Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1860-06-23
A DIAMOND ROMANCE.
DY MRS. MANY J. HOLMES.


"The boys mustn't look at the girls, and the
girls must look on their books" was said at
least dozen times BY the village schoomas-
ter, on that stormy morning when Cora Ban
chard aud I-she IN her brothers boots, aud
| IN my fathers so k, wal,d through drift
after drift Of snow t. the old brown >ch0ul-
house at the foot Of the long, steep hill
We were the only girls wl.o had dared to
brave that wintIy storm, and We felt amply re-
laid for our trouble, when We saw how much
! attention We received from the ten tall boys
who had come-sOme for fun some because
they saw Cora Blanchard 90 by-and one.
I Walter Beaumont, because lac did not wish 10
lose the lesson of the day. Our teacher, Mr.
GranniS, was fitting him for college, aud every
moment was precious t. the whltc-browcd, III
! trlectual student, who was quite lion among
US girls, partly because hc WAS older, aud part
" bteati~e he never noticed Us a. much H. did
the other boys On this occasion, however,
lac was quite attentive 10 Cora, at least, pull
ing off her boots, removing her hood, and
brushing the large snow fakes from her soft,
wavy hair, while Ecr dark brown eyes smiled
gratefully upon him, as he gave her his warm
seat by the stove.
That morning Cora wrote to me slilyon her
Slate, II don't care ifmothcr Dies say Walter
Beaumont is j,o1r Us 1,oreffy-I like him best
Of anybody in the world don't youE'
! thon,ilt Of the biz red apple in my pocket
: and Of the bnY-who lad 80 carefully ehakcL
the snow from OF my fathers socks, and AN
= swcrcd, No"-tLinking, the wiLlc, that |
should say yCt, if Walter had ever treated me
as he did my playmate and ilrnh, Cora lilan
charl. She was beautiful Young eirl, II IA
voIitc with all, and possessing, as it srtlnrd
! but one elaring tauit-a pronene>S to estimate
! pr0pc toi their wealth rather than til, rwOrth
! This, in a measure, WAS the result Of nor home
training. for her family, though far from being
rich, were vciy arl>tDclatir, and str"vc to keep
! their children as much a. pnSslLlc from a>ao-
ciating With the ">ul gar herd, a. they styled
the labolng class Of tn. community. In her
secret heart Cora had long cherished a pref r
rnce for Waiter, though never, until the morn
Ing Of which | write, had it been 50 openly
ayuwch. Ard Walter, tn", while knowing
how far abnvc him She was in point Of posi-.
-tiun;7 rTd- riTrrTi tn dream 6f ttInc Wfcn Il
bright haired wonam, with face much like
that Of the girli>I Cora, would gladden. his
home wherever it L,ight be.
That noon, as we Sat around the glowing
stove, we plnycd, as children will, and it came
NY tuTH W Hl>NtI NilhHl
to marry" Without thought Of the big
apple the snowy socks, or Of any one in rHr-
I ticular, replied. unhc>ilating'y, "The one |
love best. ard the qu' >tion PASSED on 10 Cora,
who was sitting hy the side Of Walter Bean.
mont lie had not .j'incl III our sport, but
now hi, eye left hi book and rested upon
Cora with an eXpr, S>iou half fearful, half cX.
pcctant. She, too, glanced at him, and, a> il
the s;iit "f prophc>y were mr"r her, She
said II = al, not marry the one love the
best, hut the one who has the most money,
AMI can give me the hand>nmcst ditm0hdS.
Sister Fanny has II magnificent set. and She
looks 81 bcau;ilu when She wears them
Instantly there II shadow on Walter
B,num"nt'S face. and his eye returned again
tn the Latin letter., Il page. But his thoughts
were not Of what was written there he was
blinking of the humble cnttage on the hor'lcr-
of the vood OF the rag-Carrtt on the uakcI
tlnor, Of the plain oid-ia>hinncd furniture, ard
Of t',r g.n tie, loving woman who called him
"hrr h"y,' and that spot her home. There
were II" UIamOhf!S thrrC--hO money y---and Cora
If for til, Sc She married, w"nld never h.. his
wife. Fairly and late hc toi!cd and studied
wcaiiEg his thread bare coat and coarse br"wI
nant>-tur an education, such a. he must have
admitted of no useless expenditure, and the
costly gems which Cora crav,d were not la,
/" give. In the pure, ulI>clli>h love >llinginp
mp for her within his Heart, there were da
mondl Of impciiShnble va'uc, and th' So, to
grthcr with the name he would makc1nr him
self he would offer her, but nothing more
and for many weeks there was shadow OF
his brow. though lac was kind and colsdrrat,
to her AS "f old.
As the Sprirg and summer glcd 10y, how
ever, there came Il change AMI when, IN the
autumn, he left our village for New Haven
there was n happy joyous look upon his face
) while tre>s Of C"ra'S siIkcn hair was lying
next his heart. Every week he wrote to her
and Cora answered, always showing me wha
she had written, but never word Of his
There was too much love-" she said, "tot
much good advice in his letters for me to see,
and thus the time passed on until Walter
who had entered the junior class, was gradu
atcd with honor, and was about to commence
the theological course At AEduvrr, for he La,
made the ministry his choice. lie was TWEEN
ty-0ne now, and Cora was sixteen. Won
drouSy beautiful was She to look upon, will
her fair young face, her soft, hroWn eyes, AIT
wavy hair. Aud Walter Beaumont loved he
devotrdlv, believing, too, that she. in turn
loved him, iOr one summer aitcrnoon in tn
green on WOOlS WHICH ski lCu the nltIe NliiHnC
+ she had sat by his side, and with the sun
beams glancing down upon her through til
ovcrhanging boughs she had told him 81, am
Il promised some day to be his wife. SIN, sh
would not hear Of positive engagement
t both should bc free to change their mind
u they wished, she said, and With this Waite
u was satisfied.
c 81 have no diamonds to give YOU, darling,
hn CaiI 6rau bnr oil, 90 al
knowing to what he referred, answered tina
'hiS love was dcarer to her than all the worl
J, besides" Alas that woman should bc S
\ \ tickle!
The same train which carried Walter ava,
brought Mrs. Blanchard letter from he
tlaughter-a dashing fashionable woman, wb
lived in the city, and who wished to bring he
. sister Cora "out" the coming winter. "Sli
y. is old enough, now" she wrote, "to he lool
, ing for husband, and, of course, she'll ncv,
do anything in that by place"
This proposition, which accorded cxactl
n with Mrs. Banchard'S wishes, was joyful
l. acccded to by Cora. who while anticipatiu
the pleasure which awaited her, had vet u
thought Of proving false to Walter, and in ii
). letter which she wrote. informing him Of h,
h plan, she assured him of her nnchangin
fidelity, little dreaming that the promise tht
d made would so soon be broken! Prtted, CT
to rrsSed. fattrred and admired, as she was
- Il the circle of her sisters friends, how could 81
> help growing worldly and vain, or avoid COZ
traSting the plain, unnSSuming Walter wit
the polished and gayly-drcsSed butterflies wi