Year: 1866

party from the paper, placed 1t IN his
porkct, and worked through the long
hours of the afternoon.


Upon reaching home his first thought
was to consult with his wife upon the
subject, but he thought it would b, an
agreeably surprise to her, when he should
have commenced to reap the golden har
vest. SO he said nothing to her about it,
lie wrote Il letter to the concern, request
ing an agency extensive enough to occupy
him continually; and added many other
things which he had better not have writ
ten.


The following day he made prctcxt of
Il headache to visit the village post office,
some two miles distant. lie saw his let
Ter safely in the mail and then returned
TO his work lie assisted during the al,
tcrnoon in building stone fence, but The
labor was hard, and John Boydcn was
sure he had never performed such days
work before. lie pleaded sickness upon
the following day, and the day after, II"
one came to him for work. lie knew Of
several men who would be glad Of his
assistance, but. of what consequence
would the few dollars he could earn
ony by the sweat Of the brow be in
the en- He would take matters easy, and
when the business came up, he would
strike with all his energies. There
were several little improvements he ought
to make about is own premi.c,; bu, what
was the object in fitting up so much,
when it wasn't at all likely he should
always live there


The third day brought the longcd for
letter John l,ccd it in hi- br ast pocket
and fastened toward home. Iii, heart
was light, and he almost ran for part of
the distance. There was thcket beside
the road, and into tins Boydcn turned to
read the important m,sivc. First, he
pulled out II large circular, which lie
merely glanced at Ills countcnancc fell
II little as he perceive that it treated of
gol watches, but he pulled out the letter
nccompany ing, and ran over the contents
of that as soon as he could dcciphcr IT. 1t
was all Ilattcry, stating that from tenor ofhis
letter they were sure he was the very man
they wanted in that section, to Introduce
the new hunting case gold watch they were
importing in vast quantities from Swl;zcr-
land; concluding that they would do any
Thing TO favor hin, AMI hoped to receive
an order for at least one case which he
could hardly :ail to sell in any town in II
single day.


John glanced over the circular to find
what was meant 10y Il case. and what they
cost. lie read: ''lut up in Gas = OF
six each, and sent by express, prepaid, to
any part of the country on receipt OF
prce-tl5O0 % per case, Every watch
will sell from SO 10 S100-oitcn for
more than that !"


Here WA. blow for the young man
hopes. Notwithstanding the immense
profits. it would require ,n>idcr,blc ot a
capital on which to commence. lie read
the whole sheet over carefully, AMI his
heart beat with satisfaction as he realized
that such time piece never had been
| heard Of in that section. There were Ger.
/ hticates from many eminent men appcn-
died, whom he had never heard of, To he
sure, but Of what matter was that They
had used the watches. AMI iounl them all
/ that human ambition could crave! lie
thought over tho matter. The pariic.
had expressed Il desire TO assist him per-
haps they would deviatc from their csiab-
lished terms 10 10 50.


lie wrote TO them, rcpres, ning his ina
bllty 10 purchase an entire set, and asking
for some arrangement by which lie could
commence upon II small capital-addins
that he intended to put the business
through, and savc handsome sum from
the large margin for profit. lie did not
stop to reflect upon the probabilities OF
the case, or to analyzc the proposition. a'
d man less or .duluus than himself would
have been pretty sure to have done. lie
WIS only alImed by the golden prospect.
which gave such unbounded promise.


In few days came the answer from
the proprclors. 1t WAS not their way OF
doing business, they wrote, hut us he
seemed about the right kind Of an agent,
they would break package for his es-
pecial benefit, and he could send for such
a number AS he wished AT the same price
per watch as though he had taken a
package. Ills heart leaped with delight
at the generosity. lie could raise twcn-
ty five perhaps fifty dollars, and then he
would be on the high road TO success =
lie said nothing Of his plans, for he was
determined to astonsh his friends gener-
ally when he had made the first real
speculation With the hltle none he
had saved from his daily toil-and which
was needed for more than one urgent usc
and such amount as he borrowed, the
price of II single watch was obtained, and
forwarded.


True to the appointed day came ar
innocent little box through the mail tC
his address. Putting it IN his pocket, h,
started for home. Ills feet never hat
seemed so light before lie sprang
along the road with an agility which sur
prised all who saw him. Turning int
the thicket, as before. he broke open til,
mysterious package. here it lay;
shining pretty thing lie to'k it GU
carefully, and after adniring the eleganc,
of its general appearance, despite SOM
I Etla a,yvs in tho finish he nnt II hncl