Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1867-04-04

furnish his house for his youn
. wife's comfort, having purchase
every article of their Household
; goods upon credit. This matter
, undertook to arrange for her; and
: by going round among the vari
Gus creditors, persuaded the mos
of them to take their goods bacl
by paying them small percentag'
for their packing and fixing. This
however, required the outlay of ;
couple hundred dollars; the fune
raj expenses were one hundred anc
fifty more, and she had not twenty
dollars in the world toward it.
The next morning, therefore
saw me at John Wolfe's store; he
had but just returned from a tour
South, and was quite shocked td
hear of his book-keeper's sudden
death. l briefly related to him
the situation in which the young
wife had been left, and the arrange
ment / had made with creditors,
and awaited his answer.
"Call as you 60 home this eve
ning," said he, "and will attend
to it. l am very busy just now"
When | called in the evening
he handed me a letter for the
widow, and begging me to let
him know if he could be of any
service in the future, he started
for home, and | did likewise.
[ left the letter with the widow
as / went home, and after supper,
Mrs. Dick and myself walked over
to see her, a little curious, / must
say, to know the contents of John
Wolfe's letter.
confess / had never entertain
ed a favorable opinion of John
Wolfe; he had always seemed to
me overbearing and proud, and
looked, l thought, as many young
men do who have never known
anything of making a living for
themselves, and are very apt to
think that they are made out of
superior stuff to the rest of us, and
must be looked up to and smiled
upon by all the rest OF the world.
But / tell you | got new sight
into the human heart when / read
that letter. 1t was, without eX-
ception, the kindest, most feeling,
most consoling letter | ever read
so full of deep sympathy for her
sudden loss, SO overfowing with
expressions of esteem and regard
for her husband, and winding up
with sentiments so divine and heav-
enly trust in an overruling Provi-
dence, and the sweet consolation |
of religion, that l declare | could |
scarcely think the letter emanated |
from a man so wholly engrossed |
in himself as he always seemed
to be. The letter, moreover, con-
tanned his individual check for
one thousand dollars, to meet, he
said, the expense incidental to SO
sudden and unexpected a bereave-
ment.
"Well, John Wclfe," said I, "af-
ter this will never again judge
man from appearances.
81 should like to know" said
my cynical friend, interrupting
me, "what this has got to do with
John Wolfe's rich wife,"
Certainly" said /, eve shall
probably come to all that in the
course of time. Here, take anoth-
er cigar, and don't be inpatient
The young widow returned to
her friends in Vermont, and what
followed, although | did not get
with the facts until a
short time ago, shall proceed to
tell you in the order they occurred.
Within week or SO after her
arrival at her old home, John
Wolfe received q letter from her
ather, returning him the thou
sand dollars so kindly advanced
20 his daughter, with a profusion
of thanks for his kindness to his
oereaved child, and expressing a
strong desire to be able to repay
t by any service it might be in
ais power to perform in return.
But there was another inclos-
Ire which John, it seems, thought
. great deal more about than the
I'D mans and the thousand dollars,
md this was a letter from the
young widow herself, SO brimful
# gratitude that he began to be