enthusiastically cried, " and we will show the world a striking illustration of the beauty and truth of the lines, only a good deal more so—- " Twenty-one souls with a single thought, Twenty-one hearts that beat as one." They were united.