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was touched by the sight of such appealing sor
row, and the little hot, fair hand rested in her
brown palm, as she sung to her in low lullaby,and
hushed into sleep her plaintive wails. Youth
and a vigorous constitution resisted the further
encroachments of disease, and the little girl’s
eye again brightened with returning health,
and rewarded the care of her watchful nurse.
She implored her husband to retrieve his cruel
step, by restoring the little creature to her home:
but, sullen and exasperated by his own suffer
ings, he repulsed all her supplications. With a
harsh and unreasonable cruelty, he continued to
regard the innocent child as the cause of all his
wrongs, and to retaliate upon her his injuries.
An increased sternness of manner induced the
trembling Aliene to draw, with an instinctive
sense of protection and safety, to the side of the
tender-hearted mother and her son.
For her amusement, the young Yula would
forego his accustomed sports and pass days in
his endeavors to soothe and please her. For
her, he foamed the woods in search of wild dow
ers and ripe berries, and devoted himself to her
happiness, with the absorption and tenderness
of a young girl.
The summer had now passed, and autumn,
with her rich and varied hues, touching into
beauty the surrounding foliage, was upon them.
The memory of the little Aliene was gradually
losing its hold upon the past —the home, and
fond parents who still pined and sickened with
their wretched remembrances, were becoming to
her childish recollections as a fading dream.
Autumn deepened into winter, which now set
in with all the intensity of an extreme latitude.
“Bald Eagle,” morose and dissatisfied, determin
ed to leave his present retreat, and proceed over
the Rocky mountains, and find a home on the Pa
cific coast; not caring to be encumbered with the
child, and refusing to trouble himself by con
veying her to her parents, he suffered his wife
and son to project plans for her security and
comfort. With a conscientiousness equalled only
by her kindness, the Indian mother determined
to leave the little wanderer with her own race
and color, and thoughtfully busted herself in
preparing, for her protection from the cold, a lit
tle fur suit, from the skins of animals which the
expert Yula had furnished by his rifle.
Fitting on her novel preparations for travel,
the Indian woman, consigning her to the care of
her young son, bade her an affectionate farewell
—instructing him to leave her at the door of a
cottage, which lay smilingly embowered in a
wood, some miles from their present resting
place.
The next morning before the sun had attained
his meridian, the Indian tribe were wending
their weary way towards their future home, on
the Pacific coast
[to be continued.]
TEA, AND THE TEA TRADE IN THE UNITED
STATES.
The Russians never take milk in their
tea. They take either cream, a. slice of lemon
or preserved fruit, or simply sugar, without the
addition of anything else. They hold that milk
spoils tea, and they are right. The tea,
with lemon or preserve, (forming a kind of tea
punch, well worthy the attention of teetotalers),
is only taken in the evening. Sometimes rum is
added. Tho superiority of the Russian overland
tea to that which is received in the West of Eu
rope from Canton, has been often mentioned,
and sometimes denied. Oddly enough, M. Te
goborsky, the late Russian senator, denies per
sistently that the tea from Kiakhta is at all bet
ter than the Canton tea. lie declares, in his
work on the productive forces of Russia, that he
has tasted flowery pekoe in London quite equal
to the same description of tea ( tsvetochny ) sold
in Moscow. Perhaps Mr. Tegoborsky's taste
was inferiorto his literary talent; or rather, as
in his chapter ou tea he endeavors to prove that
Russia would be benefited immensely by hav
ing her ports thrown open to vessels from Can
ton, his taste may have been influenced by his
wishes. For our own part we have no hesita
tion in saying that no such tea can be found in
London as that sold m Moscow, and throughout
Russia, except in some parts near the Baltic
shore, or the Prussian frontier, where smuggled
Canton tea is sold. Sir John Davis, who has
paid more attention to the tea question than M.
Tegoborsky, says: It would be absurd to pre
tend that the long sea-voyage, in which the
equator is twice crossed, and the water in which
the ship crossed is often heated between eighty
and ninety degrees, has no ill effect on tea car
goes. With an absolute and complete absence
of all humidity, we know that heat has littlo or
no decomposing effect; but such a stato cannot
be the ordinary characteristic of a ship’s hold,
as must be clear to all who have found the diffi
culty of preserving some articles from damage
between this and India. Some of the compa
ny’s finest hyson teas were packed in double
cases of wood, besides the canisters. Black
tea is better able to contend with the chances of
injury to which a cargo may be disposed than
green. It has generally been subjected, in a
much greater degree, to the action of fire in
drying, and has, besides, less delicacy of flavor
than the other."
