Orleans independent standard. [volume], February 15, 1856, Image 1

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A. A. EAELE, PUBLISHER.!
2STo More Compromise xvitla. Slavory,
ITERMS. SK25LV ADVANCE.
NUMBER 1.
VOLUME 1.
IRASBURGH, VERMONT, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1856.
itcrarii Selection.
From Putnam's Monthly Magazine.
THE ATTORNEY'S REVENGE.
Twenty years ago, Sam Saunders and
I were reading law together with old
Squire Littleton, of Pleasant Valley.
That is to say, we both read, or profes
sed to read, at the Fame time in his of
fice; but to own the truth, that together
must be taken in a very metaphorical
sense.
" Sam, indeed, read patiently and plod
dingly, lie went at Blackstone, as he
approached every other new acquain
tance, somewhat timorously at first : but
after a little he clung to hjm, as he clung
to every one of his few friends, with a
vice-like tenacity. Many a clear, crisp
October day, when the hills around
Pleasant Valley were echoing the quick
reports of my fowling-piece, the dingy
office walls only echoed Sam's droning
voice, as he toiled through contingent
remainders and executory devices, read
ing aloud as if in hopes that the intricate
meaning which eluded his eyesight might,
perchance, creep in by the ears. On
warm summer afternoons, as, with my
feet on the window sill, I watched the
fumes of an after-dinner cigar, those same
measured cadunccs would lull me to sleep.
In winter evening?, when Bessie Little
ton and I were going home from singing
school, we used to peep in at the window
and see Sam poring over his task. That,
as I have said, was twenty years ago :
Sam is quoted now with great respect, in
the Reports, as Saunders. J.J: he non
suited me, last week, on one of the very
points that I first drilled into his skull,
twenty years ago ! That skull had such
a happy thickness that no idea, oncelodged,
ever made its escape. But I am wander
ing from my story.
When Sam first came jnto old Little
ton's office, we all thought him an incor
rigible dunce. As such, he was made.tlie
subject of numerous tricks. Practical
jokes of all descriptions he bore with im
movable gravity. Tom Littleton, the
'Squire's nephew, the wit of the office and
the village, spent his shafts upon him in
vain. ScottjOar managing clerk, delivered
long lectures to him, replete with such law
as never had "entered the hea.l of mortal
man : and when, our gravity exhausted,
Tom and I rushed out to give our laugh
ter vent, Sam would gravely reach down
Ids vast common-place book, and treasure
up Scott's mendacious maxims and apoc
ryphal authorities with the most painful
dilligence.
But these things soon grew tiresome,
e ven to ourselves. Sam was too easy a
victim to afford lasting sport, and after the
first month or two we left him to plod on
his way alone. By and by the impres
sion gradually grew on us that Sam was
not a man to be despised after all. Slow
and plodding he certainly was ; but there
was a world of good feeling under his
great ungainly exterior. "We began to
see that Sam had in him the material of
a warm, steadfast friend : and once in a
while, when I heard him express his few
dislikes, the conviction came over me that
I would not much like to have Sam Saun
ders for an enemy.
Bessie Littleton was the belie of Pleas
ant Valley. She claimed that title on a
variety of grounds. She was the only child
of the old 'Squire : and the old 'Squire
was a great man, even throughout the
country. Moreover, Bessie, in her own
right, was a brighUeyed, brown-haired,
red-lipped little beauty ; and to crown all,
Bhe was the most artful and bewitching
little coquette that ever proved, in a vil
lage cliuidi, how uiucli a natural genius
for flirting can surpass the studied art of
city belles. Every one of the 'Squire's
Students fell in love with her before they
had finished the first chapter in Blackstone;
every one except Sam Saunders. And
every one had some sweet treasured re-
mimscnce some particular wordor look,
or smile, upon which he built particula:
hopes. To be sure, if any one of them
had examined the subject in connexion
rth Phillips on Evidence, or any other
good work on that branch of his Ktndl.
he nught have known that there was hard
ly a prima facie case in his favor. But
perhaps this is a process hardly to be ex
pected ot lovers.
