The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-05-11

tenderly laid aside the golden tress of hair,
and opening the letters found that they
were of various dates from 1857 to 1850,
written in delicate hand and signed Maggie.
They were addressed to "Dearest Alon,n
and were from his native town in Scotland.
AS read along, we mutually agreed that
Maggie was charming maiden. Perhaps
the acute reader will smile at the idea of two
dry old bachelors falling in love with mis-
chieVous maiden, for such she must have been,
we could feel from the sly vein of mockery
which ran through the letters. But your old
bachelor almost always falls in love with
that kind, and that is the reason he does not
marry. He cannot get inspired over the
| commonplace, good-hearted, affectionate and
kindly maiden whom he would dare 10 mar
| ry, and he is too wise to risk himself in the
power of the syren. He may venture to
| listen to her charmings, but he takes care to
| be lashed to the switly-fying mast. I have
| known old bachelors, who married quiet
| women. but they were exceptional. One,
remember, who did so, but he afterwards
| fell in love with an actress, and then became
| the talk of the town, and was looked upon as
terrible Don Juan; but that was long ago,
| gentle reader, when you were baby. 1t
was long ago, too, that Maggie wrote her let
| tiers, so long ago that perhaps you may see
| her great grandson on board some one of the
| Scottish steamships which lie at our wharves,
in the winter season, if you are bright
| enough to recognize her yellow hair and
| gray-blue eyes, in the descendant; for know
she must have been typical blonde, both
| from the lock of hair which was inspiring,
and from the heartless way in which she
begued our two lads. 1t appeared that they
had been born in the same village, on the
same day, and although they were not kins-
men, they were such inseparable friends that
they were always called the twins. 1t was
natural that they should 60 abroad together
| to seek their fortunes, and it was natural
that the only secret either should have from
| the other was his love for the fair lassie, for
| that other had no such vision to carry with
| him, to cheer him in his dreams. And so
each had seized an opportunity to secretly
| bid her farewell, and to each she had PROM
| ised to be forever true, and on each she had
smiled with those open blue eyes, until he felt
sure that she was constancy ITSELF don't
mean to assert that the typical blonde is always
| inconstant, but she cannot be devoted to
| really good man. Her affinity must have
some wicked trait in him. There was our
old friend the slaver-captain; after he got
tired of his back-haired italian wife, did he
not find lovely blonde to run off with him
| in those desperate days when the paternal
government was anxious to hang him? It is
| true she has always remained devoted to him,
but then he was sad scapegrace from his
youth up. Now have no question that Mag
| gle meant well by both; those mischieffirts
always do; and if either had joined pirate
crew she would have chung to him till death,
but they were both model young men, hand
some, intelligent and prospecting. America
was all strange place to the old-country
people in those days, and it was romantic to
bid them farewell and see them go sailing
away across the western ocean towards the
setting sun, but when they began to write
home of being settled in thriving town, and
of being prosperous, the romance became
commonplace. To Allon she discoursed of
their youthful love at home, and of the old
familiar scenes which she knew would be so
dear to him when far away; described the
home life of his friends and kinsfolk, pictured
the little kirk where they should be wed when
he should come home to take her away to the
new world where his lot was cast, and es-
pecially charged him to keep their engage
ment secret from his friends, that he might
surprise them when the time came. When I
had finished the perusal and returned the
packet, he produced the other, and then it
was that found why the guileful maiden
was so persistent that the secret should be
kept. The second packet was from the same
lassie, and addressed to "Dearest john" full
Of the same affection, the same delightful de-
scriptions of home and kindred, planning to
marry him at the same church, when he
should come to get her, and charging him,
too, to keep the secret as surprise to his
friends in America.
"And so the little wretch was engaged to
both at once," said I, Indignantly.
$50 it seems" said the Elderly Person,
philosophically, ''and these two young fel-
IL
| same town, had loved the same bonnie lassie,
| had both come away to Portland with Cap
| tain Ross, had secretly guarded their love,
and sacredly guarded their mutual friendship
| till the end. They seem to have been happy
joyous young fellows, beloved and respected
by all the townspeople, and it is no wonder
| that Madam Ross loved them, and that her
| daughter tenderly kept these letters as sor-
rowtul memento of their loves and of their
| fate.
"And this" he continued, in his provok-
ingly deliberate way, "will explain the end
| of Maggie's romance.
1t was letter from Scotch lady to her
friend Madam Ross, which incidentally men
tions that her little kinswoman, Maggie Du-
| guild, that tickle child, whom she had thought
was engaged to Allon Mclean, had but lately
married young ne'er-do-weel in the neigh
borhood, and she thought little good would
come of the match. And this letter was
dated March 23d, 1850.
"Why, that was the very day they were
killed." said I.
Precisely" said the Elderly Person, "and
| it was very fortunate circumstance for them,
as they never knew that Maggie was faithless,
and never had to hate each other as rivals;
and so they died in the warmest friendship,
and sleep peacefully side by side on this warm
southern slope, where the spring sunshine
| greets them lovingly, and 'lovers can come in
the twilight, never but two together" And
probably Maggie lived to be a cross old wom-
an, and to scold her ne'er-do-weel roundly
when he came home with a wee drap in his