Year: 1877

! the last wagon, blowing his nose to
carry away the surplus water from his
eyes without appearing to weep. Fol-
so hard man as he to give way to fit
of weeping, even in parting forever from
the old church that had been his pride
and solace, would have been a compro-
mise'with dignity which his idea of a
Christian reputation could not afford.


Jesus wept, it is true; but I have
known more than one of his professed
followers who proved by his example
that he gloried in being made of sterner
stuff than the weeping kind.


Mollie Mcconnell had bidden Martha
goodbye and had started homeward,
purposely encountering the Major when
she reached the last wagon, in the front
of which the wife and mother of the
Marbleheads was weeping silently.


Farewell, Mollie," said the Major,
solemnly. "Let the word of God be a
lamp to thy feet and a guide to thy path,
and may the spirit of truth and devo-
ton ever quicken and admonish thee"


Mollie blushed. She was almost
afraid to attempt cheating Martha in
the presence of so holy man. But no
time was to be lost. Once get Martha
away upon her long journey without a
word from King and there would be no
danger from her rivalry ever after.


''I want to do you a good turn, Ma
jor," she said, hurriedly, with her voice
pitched low. "Here's a letter that I
fancy is from King, as it is in his hand
writing. 1 thought it my duty to give
it to you"


The Major slipped the note into the
pocket of his "warmus," a kind of
blouse much worn by old men of the
past generation, and, adding a fervent
"God bless you," to his former admoni-
tion to be honest and true, he babe the
girl a final good. bye and "Gee-hawed"
to his oxen, and plodded on without a
thought that his own conduct in dealing
thus with the private property of an
other was on a par with any other vio-
lation of the Scriptural prohibition to
steal.


Up to the last moment Martha had
looked and hoped for a parting word
from King.


Had Gus OWNED the nature of her
anxiety, he might have done much to
allay her sorrow by a little explanation,
but he fancied that his last severe whip
ping, received Immediately after his re-
turn from Kings office, and in the pres
ence of numerous spectators at that
among them the "girl" he secretly
claimed as his own-was the result of
his stolen visit to King, and that Martha
was to blame for it; so he felt inward
satisfaction in pretending that her note
had only invoked her lovers derision.


True love always undertakes its own
attractions. Reader, have you lover
who possesses unbounded confidence in
his own power to fascinate you? Be-
ware of him. His love is shallow in in
verse proportion to his self-assurance
Have you a lover who is diffident and
doubtful concerning his own power to
charm and hold you? His love is gen.
uine. Nurture it tenderly if in your
heart you fully reciprocate it.


Kingston Greensborough set himself
assiduOusly to work to excel in his pro-
fession. Possessed of a fine estate, he
was in better circumstances to begin
life than one young man in a hundred,
and the siege laid to his hand and heart
by MOllie Mcconnell was not the only
one against which he had to contend, as
he studied intricate cases involving
complexities in law that often brought
him into personal contact with the fore
most jurists of the district.


Martha Marblehead took up her line
of march with her iron father, gentle
mother, and turbulent brothers and sis
ters with feeling of deadneSs that was
uncOnquerable.


"If had only had one line of sweet
remembrance from him ~ she thought.
'Surely he was shocked at my unmai-
denly forwardness in presumiug to send
him a note"


She forgot, foolish girl, that she had
sent him a note on former occasion,
after which he had vowed to love her
forever and ever.


"Maybe I didn't do right" she added,
to herself "How do I know that it was
right for me to allow him the liberty TO
kiss me? No doubt he was disguised
when he came to think it over I've
heard that men are always displeased
with forward girls"


Then, in spite of herself, she would
live over the stolen interview again and
again, always ending her reverie with
a resolve to have nothing more to do
with him under any circumstances,
clinching the declaration with a solemn
vow to forget him and marry somebody
else some day, if it broke her heart to
do it.


Who was to be the somebody else,"
when in all her short life she had never
met another toward whom she had felt
shadow of attraction, she did not stop
to inquire. 1t was enough for her to
feel humiliated over the idea that she
had offered more love than she had re-
ceived, and that she must do penance
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