The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1888-11-30

To the mind of youth, the near, the
attainable, is always the undesirable.
Happiness ever sits entbroned on the
lofty heights of the beyond! Only
after years of wearying pain and fruit
less pursuit of the tieeting vision, do
we learn to look among the common
place and unromsntic scenes of every
day lite for true content and peace.
Jessie Crofton was Wisconsin
farmers daughter-young, visionary
and romantic; sens lively alive to her
lack of talent and of personal beauty,
and heartily detestiug the dull, prossic
| life TO which she was doomed by cir
cnmstanccs-b discomfort rendering
her petulant and irritable She was
NOT favorite with her younger broth
| ers ana sisters, nor with the maiden
aunt, who since her mothers death had
acted as her fathers housskeeper; and
thong b naturally possessed of consid-
cradle energy of character, she had no
clearly-defined plans for doing any
thing,t to better her conditions; she was
waiting passiyely for that fairy chance
-mnch besought, seldom tound--to
cast at her feet the good she SO much
desired. The long months dragging
YEARLY on were only rendered endur-
able by the confident hope OF some
thing better in store.
That such girl should possess
lover like Rodney Leare was an un-
1 ot,
dent of human nature. Active, ener-
getic, cleat- -brained, possessed of fine
natural talents and great sweetness of
disposition, what was it that attracted
him to his plain, ill-tempered neigh
bor?-unless, indeed, it be one of ma
ture's laws that they who have an ex-
cess of her best gifts shall find their
highest happiness in charing their
blessings with her less favored child
rem; or, it may be that through the
dlscontent and gloom, he caught faint,
occasional glimpses of the angelic ma
ture held in allegiance.
Though Rodney Leare was her de.
voted ally and champion on all occa-
slons, 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 faucy,
the bane of a young girls mind, re-
fused to invest him with her airy
lrobes. She suffered his attentions be-
cause she had not the heart to quarrel
with her only friend--but waited pa
tiently 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 adver'
tisement:
Observation-Disclosures
"a young gentleman of good social posi-
ton; talented and wealthy; possessed with
more than ordinary amount of good looks,
and irreproacnable moral character, wishes
: to open correspondence with young
lady, with view to matrimony. All let
tiers strictly confidential. Address
HUGH MANNERNG, Box $50, GLEN
HAVEN"
In those earlier days, advertise
ments like the above, (Which have
since been scattered broadcast over the
land, luripg many soul on to destruc-
. tion) were comparatively unknown.
To Jessie Crofton's aimless life the
words came like the binding light of
new revelation. Here was the true
ideal for which her soul had longed;
the modern Bayard without flaw or
stain; and accepting without cavil or
suspicion the destiny in store for her,
before nightfall she had dispatched
to Gen Haven a long aud confidential
epistle, detailing with touching pathos
the sorrow and loneliness of her love
less condition.
Had Jessie possessed a wise and
tender mother who understood her
weakenesse and sympathized with
her in the discomfort and unhappiness
SO common to young girls ere life's
great labors are fully entered upon,
that letter would have never been
sent, and this history would have re
maned unwritten. But she had never
been encouraged in the practice OF
making her aunt her confident, and
her father was too wholly absorbed in
business to waste any time trying to
understand his children, so it was not
strange that she kept her correspond
ence to herself, and only her anxiety
when on the arrival of the stage, she
went, as was her custom, for the fam
/ In oh he
played an unusual amount of caution
fearing that the matter might come tc
her fathers ears, and be i'll received
she had given an assumed name, which
soon became familiar at the post-offioe
as day after day passed by and hel
frequent inquiries received the unvary
ing reply ''no letter" At last, when
she had given up all hope of hearing
from her unknown friend, she was
happily surprised by the receipt OF the
long-looked for missive, wrapped in 6
dainty envelope, and directed in 6
bold, manly hand. Almost beside
herself with Joy, she could hardly
wait until she was out of the village
and had reached the shade Of small
grove, before sitting down on a rocl
bp the wayside and tearing open thu
letter.
1t began with prettily.worded apo
logy for the writer's neglect caused by
his absence on business, and proceed
ed in glowing terms to describe tn,
pleasure her letter had gwen him. HI
had singled it out from many hun
, dreds received $50 he wrote) for tn,
truth and earnestness revealed in ever,
line. In her he was sure of finding
congenial spirit, and henceforth hi
life, would be bound up in her letters
There were many more pages tille'
with eimillar phrases, with lofty sound
ing passages from the poets, and sent
mental repinings ouer the destiny tina
, had so long separated them. But t
Jessies unsophistioated heart ever
word was as precious as gold. 1t wa
i,ee ie the one perfect letter ever writer
restoring it to its envelope she resuu
II. ed her homeward walk, hardly Col