Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-01-20
THE WONDERFUL DREAM.

4 HI 49,
"Oh, yes, sartinl Yes, yes-I believe
in dreams" said old Silas Tafton. he
took another Whit at his pipe, and then
added: Zone of the greatest specula-
tions ever. went into come Of dream
"a wonderful dream, I'll tell you about
II /" fE. %stAL a4 z4 t.F
And we listened to the old man story
as follows:
You remember, some Of you, about
the great land dspeculations here in Maine
thirty years ago. Poor men-a very
few Of them--were made suddenly rich /;
and rich men suddenly poor; was liv-
ing then in Grey. One day old Sam
Whitney, of Oxford, stopped at our
place, and showed us map of a new
town which had been laid out in Saga
dahoc. On the map it looked beautiful.
There were brooks, and lakes, and broad
plains of pine and oak, with streets all
laid out, and spots for churches and
schoolhouses marked in proper array.
| had a cousin living down that way, and
concluded to 90 down and take look.
found the town of Ellenville, which
old Whitney had shown me on his map,
to be a wild, worthless tract, all rocks
and swamp; but on the edge Of this
tract, in another township, my cousin
owned piece of good land, and |
bought hundred and fifty acres of it,
and made me an excellent farm; and
for that purchase | was never sorry .
Meantime Ellenville was nearly all
sold in hundred-acre lots. The excite
ment was at fever heat, and people
bought without once thinking of coming
to look at the land they were purchasing.
But by and by the new owners began to
look up their property, and you can rest
assured that they were blue set when
they were assembled on that territory.
Within all the limits Of the mapped-out
township there was not an acre that
could be cultivated On the side that
bordered my farm it was a craggy ledge
of rocks; and beyond that to the east
ward the land settled away under the
mud and the water of sunken slough.
Some OF these lots had been sold as high
as one pound an acre, and few OF them
even higher than that One poor fellow,
named John Twist, from Vermont, had
paid one pound an acre for lot that
borderel on my farm. On the map it
had been set down as magnificent pine
forest with n beautiful river npon its
border on which was superb water
mower, John Twist bought it and paid
for t. and when he came to look at 1t
he found it to be a mass OF barren rock,
will, here and there mass OF clump or
scrnh oak and few Norway pines,
and for a river he found water-course
which tnmbled melted snow over the
crags in the spring, but which was dry
most of the year. did not see the
moor fellow when he came to survey his
property, but can imagine how be felt.
After while, however, the excitement
passed of, and the sufferers Of Ellenville
turned their backs upon the grave OF
their speculative hopes. On my farm
arospered. My land was of the very best
,uSlity; my wife was a true helpmate;
-, crops were abundanti my stock
HI, ed. and / found myself at length
With vii a goodIy pile of money tied up IN
NY ono T evening Ia the early autumn
g. or. crous had all been garnered, a
nan r;d;no. a sarry-looking nag, pulled
-, bofo~a oy, door. He was Eeli,look-
no man with a sedate and solemn face,
md dressed in black. 1t vas safe
enough to conclude that he vas 3 min1s W
ter, and so he announced himself ne
said he was the Rev. Paul Meekmo.e
Ne was missionary on home circuit,
and asked shelter for himself and hls
heast for the night. OF course we well
coined him cheerfully, and we we're
pleased with him. He had Travelled ex-
and his conversation was en-
PERTAINING and instructive. Before he
VENT 10 he'd he lead a chapter in the
Bible and made a prayer, and Betsy SAID
to me, after he had retired that she
never heard such a beautiful prayer IN
her life.
The next morning, at the breakfast
table, Mr.. Meekmore was very sedate.
he askeda blessing. and then only an
swered such questions as were asked
him. Finally, Betsy told him she was
afraid he had not slept well. He smiled,
and said he had slept very well saving
the spell Of a curious dream which had
visited him three separate times during
the night. Betsy asked him If he would
tell what it was about
at was the old dream Of hidden
wealth" he said, with a solemn look.
" / havnt dreamed such dream be-
fore. since BY a wonderful dream in
South Africa / led to the discovery Of a
silver mine worth millions Of dollars;
and il never pro6ted me 4 penny. Bat