242 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



great principle.' Should the object of my 

 early love die, must I be ever thereafter dead 

 to the most exquisite of human passions ? 

 Death is only absence. I know twelve pretty 

 women. They are better than men. NATURE 

 made them so. They are all different — all 

 excellent — all divine. Can [ be blind? Can 

 I be deaf? Shall I deny that their voices 

 are sweet, their hearts tender, their minds 

 clear and intelligent ? No. I love them all 

 — Julia, Mary, Fanny, Helen, Henrietta, 

 Emily, Eliza, &c. ■ I never think of them 

 without sensations of pure delight. 1 ' 



Frederick felt a hand upon his shoulder ; 

 he looked up. It was Mrs. B., his wife. 

 " The d— 1 !, said he. . . . 



I had withdrawn, of course. I am a 

 bachelor myself. Curtain lectures are not in 

 my way. I have troubles enough of my 

 own. Airs. B. did not come down to dinner. 

 Mr. B. did not come home to tea. 1 did not 

 get up next morning to breakfast. So that 

 I could not know what was the " result." 



Mrs. B. is one of the very loveliest women 

 I ever met. I believe I have two or three of 

 the models myself. It is pleasant enough, 

 but then — every rose has its thorns ! 



" Only think !" said she to me, her eyes 

 moistened with tears, her cheek crimsoned 

 with shame, her bosom palpitating with dis- 

 tress, — " twelve ! He loves twelve, he says." 



" A whole jury ! " said I. 



" It is monstrous ! " said she. 



" Monstrous indeed ! " echoed I. 



II What if I should love twelve officers ! " 

 said she. 



" Tit-for-tat," said I. 

 " Or six ? " said she. 



11 Too good for him," said I, taking her 

 hand. 



"Or three ? " said she. 



" Or onet " said I, drawing her toward me, 

 and kissing her soft lips. She was my only 

 sister, and I always loved her. . . . The plot 

 was arranged. Frederick had meditated a 

 journey of two days ; but was called back, by 

 an anonymous note, at nine the same even- 

 ing. . . . Tall women are so scarce ! We 

 hired the uniform at the tailor's 



" I am thunderstruck ! " exclaimed Henry 

 to me. " The world is at an end. The sun 

 is out. What ! Kate — my dear Kate ! " the 

 tears gushed from his eyes. 



" I saw it myself," said the servant. 



" Kiss-ed her ! " 



" Six times," said John. 



Frederick caught the pistol, and pointed it 

 at his head. I wrenched it from his grasp. 



" Come with me," I said. " Perhaps it may 

 be a mistake." 



We opened the door softly. In the next 

 room sat Mrs. B. — at her feet a richly-dressed 

 young soldier, who kissed her hand, received 



from her a lock of hair, swore he loved her, 

 and left her with an ardent embrace. 



" I am suffocating," said Fred. 



11 Hush ! " I exclaimed : " See, there is 

 another. How familiarly he seats himself 

 by her side — takes her hand " — 



" I shall strangle to death." 



" Patience ! " 



" Dear-est Colonel ! " exclaimed Julia. 



(" The other was only the lieutenant," 

 whispered John.) 



" I am blessed with too few such faithful 

 friends." 



(I held Fred still with the grasp of a giant.) 



" That I love you, I cannot deny. A 

 woman of soul loves just as she happens to he 

 placed in relation to men. She is warmed by 

 their noble characters, as she is xchen she stands 

 in the sunshine. It is ' the great principle? " 



" Love-li-est of thy sex ! " said her com- 

 panion. 



Fred burst forth, levelling both pistols at 

 the Colonel. He pulled the triggers, but they 

 did not go off. Pistols, loaded with sawdust, 

 seldom do- 



The Colonel uttered a scream, and fled. 



" Madam ! " said Fred, swelling with indig- 

 nation," have you any more of these affec- 

 tionate friends ? " " Only Eight, my dear 

 husband. Why, what puts you in such a 

 rage?" 



" Perfidious wretch ! " 



" Hear me," said Mrs. B., solemnly. 

 M When we married, I intended to devote my 

 life, my actions, my heart to you. From you 

 I expected the same. I can see no distinction 

 in our relative duties towards each other. 

 Love must exist on both sides — or on neither. 



Whatever may be the opinion of a heartless 

 world, a ' man of soul ' and of virtue makes 

 his wife " — 



" I am not to be preached to, traitress," 

 said Fred. M I leave you now for ever ; but 

 not till I take vengeance on my new military 

 acquaintances. Where are they?" 



" They are here," she answered. 



The door was thrown open, and the two 

 officers, with their chapeaux off, were heard 

 giggling and laughing in a most unmilitary 

 manner. 



What did Fred do? Just what every 

 other good husband ought to do, — he first 

 rubbed his eyes, and looked foolish. He then 

 burst out into a ringing laugh, and flew into 

 his wife's arms— sobbing audibly. 



The two young military officers, of course, 



" giggled" again ; and as Fred had "vowed" 



\ to take vengeance on them, he took it, — in 



his usual maimer ! He was forgiven, on his 



i promise not to offend any more. 



I hope he kept his word, — for the sake of 

 1 the Great Principle !" 



Dot. 



