New Orleans daily crescent., 1860-01-09

ship with him would or would not be avisable
The dear girl herself seemed almost hurt about II ;
but whispered to her that she must trust me en-
treiy, and she said no more. Nelly had wonder.
full faith in my infallibility dsen. It would have
been q great comfort to me to tell her all about
that venture of mine, for grew quite haggard
with keeping it to myself. And how watched
that solitary plant. Ii | saw the least signs of
improvement in its appearance i trembled; and
the more the leaves dropped the more did my
spirits rise. Twas like fellow by the sick-bed Of
one from whom he expects . rich legacy. You
see embarked not only my cash, but all my future
prospects in this one venture. If lost the money
knew | should be sure to lose Nelly also. The
successful speculator is feted as q shrewd man,
and his fellows talk of his talent for business; the
unlucky ono is stigmatised as gambler and
mailman.
But my anxiety did not last long. The certain
ty of a failure In the crop Of hops became known,
and there was an outcry in the market. Nobody
knew where all the hops were gone to. The brew
ers, calculating on diminished prices, had but few
in hand when the blight came, and now they eager
ly sought to increase their stock You will guess
how held back, and then sent in my precious
commodity in small quantities, and how my capital
was quadrupled by the transaction,
III see IT all now" interrupted I; YOU
Stop, and let me finish. Don't be rude, and
spoil my story; it Is nearly done. When | had
parted with my last parcel Of hops, and found my
self the possessor Of twelve instead Of three thon
sand poands, marched boldly into cid Stanley's
office. s want to speak to you about the partner
ship you were good enough to propose said /.
So you think of trusting your fortune in the
the coneernn
took no notice OF the implied taunts butnlerely
answered: " Not exactly the amount at first pro-
posed.n quite enjoyed the misunderstanding for
saw he thought only wished to venture part
of my cash. since he told me very eoldly had
better retain the WHOLE as he should object to hay
ing anything to do with such avery trifng matter
4 YOu are under mistake, Mr.. Stanley, n an
swered " / wish to add larger not smaller
amount to the capital of the firm. have nine
thousand pounds, the result of my first mercantile
venture, to add to the three possessed short
back; and then told him all. l wish YOU could
have seen the old fellows face. It was not the
meney he cared for, after all, but the fact of nv
having proved myself wide awake. He said-and
he could not imagine greater compliment
tSwinton, you deserve to be my son-in-law, I
went home with him that day, and after dinner,
when Neily-she had no mother-was going to
withdraw, he said: Take Swinton with you and
fix the wedding day. And so she did, like a dear,
datful daughter. as she always was. Old Stanley
behaved very handsomely. This pretty home of
ours was his wedding present. and cost more than
all my fortune. need not say now why it is
called Hop Villa; and when tell you that the old
vine we lamented the death of, to-day, is veri-
table scion Of the one which laid the foundation of
my happiness, you will not wonder at our regret
at losing it,
& just one question more before we join the
ladies, swinton. Was this your only gambling
transaction.n
6 Really and truly, yes. Remember, / ran the
risk Of losing money to win home and bride,
and having gained these, would | endanger them
for money only, think youa .
:. True you need not enlarge upon III. Now
let us go TO the mistress of Hop Villa