Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-04-05

preference to the frank, ingenious and in
teligent young farmer, Brainerd. IA
The FREQUENT calls of George. and his
almost invariable attendance on emily to-
and from social gatherings. places Of a:
musement, and evening meetings. became
a source Of great annoyance 70 Jenkins. /
The young men ofthe village and the un-
sparings Janes quized him most anmerci-' 4
fully, foeallowing suchfa young fellow, as
they said,,ssto cut him. OUT" for Jenkins
was about ahiftyffiye. But he WINS soon
a situation offered Iof atalented'
yenng man. possessed skleszen
terprise; ~the salary was liberal, ,and George
accepted it, and prepared toleaye town i'm
mediately. -.,.
He sought the home of Emily, and found
ed to be absent for an indefinite length of
time, and had come to say good bye;' he
saw with the deepest pleasure the regret
and tenderness, expressed on the counte.
nance Of the artless girl, A mutual inter-
chang of feelings took place, and as he re.
leased her small hand and arose TO depart,
he impressed the first warm kiss of love
upon the pure brow of her who loved him
alone for his nobleness of soul and wealth
of intellect. Ho was met in the hall by
little Tommy, who had seen him enter the
house, and now came bounding in like a
young deer to receive the accustomed great
red apple from dear George whose pleas
ant voice he had good reason to know, E.
yen in the night; when he had got nice
sspitsenberg,' which was rather scarce
article, as it was late in the spring, he ran
to Emily, who was the confident Of all his
little joys and sorrows, and holding it up in
triumph, cried, ssSee here, sister, knew l
should get one!" then scampering away to
the door, as he stood swinging his arms
with oil his might, preparing to jump over
the door.sleps, he shouted loud enough to
be heard any where in the street, 81 like
George better than any one else in the
world, don't you, Emmy?" 7,-~ +
Jenkins now took advantage Of the alb.
sence Of B, to renew his attentions to
Emily, which he could easily perceive
were not very acceptable; but as long as
the father was favorable, this did not disturb
him. Mr.. r., also tried his utmost to
persuade his daughter to accede to his wish
es, but as much as he desired it, he never
would have been SO heartless as to force
her TO union with any one; for although
he loved wealth and power, he loved his
daughter more; yethe had somehow per,
suaded himself, that ifshe was once united
with him, love would soon follow.
1t was in vain the he endeavored to con-
vince Emily that her romantic idea Of 'love
in COTTAGE could never be half realized.
She only smiled quietly, as she replied,
GA well-stored mind is a continual feast to
the soul, never-failing well.spring of hap
piness;" and her teazing, black.eyed sister
who would always manage to be present,
would exclaim, "Do papa wait a year! who
knows what might happen in year!''
The spring, summer, and autumn. passed
rapidly by, and George was still absent.
In the meantime, it was whispered about
town, that Jenkins was becoming dissipa-
| ted, that his draughts were not always
from the crystal spring; but from some.
what more stimulating source; he contriv-
ed however, to keep all suspicion from
the Ransfords. ga .-s
It was. the last night Of the long month
Of March, for does it not seem longer than
any other month Of the year, and the wind
blew as if all the legion of little winds had
gathered themselves up into one mighty,
rushing, roaring stream; when the sleep.
ing inmates of the dwellings, surrounding
that Of Mr.. Ransford, were, aroused by the
startling cry of 'sfire!' .s.1., .-.,~'...,
Mrs. R., had been awakened by the loud,
steady roaring of the flames, which she at
first supposed to be the wind, but the in
creasing smoke, which was fast filing the
room almost to suffocation, and the snap.
ping and cracking Of burning wood, in.
stantly conveyed to her mind the terrifying
truth, that the house was on fire. She
quickly sprang from her couch, and gave
the alarm, then with great presence of
mind she threw a dressing. gown over her
husband, who had the day previous badly
sprained an ancle; and assisted him with
considerable difficulty to gain the outside
OF the house, for the inside of the lower
story was all in fames:s the terrified in
mates, had, it was supposed, by this time,
all fled to the streets, which were fast filling
with people, who ran in every direction with
pals and buckets for water. The fear.
less Janet had already twice returned tc
the house, once for little Thomas, and
again at the peril of her life to secure hel
fathers papers, the fiery fragments falling
thick around her, burning her bare feet
and scorching her beautiful hair. Scarce
ly five minutes had elapsed since the frs
alarm; the most strenuous efforts to stay
the progress of the fire were unayailing
the red, curling flames which had been
steadily gaining their way upward, now
burst forth in all their brightness through
every opening below, and the dismayeG
parents beheld by their glaring light, q
white form fit past one Of the upper win
dows, and now perceived for the first time
that Emily was missing. Her escape was
now almost hopeless; the side partitions
were giving way to the powerful destroyer
and the furious wind which had gained
admittance was fast flowing away every
vestage of remaining hope. ss*t
"Can no one save her?" cried both par.
ents in breath. '-z ;-!5&|-- -.-
7 "Oh! my first.born! my Emily!" shieked
the mother in her intense agony, ssmusl
she die thus ?'' - ta-2szaEz' 2 X fsesaaa +
I The father offered half his fortune 10 any
lone who ,von1d atfennnt To rescue HE child