If the truth must be told, I fllvtter my
self that I could give a shrewd guess at
tie true state of Bessie's feelings. It
would liardly be proper for me to speak
very plainly on such a matter, even at
this late period ; and as Mrs. Quidam is
of a slightly jealous torn, I do not like to
commit myeslf. Suffice it to say, that
although Miss Littleton never exactly ex
pised herself to me inso tnanv words.
Jet I have always been convinced that
certain little marks of attention to your
humble servant were not without their
meaning. But this is not to my present
purpose.
Lazily smoking one July afternoon, in
the position I have described before, a
rustling of gauze upon the walk struck
my ear. My eyes opened just in time to
catch a glimpse of Bessie as she passed
the open door. Something white fluttered
to the ground as she vanished. Bessie
had dropped her handkerchief.
Now, I do not mean to say that Bessie
intended to drop her handkerchief, or was
coJWfcant ot the loss. X am aware that
handkerchiefs are often dropped byyoung
ladies in situations which entirely pre
clude the suspicion of any ulterior pur
pose. I am even prepared to admit that
(except on the stage) handkerchiefs are
more often dropped accidently than oth
erwise. But yet, in the present instance, it was
singular that she should have dropped her
handkerchief in that very place. She
might have been aware that I was at that
time particularly engaged, so far as office
business was concerned. Indeed, if, the
reader will remember the position: I was
occupying, she could have hardly, passed
the window without having her attention
cailed to that fact. These reflections, to
a mind accustomed, as that of a student
at law in his second year must be, to the
weighing of evidence, led to an irresist
ible conclusion. It was clearly my duty
to restore the handkerchief to its fair
owner.
Eapidly as tliis train of argument had
passed through my mind, it yet occupied
some seconds, and still more were required
to gather myself up and proceed to the
execution of my mission, with such delib
eration as its importance and the heat of
the weather demanded. These few sec
onds were of vast importance in the life of
Samuel Saunders.
I reached the doorway just in time to
see his huge figure bending to pick up the
delicate fabric, which he handled as gin
gerly as if it had been one of the cobwebs
of the law. Chagrined as I was to be
thus forestalled, 1 could not help smiling
at what I flattered myself would be Bes
sie's disappointment. But if I expected
it to be visible in her face, it was because
I did not fully know Miss Bessie Little
ton, or young-lady nature in general.
She never had given me a sweeter smile
than that with which she rewarded my
fellow-stndent b clumsy politeness, when
his long strides had overtaken her; and
Sam returned blushing like one of his
father's blood-red beets. Two or three
evenings after, I met him in unusual ar
ray. To see him away from the office
at that time was a wonder ; but imagine
my astonishment when he told me he was
going to call at 'Squire Littleton's I That
evening sealed his fate. The little flirt had
played her cards well : she had trumped
Sam's heart.
The poor fellow wa3 strangely affected
at first by his novel sensations. He dream
ed over unopened books ; he scribbled
many things which he afterwards care
fully destroyed, reducing the paper to the
minutest fractions of which his big fingers
could render it susceptible ; he took long
solitary rambles ; he committed all the
follies which from time immemorial have
been the signs of first love. - But this
stage did not last long, for it was not in
accordance with his earnest, serious na
ture. After a week or two, he came
back to his books with redoubled energy.
I thought he had escaped from the toils.
But one day Miss Bessie came to the
office to look for her father. She might
have recollected, had she taken the pains,
that he was gone to try a. case at N
But it so happened that she did not ; and
only Sam and I were in the office .when
she entered. There was nothing in her
manner which gave me a chance to.guees
at the true stateof affairs ; she was to both
of us the same bewitching little gipsy as
ever. But when I glanced at Sam, I
could read his heart like an open book
His broad face lit up with a smile that
made it almost handsome ; and from out
his great eyes there gleamed such tender
ness as if liis whole heart were flowing
through them toward the beautiful girl.
