The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1865-10-11

W ihuuibO III tuO AuiO huu AoipAtNSh fasS
lice of throwing stones. Be kind enough
10 go home at once"
HYes, air" se.. bsaI 5sv
The professor stalked toward the acad.
emy. Preston ran back He tossed his
purse into the childs lap. !.
~ can't stay-take that, poor little
dear. I. wish / could do more i wish
you had some one to take care Of you
If my aunt was here she'd see to you I
know. There, good bye Coming, sir, .
(for the professor had paused to beckon
awfully)
"Good bye-keep good heart-1
hope you amt hurt much. / wish--Yes
sir-Good bye" And SO they parted
Preston was cansd that night for throw.
ing stones in the academy garden, and
was too noble to betray his companions,
so that he suffered alone After this he
had sundry lessons in the Latin gram
mar given to him as a punishment for
seeking low company. The lessons, how
ever, were never learned, for in their
midst came a telegraphic message for
Preston, announcing the fact of his faith.
er's sudden death, and summoning him
home. He went in haste, leaving his
books open on his desk, and his boys pos.
sessions--bat and ball, and top and fish
ing lines--in tho play ground and he
never came back for either /; for his
school days we're over, and life ho ncv.
er expected lay before him.
A bubble had burst. One Of those
strange things that happen in the lives ol
spectators had happened to his father
and he who had seemed rich had died Q
penniless beggar.
A year from the time when Paul Pres
ton led the Trick bat war in Professor
Sticklebat's Academy, found him clean
ing stones and running erraDds in dingy
New York office. No longer the son aud
heir Of a wealthy man, with money al
his command, but 40 i'll paid drudge, who
had not always enough to cat, or sufi
Glen, clothing for the bleak days and
nights Of New York winter. He had
no friends to look to, for his young aunt
was left poor and friendless as himself
and his mother had been dead as long as
he could remember; and he knew that il
he we're TO become anything above an of
fee drudge-to win name or-fortune-t'
climb one step up the ladder Of life
must bo by his own unaided exertions.
He was ambitious and hopeful, as al
boys are; but the winning Of his dali,
bread and shelter was all his young hand
could accomplish as yet. And so th'
days passed on, bringing little chang
with them. At night he studied, robbins
himself often of half a meal to pay fo
necessary light and fuel, but sustained b.
the thought that knowledge is the key
stone to all power, and that, by ap2lica
ton and self denial as boy, he nigh
some day become renowned and wealth,
man.
1t was hard lice--a sad life, too, an,
he grew into early manhood graver an,
older 1T heart than he would have beel
under other circumstances Slowly ad
vancing, as the years went on, he ha
changed his old position for that Of
clerk III the same Office. Another bo
cleaned the stones and ran the errands
aud Preston was pro oted to tall stoo
in the inner office, where six other youn
men wrote from morning till night i
great solemn looking ledgers, that mad
your very eyes ache, they were so ponder
Gus. at i'
Thereit was that he saw his old en-
ployer's daughter.
Often and often, when the clerks wer
at their busiest, the sound Of carriag
wheels would break upon the silence, an
a girls laugh, and the rustic Of rich sill
and a steps as light as that Of q fairy
would cause every pen to pause upon th
paper, and every eye to lift itself from th
weary columns; and then, past them, i
all her brightyoung beauty--so adorne
by costly robes and jewels that she scarce
| ly seemed common mortal--woul
glide Miss Herbert, never casting a glanc
at any Of them, but hurrying toward tn,
imm st Office where her papa held sol
emn conferences with bis partners;
mysterious place in which the machiner
Of that great business was, metaphoricall
speaking, oiled and set in motion.
And there would come from that sane
tum such merry sounds Of girlish chs
and laughter that the clerks would paus
again to tell each other how sweet he
voice was, and how beautiful her FAC
grew as she grew older, and what an heil
ess she would be; for how many million
old Herbert could leave her, no on
knew.
Preston never spoke one word, not be
canse he was Indifferent to her charm.
but because they impressed him NOR
than others. Without having spoken I
her, without feeling sure that she ha
even ever seen him, always understanding
the impossible barrier which her wealt
aud his poverty made between them, Pau
Preston had fallen in love with Ros
Herbert He could have knelt to kis
the floor her feet had trod. He felt
certain reverence for the most insiguifi
cant thing she touched or trifed with.
Once he found glove dropped upol
the sill, and knowing it to bo hers coul'
not bear to give it up, but kept it hiddel
in his bosom like some holy relic. /
was romantic sort Of boys love, but no
the less pure and earnest. He was TWEEN
ty years old nov, and tall and well devel
oped for his age; and in his lonely lif
no had found companionship in his books
Many an old romance he had read, an,
n