“I am perfectly willing,” he said; “but what 
have you read? Tell me.” 
Rosamond was interested at once, and while her 
cheeks glowed and her eyes spar kled, she replied,— 
“Oh, I’ve read Shakspbarb’s Historical Plays, 
every one of them—and Childe Harold—and Watts 
on the Mind—and Kenilworth—andDOw I’m right 
in the middle of the Lady of the Lake. Wasn’t 
Fitz James the King ? — /believe he was. When I 
am older I mean to write a book just like that.” 
Mr. Browning could not forbear a smile at her 
enthusiasm, but without answering her question, 
he said—“ What do you intend to do until you are 
old enough ?” 
Rosamond’s countenance fell, and after tapping 
her foot upon the carpet a while,she replied “Mrs. 
Peter’s will get me a place by-and-by, and I s’pos 
I’ll have to be a milliner.” 
“ Do you wish to be one ? ” 
“Why, no; nor mother didn’t either, but after 
father died she had to do something. Father was 
a kind of a lawyer, and left her poor.” 
“ Do you wish to go away from here, Rosamond?” 
There were tears on the long-fringed eye-lashes 
as the young girl replied—“ No, sir,—-I’d like to 
live here always, but there’s nothing for me to do.” 
“ Unless you go to school. How would you like 
that ? ” 
“ I have no one to pay the bills,” and the curly 
head shook mournfully. 
“But I have money, Rosamond, and suppose I 
say that you shall stay here and go to school?” 
“ Oh, sir, unil you say so ? May I live with you 
always?”—and forgetting her fear of him in her 
great joy, Rosamond Leyton crossed over to where 
he sat, and laying both her hands upon his should¬ 
er, continued,—“ Are you in earnest, Mr. Brown¬ 
ing? May I stay ? Oh, I’ll be so good to you when 
you are old and sick 1 ” 
It seemed to her that he was old enough to be 
her father then, and it almost seemed so to him.— 
Giving her a very paternal look, he answered,— 
“Yes, child, you shall stay as long as you like; 
and now go, or Mrs. Peter’s will be wondering 
what keeps you.” 
Rosamond started to leave the room, but ere she 
reached the door she paused, and turning to Mr. 
Browning, said—“You have made me so happy 
and I like you so much, I wish you’d let me kiss 
your hand—may I?” 
It was a strange question, and it sent the blood 
tingling to the very tips of Mr. Browning’s fiDgers. 
“Why, ye-es,—I don’t know. What made you 
think of that ? ” he said, and Rosamond replied, — 
“I always kissed father when he made me very 
happy. It was all I could do.” 
“But I am not your father,” stammered Mr. 
Browning; “I shall not be twenty-five until 
November. Still you can do as you please.” 
“ Not twenty-five yet,” repeated Rosamond ;— 
“why, I thought you were nearer forty. I don’t 
believe I’d better, though I like you just as well. 
Good night.” 
He heard her go through the hall, up the stairs, 
through the upper hall, and then all was still again. 
“ What a strange, little creature she is,” he 
thought; “so childlike and frank, but fiow queer 
that she should ask to kiss me! Wouldn’t Susan 
be shocked if she knew it, and won’t she be horri¬ 
fied when I tell her I am going to educate the girl. 
I shouldn’t have thought of it but for her. And 
suppose Ben does fall in love with her. If he 
knew a little more, it would not be a bad match. 
Somebody must keep up our family, or it will be¬ 
come extinct. Susan and I are the only ones left, 
and /”-here he paused, and starting to his feet, 
he paced the floor hurriedly, nervously, as if seek¬ 
ing to escape from some pursuing evil. “ It is 
terrible,” he whispered, “but I can bear it and I 
will,” and going to bis room he sought his pillow 
to dream strange dreams of tresses black, and 
ringlets brown,—of fierce, dark eyes, and shining 
orbs, whose owner had asked to kiss his hand, and 
mistaken him for her sire. [To be continued.] 
For Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
GEOGRAPHICAL ENIGMA. 
I am composed of 23 letters. 
My 10,17,19, 23,12 is one of the United States. 
My 5, 22,17, 21,1 is a lake in Ireland. 
My 8, 7,14,11,10 is a river in France. 
My 12,19, 7 is an island in the Grecian Archipelago. 
My 17,15,18,17 is a town in India. 
My 9, 4, 2, 20 is a county in Florida. 