"With a smile and a gay word, she flit
ted away, and Sam turned back to h6
desk, and his eye grew dull and Lis hps
compressed once more over Chitty. I
watched him with strange interest, for I
had just caught a new glimpse into his
character. He ioved Bessie Littleton with
all the power of his deep, slow nature, and
ue nuu set tomself down to win her by
the only means he knew patient, plod
ding labor. And the next time I saw her
T 1 .1
gazea at her wuh an odd mixture of
admiration and pity ; ior t felt Bhe
had chosen
a most unfit subject for fcr
arts if she were not, that Sam Saunders
and Bessie Littleton would make a very
odd couple !
A year and more passed without mak
ing much change in Pleasant Valley.
Sam studied, and I smoked, and Bessie
flirted, sometimes with Sam, sometimes
with me, often with any new-comer that
relieved the monotony of village society.
She danced before my comrade's eyes
like a will of the wisp, or tempting mir
age towards which the laden caravan
toils its weary way, always sustained by
seeing it just ahead, yet never diminish
ing the distance that still remains to be
passed.
Our admission to the bar came at last,
and we separated, I to build air-castles
and blow smoke-wreaths from a fourth
story window in "Wall street, and Sam
to open an office in his native village,
some ten miles from Pleasant Valley.
Amid the novel excitements of city life,
our village scenes, and interests, and
friendships, soon grew dim and distant.
I began to think of them as of a different
sphere, with which I had lost my connec
tion ; and I even found myself speaking
and thinking of the fascinating Bessie as
a pretty little girl whom I once knew in
the country.
.Jt was some time in the third summer
of my professional life I can hardly say
of raj practice that I strolled into the
rooms of Mr. Flourish, the eminent coun
sel, whose office was two floors below me.
I had got into a habit of doing this, for it
was pleasant to see clients even if they
were not my own, and to see that fees and
retainers still existed, and were not, as my
own experience had almost led me to be
lieve, traditions derived from a by-gone
age-
" Quidam," said my learned brother
Fourish to me, "you studied law in Pleas
ant Valley, did you not ?"
I nodded.
" "Wouldn't you like to take a turn up
there next week? I am going up to try
a case."
I could not help expressing my wonder
that any case should arise there of suffi
cient importance to call from the city a
counsel so eminent as Flourish.
" It is a queer case," he said, " a breach
of promise ; and the queerest part of it
is that the plaintiff is of our own profes
sion." Taking up the bundle of papers which
he drew from the great heap on his desk,
the first one which met my eyes was the
following " declaration."
SUPREME COURT.
Samuel Saunders
us. J.
Elizabeth Littleton. )
Oiidamon County, ss : Elizabeth Littleton was
attached to answer Samuel Saunders of a plea of
trespass on the case upon promises ; and thereupon
the said Samuel Saunders in his own proper per
son complains. For that whereas heretofore, to
wit, on the first day ef April, in the year , at
the town of Pleasant Vulley, in the County of
Oudamon aforesaid, in consideration that the said
Samuel Saunders, being then and there unmar
ried, at the like special instance and request of
the said Elizabeth Littleton, had then and there
undertaken and faithfully promised the said Eliza
beth Littleton to marry her the said Elizabeth
Littleton, she the said Elizabeth Littleton under
took and then and there faithfully promised the
said Samuel Saunders to marry him, the said
Samuel Saunders, in a reasonable time then next
following. And the said Samuel Saunders avers
that he, confiding in the said promise and under
taking, hath always hitherto remained and con
tinued and still is sole and unmarried, and hath
been and still is ready and willing to marry the
said Elizabeth Littleton; and although a reason
able time for the said Elizabeth Littleton to marry
him, the said Samuel Saunders, hath elapsed
since the making of the said last mentioned prora
ise and undertaking, but contriving and fraudu
lently intending craftily and subtly to deceive and
injure the said Samuel Saunders in this behalf,
did not nor would within such reasonable time as
9.forMn.i(l, or at any tim a(trwftrHfl, marry liim
the said Samuel Saunders, but hath hitherto whol
ly neglected and refused so to do, to wit, at the
town of Pleasant Valley aforesuid, in the county
aforesaid. Wherefore the said Samuel Saunders
saith that he is injured and hath sustained damage
to ttie amount ol live thousand dollars, and there
fore he brings his suit.
