Year: 1872

ooh, yes, sartin! Yes, Yes-I be-
lieve in Dreams" said old Silas Taf-
ton. He took another whiff at his
pipe, and then added: zone of the
greatest specUlatiOns I ever went into
came of a dream-a wonderful dream.
I'll tell you about it."


"YOu remember, some of you, about
the great land speculations here in
Maine 30years ago. Poor men-a very
few wofthem-werem made suddenly rich;
and rich men were made suddenly
poor was then living in Grey. One
day old Sam Whitney, of Oxford,
stopped at our place, and showed US a
map of a new town which had been
laid out in Sagadahoc. On the map
il looked beautiful. There was brooks,
and lakes, and broad plains of pine
and oak, with streets all laid out, and
spots for churches and schoOl-hOuses
marked in proper array. l had a
cousin living down that way, and
concluded to go down and take a look.
I found the town of Ellenville, which
old Whitney had shown me on his
map, to be q wild worthless tract, all
rocks and swamp; but OH the edge OF
NAAlo AA&Cb III cAAAOAACA NOh Al6AAABf Al
cousin owned a piece of good land,
and bought a hundred and fifty
acres of it, ard made me an excellent
farm; and for that purchase was
never sorry.


Meanwhile Ellenville was nearly all
sold in hundred acre lots. The ex-
element was at fever heat, and peO-
pie bought without once coming to
look at the land they were purchasing.
But by and by the new owners began
to look up their property, and you can
rest assured that they were blue sci
when they were assembled on thai
territory. Within all the limits of the
mapped out township there was not
an acre that could be cultivated. Or
the side that bOrdered my farm it wa:
a craggy ledge of rocks; and beyond
that to the eastward the land settled
under the mud and the water of &
sunken slough. Some of these lott
had been sold as high as one pound
an acre, and few of them even high
er than that. One poor fellow named
John Twist, from Vermont, had paiC
one pound an acre for a lot that bOrd
cred on my farm. On the map it haC
been set down as a magnificent pine
| forest, with river upon its border
upon which was a superb water pow
er. John Twist bought it and paiC
for it, and when he came to look at i
he found it to be a mass of barreI
rock, with here and there a clump o
scrub oak and few Norway pines
and for a river he found a water cOurst
which tumbled melted snow over tht
crags in the spring, and which wa
dry most of the year. did not SCI
the poor fellow when he came to sur
vey his property, but 1 can imagin,
how he felt.


ment passed of and the sufferers o
EllenVille turned their backs upon the
grave of their speculative hopes. Oh
my farm prospered. My land wa
of the very best quality; my wife wa!
true helpmate; my crops wer'
abundant, my stock thTiYed, and
| found myself with a gOodly pile o
money tied up in my stocking.


One evening in the early autumn
after our crops had been garnercd, ;
man riding a sorry looking nag, pull
ed up before our door. He was well
looking man, with sedatea and sOlemi
| face, and dressed in black. It wa
safe enough to conclude that the mai
was a minister, and so he announces
| himself. He said he was the Rev
Paul Meekmore; he was missionary
on a home circuit, and asked shelte
for himself and beast for the night
! OF course we welcomed him cheerful
ly, and we were pleased with him
He had travelled extensively, and hi
conversation was entertaining and in
| structive. Before he went to bed b
read a chapter in the Bible and mad
a prayer; and Betsey said to me afte
he had retired that she had neve
heard such beautiful prayer in be
life.


The next morning, at the breakfas
table, Mr.. Meekmore was very sedat,
He asked blessing, and then onl
answered such questions as were aske
him. Finally Betsey told him sh
was afraid he had not slept very wei
He smiled, and said he had slept veT
well, saving the spell Ofa very curiOU
dream which he had visited him thrt
separate times during the nigh
/ dohCu A4AlA II nOulu LE


what it was about.


''It was the old dream of hidde


wealth" he said with a solemn Loo


Il haven't dreamt such dream befOr


since by a wonderful dream in Sout


Africa I led TO the discovery of


diamond mine worth millions of dc


lars and ii never profited me a pc


ny. But such wealth is not for 10


1 need it not. My calling hath higl


er and holier aims. And yet this pO


flesh is sometimes weak enough


lust after the dross of gold and silver


By degrees we got from him tn
he had dreamed of a silver mil


among the crags OF our hills. Tn


mine seemed TO his vision utter


exhaustless in the precious meta


but he could not locate it. Betse


whose curiosity was aroused, wOu
: have epushed the matter, but Mr.. Nee


more finally shook his head mo


sOlemnly than ever, and said that


would rather forget the dream if
could.


When the missionary's horse W


at the door, and the owner was pI
, pared to start off, he informed US tn


he was bound toward the Canada lin


and that he might return that wa
lOf course we told him that our do
! would be always open to him; and


promised that he would abide with