St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-02-17
CHuFjic's iyOOfliG nj.

Poor Charlie Carlctan'S was lc,pcr
ate case completely in love, rs he was
with dam-ci who had been accuStomc,
from birth To all the luxurirS AMI enjoy.
mcnts OF life, and lac without 4 piece {
silver to cross lis palm wilhou, cnougl
ready money to pay Il marriage fee
without anythingt 10 support Il wife upon
with nothing, i'll fact, but square mil,
of remote woodland, OF no GOOD 10 lin
or any Cnc else that hc knew Ii is tru,
that the trees On his land could he cut.
and fioatcd down the stream that rar
through it to tide wafer, and :hrrc dis
posed oi but 10 do that required the
means 10 hire a gang of men Tor cutting
and rafting it, and to feed lhcm while ai
work and money being SO tight Just then
| that it was impossible 10 borrow for any
such scheme, Gf course tl!c thin. wa, not
TO he thought oi. And yet there wa~
nothing else 10 do. ChaIlic's late en-
ploycrS, wealthy merchants. to whom lac
hal been the confidential cIcrN, had but
IuSt l'AlIN', ana lIllON u lIlll WI Ills bW
resources, when his quarters salary rx-
artly met his bills, and left him in this
destitute condition, with the optinn OF
seeking another situation. or Of "oium
back to his woodland, and dclving his lilc
away there with old FIamcn and julie
He would willingly have gone but there
WAS Flora. Going back To the wouhl1ni
was no way to win her, and poor Char
lie Csrlctan could lave torn lis hair for
vcXation il lac had not been etandin. ON
| Change III the face oi all men Why
had he been 50 idiolic Il, to cast Il second
glance upon the gi;l-Shc Il, high rs any
star. lac Il cloI Why, when he first
saw the dazzle of her @"ld,u-haircd ivory
beauty from the box that night, had he
not taken Lis hat and lett the place with
his eyes closed Why had lac pushed to
spot in the vcstibulc beside her ~ the
place empticd, and, ON an ac 'ilcnt hap
pcning to her escort. put her in the car
riagc himself, and felt Il thrill that had
not subsidized when he met her walking in
the Park next day, and h,siiatcd, and
looked, and would lave passed by if sh,
had not put out a hand, with her cngag-
that his employ cr>, her fathers rarlicu,
lar friends, had spoken of him 50 warmly
that She needed no more introduction
Why had he not fled from his fate ut that
moment Why had he gone to the house
with an old friend IN evening or two al
, ,,.l,,, h.,l l., 4 ~
crs on second call ! why had he way
laid her in her walks, sought acquaint-
ancc at the houses Of her resort, spent al
his money on wonderful boots and ties,
and brUadcloth. pat himself into Bruwn'-
hands, entered on To the full tide of 50,
cicty, and followed her ut last to tie sea.
shore? Why, but that destiny had taken
him i'll hand, and brought him to thi,
pass, So delicious and yet So miserable, :
lull Of bliss and trouble together, that
though he could not, if he would, und.
the work, lac would nu!, if he could, d.
it over again, Would not ii he could
Would not have those pinn.cs in the surf,
when AL other WOmcn vanished from
their fair PROPORTIONS into things ~ un-
lovely aS the sticks and weeds and drift
OF the sea, and Flora alone had colon
in Lcr check, Il flame III her eye, as She
hoatcd away Oh the wave, her long haiI
streaming Lchiud her like an angelic IN, +.
maids! Poor fellow, he knew that
other EIoraS' Charles thought the samc
Of them ; but tley Were infatuated fools
In ,,,,Y,,a,l ,,,sl ,,,l,, III, I.Inr, ,,,,I
the thing be true, Then there had been
such evenings, when the band blew out
IFS waltz music, and the dancers tloated
down the long circles, lie with his arm
around her waist, with her head upon
his shoulder, with his breath stirring her
hair-that shining cloud of hair, fluffy
and fleecy and mysterious in lrstre-
what did Charlie care whether il all rrcw
upon her head or not ii was there now.
Il part of her, and sacred as the nimbus
round the head Of any saint or g,ddcs,
And there had been other evenings yet,
long strclls upon the cliff or down the
beach, with the tide breaking in lushcd
and murmurUuS tune and one night
thcrc-ncvcr could he forget it never
could the heavens be As deep and dark,
the starlight as radiant, the wind as odor-
Gus; never could such divinity breathe
through all the dark and dewy night
again For in helping Flora over the
wccd-wct rocks hc Iad held Ecr han:l,
had felt 1t trcmble, and seen it gIisteIi
white as lily leaf had looked in the
face, and seen ii bending over him, beau
tiiul, impas<ioned; had suddenly kissed
the hand, and then, wild with emotion
no longer 10 be restrained, had kissed the
face had held her strained one moment
to his heart-onc moment oG snrging joy,
that abandoned him for one OF passionate
j l i i 1 L