CHAFTEE II.
From time immemorial, court-week
had been a period of high festival in
Pleasant Valley ; but I could not help
fancying, as we reached the inn, that a
more than ordinary interest attended the
term which was to decide the great case
of Saunders vs. Littleton.
Having casually remarked that I had
come up in company with the distinguished
Mr. Fourish to try that case on the part
of the plaintiff, I speedily found myself
the object of almost as much curiosity as
that eloquent counsel himself. That the
very ingenious efforts made to acquire
information respecting the private affairs
of my former fellow-student and Miss
Bessie failed, was owing partly to my nat
ural discretion, and partly to the fact that,
of all which had transpired since I left the
Tillage, I was even more ignorant than
my inquisitors themselves.
The next morning after our arrival
the case was called, and, in the presence
of a more crowded auditory than Ouda
mon County Court House had ever be
fore contained, Mr. Flourish opened for
the plaintiff.
The evidence was brief, hut decidedly
to the point It consisted cViefly of a se
ries of letters from the defendant, which
established, very conclusively the follow
ing facts : first, that after a long and as
siduous courtship, on his part, she had
given the plaintiff an unequivocal promise
of her hand and heart; and stcond, that
some time after, and when Sam had al
ready commenced Jsis arnrugSneTiU for
their union, she had dismissed him in a
manner equally decisive, and had ever
since persisted in treating the whole mat
ter as a tiresome jest, which none but
the very dullest suitors would ever have
considered earnest.
Here the plaintiff rested. Evidence
for the defense there was none, for the
nature of the case rendered it impossi
ble. Miss Bessie could hardly deny her
own delicate handwriting; and it was in
vsin to attempt showing anything in the
life or conduct of the staid, sober, pros
perous lawyer which would justify the
breaking of a solemn engagement.
'Squire Littleton, therefore, who was
his daughter's only counsel, addressed
himself at once to the jury. He spoke
to them not so much as an advocate, as
in the manner which became and bid man
reasoning with his neighbors. All that
the plaintiff had shown, he said, was un
doubtedly true. It was his hard lot to
stand there, in his old age, and-confess
that his darling child had done much to
grieve a fond parent's heart. She had
committed what, in his own eyes, seemed
a grievous sin ; for she had broken her
word. But this, he argued, was not the
place or the manner to punish such offen
ces. The law of contracts never was
to be a substitute for the tribunal of con
science. If the plaintiff could show that
he was pecuniarily the loser by her fickle
ness, the jury might compensate him.
If he could show that any more advan
tageous match had been lost, any pros
pect of advantage been blighted, any out
ward loss or suffering entailed upon him,
these were matters of which they might
properly take cognizance. But of this
there was no pretense. The injury in
flicted had spent itself in the inmost
heart. That it was an injury, a deep
and galling one, he most humbly confess
ed ; but it was one which could not be
estimated in dollars and cents. The
highest verdict claimed could not mend
the plaintiffs heart one whit ; the lowest
possible would more than compensate his
pocket.
All this seemed to me very good sense ;
and yet I was convinced that it would
have but little weight with the jury. In
private life those twelve men would each
probably have reasoned in the same
manner; but in the jury-box they felt it
their solemn duty to compensate, with pe
cuniary damages, all the sufferings and
evils of the world.