Sir John Davis goes on to observe, that there
is no difficulty in accounting for the superior
condition in which “green tea especially" is
found in Russia, the region it traverses being
generally dry as well as cold; thanks to which,
none of the original qualities of the tea are lost
by evaporation or otherwise. The most delicate
kind, however, that comes to Russia, is the
tsvetochny, or flowery tea, to which the nearest
equivalent to be obtained in the West of Europe,
is flowery pekoe. The best specimens of the
latter, either from tho reasons mentioned by
Sir John Davis, or from natural inferiority, are
not to be compared to the finer specimens of the
formor. Probably, too, the enormous prices
paid by the Russians for their tea, have some
thing to do with the question. There is but
little sale in England for the very best qualities
of tea that are imported now; and it is doubtful
whether China ever sends us her choicest pro
duce at all. It is known that the blossoms are
plucked from the trees several times in the
course of the season. The first gathering gives
the rarost quality of tsvetochny; the second
gives the ordinary tsvetochny; at last, instead
of tsvetocony, common tea is obtained. The
earliest gatherings of tea-blossoms or flowers
are sont to Russia, but it is by no means certain
that any are exported to England. Several of
the St. Petersburg journals suggested, before
the publication of the recent tariff, that the mo
nopoly of tea so long enjoyed by the caravan
trude should be at length abolished, and that
Canton, or other tea, should be at length admit
ted by sea. These suggestions have not been
adopted, and the Russians will still have to pay
about two roubles (six and sixpence) a pound for
ordinary congou, when, if the ports were open
to tea cargoes, it might be sold, after payment
of a moderate duty, at a little more than half
that price;,and the annual consumption will
continue to be limited to something more than
nine millions of pounds, whereas, with the
known predilection of the Russians for the bev
TMM BOTWKEmi YX3S&D MMM
erage, a great diminution in price would have
given it an almost indefinite increase.
The advocates for admitting tea through the
ports, maintain that the superiority of the cara
van tea over any that could be introduced by sea
is so marked, that the former would always com
mand a sale at high prices from those rich ama
teurs, who, in certain cases, will pay as much
as thirty-five shillings a pound for particular
growths. At present an excellent mixture of
black tea and flowery pekoe is sold at ten shil
lings ; and it is quite true that no such tea can
be procured in any other country, except China
itself. It is nevertheless highly probable, that
ninety-nine families out of a hundred would pre
fer a somewhat inferior mixture, at half the price;
and in this case the Siberian trade, to protect
which the government is so careful, would in
deed bo injured. The maintenance of the cara
van trade through Siberia, to the injury of all
the tea-drinking inhabitants of Russia, must, to
be rightly judged, be viewed in connection with
the projected railway from Nigni-Novgorod to
Irkutsk; and as long as any intention of form
ing so important a line is seriously entertained,
it must be politic to encourage, as much as pos
sible, the overland traffic between Russia and
China.
The above information concerning the quality
of the various teas, is taken from Mr. Edwards'
“Sketches and Studies in Russia,” and we take
from the New York Express the following statis
tics of the tea trade:
Tea Trade op the Uxited States. —Our
trade with China has been increasing from year
to year, and one of the chief imports—perhaps
the chief—has been tea, which, instead of being
brought hither by English vessels, is now ship
ped mostly, if not all, by vessels under our flag,
and thus materially increasing the revenue and
enriching the community. The following figures
are gathered from reliable statistics:
Imports into the United States during the last Six
Years.
Crop. Blacks. Greens.
1R52-’3 lbs. 14,431,596 26,529,161
ISSB-'4 11,365,693 29,980,155
1554-'5 8,022,989 21,854.922
l&5-'6 14.956,304 24,858.434
1856-7 8,176,795 17,878,633
1867-8 13,237,600 18,002,516
Totalln six years 69,190,927 129,603,526
The average consumption of Blacks per an
num is 11,500,000 pounds, or 27,000 chests per
month, and of greens 21,500,000 pounds an
nually, or 35,000 packages per month—the total
aggregating 13,000,000 pounds per annum. The
receipts at all ports of the United States during
the present season, up to date, amount to
10,500,000 lbs. blacksand 17,500,000 lbs. greeus.
