The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1868-02-20

BoB's FIRST LOVE.
ICoNTINUED.T I

lSON1AANS1sbsl
Fair and afflicted lady, you are
right; I am indeed friend; and I
know not who you are. An almighty
infuence--need I name it?--has
drawn me towards you. know no.
thing, seek to know nothing, but
that I am your blind and devoted
slave
s'Pretty, was it not? Well, tied
that to the stone, and remembering
my own accident, and that my charm
er did not wear q tall, stiff hat, I
uttered warning cry, and tossed the
missive over the wall Then 1 ran up
the hill, to see how she liked it, and
ascended high enough in time to OBJ
serve the whole process of reading
the note, which she did holding it at
arms length, clutching it with both
hands, lips parted. If she had stu
died under pre- -Raphaelite painter,
she could not have done it better.
"What I had said seemed to be
satisfactory to her, for when she had
read it, she kissed the note twice,
and thrust it in her bosom; looked
up Mt the sky, clasped her hands, and
walked rapidly off towards the house,
without attempting to communicate
with me further.
Immediately after that commence
ment of correspondence, wet wea-
ther set in, and 1 did not see the
mystery of my heart for week; at
the end of that time, the sun reap
peared, and on mounting guard on
my hill, perceived that she was
once more in the garden. She ap-
peared glad to see me, and motioned
me down to the foot of the wall
again, and when I was there, tossed
me over another letter:
Il cannot fully trust you till have
scanned your features more closely.
Swim the moat and scale the battle
ments, SO shall we converse ut ease
"What did she mean by q moat?
Was it playful allusion to the guam
tity of rain that had fallen? Or q
sarcastic intimation that the difficult
ties had to overcome were trifing
indeed to those which lovers in the
good old times thought nothing Of?
Or was she merely indulging in poet
ical license? I left all this for future
consideration the battlements were
indubitably the wall, and her mean
ing was sufficiently plain for imme-
diate practical purposes.
L come, fair lady, I IcomeP I cried,
looking about for good climbing
situation. But the wall had been
newly pointed, and there were no
cracks or crannies into which finger
or boot tips could be insinuated. A
smooth surface was presented to me,
up which cat might possibly have
run. though I doubt it, but before
which clawless creature was help
less.
81 was now we'll provided with
writing materials, and I explained
my difficulty on gold-edged, tinted
and scented note-paper, promising,
however, to get over it and up the
wall next day, or perish in the ut
tempt-though how either alterna-
tive was to be accomplished, I could
notfor the life of me imagine.
"But the night brought counsel;
and on the following morning, I pro-
cured several large nails, or staples,
and mallet; and going to the place
earlier than usual, and first ascertain
ing from my post on the hillside
that the coast was clear, I proceeded
to drive nail into the mortar at
about three feet from the ground,
another higher up, and then stand
ing on the lowest, and holding on to
the other with my left hand, I
knocked third in still higher; and
SO, after many tumbles and abrasions
of the skin, 1 contrived q series OF
points of advantage, which enabled
me to scramble high enough to catch
hold of the wall, and then I was all
right, for there were no broken bot.
ties along the coping.
COMET TTDED IN nIrR NEyT