Year: 1874

es, yes, Saftaln-l believe II
Dreams" said old Silas Talforl. He
took another Whit of his nipe, and
then added: Zone OF the greatest
speculations I ever went into came ot
dream-a wonderful dream. I'll tel
you about it."


"Y ou remember, some of you, about
the great land speculation here in
Maine thirty years ago.


"Poor men-a very few of them
were made suddenly rich; and rich
men were made suddenly poor. l was
lying then in Grey. One day old Sam
Whitney, OF Oxford, stopped at our
place, and showed US a map of new
town which had been laid out in Sag
adahoe. On the map il looked beau
tiful. There were brooks and lakes
and broad plains of pine and oak, and
streets all laid out, and spots foT
charehes and school houses marked
out in proper array. | had a cousin
living down that way, and | conclud-
ed to 90 down and take a look. l
found the town of Ellenvile, which
old Whitney showed me on his map,
to be a wild, worthless tract, all rock
and swamp, but on the edge of this in
another township my cousin owned a
piece of good land, and [ bought a
farm and for that purchase l was
never sorry.


"Meantime EIlenVille was nearly all
sold in hundred acre lots. The excite
ment was at fever heat, and people
bought without once coming to look
at the land they were purchasing. But
by and by the new owners began to
look upon their property, and you
may rest assured they were blue set,
when they were assembled in that ter
ritory. Within all the limits of the
mapped out township there was not
an acre that could be cultivated. On
the edge that bordered my farm it
was craggy ledge of rocks and be-
vond that to the eastward the land
settled under the mud of a sunken
slough. Some of these lots had been
sold as high as one pound an acre, and
a few of them even higher than that.
One poor fellow named John Twist,
from Vermont, had paid one pound
per acre for a lot that bordered on my
farm. On the map it had been set
down as a magnificent pine forest,
with river upon its border, upon
which was a magnificent water power.
John Twist bought it and paid dear
for it, and when he came to look at it
he found it to be a mass of barren
rocks, with here and there clump of
shrub oaks and few Norway Pines,
and for river he found water course
which tumbled melted snow over the
crags in spring, and which was dry
most of the year. [ did not see the
poor fellow when he came TO survey
his property, but l can imagine how
he felt.


After a while, however, the excite
ment passed of, and the sufferers of
Ellenville turned their backs upon the
graves of their speculative hopes. On
my farm prospered my land was of
the very best quality my wife was a
true helpmate; my crops were abund-
ant /; my stock thrived, and L found
myself with a goodly pile of money
tied up in my stocking.


"One evening after our crops had
been gathered, mab.riding SORROW
ful-looking- nag pulled up before our
door. He was a well looking man
with sedate and solemn face, and
dressed in black. 1t was safe enough
to conclude that the man was minis
ter, and so he announced himself. He
said he was the Rev. Paul Meekmore !:





he was a missionary, on home Cir
cult, and asked shelter for himself and
bea st for the night. OF course we
welcomed him cheerfully, and were
pleased with him. He had travelled
extensively, and his conversation was
entertaining and instructive. Before
he went to bed be read a chapter in
the Bible and made prayer; and
Betsy said after he had retired, that
she had never heard such a beautiful
prayer in her life.


The next morning at the breakfast
table, Mr.. Meekmore was very sedate.
He asked blessing, and then only
answered such questions as we asked
him. Finally my wife told him she
was afraid he had not slept well. Lie
smiled and said he had slept very well,
save the spell of a very curious dream
which had visited him three separate
times during the night. Betsy asked
him if he would tell what it was about.


"'It was the old dream of hidden
wealth. ne said, with a solemn look.
4 haven't dreamed such a dream be-
fore since by wonderful dream in
South America led to the discovery
of diamond mine worth millions of
dollars, and it never profited me
cent. But such wealth is not for me.
l need it not. My calling hath higher
and holier aims. And yet this poor
flesh is weak enough sometimes to lust
after the dross of gold and silver


"By degrees we got from him that
he dreamed of silver mine among the
crags of our hills. This mine seemed
to his vision to be utterly exhaustless
in the precious metal; but he could
not locate it. Betsy, whose curiosity
was aroused, would have pushed the
matter, but Mr.. Meekmore finally
shook his head more solemnly than
ever, and said that he would rather
forget the dream if he could.


"When the missionary's horse was
at the door, and the owner was pre-
pared to start off, he informed us that
he was bound toward the Canada line,
and that he might return that way. or
course we told him that our door
would be always open to him, and he
promised that he would abide with us