The shipments to Great Britain, so far, from all
the Chinese ports, foot up 53,500,000 lbs., against
61,500,000 lbs. in 1857-8.
The stocks in the China markets, at latest
accounts, are 2,500,000 lbs. blacks, against
9,250,000 lbs. same time last year; and 2,250,000
lbs. greens, against 4,500,000 lbs. same time
last year.
WASHINGTON’S STYLE OF LIVING DURING
THE PRESIDENCY.
Washington’s diuing parties were entertain
ed in a very handsome style. His weekly din
ing day, for company, was Thursday, and his
dining hour was always four o’clock in tho after
noon. His rule was to allow five minutes for
the variation of clocks and watches, and then go
to the table, be present or absent whoever might,
lie kept his own clock in the hall, just within
the outward door, and always exactly regulated.
When lagging members of Congress came in, as
they often did, after the guests had sat down to
dinner, the President’s only apology was “ Gen
tlemen (or sir), we are too punctual for you.—
I have a cook who never asks whether the com
pany has come, but whether the hour has come.”
The company usually assembled in the drawing
room about fifteen or twenty minutes before din
ner, and the President spoke to every guest
personally on entering the room. He was al
ways dressed in a suit of black, his hair pow
dered, and tied in a black queue behind, with a
very elegant dress sword, which he wore with
inimitable grace. Mrs. Washington often, but
not always, dined with the company, sat at the
head of the table, and if, as was occasionally the
case, there were other ladies present, they sat
at the foot of the table, and were expected to be
quietly attentive to all the guests. The Presi
dent himself sat half way from the head to the
foot of the table, and at such times he w’ould
place Mrs. Washington, though distant from
him, on his right hand. He always, unless a
clergyman were present at his own table, asked
a blessing in a standing posture. If a clergyman
were present, he was requested both to ask a
blessing and to return thanks after dinner. The
centre of the table contained five or six large
silver or plated waiters, those of the ends circu
lar, or rather oval at one side, so as to make the
arrangement correspond with the oval shape of
the table. The waiters between the end pieces
were in tho form of parrallelegrams, the ends
about one third part of the length of the sides;
and the whole of these waiters were filled with
alabaster figures, taken from the ancient my
thology, but none of them such as to offend in
the smallest degree against delicacy. On the
outside of the oval formed by the waiters were
placed tho various dishes, always without covers;
and outside the dishes were the plates. A
small roll of bread, enclosed in a napkin, was
laid by the side of each plate. The President, it
is believed, generally dined on one dish, and that
of a simple kind. If offered something, either
in the first or second course, which was very
rich, his usual reply was, “That is too good for
me.” He had a silver pint cup or mug of beer,
placed by his plate, which ho drank while din
ing. He took one glass of wine during dinner,
and commonly one after. He then retired —the
ladies having gone a little before him—and left
his secretary to superintend the table till the
wine bibbers of Congress had satisfied themsel
ves with drinking. His wines were always the
best that could be obtained. Nothing could ex
ceed the order with which his table was served.
Every servant knew what he was to do, and did
it in the most quiet and yet rapid manner. The
dishes and plates were removed and changed
with a silence and speed that seemed like en
chantment.—Letter of the late Dr. Ashbel Greene.
—
Disasters to our Navy.— The National In
telligencer publishes a statement, collected from
authentic datq exhibiting all tho disasters that
have happened to our Naval Marine from the
year 1798 to 1859. Os these, 1 frigate , 7 sloops ,
6 brigs, 13 schooners, 1 small steamer, \ gun boat,
and 1 pilot boat —in all 30 vessels—have been
lost; 3 frigates, 4 sloops, 6 brigs, 9 schooners —in
all 22 vessels—captured; 4 ships burned, at
Washington, to prevent their falling in the hands
of the enemy; 2 ships, l steamship and 1 schoon
er have been accidentally burned; 1 steamship,
1 schooner, and 1 hulk blown up—making, in
all, 63 disasters of various kinds.
—
The population of Macon. Ga., according to a
late census, is over eleven thousand.
[Writ ton for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
LITTLE GOODEY COARSE SHOES.
“Dear mother! if you'll let me stay
At home to-day with you,
I'd help you sew, and mind yon well,
In all you bade me da
I don’t like school, I do not dread
My lesson to recite ;
I always know them every one;
Tou teach me them at night.
But, mother, all the girls make fun.
And say 'tis low and mean
To wear coarse faded frocks like mine,
Though they are whole and clean.
