The Hawk-eye and Iowa patriot. (Burlington, Iowa) 1839-1843, 1840-06-25

mat ne was supported by her. land
there are few who will accuse him of
sWerving from his principles, although
ne did love Helen Watkins. and she had
"a thousand dollars.
lie married her; and on the wedding
! DAY, pursuant to her fathers will, the
thousand dollars were placed in Flagg' 5
hands. Doing as he thought best for
their mutual advantage, he invested it in
his business, and instead of dashing ont
with an establishment, remained at the
boarding house. For. a time all went
! well. A loving bride thinks little, for
months, of any thing but love and 7happi-
ness, and Helen never spoke of the thou
sand dollars. Flagg furnished her with
money sufficient for her wants, and, in
i deed, Tor her desires--the engrossment
OF her thoughts otherwise limited her
wishes. But when year had gone by.
she often asked for articles of dress and
lnxury-lnxury to them which her hus-
b;:nd could not afford to give, and gently,
but resolutely denied her. sI,'s very
strange" thought Helen to herself, ..that
when he has got all that thousand dollars
OF mine. he won't let me have what I
want " Her mother fos,ered these com.
planning thoughts, and on an occasion
when she had set her heart on something
which he refused to purchase, she ven.
tured to vent her disappointment in re-
proaches and referred to the thousand
dollars, which she was sure she ought to
be at liberty to spend, since it was all
her own. Flagg was astonished, indig-
nant. but restraining himself, kindly
reasoned with her, and represented to her
how paltry sum, in reality a thousand
dollars was, and how long ago it would
have been exhausted, had it been in her
possession, by the procurement of half
the articles she had solicited. But her
pride prevented her from listening with
camness and she only gathered enough
OF his explanation 10 excite in her warp
ed judgment, the suspicion that it was
only given to excuse himself for his
meanness.
I In a short time the thousand dollars
came up again-and again-again; and
the last time Immediately after breakfast.
4 Flagg could bear no more. Without a
rejoinder, he suddenly left the house.
His wife saw that he was more than or
dinarily moved-that his face wore a
startling expression, and regretful, peni-
tent, and alarmed, she called earnestly
and tearfully to him to return, but it was
too late! 1t was sullen, stormy, wintry,
chilly day, when Flagg left his home that
morning; it was, too, at the very climax
of one of those commercial crises, when
the rich feel poor, and the poor beggars;
and Flagg, breasting the storm bravely
thus far, had congratulated himself that in
few days more he should be safe and
his fortunes golden forever. How bitter
were his sensations, when he came down
Broadway that morning, splashing
through the rain! He loved Helen dear
Lyle knew that she loved him. Their
days were AN happiness. save that des-
troyed by this one foible; and let come
what would, he determined to give her
lesson that should last her the rest of
her life.
He did not return to dinner. Helen
waited for him. and, robbed by her ankle
ty and remorse of her appetite. would not
60 down herself, but sat all the afternoon,
looking from the window into the desert
ed and dreary street; weeping sometimes
as though her heart would break. When
daylight had nearly gone, and she began
to strain her eyes to distinguish objects
without, she discovered him approaching.
She could not, she dared not 90 to meet
him; but when he opened the door, she
could not repress a shrek at the haggard-
ness of his countenance. He came to her
side. and taking her hand, said. in voice
broken by exhaustion and emotion, while
/ he extended with the other roll of bank
1 notes :4i 7ffiH 8ts3
:" Helen there are your thousand dol
lars. have had toll, and anguish, and
pain enough to get them for you in these
dreadful times. Ihad resolved, and would
not be disappointed. Take them, do
with them as you like; and we will be
wholly happy; for you can never reproach
me more -
{" No, not for the world !" sobbed
Helen, sinking on her knees in shame:
sob, husband, forgive me, forgive me
shall never be guilty againv' and she tried
TO make him accept the notes.
He was. however, resolute and well
knowing from his character, that what he
had determined on. as proper course, he
would not swerve from, she dismissed the
subject. and they were afterwards indeed
! happy.--He never asked her to what pur-
pose she devoted her thousand dollars, but
it was plain enough that she expended
them neither for dress nor ornament. II
anything, she was more frugal than ever;
and he was compelled to question her
wishes, when he was disposed to crafty
them which he was, literally and freely,
SO soon as his prosperity would authorize
it.
Reader, this Flagg is the same hale old
I fellow whom we have spoken of as riding
in his carriage in Broadway; and that
wife the same Helen. That daughter
ah. ! can tell you story of her! She is