Year: 1859

he had so often beheld the fair face and
lovey form Of his now lost Mary, without
being able to see her, he could not bear;
and having left but little behind save his
companion that was of any consequence
to him, he gave up the idea of returning.
Neither, had he any disposition to settle
himself; and finding that he could sustain
his grief better when travelling than in any
other way, he wandered off without any
settled point of destinations Atlength he
found himself at the lead mines of Mis-
souri,. But he yet beheld objects which re-
minded him of.his loss, which induced him
to sink still deeper into the bosom Of the
great forest; 80 he Joined himself to a
company of fur traders, and shaped his
course to the Rocky Mountains.


1t was the custom of the company to
post watch at night, which was proposed
10 be taken by turns; yet for some time
Lossly volunteered his services every night
so that when his companions were asleep,
he would look on the moon and stars,
which once shone on him when, with his
fair one hanging on his arm, he used to
take his evening excursions. The scream
of panthers did not interrupt him, while
for The doleful lamentations of the owl he
had a particular fondness. Rarely, for
months did he take his departure from a
camping place without leaving the letters
IN. L." on some one of the hitherto un-
disturbed trees of the forest.


lie wasted nearly two years among the
north western Indians. The hardships he
endured, the dangers through which he
passed, all had a great tendency to call off
his mind from former sorrows; and the fe-
males that he sometimes looked upon were
so unlike his Mary, that by the time he
returned to Missouri, he had in some de-
gree, regained his former cheerfuhess.-
But no sooner did he enter the settlements
where he saw fair faces and graceful forms,
than a recollection of his departed glory
returned. But the roll of years at length
wore away his grief; and finding at last an
object on which he could place his affec-
tions, he again entered into married con-
nection. From the time that he left his
companion in Georgia till he married his
second wife, it was about five years.


But what shall we say about Mrs. LosslT
for strange to tell, she still lived
Weeks, months and years had rolled by,
but had brought her no tidings of her alb
sent husband. Post Offices were examined
but no letters came. His name was
looked for in the public prints, but none
could be found Travellers were inquired
of, but to no avail At length she gave
him up as dead, and conceived of his death
in many ways; at one time she would fancy
that she could see his bones at the bottom
of some river in which he had been
drowned in attempting to cross; again she
could see him in some lonely spot-mur-
dered by robbers, or destroyed by Indian
violence; and at other times she would
fancy that she saw him languish on some
foreign bed; and after a severe and linger-
ing illness fall into the grave among stran-
gers. A thousand times she looked out
on the way she saw him depart, and
mourned him dead ill time had dried away
her tears.


After the lapse of seven long years and
more, since the departure of Mr.. Lossly,
Mr.. Starks offered his hand in marriage to
Mrs. Lossly, and as it was firmly believed
by herself and friends that Mr.. Lossly was
dead, and Mr.. Starks being a gentleman
worthy of her, she accepted the offer and
they were married.


At this time Mr.. Lossly was living
with his second wife in the State of Mis-
souri,, where he continued to live for some
thing like eighteen years. About fourteen
years after his marriage, his second wife
died, and he was left with two children, a
son. and a daughter, who was the eldest,
and took charge of her fathers house
but little more than three years after the
death of her mother, she married and
moved to North Alabama, and her father
and little brother went with her.


In the meantime, Mrs. Starks had lost
her husband and father, and having but
one child, that little daughter, she re-
moved TO North Alabama also, to reside
with an aged uncle who was living in thai
part of the country, so that Mr.. Lossly and
Mrs. Starks became neighbors-and they
again became acquainted with each other
as Col. LOssly, (Which title he had OBJ
tanned when among the fur-traders,) and
| Mrs. Starks. They soon formed an at
tachment for each other, and Col Lossly
eventually offered her his hand in mar.
riage, which she accepted. 1t is to OBJ
served that during the whole of their in
tercourse, they both took great care never
to mention any circumstance connecting
itself with their first marriage, and both
passed for having been married but once.
They had both been 30 very cautious or
this subject, that the slightest acquain
tance was not discovered until the night
before the marriage was to have been sol.
emnized. Perhaps the sacred fount o
their former sorrows was sealed too deeI
to be readily broken up again by either o
them.


The night before the marriage, as they
were conversing alone, the Colonel re-
marked that he expected to be a little
frightened on the next evening-saying
with him the older the worse-for, said he
when was married the first time, 1 was
not so much embarrassed as when wa:
married last! to which Mrs. Starks replied
by saying you have been married tacic
it seems. The Colonel at first tried t