Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1873-02-07

So" PiVPNiV Aomouiou
bleeding. My friends father got pretty
well the last drop out of il, and then mar.
ried, not for love, but partly in hopes Of an
heir to carry on the suit partly because the
lady had little money to be sucked into the
chancery quicksands. He did get an heir;
he did sink the money. Fortunately for her,
the wife died before it was quite spent.
The goodly Musgrave estates we're now all
gone, as has been said, the house and home.
stead being alone retained. This last bit Of
strand was stuck to tenacously, because it
was pretty certain that tho iron safe, with
the coveted parchment inside it, was some-
where about the premises. But where2 Il
is needless to say that it had been well hunt
ed for, experienced detectives having been we'll
employed in the search and, indeed, the ru-
inous state Of the house was, in no small
measure, owing to the ruthless manner in
which some Of these investigations had been
conducted
Happily, not quite all the money of Wal
ter Musgraves father went to the lawyers !;
some of of it was spent in educating him in a
manner BETTING the position he would hold
When the lawsuit was over, and the valuable
house-property at his disposal. But his ia
Their died, and the funds gave out, before he
had finished his intended course, and he
found himself in the queer, tantalizing, pow
erty-stricken condition in which discover
cd him when photography and thunder
storm brought us together.
When he first commenced his condolences,
l was beyond expression dismayed. "0h
my prophetic soul, his great-grandfather J" |
mentally exclaimed, when he opened with a
short biography Of that ancestor. But by
degrees grew interested; his account was
clear enough, if mine is not and hehad con-
firmatory documents to show for everything
he advanced. At last was able to conceive
how it was possible to keep him out Of what
seemed so undoubtedly his own but then
am not lawyer.
Nevertheless, as soon as we were intimate
enough for such liberties, talked reason to
him, urging him to throw the losing game
up, leave the ruin to the care Of Molly aud
Dabble, and look about for some method Of
earning bread and bacon for even as an un
skilled artisan he would live better than he
did at present.
He let his remaining patch of grassland
for forty pounds year he got about 9lC
pounds for the apples in his orchard, and hal
more for his hay that was cut in it. Dabble
who was an arrant, but not q self.seekinl
poaeher, occasionally brought in rabbit oil
a leveret and that was what the last Of the
Musgraves lived on. He owned that it sa
vored Of lunacy to 60 on like that; that his
best course would be to sell what little bone
stead remained to him,-which he could Dc
at fancy price, as his retaining possession
OF it destroyed the compactness Of the remain
der Of the estate,--and make fresh
start IN tie world but said he simply could
not do it.
Surely you could make one vigorous Ell
fort" said |.
"Of course could" Ae replied, "if that
were all but after it was made,-a week
after, or a month, or a year, or five years af
teri should be drawn back into this in
herited struggle and if then had to beal
the reflection that l had thrown away q
chance, feel certain that sentiment of re
morseful regret would drive me mad. No
you might as well tell LAGOON to make an eff
fort, and wrench himself free of the serpent.
folds. Ifhe could, they would twiue round
him again when he was weary"
So | never annoyed him with common
sense again and, indeed. liter little while
| caught the chancery infection myself. o
course, it was but in a mild form, as had nj
property Of my own at stake; but l had j
sufficiently to alter my ideas entirely, ant
sympathze with the persistent struggle viii
fate in which my new friend was engag
ed. To tell the truth, was in an unhealthy
state of mind at that time having been re
Gently Tilted "a misfortune which, till they
grow accustomed to it, often makes younl
men sulky with the world in general. Ny
sulks took the form Of isolation tempered b,
photography; and residence at Dowd, with
man bound to 20 crazy, a witch, and an un
canny black cat for my sole acquaintance
exactly suited me just then. There is FREE
masonry amongst the forlorn in love which
enables them to recognize one another ant
| soon learned that Musgrave had met Ger
tain Mary, the daughter Of poor clergyman
who had acted as his private tutor, and tina
he had INDUCED in day dreams of tax ing hi
degree, going into orders, and leading a lif
of married bliss in parsonage on a hundret
a year but he had to leave the unversit,
abruptly when his father died and left hin
the dormant lawsuit and nothing else. Ther
at first he was sanguine Of being able shortl,
to offer his Mary better home than the.
had modestly pictured for themselves; bu
after a while, when he had we'll studied tn
story Of the family failures, his love was bu
another wedge in the torture-boot. | con
soled him with the reflection, that his cas-
was far better than mine his girl was faith
full to him, or at least he thought 30, and he
had chance whereas, knew for certai
that the heart of mine was mere pop-gun
and tina. | had been shot out of it as anothe
fellow popped in. But he did not pity m,
properly; for he considered that was luck
in that she had changed her mind befor
marriage, instead of after and could no