The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1865-02-01

were great slmpeton, as ID truth mnst
Thave been, for after playing yours most
devotedly' for six months, I was no near.
er winning than at first. Open-hearted
aud candid she was on every other sub.
Iject but just let me speak of love or
marriage, and I might as well talk to a
stone wall for all the sense | could get
from her. No matter how cautiously |
might approach the subject, she was al
ways ready with some off hand answer as
far from what I wanted as the equator
from the poles, until was almost In de-
spair, but more eager after every failure,
All is fair In love and war or at least |
thought Sc, and resolved to try the result
of strategy on my Wilful lady-love.
One 6ne mcrning, as we were about
starting for tide on horseback, and |
was assisting Miss Jessie into the saddle
her horse commenced rearing and kick
ing at an alarming rate of course the
Jagged bits if iron I had cautiously insert
ed beneath the saddle had nothing to do
with It. By the time she was fairly seat.
ed be had become perfectly unmanage-
able, throwing her violently from the sad
die: of course caught her before she
touched the ground. No sooner was she
iu safety, than, with deep groau, Istag-
gered back against the fence, my right
arm hanging helpless by my side. 1t took
nicely, for Jessie was beside me in
moment.
30 WILL" she said piteously, "that terri
BILE horse has broken your arm and
what will you do? Poor Will! poor
Will w
How like rascal I felt at sight of her
destress but I was not going to give up
then so answered, with another terri
BILE groan, sit is nothing, dear Jessie |
would suffer thousand times more to feel
that I had saved your precious life"
"But oh, am SO sorryl What can be
done for you she said, IN such touching
accents that I half rerented.
"The end justifes the means,"1 tbo,t
The end accomplished certainly did
My answer was ir voice low and faint,
as If [ wac just dying
"Only tell me that ycu love me, Jessie,
darliugj it will soothe my pain more than
anythiDg else in the world" And then,
like the great simpleton that | was put
that right arm around her, and never dis
covered my mistake until she sprang
suddenly away from me.
"Wouldn't little brandy and water do
as well, Mr.. Tremaine?" she said arch.
ly. "There don't seem to be any bones
broken; the injury was internal, [ should
think" -.
Weldn't have sold myself for six
pence But there was no help for it; so
had to own the trick, and went home
wishing had broken my arm, or neck
didn't care much which. After that, for
awhile, I was rather shy of the love sub
ject, for did not fancy hearing of my last
attempt; but "out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaketh," and my
heart was SC full of my love for Jessie
Hale, that I could not force my tongue
20 keep silence very long. So one morn
ing, after louuging in my study until |
was tired of every thiug-myself in partic-
ular-I weut over the Wa7, resolved that
the matter should be decided before |
returned. Jessie was sitting by the par
lor window, busily sewing, and hummiug
some merry tune to herself when | euter-
ed She was looking prettier that ever,
I thought; and | found it terrible hard
work to talk on commonplace subjects,
when my mind was SO fall of the one SO
important to me.
At last I broke IN upon some of her
careless nonsense with-"Why in the
world, Jessie, dor't you say whcther you
love me or not? What is the use of
keeping fellow ii suspense forever ?-I
| believe you do--in fact | know you d."
Here | was again making a simpleton
of myself I might have known she nev-
er would have told me after that, but
did not understand woman kind as well
then, as I have done since.
"Oh! you know, then, do you, "she
said, cody, with merry twinkle in her
eye.
"Then, of course, there is no need of
of my telling you"
No, I did not mean it, jessie" said
penitently. "But do you love me? Will
you answer me, yes or no7 Will you an
swer me, yes or no Z"
ayes or no." she answered. demurely. |
30 Jessie Hale" I exclaimed, impa-
tiently, ,"you will drive me erazy|
IA terrible misfortune, surely" she
said, with laugh, throwing down her
work and stepping through the lew win
dow upon the lawn. "Now viii, will
tell you what I will do if you will promise
never to plague me again about this"
will promise anything if yod will
only give an honest answer" I said ca