St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-12-03
Unavailable Talents.

| O1dVdudUl0
My wife and looked at each Other
in blank despair. We are such lively
people that it is very seldom we are
both blue at once, but this time we had
good and sufficient reason. We had
come to our last dollar. We had nc
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 be such ''uucom-
monty talented" people. 1 was always
told in college that if l would apply
myself l might easily stand first in my
class, though in point of fact 1 stood
somewhere in the twenties, believe.
have since sometimes wondered if APP
plication may not be itself a separate
talent, instead of being within the reach
of all, as is often supposed. My wife
was always the life of any company
She was as pretty and trim woman as
you would wish to see, and she sang
ballads with really wonderful expires
sion. | never see woman who appre-
ciated joke so quickly, and in anne
teur theatricals she was irresistible
Her talents went even farther than this
She read poetry so beautifully that ev-
erybody cried and, on the other hand
she was so fond of mathematics that
she studied comic sections one winter
by herself, "for fun" We were both
versatile, we were both lively, we were
! both mercurial.
Now, however, we had no money,
and very little flour in the house. My
wife had made nice Johnny cake fol
| the delectation of the children at sup
per, and they had gone to bed content,
and were now peacefully sleeping.
Meantime it became absolutely necessa-
ry for us to face our fate. / was law
yer. chose that profession, not from
any innate sympathy with it, but be-
cause | could not be clergyman, and
would not be a physician. Of course /
began to practice in the city for though
there seemed to be no opening there, |
liked to live i'll the city. You know the
theatre and music and books and pic
lures and society can hardly be had in
the country. If l had been less talented
"a mere clodhOpper-I could have
gone without the refnements of life and
been happy. As it was, it did not once
occur to me that 1 could live in the
country. [ need not say my practice
amounted to nothing. Those who have
tried the same experiment know that
some years elapse before maintenance
can be counted upon. However, | liv-
ed meanwhile on a modest legacy which
had descended to me from an aunt, and
married wife. Florence had no money
and no experience in housekeeping but
| hope l should not marry as | would
select a servant. We got on beautifully Y
in spite of the Quicksands which already
present themselves to the readers mind.
In the first place we had no end of good
times together, so cur life was sue
cess so far, and 1 know we were so hap
py that we made everybody around us
happy too. And we lived within our
means, small as they were. We w0nld
have liked a million, and really think
we could have spent it 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 chang
ed the aspect of things. We smiled at first
ourselves more if we were brave. And
our friends said we bore it charmipgIv.
''But of course it is not as if Won had
not your practice" This was very we'll.
! but privately we knew that the practice
would hardly keep us in boots and
shoes; and then l had practiced long
enough now to find out hated it. l
was not meant for lawyer, and, to
l. IL
dists, it would have been ''indulging a
false hope" to suppose ever should
succeed. 1t seemed imperative that l
should look to some other source for an
income. 1 had written play for the
''Grecian Club" to which we belonged,
the year before, had been received with
prolonged applause; but now, when
wrote another, and offered it to a man
ager, he declined with thanks. had
also written Uers de societe which had
been pronounced by good critics as
witty as Holiness; but when l sent
them to magazines, | received a neat
printed circular saying that Sowing to
the overcrowded state of the MARKET -
they could not accept anything more at
present, but urging me to believe that
''want of literary merit" had nothing
whatever to do with their rejection.
Florence, getting desperate, adver-
tised for private pupils in mathematics,
but the only one who appeared was
bent ON studying lOgarithms, which she
had found so tedious when school
girl that she had skipped them alto
gether. This was too bad, for she is
splendid mathematician, as far as the
principles go, and that is probably the
reason she hates eternal figuring so
much.
With her music the contrary is true.
She knows nothing about the theory,
but her practice Is eXonisite: so of