Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1858-06-24
gtI&ttG0 Gal&.
(From the New York A!bion)
YEARS AND YEARS AGO.

T'gtes rs1 chooses sent passes
Cgnne IJmbre ct comme le vent !'-Vic1or Hugo.
.ae>e thing, have passed upon their m5uruful way,
Like the Wild wind, and like shadows grey.
Suzanne was not sixteen, aud | was barely
nineteen, when we first met She was the
daughter, the only child, Of 4 poor Protestant
pastor near La Rochelle, one Of the chief and
Oldest ,trongholdS Of the French Reformed
Church.
1t that time | was about as wild a scape-
Uace as you would see in any place | could
lame at this moment. | had been expelled
rom school for heading an insurrection against
u, proper authorities had got into end,
,s' scTapes in every position in which my poor
hiacr had tried to establish me had finished
Taen | was eighteen 10y throwing off all res
''aInt crossing the water and with knapsack
On my back, starting on pedestrian tour
through some Of the French provinces, not
Fta any definite aim or object, or in pursu-
alce Of any settled plan, but TO exercise my
1'1Tped liberty, and to get rid of some OF the
u9erHu0us life that would not let M rest
u adventures | had plenty but the relation
q these is little to the point now. At La Ro-
'aeie chance, as / called it then, threw Su
11ne in my way. Whether she was b-auti-
aI or not | hardly knew She was utterly
Nuke any one ever saw before or since ; a
mule thing with pair Of eyes that prevented
your seeing any thing else when they were be-
lore you Il pair of eyes which, like those of
'ns German fairy, were not only one barley
corn bigger q think they were two barley
coTna bigger than any body else's eyes in the
World but which loved you, repuIsed you,
and ptied and scorned you, and laughed with
!!l and cried for you, and made YOU wild
WIN delight, and desperate with despair, tweu-
Y times a day.
From the first time | saw her, | pursued
ueF without ceasing and We often met by
tAo,e accidents that occur when two people
10 Their best to aid fate in her arrangements.
a. the back Of the presbytery was garden
'u'' o roses, and lilies, and jeSamineS, and all
sorts Of beautiful old fashioned flowers that
gro" any where you may plant them, but that
'il no more get common or worthless for all
'qel' bounteous blooming, than if they requr-
"a 10 be watered with champagne. Beyond
we garden is what is called chataigneraie
Ntte wood, carpeted with the close turf,
moss and wild flowers, oyershadowed with mag
e'ncent chestnut trees, each Of which might
orm study for landscape painter. Only q
.aIng and wicket separated the garden and
'pe wood and, the latter being unenclosed
"ug one had right to wander there at will
"a privilege Of which the peasants in the
.elS1iborhood, having other means Of employ
'S Their time, seldom availed themselves anC
;. .,I was, except at the chestnut gathering, gene
rally deserted.
90 there | used to repair in the glowing Ju
!, Gays with sketch-book, to look bushes:
as and, lying on the grass. or leaning agains
= =, "ee, myself half hidden, watch for Suzanne
now II is all before me now-before me now
81 s,'a IA me- and about me, good Hea ven, how
'EI'y,- "a! after all these years
me broad rugged trunks Of the trees tht
''1'gnt streaming with a soft, green light