Flourish knew well this idiosyncrasy
of jurymen, for it is one by no means
confined to the panel of Oudamon coun
ty ; and he framed his reply accordingly.
Under the charm of his fervid eloquence,
Sam (who, in rugged health, and with a
bag full of briefs, sat just behind him)
became the most dejected, the most blight
ed, the most broken-hearted of sufferers.
Bessie (who sat on the other side, with
that same bewitching smile as of old.
rendered only still more fascinating by a
puzzled look, as liardly knowing whether
to laugh or cry,) grew Into the most art
ful and dangerous of foes to human hap
piness, whose power for ill those intelli
gent jurymen were called upon to de
stroy, by the all-powerful spell of exem
plary damages.
Mr. Flourish wiped the perspiration
from his brow, and sat down ; and the
jury were charged in the most appproved
manner.
If the gentlemen of the jury were
convinced, said his Honor, that the plain
tiff should liave a verdict, they would, of
course, give him one, unless, in the exer
cise of a sound discretion, and upon a
careful review of all the facts in the case,
they thought fit to find for the defendant.
As for the measure of damages, that, of
course, was entirely within their prov
ince ; yet, at the same time, he might be
allowed to suggest that if they took one
view of the case, those damages might
be estimated at a high rate; while if, on
the contrary, they took a different view,
it would be highly proper not to give so
large a verdict,
With these lucid instructions, the jury
retired, just as the tavern bell over the
way rang for dinner. Scarcely, however.
had we reached the outer door when we
saw them nhne nnr-Ic to trip, onnrf-iw-im
" . t " --------
Back rctuf-ned the nidsre. with anvtbinir
Back rctuf-ned the iudsre, with anvthincr
ntAbiaiMVLiuu uii ma xtiLT, iiu uttca j
crowded lawyers, clients, and audience,
to learn the result
I had not iudred wronslv as to the
relative effects of the two speeches on
the jury ; but I own I was somewhat as-
tounded when the foreman, after fWlni-inir
that tliey found for the plaintiff, added,
iu a uiciu iwiu uisuuci voice, uu uain-
ages, tive tnousand dollars I
w You have crot a stunnin? verdict"
C O T
said I to Sam, as we walked over to din-
neT, ''but how much WiDroureaiiienom
I see," was my rejoinder, Bessie
will be an heiress one of these davs."
"'SnuireLittlptnnVr.rnnortnl.l
1 " i-.J-w.j
j-'aj ins uvvu ueuis, ii ne uieu to-morrow,
replied Sam. " People here think he is
rich ; I know him to be insolvent"
. , . ...... ..
" In the name of wonder, then," I ex
claimed, " how do you ever expect to be
compensated for the time and money
spent in getting this verdict ? "
Do you remember the 443d pase of i
the hrst volume of Blackstone?"
Of course I could not acknowledge to
my old fellow-student that I didn't; but,
as I found it impossible to recall the pre
cise doctrine taught on that particular
page, I discreetly dropped the subject.
TThen 'Squire Littleton died, not six
months after the trial, all Pleasant Val
ley was astounded by discovering what
only Sam and a few intimate friends had
known before ; namely that his only child,
the supposed heiress, would be left nearly
penniless. Mingled with the expressions
of pity for her, elicited by this intelli
gence, were many sly cuts nd shrewd
jokes at the supposed failure of Sam's
deep-laid scheme. The loungers at the
tavem, and the knot of evening gossipers
m the grocery and variety store reckoned
up the items of his expenditure in that
famous case, and chuckled at the thought
that the wily lawyer's speculation would
foot up so largely on the wrong side.
Iney were a little surprised, afterward?,
to find that he made no effort to repay
himcelt out of the few hundreds saved
for Bessie from the wreck of her father's
estate. One of the more charitable
cuituj; mem ci cu fcujjjjesiea, upon one
occasion, that Sam, though a lawyer, had
some little generosity left. But this no-
some little generosity left. But this no
tion was so instantly and generally scouted
by his wiser companions, he never broach
ed the subject again ; and the only theory
that at all satisfied their minds was, that
in this, as in everything else connected
with Bessie Littleton, Sam was fairly
non compos.