My 5,17,13, 8 is a county in North Carolina. 
My whole is one of the German States. 
Medina, N. Y., 1859. S. H. C. 
Answer in two weeks. 
For Moore's Rural New-Yorker. 
POETICAL ENIGMA. 
My first three letters as you will find 
Compose a nickname of most common kind ; 
My second syllable you’ll soon discover 
Is a word much used our country over; 
My last four letters, all taken together, 
Is sometimes used in very dark weather; 
My whole much loves in the meadows to dwell, 
"Where its sweet and gay tones mellifluously swell. 
Cadiz, Catt. Co., N. Y., 1859. IIenri. 
£5®*“ Answer in two weeks. 
For Moore’s Rural New-Yorker. 
MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM. 
A boat in the water is driven by the wind north C 
miles per hour; east, by the current, 5 miles per hour; 
southeast, by a tow line, 8 miles per hour; propelled by 
oars southwest 7 miles per hour. Required tho course 
and velocity per hour with these forces combined. 
Harmony, Chaut. Co., N. Y., 1859. -T. J. "W. 
Answer in two weeks. 
ANSWERS TO ENIGMAS, &c. IN No. 493, 
Answer to Miscellaneous Enigma:—Telegraph. 
Answer to Geographical Enigma:—Take heed what 
you read. 
Answer to RiddleA chair. 
Answer to Trigonometrical Problem: - 530.524 yards. 
^Ibucrttscmcnts. 
I j'LMIRA FEMALE COLLEGE—An Institution .. 
11 highest gra te, wit.n Domes'io Oenartment, in whic, «il 
gulden's engaee. Total expense tor sc-sion of twin, 
w eks. *75. tear opens Se-'t 1st, Far Catalogues 
address Rev. A. W. COWLES, D. IX, Elmira, N. Y. J 9 0 ( - 
H ouse, am> lot for s\LB-in the 
Macednn, on the Erie Canal Go'»d buildi,,-. „ [ 
fruit of near)* all kinds; very pleasantly located, 
cine all the privileges of a country village in Western NVw 
York. Terms will be reasonable. For particulars a,mi, 
_49P2J._ I. W. BRIG GS, M acedon. N. Y. 
"OOUNTY LAND WARRANTS!—I have sntjW 
JLF complete record of Officers and Soldiers of the \Y a rof 
1812, that I am confident. 1 can obtain Warrants f»r «U 
are entitled to land. I should be pleased to tr» f„ r 
whose claims are suspended. Address me. sending Rt»ni- 
for return postage. WM. VaN MsltlEIi, n 
_491-tf_ Lyons, N. y. 
( "’< UAIVO !—The superiority o f vhosohatic over Ammo- 
T niacal fertilizers, in restoring fertility to «-iirn.„ U f 
lands, is now well understood. The sopscrlhers cal) th^ 
att-ntion of Farmers to the Swav Isi.and Guano, wi.ieh 
richness in Phosphates and Organic matter, and its souj. 
lilLITY. is UNSURPASSED. 
For sale at $3 ft per ton of 2,070 Bis., and liberal discount 
will be made or the cargo. 
Circulars, wi,h directions for nse, may he had on applies 
tion at our office. FOSfKR & srKPtfENSON 
65 Hearer Street, New York, 
49<-13teow Agents for The Atlantic and Pacific Guai.o Co, 
K eep your feist dry 
AND 
FRESERVF, YOUR HEALTH. 
Tin? long sought for principle of making leather perfectly 
water-proof, without injuring it, has at last been discovered. 
A. Brower’s Talent Water-Fioof Composition for 
Leather, 
makes Roots, Shoes, Hose, Harness and all Leather perfectly 
impervious to water by a single application, and warranted 
to keep so, at the same time it softens, makes the leather pli. 
able, prevents crackinu’, will polish with blacking better than 
before, and leather will last at least one-fourth to one-third 
longer by using it. For sale by A. BROWER & Oft, No. 4 
Reade M., New York, and by all the principal BootandSboe, 
Hardware, Druggist, Grocery and Yankee Notion houses.— 
A liberal discount to agents. 494 
N. B. None genuine unless signed by A. BROWER. 
QAA AGENTS WANTED—To engage In a new, Incra- 
♦>' A ‘ tive and honorable business. For full particulars, 
address M. M. SANBORN, Brasher Falls, N. Y. 493-2t 
C IDER PRESS SCREWS,— 5 feet long, -1 in. diame¬ 
ter. These powerful Screws bring out a third more 
Juice than portable presses,—made by L. M. ARNOLD, 
493-3t _•_ Poughkeep s ie (N. Y.) Foundry . 
