The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-11-09
JESSIE'S ROMANCE,
And tho Wholesome Change It
Wrought in Her Life.

And tho wholesome Change i
Wrought in Her Life.
To the mind of youth. the near, the
attainable, is always the undesirable.
Happiness ever sits enthroned on the
lofty heights of the beyond! Only after
years of wearying pain and fruitless
pursuit of the heeting vision, do we
learn to look among the commonplace
and unromantic scenes of everyday life
for true content and peace.
Jessie Crofton was a Wisconsin far
mer's daughter-young visionary and
romantic; sensitively alive to her lack
of talent and of personal beauty. and
heartily detesting the dull, prosaic life
to which she was doomed by circum-
stances-her discomfort rendering her
petulant and irritable. She was not a
favorite with her younger brothers and
sisters, nor with the maiden aunt who
since her mothers death had acted as
her fathers housekeeper; and though
naturally possessed of considerable en-
ergy of character, she had no clearly
defined plans for doing any thing to
better her condition; she was waiting
passively for that fairy chance-much
besought, seldom found-to cast at her
feet the good she so much desired. The
long months dragging YEARLY by were
only rendered endurable by the conf
dent hope of something better in
store,
That such girl should possess a
lover like Rodney Leare was an I'M
solved problem to more than one stu
dent of human nature. Active, ener-
getic, clear-brained, possessed of fine
natural talents and great sweetness of
disposition, what was it that attracted
him to his plain, ill-tempered neighbor?
unless, indeed, it be one of natures
laws that they who have an excess of
her best gifts shall find their highest
happiness in sharing their blessings
with her less-favored children; or, it
may be that through the vail of discon-
tent and gloom, he caught faint, occa-
sional glimpses OF the angelic nature
held in allegiance.
Though Rodney Leare was her de-
voted ally and champion on all occa-
sions, our heroine neither appreciated
his devotion, nor estimated him at his
true value. He Was so unlike the
heroes of romance, she had known him
so long and so well, that fancy, the
bane of a young girls mind, refused to
invest him with her airy robes. She
suffered his attentions because she had
not the heart to quarrel with her only
friend-but waited patiently the while
the coming of the true prince.
Spring had blossomed into summer,
when walking one day in the orchard,
Jessie found her fate on bit
of torn paper which the wind
had waited to her feet. Turning it
over in her hand, her eye fell upon this
singular advertisement:
"wANTED-CoRRESPO
"a young gentleman OF good social position
an ordinary amount of good looks, and of ire
proachable moral character. wishes to open a
correspondence with young lady, with a view
10 matrimony. All letters strictly confiden-
tial Address HUGH MANNERING, Box $50,
GLEN HAVEN"
In those earlier days, advertisements
like the above. (Which have since been
scattered broadcast over the land, lur-
Tag many a soul on to destruction) were
comparatively unknown. To Jessie
Crofton's aimless life the words came
like the binding light of new revela-
ton. Here was the true ideal for which
her soul had longed; the modern Bay
ard without flaw or stain; and accept ng
without cavil or suspicion the destiny
in store for her, before nightfall she
had dispatched to Glen Haven a long
and confidential epistle, detailing with
touching pathos the sorrow and loneli-
ness of her loveless condition.
Had Jessie possessed wise and ten
der mother who understood her weak
nesses, and sympathised with her in the
discomfort and unhappiness so common
10 young girls ere life's great labors are
fully entered upon. that letter would
have never been sent, and this history
would have remained unwritten. But
she had never been encouraged in the
practice of making her aunt her conf
dent, and her father was too
wholly absorbed in business to
waste any time trying to under
stand his children; so it was not strange
that she kept her correspondence to
herself, and only betrayed her anxiety
when on the arrival Of the stage, she
went, as was her custom, for the family
mail. On one point she had displayed
an unusual amount of caution; fearing
that the matter might come to her
fathers ears, and be i'll received, she
had given an assumed name, which
soon became familiar at the post-office as
day after day passed by and her frequent
inquiries received the unvarying reply
of mo letter" At last. when she had
given up all hope of hearing from her
unknown friend, she was happily sur
prised by the receipt of the long-looked-
for missive, wrapped in a dainty en-
velope, and directed in bold, manly
hand. Almost beside herself with Joy,
she could hardly wait until she was out