Year: 1877

longnal.l


ELI DOCKINS' COURTSHIP.


Nature seems to have so designed, that
whilst some men are "born to luck" Others
are the mere tools with which fortune sports
There lives are not peculiarly miserable; but
constantly something is tranapiring in their
history, which is to them, for the moment
both ridiculous and morLifying, and to others
these events are exquisitely ludicrous. To
this unfortunate class of the human family
belonged Eli Dockins. When and where Eli
lived, it makes no sort of difference to the
reader. 1t is enough to know that he did
live, and for any thing that we know to the
contrary, he is still alive. If this, however, is
the case be is an old man, and no doubt luck
is still against him.


It is said of q certain noted character, that
he was noted for doing and saying every thing
he did and said, different from every body
else. As an appropriate misnomer the name
Handy Andy was given him. Between Han
dy Andy and Eli Dockins there seems to have
existed this resemblance, that whilst the
former said and did every thing awkwardly,
every thing turned out awkwardly to the
latter. e..


Eli had good face, symmetrical form,
open countensnce, digni6ed movement, good
address, excellent moral character, and dressed
neat and becoming. He was poor, but not
poorer than the majority of those in the COM
munity in which he resided. To say that he
was destitute of common sense, or without
moral culture, would be at variance with the
facts of the case. Ellis advice with regard
to the every day affairs of life was treated with
as much, if not more respect, than those of
his own age in his neighborhood. At school
he made commeudable progress in his studies.
So much 80, and 80 extensive were his attain
ments in literature, that he was, when he
reached the years of manhood, selected by
his neghbors to teach their children. In the
capacity of school teacher he spent con-
siderable portion of his earl manhood, with
credit to himself and to the general satisfac-
tion of his employers.


Notwithstanding all that was favorable in
and about Eli, he was the child of misfortune.
Not in the sense that he suffered great pain,
or met with heavy losses, or had done any
Infamous deed. Such was not the case; tor
whilst everything with him turned out differ
|
ent from what it does with other men, Ellis
conscience was as easy as the conscience OF
most men, and bis life as free from actual
misery.


Like most young men, Eli Dockins began
to think of the girls when be arrived at the
period which intervenes between gawkish
boyhood and mature manhood. His extreme
modesty and the fear of doing some ludicrous
act, or saying some silly thing, prevented him
from thinking seriously of marrying until he
had nearly reached his twenty third year.


He had been teaching school in the neigh
borhood for nearly eighteen months, and
every thing was moving along in the COM
munity very smoothly, so far as Eli was con-
cerned. 1t is true that there were number
of good Jokes in circulation throughout the
community respecting him but these in no
way affected Ellis standing in the neighbor-
hood. The truth is, more than one family in
the community would have been very glad to
have taken Eli Dockins into their number.
Several mothers were anxious that Eli would
discover the charms of their daughters.


Eli was literally tortured by repeated invi-
tations to visit his patrons. The object OF
these invitations to visit, many man with
far less sense than Eli Dockins, would have
discovered in a moment. Eli either remained
in profound ignorance of his popularity, or
his excessive modesty and bad luck in other
respects prevented him from improving bis
opportunities.


In the neghborhood in which Eli was
teaching school, there resided well-to-do, de-
cent family. At this day and time it would
be called poor family, and still the family
was, although making no sort of pretentons
to wealth or any thing of the kind, really we'll
off in the world. 1t was poor family, ac'
cording to modern notions, because every
member of the family worked, and-it mat
ters not where the inconsistency lies-the
family to-day would be regarded rich, because
it had an abundance of everything required
to build up wasting humanity, and had also
money to lend.


The father and mother Of this inassuming,
but happy family, so far as mortals can be
happy, were in the prime of life, and rejoicing
in one less than half a score of healthy chill
dren. The oldest was son, broad shoulder.
ed and muscular. The second was a girl,
now just passing through her seventeenth
summer. She was neither fair as lily, nor
brown as bun; but hale and healthy. Her
eyes sparkled with w.t. and her voice was as
clear as the lark's. No dyspepsia, no neural
gia, darkened her cheeks with frown, or
poisoned her tongue with bitterness There
we're some things which modern belle can
do which she could not do, and she could do
some things which modern belle would not
try to do. She could card and spin; cook
and wash milk the COWS and churn make a
new coat and patch an old one; and in a
pinch hoe the garden, and feed the calves and
pigs. There we're some things this maid had
never heard of. She did not know any thing
about taking snuff or painting the cheeks.


Eli Dockins saw this girl. His heart was
moved, and the first impulse of his nature was
to WOO her and wed her. He was in earnest.
It was the first time in his life that he had