G tREAT work on cattle, and TIIEIR 
« DISEASES. 
BY DR. GFO. H. DADD. V. S., 
Author of Modern Horse Doctor, &c., &c. 
This valuable hook is now in press, and wi'l be published 
by us about the first of July, ft is without doubt the most 
thorough work on Cattle yet offered to the American people, 
and the most valuable work from the pen of its distinguished 
author, whose reputation is world-wide. 
It will be published in one handsome 12mo volume, with 
numerous illustrations. Price $1,25. 
JOHN P. JEWETT & CO.. Punusnnns, 
493-St 40 Washington Street, Boston. 
A VALUABLE BOOK FOR INVALIDS. 
Sent by mail, and not to be paid for until received, 
read, and approved of. If not approved, no charge. 
Dr. Samuel S. Fitch’s “Six Lectures” on the Causes, 
Prevention, and Cure of Diseases of the Lungs, Throat, 
Heart, Stomach, Bowels, Liver, Kidneys, Skin, etc., Female 
Complaints, and Chronic diseases generally: on the Laws of 
Life, and the true method of curing these diseases, nDd pre¬ 
serving life and health to old afte. A volume of 3/5 pages, 
witli 25 illustrations, bound. We will forward a copy of it, 
post-paid, to any address that may be sent us, and the price, 
50 cents, may be remitted (in stamps or otherwise) after the 
book Is received aud approved of. If remitted in advance, 
the price is 40 cents. Apply, giving Post-Office, County, and 
State, to S. S. FITCH & OO., 
493-lSt 714 Broadway, New York. 
E d YV ARDS’ SHINGLE MACHINE, 
tlie 
CHEAPEST, SIMPLEST AND BEST 
In use, and the only one cutting a perfect Shingle with 
rapidity. 
With a Single Horse Power, will Cut 8,000 Shingles 
per Hour, mid can be Propelled by Hand to Cul 
2,000 per Hour.. For Circulars, apply to 
E. EDWARDS, Cliittenango, 
493eow6t or J. W. PORTER, Syracuse. 
^JOP ELAND’S COUNTRY LIFE. 
Tura fifippnn Tf INDRAAT Of 
HORTICULTURE i AGRICULTURE AND LAND¬ 
SCAPE GARDENING , 
IS NOW READY. It is the most complete, elegant and 
valuable work of its kind ever published, and indispensable 
to every man who owns even a single acre of land. 
In one Hvo vol. of 825 pages, with 225 Illustrations. 
Price two and three dollars, according to style. 
JOHN P. JEWETT k CO., Publisher, 
493-3t 20 Washington Street, Boston. 
R BALL’S OIHEIO 
EEAPEE AND MOWEE, 
Tiik SunscninER wishes to call the attention of the readers 
of the Rural New-Yorker to his improvement in Reaping 
and Mowing Machines. 
Ball’s Oliio Mower is known in almost every section of 
the country wnere Machines of this kind have been used.— 
It was first introduced in the year 1856, and so rapidly did it 
gain the public confidence that five hundred were sold the 
first year of its existence. In the year 1857 its sales amounted 
to near one thousand machines, and in that year it was sent 
to the great National Trial of Reapers ai d Mowers, held 
at Syracuse, N. Y., and although the machine used at that 
trial was not got un for that purpose, hut was one of 15 sent 
there for sale—and notwithstanding this machine entered 
that contest a stranger and aim ->st friendless, there being no 
one present to take charge of it. or to represent it, who felt 
any particular interest in its success—it received the highest 
number of credit marks (61,) as a Single Mower of any 
machine on the ground ! 
Had it been heralded and Introduced to the World with a 
flourish of trumpets, and a long retinueof influential friends 
interested in its success—puffed in the East and glorified in 
the West, by the owners of territorial rights—displayed at 
World's Fairs in Europe, and commended by potentates and 
princes that know as much about machinery as they do of 
the density or quantity of matter in the center of the earth 
—or had it ever been persecuted into notoriety by a host of 
jealous competitors, and been manufactured in various 
States and Countries—ils sate and success might have beer, 
much more extensive, but the machine itself not one whit 
more complete and satisfactory. 
