Year: 1861

SEPT. 26, 1861.

 of four months and more.

 The next morning we awaken him, make him get up, pay his bill, take hack, and ride down to the New Haven steamboat, and go aboard. It is o'clock, A. M At one P. M., the boat has reached the landing his trunk and traps" are on board the Ltchfeld stage; he has taken a seat inside his destination is an intermediate village. He is alone in the stage no, not alone there is an old woman on the front seat, and a Presbyterian clergyman on the middle seat. The stage is up in the city, and slowly mean dering about New Haven town, picking up pas sengers who have sent their names to the stage office. The stage Jehu pulls up at the door of 8 neat little cottage in Chapel Street. pas senger, young lady, of sweet seventeen. or thereabout. Before she had fairly got inside. Walter has noticed her, and she has noticed him too. He gazes in astonishment at the perfect vision of loveliness before him he hasn't seen anything of the kind for some years. There is not particle of copper about her. She, on her part, halflaughing, has regarded him ve'y at tentively pushes back the golden ringlets that almost shut in her face, and takes another look as if to be certain that she has made no mis- take.

 Here is a seat, miss, beside me-" said the Gospel preacher.

 "'rhank you, sir, but prefer sitting on the back seat with NM gentleman, if he will let me. :" said the most electrical voice that Walter had listened, in some time.

 Certainly, miss," said the delighted Bom- bayite; and when she seated herself by him, she gazed into his face with such queer kind # ,j, 1irh+ To1 ter actually looked down upon himself to acer- tain what there was about his person that ap- pcared to be so pleasing to the fair maiden; but he discovered nothing unusual. The stage roll ed on toward Derby, at it's usual rapid rate of five miles an hour, and Walter and the merry maid seemed as chatty and cozy together, as though they had known each other for years, in stead of minutes. The minister tried to engage the ringets in conversation, but he soon found himself " nowhere" She had neither eyes nor ears for anybody else but Walter; and he had told her more about his own travels and Bombay scenery than he ever told anybody else before or since.

 At last they came to Derby Their horses had to be changed, and four fresh skeletons were harnessed up, and tackled on the old stage seat as gracefully as he could have done, had he HSSCl iFStt III l1oAlbtly, buo tti"tJo oeoPtSN III New York They were alone, now the minis ter and the old woman had got out at Derby.

 Well, we arc off once more how far are you going?' said Walter, as the stage went off.

 Not quite so far as Litchfeld. You say that your friends reside at Pomperaug? How glad they will De to sec you-'

 "Nery probably, unless they have forgotten nc, which is likely, for ! suppose have altered some in six years"

 "Not particle, I-'

 The pretty maid forgot what she was going to say, but at last remembered, and continued;

 |" l should suppose you had not altered, toryou said you were seventeen when you were last at your home, and you are only twenty three You must have grown nearly as large as you arc now"

 "Perhapg so but sti! l am somewhat tanned by the exposure in an East India clinate.''

 " Yet think you will be recognized by every body in the village, Do you not know young lady in Pomperaug. of the name of Mary Fuller?!''

 "Whnt little Mary my little wife, as l us- ed to call her? Why, Lord love you, do you know her? Bless her heart! My trunk is filled with knick-knacks for her especial use. Do Anoto her? Why, l have thought of her ever since l went away. Young lady why she is a little bit of a girl; she is only ten years old.- No, sho must be older than that nor. l sup pose I shall find her grown considerably. By the way, are you not cold? It is generally chilly"

 Tie delighted young lady was trying to con- ceal her face, which had called forth Walters exclamation.

 "Yes, it is getting colder-it is nearly dark.

 And so it was. Walter had boat-cloak, and after very little trouble, he was permitted to wrap it around her lovely form and somehow or other his arm went with it, and in the confu- sion he was very close to her, and his arm was around her waist, outside the cloak, though then he had to put Lis face down to hear what she said, asd somehow those long ringlets of soft, silky hair were playing across his check Human nature could not, and would not stand it any longer and Walter, the modest Walter, drew his arm closer than ever, and pressed upon the warm, rosy lips of his beautiful fellowtravel CT glowing, burning, regular East India, Bom- bay kiss. and then bushed himself at tho mis- chief he had done, and waited for the stage to upset or something else to happen; but no, she had not made any resistance; on the contrary, he felt distinctly that she had returned the kiss the very first kiss, too he had ever pressed upon a woman s lips since he gave parting kiss to little Mary Fuller; and he would have sworn he heard her say something (about the very mo- ment he had given the first long kiss of youth and love) that sounded like Dear, dear Wal ter' He tried the experiment again, and be- fore the stage had fairly reached the village, he had kissed and rekissed her, and she had paid him back kiss for kiss at least hundred times.

 The stage was now entering the village. In a few minutes he would be at Mary Fullers house. He thought of her, and he felt ashamed and downright guilty. What acould Mary, his " little wife" that was to be, say if she knew he had been acting SO? As these things passed rapidly through his mind, he began to study how to get out of the affair quietly and decently.

 You go on in the next stage, l suppose, to the next town, or perhaps still farther?'

 co, no, not me-

 What could she mean? But he had no time to indulge in conjecture the stage drove up slap in front of Parson Fullers door, and there was the venerable palson and his good lady in the doorway; he with lamp in his hand, all ready to receive-Water, as he supposed.

 "Where will you stop in the village? I will come and see you'

 "I shall stop where you stop. I won't leave you. Here you have been kissing me this last half an hour, and now you want to run away and leave me. 1 am determined to expose you to that old clergyman and his wife in the doorway yonder. More than that, your darling little wife that is to be, as you called her in the stage, shall know all about it'

 What situation for modest, moral man l. It was awful. To be laughed-exposed and who was she? Could it be possible! He had heard of such characters. It must be but she was very pretty, and he to be the means of bring ipr such q crcature into the very house of the