You would
oftener find him in the woods, with a gun over his shoulder, or
sitting by a trout brook, or lounging at the tavern. And yet
everybody liked Joe, for he was companionable, quick-witted, and
very kind-hearted. He would say sharp things, sometimes, when
people manifested little meannesses; but there was so much honey
in his gall, that bitterness rarely predominated.
"A year or two before his ownership in the mill ceased, Morgan
married one of the sweetest girls in our town--Fanny Ellis, that
was her name, and she could have had her pick of the young men.
Everybody affected to wonder at her choice; and yet nobody really
did wonder, for Joe was an attractive young man, take him as you
would, and just the one to win the heart of a girl like Fanny.
What if he had been seen, now and then, a little the worse for
drink! What if he showed more fondness for pleasure than for
business! Fanny did not look into the future with doubt or fear.
She believed that her love was strong enough to win him from all
evil allurements: and, as for this world's goods, they were
matters in which her maiden fancies rarely busied themselves.
"Well. Dark days came for her, poor soul! And yet, in all the
darkness of her earthly lot, she has never, it is said, been
anything but a loving, forbearing, self-denying wife to Morgan.
And he--fallen as he is, and powerless in the grasp of the monster
intemperance--has never, I am sure, hurt her with a cruel word.
Pages:
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33