During the last year the Machine has been entirely 
remodeled and vastly improved by the Patentee, and Is 
now offered to the market as one of the best Combined Ma¬ 
chines in the country. Space will not permit us to give a 
detailed description of the ctiaracter and operation of the 
machines. For this information I beg leave to refer custo¬ 
mers to niv printed Circulars in the hands of my Agents. 
The following named gentlemen are Agents for the sale of 
ray Machines during the coming season They have sample 
machines on exhibition at their several places of business, 
and also he happy to communicate any further information 
that may be desired. 
TIFFANY & ROBERTS, Fredenia, N. Y. 
R. C. TERRY & CO., Angelica. 
ROSE & STRAWN, Hornefisville, “ 
HIRAM KRTCHUM, Elmira, 
STORRES & CHATFIELD, Owego, “ 
WM. HARRIS, Binghampton, 
M W. BOSWORTH. Hinsdale, 
JOHN MANLEY, Little Valley, 
HUMAN BISHOP, Cortland, 
A. H. NICHOLS, Seneca Falls, 
J. S. COOLEY & CO., Canandaigua, “ 
MOORE, HEBING & CO., Rochester, “ „ . _ . 
Canton, Ohio ._ [490-8tJ _ E. BALL. 
TYRING DOWN THAT STREAM OF PURE 
JL> Water to the house, barn and dry fields. Use the tu¬ 
tor Pipe made by I. S. Hobbie <fc Co., the cheapest ana uesj 
known in the world. Made of Pine timber, and if propeny 
laid will bear any required pressure and be nearly or qinte 
indestructible. Address I. S. II013HIE & CO., 
491 44 Arcade, Rochester, N. *• 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
TIIE LARGEST CIRCULATED 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Weekly, 
IS PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY 
BY D. D. T. MOORE, ROCHESTER, N.” Y. 
Office, Union Buildings, Opposite the Court House, Buffalo SI. 
TERMS, IN ADVANCE : 
Two Dollars a Year-$1 for six months. To Clubs 
and Agents as follows;— Three Copies one year, for $5, 
and one free to club agent, for $10; Ten, and one free, or 
$15; Sixteen, and one free, for $22; Twenty, and one free, 
for $26; Thirty-two, and two free, for $10, (or Thirty o 
$37,50,) and any greater number at same rate—only * ,-J 
per copy—with an extra copy for every Ten Subscribe 
over Thirty. Club papers sent to different Post-offices,) ^ 
sired. As we pre-pay American postage on papers sen 
the British Provinces, our Canadian agents and frien s m ^ 
add 12X cents per copy to the club rates of the R°® > 
The lowest price of copies sent to Europe, &c., is on y > 
50—including postage. 
The Postage on the Rural is only 3X cents per 
to any part of this State, and 0'/, cents to any other ® “ 
paid quarterly in advance at the post-office where receivci• 
THE TWO STREAMS. 
BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES. 
Beiiold the r,>c*y wall 
TDat down its 8'oping sides 
Tours the swift ra '11 drops, blending as ikey faM 
In rushing river tides! 
Yon 6tream, whose sources rn« 
Turned by a pebble's edge-, 
Is Athabasca, robing toward the sun 
Through the cleft mountain-lodge. 
The slender rill had strayed, 
But for the slantiog stone, 
T© evening's ocean, with the tangled braid 
Of foam-flecked Oregon. 
So from the heights of Will 
Life’s parting stream descends, 
And, as a moment turns its slender rdi, 
Each widening torrent bends,— 
From the same cradle’s side— 
From the same mother’s knee,— 
One to long darkness and the frozen tide, 
One to the Peaceful Sea ! 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in tire year 1859, by 
IX D. V. Moors, in the Office of the Clerk or the District 
Court for the Northern District of the State of New York. 
ROSAMOND; 
O R, 
THE YOUTHFUL EKROR. 
A. T_A_l_iIQ OB' RIVERSIDE. 
BY MRS. MARY J. HOLMES. 
Chapter I —The Owner of Riverside. 