Bessie, with all her .,r-WvW,l
faults, had been a favorite. nnd -l,,n Lr
,tW.nwi. .i.i..ii.JllluI LelJin Iier came to fill their
hammer, the homeless rirl wnM Wp I
v, i x ,
been a welcome miest bennntli mmv n
mnfin f l.n vJTW T.f 1.1 1.
a defendant where hA nlnvt ,i
a queen ; and, after a few weeks of rest-
less flitting from place to place, she ac-
cepted a situation as teacher in a distant
city, and left Pleasant Valley, as she
then thought, forever.
But a young lady can change her mind
many times in the course of years ; and
the two years had brought her back.
She had gone in orphan's weeds,and with
eyes dimmed by sorrow. She came back,
more like the bright, bewitching Beseie
of her earlier days ; anl it soon came to
be whispered around that there was good
cause lor her renewed spirits that she
was going to make nn excellent match.
These rumors soon were reduced to
certainty ; for on Saturday afternoon a
sprucely dressed gentleman was seen at
the door of the tavern, and the next mor
ning that same sprucely dressed gentle
man walked into the village church with
Bessie on his arm. Oddly enough it hap
pened, that Sam Saunders had ridden
over that morning to hear an old school
fellow preach. The comparison between
the two lovers, as to the outward man,
was decidedly in the new comers favor.
Grim old bachelorhood had settled down
prematurely on Sam, and stamped its
mark on his careless attire, and his bushy
hair ; and hard work, in a hard profes
sion, had not improved a face which nev
er was handsome. The stranger, on the
j contrary, was eminently a handsome man,
and no little of a dandy. His face was
a perennial smile, and when he smiled he
fchoved a set of beautiful teeth that you
could not help noticing. They seemed
to be a sort of white paling, set up tor the
expre,-s purpose of preventing you fiom
looking any deeper, to see whether so
beautiful a smile really came from the
heart or not
During the week that folio ed, Bessie j
trac l,r, -.,.--. r .1.. r
t-,n u. Bj. . u.nuiuera-
ble wen t r.n-t c ...
ble were the r-.irtmcnf ,,1..- ..,.i
vi vjcnsru ior itie amusement ot her
lover and herself. It sneedav hrr-nne
known, throudi the half dozen confi.L-rJ
tial friends, to whom i-Iip nln.i-a,!
the secret, that she would not return to
the city till Mr. Nicherlv could make the
arrangements for their
crly was a prosperous merchant and of
must pn iiic a iiiiu iiouse ior ill:
intended bride
IIowMr. NSVhorlr nnd l-mr Ca,.n.
. . . j v -Mtuu-
ders became acquainted, I cannot say,
out one afternoon, in the latter part of
the week, they were seen walking down
the street together, in earne.-t rnncnltn-
tisn. Stopping at 'Squire Littleton's of-!
fiCP (" here Tom, his nciihew. still duns
toa remnant of the old nmn'e l-.nsmc
" .....v. .,,.
"ll j "-'"o wmie cioseieu mere,
hen Mr. Xicherly walked away, it was
. ... .
w uu a very quick ana nervous tread, as
of a man who had just escaped a great
calamity ; and when Tom Littleton came
in, he found Sam in a brown ttudy, his
finger resting on an open book. It was
the first volume of Blackstone. oicn at the
413d page.
Bessie Littleton's fine match was bro-
ken ofi"- Mr- Nicherly left the village in
great haste, after writing her an elaborate
and neatly-folded letter. These f u ts were
speedily known and carefully discussed
through Pleasant Valley. Some people
said it was just what she deserved, while
the more kindly-hearted grieved at what
they thought must be her disappointment.
