Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1858-05-12

pleasures SO mingled LnaC eacn uay ~ likely
bring to US share of both. Such is life.
The Doctor had risen to prominence in hi
profession, through the most untiring persevcr
ance, having begun life as an errand boy in !
drug store He was kind hearted man, ant
really loved the little orphan, but was so mucl
afraid of his wife that he scarcely ever venturet
to speak kind word to the child in her pres
ence. Poor Lilly learned the hard lesson o
loneliness, and dependence, for Mrs. Ostran
always spoke of her as though she were boun
ty servant, and constant drain upon the re
sources of her husband. Any one to hear hel
speak of Lilly would have supposed that the
child had been left without a cent in the world
and was being educated at the sole expense o
DR.. Ostram-When, in fact, the money wa
drawing ten per cent interest, and Lilly's boarc
bills were settled as regularly as they came due
Lilly was sent to school, but not to the same
Institution that the Misses Ostram attended
They were attending the Kutgars Institute
while little Lilly was sent to school of lesser
note, taught by a poor widow. Indeed Mrs.
Ostram said that I" the child ought to have been
sent to free school," but to this the Doctorwoud
not agree,-so Lilly was sent to school to
Mrs. Lester who earned a scanty living by
teaching. Lilly improved wonderfully under
the tuition of Mrs. Lester, who was most os-
timable lady, and well qualified to teach-pos-
sessing as she did the happy faculty of impart-
ing knowledge to her pupils. The little orphan
loved her teacher dearly, and the happiest hours
of her life we're passed in school.
There was young man, student of medi-
cine boarding at DR.. Ostram's Edgar Harold
was kind-hearted and syrnpathising, lively and
entertaining; always had some pleasant story
to TELL or some interesting incident to relate.
Then too he was the possessor of large pro-
pcrty in his own right, (his father being dead)
and was considered by Mrs. Ostram as being a
very eligible match So she advised Emily to
make herself as agreeable as possible, and above
all not to offend Mr.. Harold "for" said Mrs. Os
tram, {" it is true you arc but sixteen now, but
you must remember you cannot always stay
sixteen; and if you don't marry, why you will
getto be an old maid after q while, and then
no one will want you SO keep your eyes
open, and remember it is just as easy to like
rich man as poor one." And this Mrs. Os-
tram considered very sage advice. She wished
her daughters tQ6parry-rich if they could; il
they could not marry rich, then they must
marry poor-for marry they must She had
great horror of old maids, having very
narrowly escaped being one herself as she had
seen her thirty-seventh birthday before she be-
came Mrs. Ostram, and she determined that her
girls should accept the first good offer. TO use
her own words, she wanted them oil her
hands"
Four years had passed since Lilly Wilson
first entered the family Of DR.. Ostram. They.
had been years Of trial and persecution to the
orphan, years of threats and reproachcS, but
not wholly devoid of sunshine; for Lilly had
gone regularly to school to Mrs. Lester, and
now, at the age of thirteen, was more thorough
scholar than either of the Misses Ostram,
though both Emily and Jane had now left
school, and were waiting most anxiously for
chance of marrying. Both had set their hearts
on Mr.. Harold-had quarrelled over him by
the hour,-Lad nearly come to blows on several
occasions, and were after all as far from being
married as ever; for Mr.. Harold had never
even hinted at an offer to either of them, and
never for a moment imagined himself to be an
object of so much interest.
So the daughters quarrellcd, the mother
planned and plotted, and Lilly sat quietly in
the front basement, and studied her lessons, or
repaired her wardrobe. The family took but
little notice of her. She was never allowed to
20 into the drawing room when visitors called ;
roomed with the ssamstress, and was shown oil
to every one in the light Of a bounty servant.
Very few of her acquaintances knew that she
possessed cent in the world for Mrs. Ostram
was always harping on the expense she had
been to them and that lady invariably turned
up her nose whenever Lilly was spoken of as
being "very pretty,"- though pretty was not
the right word. A great many girls are pretty,
but Lilly Wilson was beautiful, wonderfully
beautiful. don't believe there ever was another
just like her. We generally hear two styles of
beauty spoken Of, blonde and brunett; but I
think there should be third style, and that
should be called brilliant. Of this style was
Lilly Wilson. Her hair was only one shade
removed from black,-a complexion Of most
dazzling whiteness, while the fresh peach-bloom
colour tinged the lovely cheeks, and her eyes
were of the wild bright blue Of the black birds
egg. Tall and slender, but most exquistcly
formed, with neck, throat and arms, that would
have graced throne. And though but thir-
teen she looked and appeared much older.
Another year of persecution and scorn, taunts
and ieers; another year Of choking grief and
accomplishing struggles, and the orphan stood
upon the threshold of her fourteenth birthday,
more beautiful than ever. Emily Otram was
now twenty-one, Jane eighteen, and though
much against their inclination, they were still
the Misses Ostram.
Edgar Harold was still an inmate of Dr. Os-
trans family, but expecting to leave very short
". lie had always felt deeply interested in
the orphan had always known exactly how she
had been and still was treated in the family,