And then my “Goodev Two Shoes'’ book
I took to school one day.
To show it to some of the girls
When we went out to play—
They call me Goodey Coarse Shoes since—
Oh! if they did but know
How hard you worked to buy these shoes,
They’d not laugh at them sa
I do not care although my clothes
Arc not as fine as theirs: —
You’ve told me if the heart is right,
No matter what one wears. ,
But when they laugh. I think of yon.
And then, in spite of me, 1 cry.
And, though 1 know ’tis very wrong.
I almost wish to die!
1 well remember ’twas not so,
Before my Father died;
When we dressed fine, and had nice things,
And often went to ride.
And we had many friends so kind,
Who came to sec us then;
And made us presents too, sometimes—
Would it were so again!
The house we lived in then is near,
But a stone’s throw from this—
What has become of those dear friends,
Whom we so sadly miss?
Did they all die when Father died ?
Or have they moved from here ?
Why do we never see them now ?
Do tell me, mother dear.”
“My darling, do not murmur, though
Tour little heart does bleed ;
While buffeting this hard cold world;
Our’s is not greatest need.
We’ve clothes enough to keep us warm,
And wholesome food to eat,
While many creatures, starved, and cold,
Are begging in the street.
If ’tis for me, you are so grieved,
Dear child, no longer weep:
Tour tears but swell the bitter cup
That I have drank so deep.
What’er betides, keep up brave heart!
’Tis only when I see
My little ones seem happy, that
I live contentedly.
As to the friends of other times,
But few have died, or moved;
Though many, since our dark days came,
Have hollow-hearted proved.
But we have still one Friend whose love
Endures through every strait!
That friend is God, so strong to help,
If we will meekly wait"
“There, mother, now I’ll go to school,
Without a murmur more:
And I’ll be brave, and bright in hopes
Os blessings yet in store.
Eva Lind.
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.)
LETTERS FROM MY LOG CABIN-NO. 3.
“You recollect,” remarked CoL Peyton, as
they passed on down the broad walk of the gar
den, “that I sent Mr. Williams to Virginia, last
summer for a pair of mules.”
“ I remember —has he returned?”
“Yes, he got back last week; and lam going
to show you his selection.”
Opening the door of a stable, the two mules
stood haltered in the stable—tho first introduc
tion, probably, of that useful, and now common
beast of labor into the State of Georgia. Ligrive
surveyed them curiously’ for several moments,
as if calculating the capacity of these slim, nar
row-bodied, slender-legged, long-eared animals
to perform the work of the plantation.
“They are very small,” he observed, at length.
“They seem so to me,” replied the Colonel;
“but Williams informs me they are able to do
tho work of the largest horses, and upon less
food.”
“Are they gentle ?”
“As a general thing, more so than the horse.”
“But do they grow no larger?”
“Well, ofthis breed, probably these are a good
average. They are of the Maltese stock, and I
believe were first imported into this country by
Gen. Washington. There is, I understand, a
distinct race of Jacks, belonging exclusively to
the Old Province of Poitou, which are said to
have produced a much heavier and larger mule
from the fine mares of Brittany. But I have
never heard of any being brought to this
country.”
“Your object, then, is to test the relative pow
ers of these animals and the horse.”
“Exactly—and if the experiment is favorable,
I shall take measures for increasing the stock.”
"They are siugular looking creatures,” said
Ligrive, as he turned off, “and they may answer
in some measure for our plantation work: but I
do not think they will supercede tho horse.”
“Their economy on the score of food will be
something.”
“Perhaps so, as they are small animals. I
suppose, ” continued Ligrive, “that they have
been long enough in this country to test their
capability of improvement m size and quality’.”
“I should think not. This stock has only
been here some fifteen or twenty, or twenty-five
years at most, and they are said to have made
considerable improvement in size and make.
Rome was not built in a day. You should re
collect that old mother England was at an almost
incredible expense from the times of Athelstane
to George the First, somewhere near eight hun
dred years, before she produced a first rate racer.
Good horses she had—probably the finest in the
world —but not for racing. In less than a tenth
of that time we shall do much greater things.”
Col. Peyton was correct in his prediction. We
have done much greater things, in less than a
tenth of the time. And the “great commoner”
of Kentucky, Henry Clay, sometime in the year
of either 1835 or 1836, imported into this
country the identical Poitou stock; and this,
with other subsequent importations, has produc
ed a breed of mules of any desirable size.
