The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-11-09

"Tom Tylerr' Tom Tyler was the
village letter carrier.
There was a shout of laughter at this
piece of information.
/" When did Tom Tyler tell you this?"
Yesterday. He brought letter for
Mrs. St. Leger."
Another Shout of laughter greeted
this; but Mary looked very grave,
while her father said that, of course,
the letter was for St. Leger's mother,
of whom he had more than once
spoken. So Sam was sharply rebuked
for listening to Tom Tyler's idle tales,
and ordered to hold his tongue.
youth have st. Leger try his horse
whip across your shoulders, if you don't
mind" cried his eldest brother, and
they all laughed again; but Sam was
very unlike himself, and did not join in
the laugh, but maintained a grave COM
posure they had never noticed in him
before.
Nor was it a laughing matter some
where else. The news of that morn
ing's interruption flew apace, with va
rious additions and amendments. Thus
improved upon, they reached the ears
of Mr.. St. Leger, who lived but few
miles off, and they created profound
sensation, so much so that instead of
spending the afternoon with the Freres,
as expected, he took himself off, and
was never seen by them again. 1t was
discovered that Tom Tyler's version
had been correct after all. Good rid
dance for Mary Frere; but a heart tri-
fled with and wronged can never quite
recover itself.
For a time Sam was almost reverent-
ly treated at home. They felt the force
of his simple explanation, why he had
chosen such singular way of uttering
his suspicious, that it was because
they would only have laughed at him
if he had told Them" and were little
ashamed of themselves. But the old
habit survived after awhile, as old
habits, both family and personal, so
easily do, and Sans brains were held
as cheap as ever, except by Mary, who
was drawn to him more than ever, and
by his mother, who never ceased to
ponder in her heart, as only mothers
do, the meaning of that display of firm
intelligence and almost fierce affection.
"Hll tell you what it means,n said
her brother to Mrs. Frere one day,
when she was talking to him about it
he was a lawyer in London, old John
Quicksett, of Gray's Inn, who could
see a thing as shrewdly as most people
&c it means this, that Sam has got
heart and head, but his head is more
out of the way than usual, and can
only be got at through his heart, like
an old-fashioned bedroom that can
only be reached by going through
another. Look here, sister, | like
amazingly that story of the banns its
grand. Not that there was anything
clever in what he did, just the re-
verse, it might have been most stupid
mistake; but this is what takes my fan
cy so, the firmness of purpose, far
higher quality of mind than mere clev-
erness, that could make the poor fellow
face everything he did for the sake of
the sister he loved. There must be
something in one who could run the
gauntlet like that, when his heart was
once fairly unlocked; and l think l
have the key"
81 always thought So" cried Mrs.
Frere, greatly delighted.
"Well, let me try. I'll run away
with Sam, and make lawyer of him.
What do you sayP"
The grinning was epidemic round the
table after it was known that Sam was
to be a lawyer. His brothers and sis
tiers could hardly look at first without
smiling; it did seem so droll, so absurd
lv contrary to every notion they enter
tanned of him. Had he sat before them
in full naval costume as Admiral of the
Channel Fleet, it would hardly have
struck them as being more unlocked
for and preposterous. Uncle Johns
presence saved Sam from collective
bantering, though the old lawyer was
too wise to make any fuss about the
matter; but when Sam was alone with
his brothers and sisters he had hard
time of it, though all was, as usual, in
perfect good humor.
At first Sam had, of course, to 90
through the usual drudgery of law
yer's office, in which, if it be possible
for any one to shine, he certainly did
not. His blunders were awful, and
provoked the wrath or ridicule, as the
CitSe ullSuU D6, Vi HIS l0llOW ClcrkS, VINO
were all well-seasoned and somewhat
ancient men, But his uncle never
found fault with him. The most he
said when some frantic bungle was
brought to his notice, was, "Sam, do
this over again; you know you can do
it a great deal better than that" And,
sure enough, it was done better the Sec
ond time. In short, his uncle began
with and, in spite of every discourage
ment, persevered in the plan of trust
ing him. And by degrees he found that
the more he trusted him the better he
did, and the more he treated him as if
there were something in him the more
he got out of him. Had Sam nothing
in him to begin with, the plan could
not have answered.; but this was Just
what his uncle believed, namely, that
there was something in him, but
that it had been Systematically laughed
down and sat upon from superficial
considerations, and that it could only
be brought out by total change of ex-
ternal influence and treatment. And
now his powers began to show them
selves and to expand, just as a shrub
that has been stunted and blackened
from want of room and uncongenial
soil begins to throw out vigorous
shoots when transplanted to ground
that suits it, and where it has space to