Year: 1877


Scudder and, sometimes, in moments
Of great exultation for he was a mod
est youth, as every true lover should
be-he had dared to think that she did
not frown upon his passion.


But Clara was the 'Squire's daugh-
ter, and an heiress. while Ezra was but
a small farmer, and 50 far from sue
cessful in that pursuit, that it seemed
absurd, as well as impossible, that he
should aspire to the hand Of the lovely
Miss scudder, who had been courted
in vain by even the London gentle
men.


So he had sighed and cast longing
looks from bis place in the choir,
(where he sang in a fine tenor voice on
Sundays into the Squire's pew; and
more than once he thought pretty
Clara blushed brightly, and he knew
that she always smiled sweetly, and
her VOICE when she spoke to him had
a caressing sound, and altogether her
manner toward him was not discourage
ing But Ezra would not be eneour-
aged.


He felt that it was useless for him
to ask the squire for his daughters
hand, unless he had a good pot Of
money in his own hand with which to
back his proposal.


So, instead of trying to compass the
desired end BY increased industry, he
neglected his little farm more than
before, and spent his whole time in
wishing that he could find a pot Of
money somehow, in the manner Of old
fashioned stories-at the foot of tree /;
under the foundation Of his house.


believe he would even have sought
for it at the end of the rainbow, like
the boy in the nursery rhyme, if he had
been told that there was q good chance
of finding it there.


Suddenly a rumor spread abroad
that wonderful gypsy bad appeared,
who was telling peoples fortunes that
came true in the most remarkable
manner, and all the countryside was
in state Of excitement on the subject.
She was somewhat of an exclusive
character, this madam gypsy, and
could only be consulted in certain
place, in the shadow of wych-eIm, in
the open air, and during certain hours
these hours between the last rays Of
the declining sun and the first shadows
of coming night.


Of course the rumor Of the gypsy's
marvellous fortune-telling reached Ezra
Alden, and equally, of course, he was
much exercised in mind concerning it.


He found out the place where the
fortune-teller OWNED these fair for
tunes.


One evening, after watching the sun
slowly disappear behind the western
hills, he repaired thither, stealthily,
and little afraid Of meeting Clara
Scudder somewhere in the vicinity, for
the wych-elm was just on the further
side Of the 'squire's park.


However he met no one except a
hurried squirrel, fast speeding to its
home, and it was even more scared at
being met than Ezra was, 50 he hasten
ed to the wych-elm, and there, sure
enough, was madam gypsy, sitting
curled up against the trunk, and look
ing precisely as if she was waiting for
him.


She was very old woman bent al
most double.


Her lined and wrinkled face was the
color Of butternut, and the tangles of
her hair hung in elflike grizzled locks
about her brow and over her cheeks.


But her black eyes had wonder
full briIliancy and such a keen look
that they seemed to see right through
him.


She was. wrapped in a tattered old
scarlet cloak, and hood Of the same
was drawn well over her head.