Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1870-03-11
..Thc daughter Of George Berton |!

"Well, then never attempt a thing, thai
you do not know how to do. There is nc
apology needed; did I not receive from you
satisfactory reference before I consented TIC
correspond :? Besides. fathers, business re-
lations to you make you not exactly a stran-
ger"
''Thanks for your kindness, Miss Berton y
and Toms self-possession being fully rcstor-
ed, he began to chat about business, wealth
er, etc. What the etc., was we must Judge
by a few remarks made about an hour after
his admittance into the house of Mr.. Ber-
ton.
"But Amy dear, (you see I must call you
Amy will your father have no objections
when he hears how we became acquainted ?
He may be angry and refuse his consent"
II do not think he will he knew all
about this letter affair from the beginning
until this morning, and many a hearty laugh
he has had at our expense / can tell you 4;
you are no stranger to him"
"And being no stranger to him, how was
It that you were so particular about refer
enccs."
"There might have been two Thomas
spencers in Virginia City, and we wished to
be sure"
Tom Spencer remained in San Francisco
four weeks, and upon his return to Virginia
City he presented to Mr.. and Mrs. Seaton
his wife, Mrs. Spencer.
"And what has become of bachelor Tom %
asked Fred.
''He departed his life on the 10th of May,
1869, having been drowned in the Sea of
Matrimony," replied Tom.
"And," added Fred, eve hope he has
entered a better and happier life. "May
he rest in peace! !"
The friends often speak of the %humbug-
gers of fortune-telling, but Mr.. and Mrs.
Spencer declare that they never regret send
ing to one for the likeness Of their future
partners.
DARK HoURs.-There are dark hours that
make the history of the brightest years. For
not a whole month in any of the thousand of
the past, perhaps, has the sun shone brill
liantly all the time. And there have been
cold and stormy days in every year. And
yet the mists ana shadows of the darkest
hours we're dissipated, and fitted heedlessly
away. The ~cruelest of the ice letters have
been broken and dissolved, and the most fu-
rious storm loses its power to alarm. What
a parable is all this of human fear, of our
inside world, where the heat works as its
destined labor. Here, too, we have the
overshadowing Of dark hours, and many a
cold blast chills the heart to its core. But
what matters it Man is born a hero, and
it is only by darkness and storms that hero
ism gains its greatest and best development
and illustration then it kindles the black
cloud into a blaze of glory. and the storm
bears it rapidly to Its destiny. Notifying
failure may attend this effort and that one ];
but only be honest and struggle on. and it
will all work we'll.
TIE FIRE OF A1rE.-Rev. 7. Dewitt
Tilmege, Of Brooklyn, recently closed a
sermon as follows: 'Seated at a country
Preside, the other day, I saw the fire kindle,
blaze, and 60 out. l gather up from the
hearth enough for many reflections. Our
mortal life is just like the fire ON that hearth.
We put on the fresh faggots. and the fame
bursts through and up, and ont, gay of
sparks, gay of flash, gay of crackle-em-
blems of hoyhood. Then the fire reddens
into Goals. The heat is f%ercer, and the
more it is stirred the more it reddens. With
sweep Of flame it clears its way till all the
hearth glows with intensity-emblem of full
manhood. Then comes a wilderness in the
Goals. The heat lessons The Pickering
shadows haya died along the walls. The
faggots drop apart. The household hover
over the expiring embers. The last breath
of smoke has been lost in the chimney
Fire is out. Shovel up the white remains
Ashes"