The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-04-21

StrlngS. WudteNeT tue SOuSs Juc TelTulu
is always love. II the theme of the
book be murder, forgery, gaming, or
only idyllie life, the thread that holds it
Is sure to be love. Search the heart of
your daughter, my dear madam probe
deep for the moral lessons you have
been teaching her these eighteen years;
you will but have your labor for your
pains. She has built a world of her
own and peopled it with men and wom-
en- of novels; and her own life is not
as you have made it., but is rs Scott,
Dickens and Trollope have given it to
her.
Edward Featherby's life had been
nodded into its present unsatisfactory
ness because of a steady course of novel
reading. And the result of his reading,
as it most wildly impressed itself upon
his mind, was this one fact: that to be
loved for ones self, a man must either
be poor or a rascal.
In all the novels the rich young man
was sought after for his riches; the
villain was loved because he was not
like other men; !. the poor young man
was loved because Of himself. Andthe
woman who loved the poor mar to-day,
was ready to turn to the wealthy one
and marry him on the morrow. In all
life, as Edward Featherby looked at life,
the rich young man was the least to be
envied.
That he should be thinking of love
and marriage was entirely natural. He
had reached the age when his friends
were taking to themselves wives, and it
was a mattcr-of-cIgrse that he should
con.ras. his own empty life with their
~oyerhowing cups. His heart was hun
cry for love; his life was incomplete if
he lived it alone. A thousand and one
plans had suggested themselves to him,
wherein he might drop out of himself
into some penniless man, and WOO and
win; but there was always some I'M
pleasant feature in each plan. There
were stories Of rich men playing coach
men and winning their employers
daughters, but he was sure that he
would not marry a oma who was
willing to marry her fathers %coachman.
Then again he didn't kaow how to do
any thing in the shape of work, and
consequently such schemes us these
were illpossiblr.
In a small degree he was an artist.
Had he been poor, the probabilities are
he would have been an artist of no COM
mon merit; but his two millions had
prevented him from being more than
commonplace. Yet it struck him that
here was a covering under which he
might masquerade. The more he look
ed ut it the more feasible it seemed,
and at last he arranged a plaza to suit
his purposes.
First, no human being was to be ac-
quainted with the proposed adventure;
second, his attorney was to have exclu-
sive power during his absence, so that
he would neither need to read or write
a business letter during the summer.
The attorney was not a very pleasant
man, but he was thoroughly honest.
His business must have brought him a
good income; bu. he was always in
trouble about his Owl money matters,
while the affairs Of his clients were kept
in the most systematic manner.
Mr.. Thrift received his rich clients
orders as if they were the most matter
of-fact directions, and asked no ques-
tons, except such as were absolutely
necessary TO a proper understanding of
his position.
When this was settled, Featherby
wrote his friends that he was going on
a journey sup North; :" drew Il thousand
dollars out of the bank, packed a very
modest trunk with a very modest ward
robe, stuck his sketch-b book and colors
in a corner of tie trunk, and bought u
ticket to Albany. From Albany his
route was not yet determined. He con-
suited guide-books and maps, and final
lydecided he would go into the country.
No soone said than he was on his way
to the interior Of the State. Stopping
at a central point he mapped nj an
other route, and three days afterwards
he was Sitting in the hotel in the village
of Newhall, and congratulating himself
that he had selected a place where none
of his friends could modest him.
The arrival of a stranger in Newhall
was a matter of but little consequence
to the good people of the village. They
made good butter ana cheese and pros