Year: 1865

|
industry and integrity, and having
made himself useful to the merchantil'
firm in Boston with whom he had serv
ed an apprenticeship, was at length in
vited to a partnership in the concern
For some time he had been encourag
ed to anticipate this elevation, and ht
soberly and energetically entered upor
the new duties ofhis position. When
business crowded he had but little les
ure to mourn over his celibate condition
but when the hurrying season was over
and hours each day hung hsavy on hi,
hands, he could not help thinking how
delightful it would be had he but 9
house and gentle wife of his own
His pecuniary circumstances now war
ranted such iuxuries; and he resolved
to marry when he could find lady
''just suited to the mind" ..lt.


Near a country village in Maine, no
thousand miles from Bangor lived an
old friend of his father; and being OF
collecting tour in that REGION during
the autumn months, he decided to &C
cept Of an repeated invitation to spend
few days with the old gentleman, and
sent note announcing his coming
|. AT the appointed time, he reached
theresidepce of his old friend, and found
the family were prepared and pleased
to welcom him as a guest. In the par
loi were two yonng ladies, well dress
ed, and quite handsom. He was duly
introduced to Miss Jane and Charlotte
and found them accomplished and sen
sible young ladies. Being just now
very susceptible to the tender passion
he was easily pleased, and exerted his
powers to render himself agreeable tc
the flattered maidens. He succeeded
Of course. Sensible men, ofhi age and
prospects always do, when they try
And his eyes, wandering in conversa
ton, from one handsom face to another
he caught himself several times mental
ly enquiring-"Which would make the
better wife 2"


The mother and a neat looking maid
were seen at intervals passing from the
kitchen preparing the supper. The
girl who set out the table and spread
the white, stainless cloth, and arraing
ed the plates seemed to do it gracefully
and quietly, as if she hae made such
duties study as science, and won a
passing glance Of admiration as very
neat and pretty seryant-a model of q
''help." Altogether, he thought it was
a charming family. When they sat at
the cheerful supper, and he tasted the
light homemade bread, and the sweet
fresh butter, and thinly sliced home
cured beef, the hot, well favored tea,
the excellenoy and good taste manifest.
ed in the whole ordering, he felicitated
himself upon having found so pleasant
a home, even ifit was for q few days.
After the supper was over and the saDle
cleared, a third young lady ,syery neatly
dressed, entered the room, and was
formally introduced as one of the sisters,
Miss Sarah. He was not little sur
prised to find that neat servant girl
whose handiwork had won his admira-
ton, was one of the sisters. He found
her sprightly, cheerful, and accomplish
ed, and he thought little more grace
full than Jane, who was the older, or
Charlotte, who was younger than her.
self.


He thought q little more manly of
himself for having taken her to be hired
girl in the family, but not a whit less
of her for having revealed herself in
that capacity. And his perplexity was
somewhat increased as he sat down on
his bedside in the chamber to which he
was shown by his host, and said to him.
self, (which of the three? 2"


In the morning after nights sound
sleep for he was not sufficiently in love
to keep him awake--he entered the
breakfast room, and was soon joined by
the two young ladies who had first
welcomed him. Sarah was not yet Wis
ible; but when they sat down at the
table, and Jane had poured the coffee,
Sarah came smiling in behind clean
white apron, and with a steaming pile
of hot buckwheat cakes in her hand,
which, from the hne of her checks she
had been baking. Ifthere was blush
on her ceeek, any eye might see it was
forced there by the fire, any sense OF
degradation on account of the Office
she gracefully filed. She greeted the
guest with welcome smile, deposited
her load of eatibles, and returned to the
kitchen whence she tripped again in a
few minutes with another plate of cakes
most beautifully baked by her own skill.
Horace ate large quantity of them,
more than enough merely to satisfy hnq-
ger, because of the beautiful little hands
that made them. And then he wander
ed over the farm with the old man, and
prated of the horses and cows, and
crops, as though he knew about them,
as well as broadcloaths and calicoes.
At dinner time Jane and Charlotte
were in the parlor waiting for him, and
Sarah, as usual; was busting about the
kitchen. 81 do wish," said he, soto
voice ''that one Of those girls would
take Sarah's place I'm the kitchen lit
tie while, that might find out some of
their housekeeping qualities,s and that
Il might have little more chat with
her."


But bo waited for such o chance In
vain, tho he found some opportunities
for converse, and discovered sall he
wished to know just then about her men
tai qualifications and requirements ;
and at the close Of the fourth day, just
before he got into bed, he slapped the
white counterpaine emphatically, and
said to it--as there was no one in the
room | suppose he must have spoken to
the counterpaine or the bed post-"she
is the wife for me-"


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