The Elk advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Elk Co., Pa.) 186?-1868, 1866-07-05
SELECT STORY.
[From the PhiPa Press
TIE .M.ARKED .uON.ET.
A Story ofLove and Law.

eye to the main chance. He was proud
of his position as landlord proud that
his house should be known and spoken
Of in the great city of London, and par
ticularly proud that so many connois-
seurs thought it we'll worth their while
20 drive out to the "Village Tavern"
that they might drink Gordon's mimi
table punch, made from the pecul-
lar whiskey Of which the landlord
had trace from the moment it came
from the still, just close to the foot of
Ben Nevis, to the hour it went gurgling
down the drinkers throat.
Of all these things was John Gordon
proud. This was the pride of his pro-
fession; but there was one thing more
of which he was proud, and to which all
other things we're but as accessories.-
This was his daughter Lefty. Lefty
Gordon was the landlords only child
He had married an English wife, and
ten years after this marriage there came
to John Gordon this one child. On the
day that little Lefty could count eight
years, Mrs. Lefty Gordon, senior, was
called to another and better world,
leaving little Lefty heiress Of all the
goods, chattels, and real estate of which
she died possessed, the last item being
"The Village Tavern" with its furni.
ture and belongings; comfortable set
ting out which, with true Scotch thrift,
her good father had settled upon her
the day she was married, and from
which John Gordon had garnered some
solid wealth, which lay stretched out in
various farms in the country round.
Lefty Gordon had blue eyes, very
blue, very large, and sparkling with
suppressed mischief. Lefty Gordon had
light brown hair that danced about her
head, laughing all combs to scorn, and
almost repudiating ribbon. She had
the whitest skin, and the whitest teeth,
and the-oh this sounds too much
like an auctioneer's summary. I shall
end it by saying that she was just the
merriest, sweetest and most enticing
little fairy I have ever seen, and am
not alone in so believing. There were
a few of the favored guests Of "The
Village Tavern" who could occasionally
see Lefty Gordon /; but to the mass who
went and came like shadows, Lefty was
herself q shadow. They had heard of
the landlords beautiful daughter; once
in long while some one more fortunate
than the rest would catch a glimpse OF
the little maiden, but from whence she
came or whittier she went the glimpser
could never tell. They drank the
health quietly of the mysterious beauty
of whom they heard SO much, OF whom
they knew she breathed the same at,
mosphere with themselves, and yet to
them was a sealed book. This was the
treasure that John Gordon watched and
guarded-she who, already an heiress
in her own right, was to inherit all the
acres that he had been adding year by
year from the overflow of 4" The Village
Tavern" Lefty was not the only ad'
miration of the gay groups who came
from the city, but she was the ambition
Of every rustic beau, who looked with
,covetous eyes upon the fair face aud the
broad acres of the landlords daughter
They looked, but they looked in vain
for John Gordon had long resolved tha
whoever came wooing to his Lefty
should be no common man, but shoulC
out-double her in wealth.
Lefty Gordon was not the only .ai
attraction that brought the gallants t
"The Village Tavern" There WI
another bright face, another comel
shape, in the person ofMartha Field
Martha and Lefty were of an age-bOt
eighteen. Martha was an orphan, an
had been taken when child BY tn
/ late Mrs. LEFTY Gordon to 'oars for
J. Martha was the right hand OF 9Th
y Village Tavern !" she was here, thel
and everywhere, as John Gordon o.
pressed it. Ifsxtra company came, an
aid was wanted in the kitchen, Marth
was able and willing. Whether Ma
ths'e tand Tse ~lnted in the bedroom