The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-01-17
BROWNS MI&lTAKE.
BY. N. @. sHEPHERD.

large if not larger than that of the
| Smiths and Jones-Archibald Brown,
| was about to remark, when | was
led astray by the foregoing observa-
ton, was aofriend of mine from my
schoolboy- days, and as good and true
a friend as ever had. / am sure
that he will forgive me for letting the
world know. all about his mistake
mistake which, after all, was anything
but mistake, as the sequel proved,
for no other reason than that it's re-
suits were of SO happy a nature. The
truth is, my friend Archibald was
much given TO misapprehensions, mis-
conceptions, and the like, all of which
he chose tosclassify under the head of
mistakes. That was one of my mis-
takes,' he would say; " this is
another of my mistakes " And am
sure if Browns mistakes had proven
\ so disastrous as those Of many another
man, he would have been ruined
over and over again. &Ai@9ie~
But Brown, it appears, was not to
be ruined. There are those VINO
seem born to good fortune, in spite of
all they may do to mar,their prospects
In life. The sun wiltshire upon them.
whether. or no, without regard to any
action on their part calculated to i'm
| pede or obstruet, their rays land for
them, every cloud that passes over,
their lives has hidden, for time,
from mortal ken bright and silver
Filming.
Such was Archibald Brown, Esq
How often has Brown said to me, re-
ferring to matters of business:
IF / hadn't made the eonfounded
blunder did, I should have been all
right" And few weeks aftefward,
abiding to the same subject, " 1t
turned out right after all; thought /
was mistaken but somehow Iwasn t. "
But the mistake | refer to in par
ticular as Browns mistake, was
matter concerning the heart, not the
pocket. Brown was in love-how
deeply at that time 1 wouldn't like to
say; but then that makes little differ
ence, for Brown married that same
woman only six months afterward Gall
through this mistake of his), and
there is no more affectionate or de-
voted husband than he in all my ac-
quaintance. TT.
The facts of the case are these.
Archibald Brown was always some
thing of ladies man. Not brilliant
or accomplished, either by nature or
requirements, he still managed to
make himself pretty generally agreea-
Bile among the fair sex ); and, in my
opinion, Brown was somewhat sus-
ceptible. The name of the lady who
had enthralled my friend Brown, was
Hetty Sanford, fresh, rosy, blonde
beauty, whose life had not been spent
thus far in the spent-up city, but in a
smallo village where a half-hour's
walk would bring her upon the broad,
open fields, andswhere; from her wind
.ow, she could see the purple hills ris-
ing like giants far across the vale,
that nestled like a sunny child to
their feet. Yet, withal,. Henrietta
Sanford possessed all that grace and
elegance which belong to the repre-
sentatives of good families, whether
reared among the frivolties of fash
ionable life in great cities or IN more
remote and purer atmospheres. Het-
ty was in every way worthy of the
best Of mems love, and Browns re-
gard for her reflected honor both on
his judgment and his feelings; or, in
other and more familiar phrase, " do
credit to his head as well as to his
heart. ~
The way in which Brown became
acquainted with Hetty Sanford, was
through her cousin, Miss Julia Lay
ton, at whose house Hetty was visiting.
No greater contrast could exist be-
tween any two persons, spite of their
relationship, than. between the two
girls. Julia Layton was as plain as
Hetty Sanford was pretty; but Ju-
las father was a millionaire, and she
his only child, and consequently the
sole heiress to his large fortune.
Hetty, on the contrary, was one of six
children, five of whom were girls, and
who-no fault of theirs, to be sure
would bring little of worldly goods to
those whom they might marry.
Before Archibald Brown laid ewes
on Hettie Sanford, he used frequently
to visit at the Layton's, and for no
other purpose than to see Julia, who,
he used to say, and justly. was very
entertaining and intelligent girl. i
What Browns intentions were really, /
at this time. or whether he had any at
ALL toward Miss Julia, | am unable
to say, as he never made confdante
of me as to what his intentions were
at that period but after Hetty had
been in town a couple of months,
then it was that he disclosed his plans
to me. During that time he had been
very attentive to both ladies, but his
attentions were particularly marked
towards Hetty Sanford. This was by
no means rightin Brown, if he hadn't
any idea of marrying the girl His
feelings, to be sure, may have led him
into it, but then he should have
guarded himself against them. and |