Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1851-12-17

hour. IL live, as told yon. short distance
in the country; SO YOU will stay all night,
and can come in with me in the morning.
The Stage leaves here at five o'clock, and
passes within short distance of my house.
FIorine will be delighted to see you"
consented, we'll pleased with this ar
rangement, and q, five O'Clock was seated
in the Stage by the side of my old friend,
who bore as little resemblance to one Of
our curled, perfumed. and moustached ex
quisiles-what he had once been-as could
well be imagined. His appearance was plain,
substantial, and business like.
Half an hours ride brought US TO our
stopping place.
81 live off to the right here,'' said Mer-
wyn, as we left the stage, "beyond that
piece Of wood. Ten minutes walk will
brlng us to my door We prefer the coun-
try for several reasons, the principal one Of
which is economy. Our cottage, with six
acres of ground, costs US only fifty dollars
a year, and we have the whole Of the land
worked on shares by neighbor; thus more
than clearing our rent. Then we have plen-
~ Of fruit for ourselves and children, and
fresh air and health into the bargain"
''Bu, dom, Mrs. Merwyn find it very
lonesome ou. here?" ! enquired.
"Oh, no. We have two children, and
they, with very clever young women who
lives with US more as friend than domes-
tic, although we pay her wages, give Flo
rine plenty of society through the dsy, and
! come in bv night-fall, and sometimes ear
Iier, 10 make the evenings all she could
wish. Al least, have Florine's own de-
caraton for this" The last sentence was
uttered with smile.
As we walked along, the nearness Of my
meeting with Mrs. Merwyn, turned my
thoughts back to other times. A beautiful
girl was before me, lsnguidly reclining up
on sofa, overcome BY the extract Of some
sweet herbs, the perfume Of which had fall
EN- unharmoniously upon the sense. A hot
house plant, how was i. possible that she
could bear the cold, bracing atmosphere Of
such life as she was now living: When
| last saw her she was but tenden summer
flower, on whom the sun shone daily, and
into whose bosom The night dews came soft
ilflGShing GOODNESS.
kSed along with my mind
~. ''f such thoughts, when az opening in
the woods through which we were passing,
gave me glimpse ola woman's figure, stand
ing on The second rail of fence and sppar-
emily on The look out for some one. The
intervening trees quickly hid her from my
view. In a minute or SO aferward we
emerged from the trees but short distance
from The woman had seen who was look
ing another direction from ,ha, in which we
were coming. We were close upon her be-
fore she observed us. Then the voice Of
Merwvn, who called "Floriner' startled her,
and she turned upon US her beautiful, young
face, glowing with health. surprise and
pleasure. paused in establishment. Was
that the indolent, languid city belle, who
could scarcely Sit erec. even with the aid Of
cushions, now standing firm and straight on
a fence-rail, and looking more lovely and
graceful than she had ever seemed in my
eyes?
She recognized me in a moment, and,
sprInglng from the rail, came bounding to-
wards me, full to overaowing with life and
spirits. Grasping my hand, she expressed
The warmes. pleasure at seeing an old face,
and asked me dozen questions before !
could answer one.
found them occupyin a neat little birds
nest of a cottage, in which were ,w" as swee,
lille children as have ever seen. While
| sat and talked with Nerwyn, holding one
child upon my knee, and he the other, Flo
rine busted herself IN getting the supper
Her only domestic was away. Ever and
anon caught glimpse Of her as she pass
ed in and ou. of the adjoining room where
she spread the table. A very long time did
not eIapse before ! sat down with my old
friends to a meal that | enjoyed as well as
any have ever eaten. The warm, white
biscuits were baked by Fiorine; the sweet
butter she had herself churned, so she said,
and the cake and preserves were her own.
IL am surprised a, all this" said ], after
tea, ''How is j! possible for you to be cheer
full and happy under such change? How
was il possible for you to come SO Efficient
Iy into mode Of life, The very an,ipodes Of
the one TO which you were born, and edu-
Gated 20
"Misfor.une," replied Merwyn, "brings
out whatever is efficient in our characters.
This has been particularly The case with u.s.
We had both led artificial lives, and had
false views of almost every thing, when, a, a
blow, The golden palace in which we had
lived was in pieces. We were then thrown
out into the world, with nothing to depend
upon but our individual resources, which
were, at first, you may we'll believe, exceed
ingIy small. The suddenness with which
our fashionable friends turned from us, and
the entire exclusion from fashionable socie-
ly, opened our eyes to the utter worthless
ness of much that we had looked upon as
of primary consideration. The necessity
Of our circumstances turned our thoughts,