“I intended showing you tho improvements
that have been made in ginning and preparing
our cotton for market,” resumed Col. Peyton,
“but will defer it till another time, as I think I
heard the sound of a carriage as if driving to the
house—we shall probably have other company.!
“How do you progress in picking out cotton?”
asked Ligrive.
“Oh, finely—my hands average sixty-five
pounds—and I think will soon reach an hun
dred.”
“Indeed I”
“I have often been amused,” continued the
Colonel, “in thinking of the perplexity of my
father, the first year he planted, what was thus
considered a large crop of cotton — about twenty
five acres. It produced extremely well; and when
it had began to open finely, (about this season of
thejrear,) he took all hands,myselfincluded, and
w ]ent into the field by the time it was light and
picked diligently all day, to see how many
pounds he could pick out, so as to know how to
task us; and how much do you think he Diek
ed?” F
“I really can’t say—probably fifty pounds!”
answered Ligrive.
“No, sir!— only twenty-six pounds a half!"
said the Colonel, laughing. “The good old gen
tleman was very much perplexed; for he knew
at that rate, with the five or six hands he had,
ho could not pick his cotton out before time to
plant again. But in a few days, however, the
hands began improving—they were getting ac
customed to the work, —and in the course of a
fortnight, they doubled their first day’s picking:
and we housed the crop before Christmas.”
Just then a little negro boy, dispatched by his
mistress, came running down the garden walk
to inform Col. Peyton that some company had
come.
“ Who is it ?” enquired the Colonel, as ho lei
surely turned and closed the door of the stables.
“'Em be Miss ’Quineey and Miss Ada,” an
swered the boy; those ladies were very well
known to the house servants, as they were fre
quent visitors at Col. Peyton’s.
Ligrive’s heart seemed to leap up in his throat
at tlie announcement, and the blood crimsoned
to his very temples. His first impulse was to
order his horse and drive off immediately; but
an instant's reflection showed him the great im
propriety of doing so, as it would be known he
was there and probably make his embarrass
ment at some other time greater ; besides, such
conduct might wound his Aunt’s feelings, if not
his Uncle’s. Col. Peyton cast a sly and half in
quiring glance at his nephew, as he observed—
“ You are fortunate to-day, Reck.”
“I hope I may find it so,” was the reply, as
the young gentleman turned away to hide in
some measure his confusion.
“You don’t mean to say that you speed in
differently with the charming daughter of our
guest?" asked the Colonel, with some little sur
prise.
“Oh, no.”
“ Then you have not won over the good lady
mother ?”
“ Not entirely,—l should judge so at least.”
“But you are on good terms, eh?”
“ Oh, yes—that is, we are polite and courte
ous.”
“ Ah—l fear you are not a good strategist,”
remarked tlio Colonel, somewhat musingly; and
after a slight pause continued, “We have a very
homely saying, which it w<*ild have been well
for you to remember—l dare say it will apply
to your case: * Give tho cow a nubbin, and she
will let you catch her calf.’ You should, by all
means, have won the good will of Mrs. BeQuin
cy.”
“ I have made some exertions to do so; but
unfortunately I am not much of a jljritan.”
“ Ah, —I see!—the habits of some of the old
cavaliers have descended to their children," re
marked the Colonel, with a good natured smile.
“ Likely enough,” replied Ligrive.a little dryly.
“ But you know Mrs. De Quineey is a very strict
Presbyterian;” intimating, probably that that
good lady exacted a little too strict a code of
morals.
“ But,” he continued, seeing his Uncle did
not speak, “ I am rosolved in time, to move every
obstacle from the mind of Mrs. Be Quineey. A
young lady of Miss Adelaide's superior virtues,
is worth sacrificing one’s useless,if not injurious,
habits for!”
“A noble idea, my boy,” spoke the Colonel,
enthusiastically, “ I am proud to know you have
made such a resolution. Adelaido Be Quineey
is a girl of a thousand. She has good common
sense. And if without a penny, she woHld bring
a dowry of sunshine and happiness worth mil
lions.”
Buring the conversation, Ligrive was mentally
nerving himself for the unanticipated interview,
—and finally, he determined to make, if opportu
nity offered, a frank confession of his amusing
dilemma.
The relations between Mrs. BeQuincey and
himself were certainly not all that was desirable.
