M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1860-02-16


And yet, days afterward, when you
east expect it, you shall catch your.
'elf bumming strain after strain, aa
Easily as fyou had known them from
and in truth it shall seem
more like an echo Of something with
which you had long ago been familiar,
than the acquisition 0fScmething en-
lirely new.
"Just so was it to me with Mary
Marshall's eyes. do not think |
thought Of them for weeks after that
night at the theatre, until one morn
ing ! was walking into my Office,
thinking OF 'declarations,' not in love,
but in law, when her image started
out in memory with more than the
distinctiveness of most familiar faces.
| cannot explain why this should be
so, any more than | can explain why
it is that at occasional periods in eve-
ry mans life there flashes across his
mind, with a sort Of curdling shudder,
a shadowy consciousness Of having
seen or heard all that is then passing,
at some remote point of the illimita-
bic past. only know that both are
true. The causes of and the deduc.
tion from, | leave to profound specu.
lators. ....
"Once having presented itself, it
seemed determined not to be exercis-
ed, and it maintained its position du.
ring the entire morning, pertinacious-
ly returning to the attack whenever
for moment by assiduous
to the perusal Of "Cohe
and Littleton.'
"ln the afternoon of the same day
| was passing slowly down fremont
street. There had been a warm sun
for some days, and the snow was dis
Now and then, when il
was drifted on the roofs, the dampen-
ing of the states occasioned it to slip
from its position, and descend in min
iature avalanches into the streets be-
low, sometimes carrying with it frag,
ments OF ice, which, from the last
nights freezing, were clinging to the
caves.
"Suddenly, one ofthese slides DEL
uged me with snow, and q lady, who
had been walking just before me for
SOME distance, was knocked down by
a fragment Of ice.
"Of course, my first impulse was to
raise and carry her into the nearest
shop; the next to inquire ifshe was at
all injured. But the motion OF carry
in commenced the work of reanima-
tion, and the restorative produced by
some ladies present in the shop, soon
it, and the same eyes | had
seen at the theatre again met my own.
sit would be useless to detail to you
how 1t happened thatI called a carriage
and accompanied her to her fathers
house; or how a pleasant acquaintance
sprung ont OF that chance service; ofa
thousand other things you can as well
imagine. .-..
"Let it be enough to tell you, what
| suppose you already anticipate, that
a friendship soon grew up between us.
which, long before the blossoms Of the
following spring, had ripened into &C,
knowledged love, and that all unheed-
ing any obstacle which might be set
up between US, we were happy as
summer birds. .s '.
"For some years previous to this
time, little-nay, nothing-had been
said by any party in regard to the con.
tract long before entered into between
the parents Of Louis and Mary; and
the latter, whose gay heart had scarce
ly given it thought until she met
with me, Eow began to hope that it
had been forgotten, or, at least, aban.
doned by tacit consent. But causes
which will briefly allude to, soon
brought it to remembrance.
"For several months both of the
houses Of Marshall and Milton, in
common with major part Of the CON-
mercial community, had been dipping
largely into extravagant speculation,
and had been losers to an alarming
extent, though neither knew of the
others danger, and both retained their
reputation Tor wealth. Under these
circumstances, each looked to the con-
summation Of this contract Of mar
riage, as the most available means of
avoiding bankruptcy; and accordingly
LOUIS pressed bis suit urgently, and
Marshall aided him with all his pow.
ers OF persuasion. | was poor, and
Marshall was Ain short, it would
have been worse than useless TOR me
to have spoken then. .-.
"And so the time had gone forward
into the summer, and one afternoon
accidentally brought Mary and myself
together in one ofthe city book. stores.
While there, chatting over the books,
| purchased one OF them and gave it
her, paying for it with a bank.note oil
some large denomination. I'D .'
GA nd nox, lat mn boekor oros m