The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1856-05-09
uested hi, wife to accompany him to a law

luested his wife to accompany him to a. law
yer's. -...
Il am going on n long journey he said'
md may be gone longer than I anticipate.
| shall leave you on the farm, to do with 10
as you please. Ifyou get tired Of carrying
il on, sell il to the best advantage; l shall
make money enough while gone, to buy a
larger one when return. | hardly think
I shall live on a farm when l come back
Wen get one of the grand new houses in
town, and live like Squire Bolton
His wife thought at the time that there
might be failure in his schemes, but she
was hopeful, and would not say anything
to dash his bright anticipatiOns. The day
of parting came, ana with it tears and
mournful looks but il was not until Dana
had LEFT the house perhaps never to return,
that the young wife felt the Loneliness of her
condition.
For week or two she was low spirited
and SAD, but as she received letters from her
husband in New York, written in lively
vein, and bidding her be of good cheer, as
he should certainly join her in the course of
year, she became more composed and rec
onciled to his absence.
We viii not follow him in the crowded
steamship, nor across the Isthmus, where he
narrowly escaped drowning, while ascend
ing the river; nor will we tell of his arri-
val at San Francisco, and departure for the
mins, where no worked in the bed Of the
river, and WIS quite fortunate, until attack
cd with the fever and ague, which roasted
him at one moment, and froze him in the
next. ...- ..F
He would lie in his tent and wish that
the gentle hand Of his wife could wipe the
moisture from his brow, or cover him with
the blankets when shiyering with cold
All of his adventures might DO written out,
and perhaps Mr.. Dana will, some day, give
the world an account of his doings in the
land ofgold. They will, possibly, serve as a
warning to other husbands, and thus pre-
vent many heart from mourning for the
absent one.
Mr.. Dana's fever got no better, and at
last the doctor told him he had better seek
u change OF climate, as he might shake him.
self Of death. Dana thought the same
thing, for it appeared to him when the
chills came on, that every bone in his body
would be wrcnched apart, and when the
fever returned he imagined himself an oy-
en-.
He considered the subject one day, and
determined to start for home. \ team was
to leave next day for Sacramento city, and
as soon Us his resolution was formed, he en-
gagged a passage, sold of all his clothes, ex-
cepting enough to reach Vermont, and
found he was master Of only five hundred
dollars, after working in the mines for four
months. To be sure, his sickness had cost
him a large sum, and his doctors bill was
frightrul to contemplate. He started the
next day for home. He determined to live
farmer and die one, If the Lord spared
his life. lie had seen enough Of the gold
mines, and as he was going in cart, and
joltcd over the uneven roads, he thought
what a ninny he h ad been, to leave COM
Portable home, and loving wife, for the sake
of trying to accumulate fortune.
The jolting Of the cart may have benefit
ed him, for the fever rapidly left him, and
by the time he reached san Francisco, he
felt like new man. He had mind to
turn back, and try it again, but he thought
of his wife, and nature and love conquered.
He went Immediately to the Office of the
steamship company and secured a passage
home.
1t was cold clustering day in the mid
die Of winter, when Dana reached Windsor.
He pulled his cap over his eyes, to prevent
being recognized, and then started ON foot
to his home.
He had heard from his wife but once
since he had been absent, and he had hardly
dared to hope that she was well. He quick
cned his pace, and came in sight of the
house in which he had spent so many hap
py hours. He glanced over his farm and
saw that everything had been well cared for.
The stone walls were in good order, the barns
looked neat and well repaired, aud just as
he was thinking that his wife and brother
had done remarkably well, the train on
which he had ridden from Boston whizzed
past, directly across his farm. lie grOancd
in anguish at the sight; his beautiful mead
ow was ruined, he thought, and it was all
owing to his wild goose chase for fortune.
His wife could not be expected to know how
to attend to such things, and he had no
doubt but what the railroad company had
swindled her.
lie approached the house and knocked
timidly at the door. II was opened, and
there stood his wife as handsome as ever but
she looked at him with surprise; he had
forgotten that he had not shaved since he
LEFT her.
lie spoke, and held out his hand, then
his arms. There was shrek, and the lat
ter were we'll filed. Two hours afterwards
they were talking very seriously and solely
upon matters of business.
Il am sorry that the railroad passes over
our meadow he said, it renders 1t almost
useless
They have the right of way, but it has
not injured it as much as you think, she
replied.
IL don't suppose they paid you more than
one hundred dollars for the land