But if they expected to see that disap
pointment shown eutward'y, they wen
mistaken. There might have been a tone
sharper in Bessie's voice, after that, and
a less frequent smile upon her face ; but
then Bes.-ie would never see four-and-twenty
again, and such changes were
natural. Beside, she had now t ought a
home at her cousin's, and Mrs. Tom Lit
tleton's temper, it was whispered was none
of the sweetest.
So Bessie was generally allowed to have
come out of this, as out of some other
broken engagements, heart whole, and
though younger girls, who, when I knew
Pleasant Valley, were running nbout in
pantalets, now disputed her belleJom, yet
Bessie was a dangerous rival for the
youngest and prettiest of them stiil. Still
" 1
fIlG was tLe onc """'--reusable pai ticipan!
CVC'7 rr"ct of gayety ; and if you
peeped in upon a ball or pie-nic,you were
sure to find the beaux clustering thickest
wherever Bessie was
Thus far her success was corupli to ; lut
beyond that there seemed to bean iuvici
ble barrier, which none of her admirers
could or would pass. One by one her
younger irieiiasclron.
younger friends dropped from the i-iivle to
i wivcs allJ lil,!c & whom he
p,aCCSJ or twice, when she drop-
ped a careless remark about "forward
im.uu
cL,tS bliC to L-ar " old maid"
wLlsPercd repartee.
These matters, of course, were all duly
talke(J ovt'r t the tavern, and in Hip
ST anl variety store. Tho opinion,
at first doubtfully whispered, at length
spread wiue, tliat .Sam Saunders must be
' in some wav connect! -Wli u;
Old
Uncle Ben, the man of all work at the
tavern, claimed fo be the first who had
made the discovery. "He had said all
along that there was some witchery about
that judgment; for lm part, he didn't
know much about law,but he knowed that
there was something about all such mat
. - - -
ters which the lawyer? kept mighty clus!
, . . '
was at the bottom of it." Tin se Mirmisrs.
uttered with profound Leal-shaking, ?oon
invested the ease of Saunders v.. Little-
ton with mysterious importance smion"'
the less enlightened of Uncle Ben's W
ers. A ague rumor, crept about, that,
whenever any Bessie's admirers became
, ,. ,. , ,
marked in his attentions, Sum Saimders
V
was sureto be aeen ruling to him out
of a very old book, after whi-h, as the
story went, 11 was upon Lin,, and
h approached the lady no more.
The landlord, like the store-kc p-r and
the other village magnates, for a Jong
w hilu treated their rumors with great con-
teuipt i..ut one day, when loin Little-
Un happened to be in the bar-room alone
..it. ... .
with Litn, the ho.,t ventured, afur mu-:li
preliminary eonvrr-ation, to express hi
wonder that Hiss Littleton had never
imarr',;k Tom turned the rave.-t i-o-
j il,le faw an la un iu'prt"'ve
j eU :
" 'l't 'r " ia consequence of the
amnion law of Kngland '."
j After thi, the landlord! inmdulity
vanished, and h and Li.i eronli-s hu-rir !
jwith wonder and attention to I'ikI; Boi-'
ny's explanations 'of his theory oTthe
..
spell. The consequence was, that 'Squire
!.. , . 4
Saunders began to lie looked upon in all
that region with great respect, as a aian
of tremendous and mysterious powers ;
and, as he po-essed a wonderful faculty,
of shaking Lis heath and looking wise,
whenever any question of law was pro
pounded to him, his practice increased im
mensely. CflXTTttt lit. .