As a prudent mother she was reluctant, and very
properly too, to bestow the hand of her only
daughter upon one who, however talented and
accomplished, was rather wild and unsettled in
his character, —though she neither offered or
intended any disrespect to the object of her
daughter’s choice. Hence, great courtesy and
politeness were manifested on either side. Mr.
Ligrive’s visits,it is true,had become less frequent,
but then Miss BeQuincey and himself met often
enough in society to fully understand each
other’s feelings. There was no restraint imposed
by her mother; and this had the good influence
upon Adelaide to make her a patient, loving and
confiding daughter. While her mother did not
insist upon her discarding Mr. Ligrive, she would
not, from any consideration, have entered into a
clandestine marriage. It was, therefore, on her
part, a hopeful, trusting, patient waiting for a
better development of her lover’s true charac
ter, that would bo satisfactory.
Mrs. BeQuincey and her daughter had come
to spend the day with Mrs. Peyton, in the good,
old-fashioned, socjable country manner, —a cus
tom then, greatly in contrast with the present
heartless, hypocritical “ pop-calls ” of fashionable
life—which latter, however refined and elegant,
are wanting in all the elements of sociability and
true friendship.
As the two gentlemen approached the house,
they met the ladies coming out —Mrs. Peyton
bearing a covered basket in her hand, and a ser
vant girl behind, with a largo waiter on her
head, likewise covered. Col Peyton welcomed
his guests with the bland courtesy of the true
gentleman of the old school—while Mr. Ligrive
bowed with profound respect as he took the prof
fered hand of Mrs. BeQuincey, who met him
with a very gracious smile. “Itis to me, ” he
said, “ a most unexpected pleasure to meet you
here, madam ; ” and turning to the young lady,
bowed slightly, with a pleasant, familiar smile,
which was returned; and tho look that passed
between them iustautly satisfied our friend that
all was right.
Col. Peyton, a little surprised at finding the
party leaving the house, turned to his wife with
an enquiring look.
“We were just going to gratify Mrs. BeQuin
cey’s old whim of partaking of a little lunch at
the dairy and spring house; we had left word for
you and Recklaw to follow us, ” said Mrs Pey
ton, her pretty face beaming with pleasure.
“You know very well, Colonel, ” added Mrs.
BeQuincey, with an amusingly serious look, for
she was a lively, loquacious lady, “ that I have
always some whim or fancy to annoy myself
with, or trouble my friends; and Mrs. Peyton
seems to take so much delight in being troubled
with me, tluit I wish to gratify her as much as
possible. ”
“ I sympathise with you in your infirmity, my
dear madam, ” laughed the Colonel; “ but as a
Eva Lind.
good husband I should bear a portion of the
burdens imposed on my wife. Be pleased, there
fore, to bestow some of the trouble you intend
for Kmily, upon myself, by leaniug upon my
arm. ” The which the good lady did not hesi
tate to do, while the Colonel reached the basket
from his wife; and the three proceeded along the
path which led to the spring, at some hundred
and fifty yards distance from the house. Mr.
Ligrive and Miss DeQuincey followed leisurely.
The latter was certainly a most lovely girl.
Her form, slightly above the medium size, was as
perfect as the mind could well conceive ; with
an elastic ease and grace that seemed to breathe
life and beauty in every motion. Her features
were purely Grecian, her hair was black, and
her eyes of very dark hazel, and so soft and
liquid in their expression, with the very slight
twinkle of liveliness, as to attract at once the
notice and admiration of all who looked upon
them. Truth, benevolence, and loving frank
ness were stamped openly upon her face ; and
yet, a close observer could detect a mark of firm
and high resolve in the small dimple that rested
upon her beautifully rounded chin.
“Would you believe it, my dear Adelaide,” ob
served Mr. Ligrive, smiling, and making a frank
confession of his feelings, “that of all others, I
wished to avoid meeting with you this morn
ing ?”
The soft loving eyes of his beautiful compan
ion were instantly raised to his own with a won
dering and anxious expression, as she remarked:
“You are certainly jesting, Mr. Ligrive.”
“Indeed lam not. But lam satisfied now."
“Do explain yourself.”
“Can you doubt, for a moment, the anxiety I
felt as to the manner you might be affected to
wards mo by the events of the last few weeks?”
“Oh, do not ask if I can doubt, —say rather
yon mistrusted. Is it not so ?” replied the young
lady, with a sweet and confiding smile,
“Pardon me, my dear Adelaide; but to have
appeared to you in a ridiculous light, would
have been to destroy my life's hope of happi
ness.”
