190 K<-^t<i Oshorne. [April, 



make the cash fly ! well, thank fortune, I've got plenty of it ; and Kate's 

 a good girl — so she shall have all she wants." 



The Farmer muttered this in detached phrases, while he proceeded, 

 rather awkwardly it must be confessed, to open the bright buff envelope 

 that secured the self same Trojan letter that we have seen mailed on the 

 banks of the Hudson. And, as the process of its development went on 

 in his hands, they trembled a little — a very little — with eagerness ; and 

 the heart of farmer Osborne grew warmer and warmer toward his only 

 and motherless child, till, by the time the process of unfolding was com- 

 pleted, Kate's bills to any amount, would have been unhesitatingly 

 honored. 



But, fixing his "specs," and glancing at the top, he saw, "Dear 

 Brother ;" and exclaimed in subdued but quickened tones — " no, not from 

 Kate ; 'tis from Katy ;" for thus he distinguished his sister, Mrs. Sinclair, 

 from his daughter. He immediately added with some anxiety — " Kate's 

 not sick I hope ! " Now, farmer Osborne, by reason of being much by 

 himself about his prairie farm, had acquired, or rather fallen into, the 

 habit of talking much to himself, to relieve the tediousness of lonely 

 hours ; and not unfrequently addressed his spoken thoughts to his cattle 

 and stock, as he rode among them out on the grassy plains, keeping up 

 a kind of monologue that gave fluency to his thoughts, and afforded 

 partial relief from this sense of solitude. 



Hence, as he eagerly, but tardily perused Mrs. Sinclair's epistle, he 

 muttered comments as he read :— " No, not sick : ' blooming health '— 

 That's all right : ' name-sake-nicce ' — yes, Katy likes her — who would'nt : 

 ' improved in studies '—yes, dare say ; Mrs. Willard's good teacher- 

 charges like — ! no matter — That's all right : ' solace in bereavement ' — 

 glad of it: — poor sister Katy— her husband was a fine man— sorry he's 

 dead— left Katy well off, though : ' sunshine and gladness '—them's just 

 the words, Katy ; she had better education than me— she can tell things 

 better : ' miss her society ' — yes, so do I ! " and a big bright tear just then 

 came up and rolled over the brimming eye down upon the bronzed cheeky 

 and dimmed the farmer's ' specs.' Wiping them clear, and brushing 

 the big bright tear away, he again read slowly on : ' got my remittance ' — 

 well, that's all right : yes, wrote from Chicago last, when I sold my last 

 lot of hogs : ' write soon again ' — well, don't know — my hands are kind o* 

 clumsy — can't write very soon — after harvest, maybe. ' Aff'ectionate 

 sister Katy Sinclair ' — yes, that's all right — not a word about more 

 money — mean to send her a hundred, though : But here, what's this 

 great long apostrophe, or postscript about ? Just like a woman — they 

 must always hitch on something in a postscript, like a "tender" to an 



