St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1860-04-26

I g. and send him off, said Charles Dear
/ lazily lifting his graccfu! figure fror
the lounge.
I" forgot, Miss Evelyn" said tn
: servant, re-opening the door, to tel
you that the boy said his name wa
; Leonard Hughes
Oh, | know who it is now" spring
: ing up with animation.
/ And | should like to know wha
he's come to take you away from mC
for" added her cousin looking as
though he should be quite willing t
accompany her.
But Eva hurried away without
speaking.
She found Leonard Hughes in the
front hall he had evidently taken a
good deal of pains in preparing him
. self for this interview. His face and
hands were perfectly clean, aud he
wore u faded brown coat and black
cap; on the whole, his appearance
was considerably improved.
" Good morning." in that bright
cordial way which at once relieved
was as soon as the girl told me your
name"
Did you?" his face frightening at
once 81 was afraid you'd forget
Oh, no. haven't forgotten what
promised you, either"
But the boy did not answer. He
only sat still, awkwardIy twisting his
brown fingers amongst each other.
Come, now, don't be afraid. What
ever it is, speak it out"
And then Leonard Hughes gained
courage, and told his story to his
sympathetic listener. 1t was a sad,
sad tale, for he was an orphan with
out friend or a dollar in the world.
His mother and father died before he
could remember them, and his uncle,
the village blacksmith" had taken
him into his own family. He was a
coarse, harsh man, with termagant
for a wife, and half dozen noisy, OBJ
strcpcrous children. His life had
come up to its fifteenth year, amid
these harsh surroundings and associa-
tions, and his uncle had determined to
bring him up to the blacksmith's trade
But Of late the boys soul had utter
ly revolted at the work to which he
was destined he had not revealed his
! adherence Of the business to his un-
Gle, or any of the family, as it would
only briag down a world of invcctivc
and ridiculc upon his head, for he was
! l,fL. .I,t
they felt, rather than understood, the
antagonism bCtwiXt his character and
theirs, for Leonard was a quiet,
thoughtful boy, and loved long ram
bleS in the woods, and to read old
| books and newspapers, instead of the
noisy sports of the blacksmith's ro-
bust children.
For the last year or two his home
had become quite intolcrable to him,
and he had entertained many thoughts
of leaving it, but he was all ignorant
country boy" without friends or
money, and he had nowhere to go.
But couple Of weeks ago, while
he was working at the anvil, the
memory of Evelyn's promise had sud
denly flashed into his mind, and
All this, in substance, Leonard
Hughes related to the squires daugh-
ter that morning, and if you had seen
his bright, honest face, and listened
to his words, you would NJ more have
/ doubted them than she did.
And So you plucked up courage,
/ pt Dst tn ha
girl, taking up the words where Leon
ard had left them off.
Yes ; that's it,"
"Wcll, what in the world would
you like to do-if you had your choice,
| mcan?"
/" | should like to go to school--but,
haven't any money, or any way to
get any, only thought Id come and
tell you this, and perhaps you'd know
Of some place where | could 20 and
work very hard, and study a little.
Can you think of any y and the deep
brown eyes asked the question more
eagerly even, than the lips did.
I'll try answered the squire's
daughter, though | can't think Of
any now"
THANK YOU" said Leonard Hughes,
rising up, and his face said something
| more.
at will take me little time to do
anything for you, but suppose you
come here next Wednesday morning
and ask for me 7"
"Pll come, unless we have some job
on hand"
Good morning." and the squire's
daughter slipped her small, dimplcd
hand, into the hard, brown one Of the
little blacksmith.
"Well, Eva, | should like to know
what that boy wanted that he kept
you so long," said Charles Dean lit,
tie pcttishly, when his cousin returned
Oh, Just little matter of bust.
ness" answered the girl, without Oh,
serving his tones and she sat down
and took up her work quietly and
there was thoughtful, distracted ex
preston on her face
The young man watched her in 81
lence for awhile, at last he caught hel
WIN III liiS iiOlio" VI uII
holding it up, said, tell me, coz, what
is the matter !"
81 don't know but l better. Per
haps you can help me-"
"pll promise to, if it's possible,
replied her cousin.
And so Evelyn told the story of hel
first interview with the blacksmith
nephew, and of the pitiful tale whicl
she had heard from his lips that morn
ing.
At first Charles Dean was disposed
to make a joke of the whole thing
but his cousins earnestness stopped
this.
"Don't, Charlie | want to do that
boy some good, and | want you, III
remembrance Of your promise, to help
me-"
/ lie had generous impulses that
could be easily stimulated. Well
Eva, what is it you want me to do =