The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1867-02-22
SERIOUS mood there was anything fool
lish. in peraoue nj tha;r f;u,o Of l;ra

ish, In persons at their time of life -
10 be sure they were rather too ole
for such tritling; for Arthur wal
twenty two years Of age, and Jan,
wanted but a few months of nineteen
But we all become wiser as we ge
old; and perhaps the iime came wher
these rose. plants we're suffered tC
blossom unheeded, and to cover til,
ground about them with snow
shower of fragrance, enjoyed only by
the working bees. At present they
were put into the mould as carefully az
if on their lives depended the lives ot
those who planted them; and Jane wa
tered them, unnecessarily, in vernaI
night of dew, with a shower Of tears
"lfthey grew-bud-and blossom, that
will be a goot oMEN-if not, | must
not allow myself to bow to any fool.
ish fears!'T lt 81 ~. y
The parting kiss was given, and
the last mutual bcnedictions, and
then Arthur Crawford, clearing his
voice, said, 81 hear the fun and frol.
ic is not yet over, nor likely to be
soon. Why don you ask me to join
the part,2' 1t was well known that
they were betrothed, and that the
marriage was to take place on his re.
turn from this cruise, so, with a
blush, Jane introduced him into the
parlor. al presume, Lieutenant >
said. one, "you have come here in a
balloon" "Well, Jane" said anoth.
er, 81 declare that / never missed
you out OF the room--werc you Civ.
ing orders about superior have you
been in the garden to see ii the cres-
ses are to be cuty' The sailor was,
during this time, shaking the old man
10y the hand, so firmly, that the water
stood in his eyes, and he exclaimed,
"W hy, Arthur, your fist IS like vice.
1t would not do for you to shake
hands with any Of the young lasses
there--you would make the blood
tlnglc in their fingers. Sit down, my
dear son, and while the younkers are
busy among themselves, let us hear
what the French and Spaniards are
about, and il it be true that lord Mel.
sonli is going to give them settling
again" So passed the evening by;
charades and songs lent their air, and
after breaking up of the party,
which lasted about half an hour in
finding and fitting ON straw bonpets,
shawls and shoes, the laughter, and
voices Of one and all, as they receded
from the cottage up the hill, or down
the vale, died away, and Croiihead
was buried in silence and in sleep.
y Days and weeks passed on, while
Jane Nasmyth sat in her cottage, or
walked about the adjacent fields and
her lover was sailing far and wide
upon the seas. There were many
rumors of an expected engagement
and her hear. duttcred at the sight of
every stranger. But her lovers let
ters came, if not regularly, yet in
pleasant numbers, and their glad and
cheerful tone infused confidence into
her heart. When lie was last away,
they were lovers; but now their mar.
riage was fixed, and his letters now
were written as to his bride, over.
flowing with gratitude and delighted
affection. When she was reading
them, he seemed to be talking before
her--the great distance of land and
sea between them vanished--and as
he spoke of his ship, OF which he was
so proud, she almost expected, on
lifting up her eyes, to see its masts
towering up before her, with all their
glorious flags and ensigns. But they
were streaming to the wiud above
the foam OF the ocean, and her eyes
saw only the green shade Of the shel.
tering sycamore ,--her cars heard
only the deep murmur of the working
bees, as ifa whole hive had heen in
that tent-like tree. lls;.... a,a.t.- do
Nor did Jane Nasmyth forget to
visit many times every day, the two
roses which her lover had planted,
and to which he had told her to look
as an omen Of his state when far at
sea. To the bank on which they
grew she paid her earliest visit, along
with the beams of the morning sun;
and there, too, she marked the first
diamonds of the evening dew. They
grew to her hearts desire; and now
that the year was advanced, they
showed few flower buds, and seem.
ed about TO break out into roses,
slender as were their bending stems.
That one which bore her lovers name
hung over her own, as If shcltering
it with its tleXile arch, and when
weighed down by the rain. drops, or
by the breeze, 1t touched gently the
leaves of its companion, and seemed
to intc:wine with it in a balmy en-
brace, The heart can accumulate
love and delight upon any object
whatever; but these plants were in
themselves beautiful, and every leaf
swarmed, not withpoctic visions, but
with thoughts of such deep human
tenderness, that they were seldom
looked at without a gush of tears
They were perfectly unlike all the
other shrubs and flowers in that gar
den; and had they been dug up,
1t would have been felt as sacrilege;
had withered, the OMEN would have
struck through her very life. But
they did not wither; and nothing
touched them but the bee or the but,
terfy or happily for moment the
green linnet, the chafllnch, or the
red cap, halt balanced on the bend
ing spray, and half supported by his
huttering wings.