Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-10-12
Obilo'I. {. gtatesllalt
THE MISSING LETTER.

- THE ,MlSSlNG EETTEks
lsza.ia bst4sab 81 asaio. ! agT1s rsiis
lls wewere sittingo on the rocks beneath the
Broadway house at NJ; the surf rolling
up to our very feet, the moon making y
tbrfght pathway across the waters, and The
lco6l evening breeze playing on our brows !;
so delicious after the Intense heat of the
Phil had dijust arrived that afternoon, and
my heart had warmed afresh to the COM
tpanion of old days. Phil had been great
Traveller since those day ys-had seen all that
was worth seeing In the old world an6the
news had been the foreign correspondent
of SOME Of our leading Journals, and had
lsketched his experience in q style peculiar,
| lyi his own-borrowing neither from the
| fiippant witticism of one class of writers,
nor the solemn, owl-like wisdom of others.
Weary and worn, he had thrown away the
pilgrims staff for a brief season, and had
accepted an Office in the postoffice depart-
ment in Washington-int fact, his business
lay in the dead-leI ter Office sss5s b1rssi-ofs
His quick and active mind caught, at
teHee, the defirieneies of the system, and he
labored for whole year to forward plan
10, remedy them. In this time, very many
serious incidents came TO his knowledge, in
which individuals had suffered deeply from
the loss of letters. And on this night he
found ready listener to q story which had
excited his sympathy, and which he had
traced, step, by step, until its finale. As
nearasaI can recollect them, l shall give il
Ia his ewn words; althoughemy readers
must suffer loss in the absence of PhiPs
deep, impassioned tones, and the eloquence,
not only of his voice, but of the great
brown eyes, which even by moonlight
spoke to me of earnest. intense feeling.
iRs.About the year 1916, q family, named
L'Estrange, removed from Canada to New
York, and took uptheir abode in q street
of somewhat aristocratie pretension. The
father, as you may guess by the name, was
Englishwoman. Both were deeply imbued
With pride of ancestry, and no less with
national pride. The very name of an
American produced in them feelings of dis
gust that made itself soffepsixely visible to
every person that knew them. Gradually,
the friendly hospitality which our people
90 generally extended to strangers was
Echiiisd and weakened by the presumption
sndfarrogance of these foreigners and they
were jthrowns back on themselves for So
ciety. uS08 boa -NIYOd
TO one membersof the household, how
ever, it was impossible to feel repugnance.
Marie L'Estrange was as good as she was
beautiful. She was the only child of her
parents, partaking of none of their arro-
eance, but like sweet and simple wild
flower as she was, giving out the perfume
ana richness of her nature to all around
her. Marie was barely eighteen when her
parents settled in New York. With the
confiding nature of youth, she soon gave
her best affections to one who had eagerly
sought Them. John Holland was the SON of
q New York merchant-a man who, from
small beginnings, was now uppermost In
his circle. He had trained his son in his
own business, and another year was to see
Johns name figuring as q partner in the
long-standing firm OF Holland 81 Co. a..5
He had met Marie L'Estrange at the
house of q friend. and was struck with her
unaffected ID simplicity Of manner, go diner
| ent TO the idea he had formed of the French
| frivolity and mannerism he had known In
.rThe feeling Of attraction was mutual
Marie shared none of her fathers preJu-
dice against the Americans, and her heart
was at once surrendered, without reservar
| ton. The hardest thing to do was for John
his daughter; but It must be done. He
had an intuitive knowledge of the preJu-
dice of L'Estrange; but Marie was richly
worth asking for. and feeling that, after
all, he was really the equal of her father,
| in. birth, blood and breeding, he boldly
came up to the mark and demanded the
hand Of his daughter. y;flsn1 sril51
Have you ever seena Frenchman, Karl,
when his inordinatel self-consequence has
ga gSsp bis ~ as @ ;gnoredp @ He Is NOT 4
FL. ~, s,i,sa,. .atiof "a IN hisden and no
M hl,, rase,,t;5r oa HE ininr;es nnr even q oen-
psS;s psS &: tE;nS ont bis indiSna.
Ho"s a. nOJs nhst ms ;msf;ncf G renopnizes as an
:o as n tns ny = sNiI'S 80
''.sHe is only monkey, whose witless and
,npo.en1 'iaS III s,, sx,n;,;nr ~ oni,, s;rth
IuulcIous anu usy' SIdns oy nstoa
~ ah9 co1IepL ,l ~ N ;S sns noao h sanIS bn. us
I1oiiana leis ~ n.s Pas - NJ
e1periT,,GGe somo VI sis nnoI.'.ai, fro,b;n% ~
Wnsn - .s.lat.gs, osp,b hrnI an ron
sns n3r.n, psVpoon ;psainpes ond nrJAred him