Some ihree miles from Pleasant Val-'
ley.on the road to Edge-bill, where 'Squire
Saunders lived, is the Foster Farm. By
that title it is known in-nllthe coufitr'
round, for five generations of Pasters have
owned it in life, and now lie in the littlo
TT ,V corn,'r of ,he "
grave-yard by the corner of the orchard,
r... i ' ' '
were,
i - 1 honest oi purpos
:e, and
not afraid of hard work. Well it was for
them that they possessed the latter vir
tue, for all that thwy could wring, by
hardest of labor, out of their scanty patri
mony had been a comfortable living, and
the satisfaction of handing down the
homestead, from fatherto son, unburdened
by debt
The present occupant of the place had,
iu his boyhood, been one of Bessie Little
ton's most devoted admirers, though he
contented himself with thinking of the
charmer as he followed the plough, and
never dared to give his love a tongue.
She knew it well enough, the little gipsr,
for ail that ; she had read it in his face "a
hundred times, and laughed over it in
private, as often.
When Bessie came back from the city,
David Tomer's father was dead, and his
widowed mother and he were livin" at
the farm together. People sjoke ofhim
as a likely young man, and when they saw
that he never lingered st the door to chat
with the girls after meeting, they said
that he was wise enough to avoid his fore
fathers' errors. For one great cause that
had kept the Fosters, poor was, the num
ber of white-headed little olive-branches
that always had clustered around their
table. David himself was the fira only
child in the annal's of the family.
But when it became known that Bes
sie's city match was broken off, and that
the race for her hand was again open, he
suddenly discovered that there were in.lny
things in the settlement of his father's
estate a simple job it was, Leaven know 8
requiring legal advice, and his boyi.-h .
friend.-hip with Tom Littleton was re
newed, and ttrengthtned with bonds of -silver.
In the cold winter Sundays, too,
when his mother could not come to meet-
in:
, Tom rarely missed him at tca-tinie..--
And w hile other suitors came and went.
lured on by Beie's fascinations, and -then
discouraged by her seoru, or iL,c
awed under Sam Saunders terrible spell,
David made slow and sure progress. It
was more than a year before he found
courage to put to Bessie the tremendous' ,
question, and when he had done ii, he
sat like one who had spoken with an ora
cle, and waited to hear his fate from in
spired lips.
Bessie had it iu her heart to answer
him a frank yes: for, in tliat year of inti
mate friend -hip, the young farmer's man- .
ly truth and hoiiot, warm feeling had
won upon (he best part of her nature,
more than she would have liked to con
fess. But old habits of flirting, as of ,
anything else, are hard to eradicate.
Yield without a t-lruggle, the could not
Say no, Mie dared i;ot, k-6t the youth, un
versed in woman's wih-s, should believe
Hie meant it. She had not even that great '
rx-sort of young ladies in her predicament
.1 Kiuicr to it-icr to. And to, finally, m
.!-., 1... .i. . , ...
" """e "''i --aid tnat
DaviJ mii t broach the rriattVr to her
eousin Tom, and she would be go erned
,,. i,:, .a..-'
Tom ,
UP aHoflt ,WfT
w,v i.,m i ., . . ,,'
away i,e went, his Jumi bcatm'' rjir.iJlv,
.,.,,1 i ! r. , . - '
iuxl Ins faee fiVl.ed with c x-ittrient
! Priding along with su:b Hi-p"? as int-ii ran
L)lv take wli, travtU t'WJ(r(
,,,, cr frolll J:r.
I reac.h,d tL, ,,e flljn,, (k,
! with a cra-h, that htuiil from profound
j d.-liberatiom. not only it, owi.tr, but the
j genth-rnun with whom he v.;-. et-nrersing
Ljs learned profession:;! biu:hr
quii 'J
Samuel Saund'-rs
t
The great errand on which h had
com", U!k nnuttered from David's lips,
when h? paw the ton ibhj 'Squire. The
jrlow fled from Lis f,w, but not before it
Lad noticed, and id import guessed,
by one of the party. He got no chanr
to op-n Lis heart to Tom that evening ;
and wlwn 'Squire Saunders, rising to p-,
projKMcd to wt him down at home as he
a-ed Foster Farm, David followed Lira
Coi!i'!udcd on J:L ;;. J
J