His words and earnest manner conveyed to
Miss De Quineey a delicate and flattering testi
tiraony of the high nature of his devotion; and
her heart throbbed proudly at the homage.—
Bui seeing how seriously Mr. Ligrive was affec
ted by the thought that his own silly vanity
might have lost her to him, she attempted to
rally and restore his confidence by playfully ex
claiming,
“’Oh, ye of little faith I’ how often have I striv
eu to convince you that I am not a frivolous,
variable, light-minded girl, and ye will not be
lieve. Verily, I will even strive with you yet
a while longer. I’. 1 ’.
“Nay,” laughed Lagyive, at the amusing
manner of her rallying him, and joining in the
spirit,—“l pray you to discard me at once ; I
doubt not it will bring about a conversion.—
For I really commit blunders, I believe, from
the effect of mere contrast, in considering your
goodness and my folly,—do turn me off, for I de
serve it”
“Oh, no!—l’m too charitable to throw you
upon this hard world, without any one to take
care of you—oh no, I can’t think of it."
There was something so pleasant, loving and
natural in her playful manner; that it heightened
one’s love for her amiable character. Ligrive
was for a moment silent and grave, even to a
look of sadness. Miss DeQuincey noticed it
and asked,
“ Are you considering the hardness of vour
fate?" *
“Nay, sweet one, —the happiness.”
“Dear me, your happiness must be a very se
rious affair, if it makes you look so grave.”
“My happiness does not make me look so
grave; it is my selfishness, —to think I have
won the love of so good a heart, and deserve it
so little.”
“ Oh, I’m selfish too.”
“Indeed?—l cannot believe that there is
a particle of selfishness in you.”*
“You are very much mistaken. I have the
selfishness to appropriate all your high qualities
to myself, while I leave you to discard all that
are superfluous.”
There was something so frankly encouraging
in the remark, to nobleness of action, and so del
icately reproving of foibles, which he himself
detested, that Ligrive felt pride and pleasure
rather than annoyance; and he instantly re
plied,
“Be assured then, my dear Ada, that for the
proud honor of your love, I will cast off what
you reject.”
“Thank you‘” she said, with a bright winning
smile; and after a moment, added playfully—
“ Let me suggest that you do qot wait to be a
sexagenarian first. But see, our friends are
waiting for us.”
The spring was a sweet, delicious fountain of
clear cold water, gushing out from the steep hill
side, amidst a thick grove of oaks, and falling in
a rude artificial rock basin, two or three feet in
diameter. Over this was built an open house;
long benches formed seats on the greater part of
threo sides, and in one corner was a small rustic
table.
Mrs. Peyton proceeded to take from the bas
ket, which her husband had carried, some plates
and glasses ; and from the waiter of the servant,
some peach and apple pies, and potatoe cus
tards, together with water-melon rhine and
peach preserves. Then opening the dairy,
which stood a few steps off, she brought forth
some pans of sweet, cool milk, covered with
rich golden cream; and then proceeded to fill the
glasses, and cut the pies, and to distribute them
to her guests. And this, dear city readers, who
have your lunches, was what constituted one,
and the manner in which it was often partaken •
of, among some wealthy country families and
their friends, some fifty or sixty years ago—and
lam glad to say the custom is not entirely obse
lete in this day.
Rags.—The importation of rags for the pur
pose of paper making, is a great deal more ex
tensive than most persons would imagine. Du
ring the year 1857 we imported 44.582,080
pounds valued at $1,458,125. and making 60,-
461 bales ; 35,591 bales were from Italy, and
more than one-third are entirely linen, the rest
being a mixture of linen and cotton. About
2,000 bales were also imported from the free
cities of Hamburg and Bremen. France pro
hibits the exportation of rags, so does Rome; *
the few which we get from Ancona (a Roman
province,) being by special permission on pay
ment of large fees. Prussia and Germany gen
erally impose so high an export duty on rags as
to stop the trade entirely. The exports from
Alexandria and Smyrna are chiefly collected in
Asia Minor, by Agents having license from the
government, and the domestic demand must be
supplied before any can be exported. It is the
same with Trieste, where only the surplus is al
lowed to come away. The Trieste rags are col
lected all over Hungary. We are informed that
New York and Boston receive the largest quan
tity, and the place that ships the most is Leghorn
in Italy.
107