The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1880-12-02
UNAVAILABLE TALENTS.

My wife and looked at each other in
blank despair. We are such lively peo
pie that it is very seldom we are both
blue at once, hut this time we had good
and sufficient reason. We had come tn
our last dollar. We had no certainty OF
getting any more money, and we were
too honest to wish to be in debt. This
was an extraordinary position for us,
as we were considered by all who knew
us to he suc'l uncommonly talented"
people. l WAS always told in college
that if would apply myself I might
easily stand first in my class, though in
poirt of fact stood somewhere in the
twentica, | believe. / have since some
times wondered if application may not
be Itself n separate talent instead of be-
ing within the reach of all. as is otter
supposed. My wife was always the life
of any C many. She was as pretty and
t. I'm WI man ms you would wish to see,
and she sang ballads with really Won
dprlul expression. | never saw
woman who appreciated joke 20
quickly, and in amateur theatricals she
was Irresistible Her talents went even
farther than this. She read poetry Sc
beautifully tht t'every body cried and, on
the other hand, she was so fond ot
mathematics that she studied comic sec
tions one winter by herself, d" for fun"
We were both versatile, we were both
lively, we were both mercurial.
Now, however, we had no money.
and very little -four in the house. My
wife had made nice johnny-cake for
the delectation of the children at supper
and they had gone to bed content, and
were now peacefully sleeping. Mean
time it became absolutely nee c9ssary for
US TO face our fate. / was a lawyer. l
chose that profession. not from any in
nate sympathy with it, but because l
could not be a CLERGYMAN, and would not
be a physician. Of course l began to
practice in the city; for though there
seemed to be no opening there, liked
to live in the city. You know the
theater, and music. and books, and pic
tures, and society, can hardly be had in
the country. II had been less talented
"A mere c.oihopper-I could have
gone without the refinement of life and
been happy. AS it was, it did not once
occur to me that | could live in the
couLtry. | need not say my practice
amounted to nothing. Those who have
tried the same experiment know thai
some years eiapse before q maintenance
can be counted upon. However, l lived
meanwhilo on modest legacy which
had descended to me from an aunt, and
ltt az "lIt- lOICuCC lldu uO ulDuty
and no experience OF housekeeping; but
hope l should not marry as | would
select a servant. We got ON beautifully
in spite of the quicksands which already
present themselves to the readers mind
In the first place we had no end to good
times together, so our life was a succ 1ss
so far, and / know we were so happy
that we made everybody arou us
happy too. And we lived within our
means. small as they were. We would
have liked a million, and | really think
we could have spent il protitably; still
we were not eXtravagant, and both of
US were honorable and conscientious.
We were at peace with all the world,
and considered ourselves noble in char
acter and talented in mind.
Unfortunately the failure of the bank
in which my legacy was invested
changed the aspect of things. We
smiled at first, because we thought we
should respect ourselves more if we
were brave. And our friends said we
bore it charmingly. but of course it
is not as if you had not your practice
This was very well, but privately we
knew that the practice would hardly
keep US in boots and shoes; and then /
had practiced long enough now to find
out hated it. was not meant for a
lawyer. and, to speak after the manner
of the Methodists, it would have been
"indulging false hope" to suppose l
ever should succeed. 1t seemed imper-
ative that 1 should look to some other
source for an income. / had written a
play for the "Grecian Club" to which
we belonged, the year before, which had
been received with prolonged applause; (;
but now, when l wrote another, and
Offered il to the manager, he declined
with thanks. had also written vers
de societe which had been pronounced
by good critics as witty as Holmes; but
when | sent them to the magazines, /
received q neat printed circular saying
that, lowing TO the overcrowded state
OF the Market" they could not accept
anything morea ut present, but urging me
to believe that want OF literary meritn
had nothing whatever to do with their
rejettion.
Florence, getting desperate, advertised
for private pupils in mathematics; but
the only one who appeared was bent on
studying logarithms, which she had
found so tedious when schoolgirl that
she had skipped them ait0g' ther. This
was too bad, for sheis lcaliy q splendid