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Show I MRS. BROWN'S HUSBANDS. Cy MAX ADELER. (JtOK It. M 11.1.8. tho minister, l vt ( ' stranger In the 2 lI S l,,w". "1l he ' J"t l r culled upon to visit Mm. Oer Brown, who hnd lost lirr husband, nml to console her, ho went round to ace Iicncon Wilt, to Unit he could post himself nlioiit the nit mil Ion. "I understand ymi to say," unlit Mr. Mills. "Hint Mia. Brown baa been inur. rlcil three times? or wit It four'" "I any." replied the deacon, "Hint lie itu .Mr. Brown's hlr.1 wife, while lie wna Imt ilflh husband. Hut alie mua the fourth wife of her second hua. Im lid, ami the second wife of her ilrat, o Hint ahe " "Let we aee," an hi the parson, "Hie eroiid wife of her Ilrat and the well, then, threo and live uro eight, and four re twelve, mid two nre fourteen If I Ret the tannic of the thing. Mrs. Brown tins been lunrried fourteen times, und Mr. llrown won her " "No, you don't understand. Brown ., fwns only her fiflh husband." "Oh, her It flh. But )ou said she was 1 tlie fourth wife of her second buahnud, nil she hnd throa more, so that four nd three are seven she muat have bad seven hualiands, and where are tlie other two? ; "Why, don't you see? Her second tuialiand was niurrled three times before be-fore he met her. She had been niurrled once" "How could she be married only once when he wis ber second bus-fcondr bus-fcondr "Only once hi fore she met him, and when she niiirrled III in she was his fourth wife, so Hint will!, he had bad four wives, she hnd hnd only " "Is this Brown you nro speaking Of?" "No, -io! llrown was her flflh. lie bad been mnrrled twice before." "Her second llrown hnd?" "I mean llrown. of courae. I,et me explain. Mrs. Brown, any. married John, rhnniiia, Jncoh, V.'llllnm and Henry. Thomas married I.ulu, Mnry. Hannah and Susan " "Before ho niurrled Mrs. nrown or ft or?" "Before. Well, then, Browr. married Emma mid .MiiHIdn, and John mnrrled Agnes. A ;iii' died, nnd John mnrrled Mrs. Brown. Then John died mid I.ulu, Mury, Ilaniuili and Susan died, ml tbeii Thomas married .Mrs. Brown, a'hen Thnnina (.led, Jacob's wife died and M inium's wife died, and William annexed Mrs. Brown. When Wlllliini died, Kmiiia mid Mnllliln died, und t' "ii llrown lunrried Mrs. Brown. Kw.ybody trnio to Mrs. Brown, you ee!" "I see." Mild Mr. Mills. "I think I grnxp the fuel s. I'll go right around to ee her." Mr. llrown was at home. And nfter SB 1 1 il) I ii to the wculher nnd one or two oilier tuples, Mr. Mills said: "I am deeply grieved. Mrs. Brown, fo hear of your bereavement. It muat lie very, very terrible, even for a person per-son who Is so lined to It." "Ho used to It. What do you mean, Ir?" "Why, I merely meant to suggest shut experience) cannot reconcile ua to these iillllctlona. But thero is this consolutlon, dcur uiiiilain time dulla tlie edge of our blltereat grief. You Wept for John aa If you could not be comforted; but you ace you " "Johnl I do not understand you, Ir." "You wept for John, -but Thomas nunc. When Thomas wna taken you thought yourself mterly inoonsnlublo: but there was Jucob-he brought new-Joy. new-Joy. When Jacob was wafled to a better land your hear; was nearly brokeu, but William lieu led lis wouiida; and when Wllllaui drifted off into the unknown, Henry assuaged your Brief, l'erhnps there nre other lleur.vs, Williams and Thomases to whom this blcaacd duty will fall again. Per-baps Per-baps " "You are talking very struneely, sir," aid Mrs, Brown. "Oh, no; I merely suy Hint now thnt John, ajid lb n in as, and Jacob, and William and Henry have been called wuy to Join Susan, and Iluunah, and Agues, ami Matilda, and F.muia, and Lulu, and Mury, and Iho rest, there Is soma hope that that Why, Mrs. Brown, wist on earth Is the matter?" m, i iiMamiaHawiniMMi Mm. Tirrrwn flew out of Hie Tonm wltbunt rcpl.Mni.', nnd Mr. Mills, filled wllh auiim-inciit, went around to aa Deacon Will to explain the mystery. "I wan merely telling her." he anld. "Hint Brown hud followed John, Thomas Thom-as and MatlMa, and the others into a belt wovM, when she " "Cond rr.ieious;" shrieked the deacon; dea-con; "you tlhln't nllinle to her dead huidianila nml Ibclr wive by those namea, did you?" "of course, ymi anld Hint " "Oh. thiuder, man! Why those were only luiauiiiury names, that I used by way of Illustration. Brown's . Ilrat name wna Alclbadlcs. No wonder she wna Hint!." Mr. Mills k-ronnei! n- d went home In dismay. . nil now Mrs. Brown has left his church, nml gone over to the Episcopalians, Epis-copalians, Hl.o Is to be married soon, they say.-New York Weekly. |