Married In The Dark

ADout twenty years ngo tnere liveü in j Central Michigan a curious old Benedick nnmed Dodsworth. At tbe age of 50 he married a girl of 20, and when tbe buiden of 60 years bore him down his wifo wns only hnlf liis age. Dodsworth was noted for his peeiiliurities, bntthe climax came when lic fotind liiiiiself on his dying bed; He was worth abottt .$30,000, and he hadfl't a blood relatite liring, so faina lie knew. He wanted to leave his property to his wife, as the pair had Iiyed yery happily, but yet he could not leave it without displaymg some of his peculiarities in the provisions of the will. 8ome old men display a mean spirit whon making their wills, and draft iu a provisión cutting the wife off with a shüjing if Bhe marries again. Tliis old man wasn't of tliat stamp. His yoting wife was good looking, vivacious, fond of society, and it was folly to suppose she would mourn for her " late departed" nny great lengtli ol time. Therelore Mr. Dodsworth turned ]ieel on tlie usual custom and said in his will : Id case my wife Celia does íiot takè tinto herKelf auother husba-nd within thirtcen month from date of my burial, all bequests otherwise mu de in tilín will are to the Stato of Michigan, to be used for building and furnishing a home for oíd women. Whether Celia was pleased or displeased at this provisión deponeut saitli not, but tlie oíd man had not been under tbe sod more than six months when the widow was said to be looking out for nnother man. If it was singular for the dying Dodswortli to urge his wife to marry again, it was still more singular that he should desire the ceremony to be líerfovmed under the following circuinïtahceg,. Vií And it Ís rnádíi inëumbfciit (fii Báíd Celia l)odsworth tllat in taking a new Hüsbánd the ftiaïrlage ceremony ahall be pérfbrmed in tlifc big batn on my f arm on the H road. It hall takfc place at 10 o'clock in the evening, on the main Boor, without lights of any description, with all doors Hhut, and a free invitation hall be extended to all. The clergyman hall tand in the atables and the bride and groom on the main Hoor, and the principal partios to the ceremony shall be dressed in black throughout. The widow announced her intention to fnitlifnlly obey in spirit and letter, the will was probated, and the twelfth month had soaroely passed before she issued an invitation for the public to attend a wedding at the big barn. Just who the groom was to be no one could positively assert, as the IVidow had been keeping company witli a widoweí, a bachelor and two jroung men, and, as far as any j sider could judge, she loved one as well as the other. Being good-looking and talented, and having a fortune behind her, it was iiot strange that slie should I have a munber of sliitorö. She seemed to enter into the spirit of the affair with great zest, as also did the minister ; and, j to further mystify the people in I unce, uie onue eniereu ine Darn alone at oue door, the groom alone at another, and no one knew tliat the minister nad arrived until his voice was heard in the atables. There were at least 200 people present, and each one understood tliat even the striking of a match would break the wilL Many jokes were passed, and considerable confusión existed, btit at length the minister anhoilnced that all as ready. j The ceremöny iras gone through with, and, at its conclusión, the affair having been a "profoiind sticcess," a rush was made for the bride; she waa jtissed by I 100 men, and was then carried home, a distnnce of a mile and a half, in a big arm-chair. Now comes the mystery. Wlien tlie lady was down at her owu door tlie widower, the bachelor, and the two young men each claimed to be her true and lawñxl husband. None of the crowd could say who was the lucky man, the minister was at sea, and the bride herself seemed to have doubis. The Mlower was tlie man of her choice, but in the confusión he could have been hustled aside, and he did affirm that an attempt had been made to choke him and get him out of the barn. The bachelor vowed that she had promised to marry him, as also did both young men, and each one was sure that he held the widow's plump hand and was legally married to her. The four men had a fight, but that didn't mend matters. The crowd ducked two of them in a creek, but that didn't decide the question. Just how it would have terminated had not the widoAver been a man of nerve, no one cun teil, as the otlieï three had already appealed k) the law, heti the widower Stepped iü alld took hiB place as husband, and settled with the others for .$2,000 each. One of the young men, now over 40 years old, and having all the wife he wante (she weighs 230 pounds), is living in this city, and, during an interview had with him to-day, he solemnly and [ eaniestly assiired your correspondent thnt he was legally married to the Widow I Dodsworth that night in ths big bnrn. Auother of the porties lives in Clinton eounty, and he has time and again asserted tliat he is the woman's true and lawful husband, so help him God. The bachelor is dead, but, were he alive and kicking he would renew his oft-repeated protestations - "I marvied her, by gUlll ! and, by I gum, I ottght to have her !"