All the day long the September rain had fallen, 
and when the night closed in it showed no sign of 
weariness, but with the same monotonous patter 
dropped upon the roof, or beat against the win¬ 
dows of the pleasantly lighted room where a 
young man sat gazing at the glowing grate, and 
listening apparently to the noise of the storm 
without. But neither the winds, nor yet the rain, 
had a part of that young man’s thoughts, for they 
were with the past, and the chain which linked 
them to that past was the open letter which lay on 
the table beside him. For that letter he had wait¬ 
ed long and anxiously, wondering what it would 
contain, and if his overtures for reconciliation 
with one who had erred far more than himself, 
would be accepted. It had come at last, and with 
a gathering coldness at his heart he had read the 
■ decision, — “she would not be reconciled,” and 
she bade him “ go his way alone and leave her to 
herself.” 
“It is well,” he said; “I shall never trouble 
her again,” —and with a feeling of relief, as if a 
heavy load, a dread of coming evil, had been taken 
from his mind, he threw the letter upon the table, 
and leaning back in his cushioned chair tried to 
fancy that the last few years of his life were blot¬ 
ted out. 
“Could it be so, Ralph Browning would be a 
different man,” he said aloud; theD, as be glanced 
round the richly -furnished room, he continued— 
“People call me happy, and so perhaps I might 
be, but for this haunting memory. Why was it 
suffered to be, and must I make a life-long atone¬ 
ment for that.early sin ?” 
In his excitement he arose, and crushing the 
letter for a moment in his hand, hurled it into the 
fire; theD, going to his private drawer, he took 
out and opened a neatly folded package, containing 
a long tress of jet black hair. Shudderingly he 
wound it around his fingers, laid it over the back 
of his hand, held it up to the light, and then with 
a hard, dark look upon his face, threw it too upon 
.the grate, saying aloud, “ Thus perisheth every 
memento of the past, and I am free again — free 
as air 1” 
He walked to the window, and pressing his 
burning forehead against the cool, damp pane, 
looked out upon the night. He could not see 
through the darkness, but had it been day, his 
eje would have rested on broad acres all his own, 
for Ralph Browning was a wealthy man, and the 
house in which he lived was his by right of inhe¬ 
ritance from a bachelor uncle for whom he had 
been named, and who, two years before our story 
opens, had died, leaving to his nephew the grand 
old place, called Riverside, from its nearness to 
the river. It was a most beautiful spot, and when 
its new master first took possession of it, the maids 
and matrons of Granby, who had mourned for the 
cider Browning as people mourn for a good man, 
felt themselves somewhat consoled from the fact 
that his successor was young and handsome, and 
would doubtless prove an invaluable acquisition 
to their fireside circles, and furnish a theme for 
gossip, without which no village can well exist. 
But in the first of their expectations they were 
mistaken, for Mr. Browning shunned rather than 
sought society, and spent the most of his leisure 
hours in the seclusion of his library, where, as 
Mrs. Peters, his housekeeper, said, he did nothing 
but mope over books and walk the floor. “He 
was melancholy,” she said; “there was some¬ 
thing workin’ on his miDd, and what il was she 
didn’t know more’n the dead—though she knew as 
well as she wanted to that he had been crossed in 
love, for what else would make so many of his 
hairs gray, and he not yet twenty-five 1” 
That there was a mystery connected with him, 
was conceded by most of the villagers, and many 
a curious gaze they bent upon the grave, dignified 
young man, who seldom joined in their pastime 
or intruded himself upon their company. Much 
sympathy was expressed for him in his loneliness 
by the people of Granby, and more than one 
young girl would gladly have imposed upon her¬ 
self the task of cheering that loneliness, but he 
seemed perfectly invulnerable to maiden charms, 
and when Mrs. Peters, as she often did, urged 
him “to take a wife and be somebody,” he an¬ 
swered quietly, “ I am content to follow the exam¬ 
ple of my uode. I shall probably never marry.” 
Still he wa» loDely in bis great house,—so lonely 
that, though it hurt bis pride to do it, be wro'c 
the letter, the answer to wh'ch excited him so ter¬ 
ribly and awoke withiD bis mind a train of thought 
so absorbiog and intense that he did not hear the 
summons to supper until Mrs. Peters put her 
head into the room, asking “if he were deaf or 
what.” 
Mrs. Peters had been in the elder Browning’s 
household for years, and when the new owner 
came sbe still continued at her post, and exercised 
over her young master a kind of motherly care, 
which he permitted because he knew her real 
worth, and that without her his home would be 
uncomfortable indeed. On the occasion of which 
we write, Mrs. Peters was unusually attentive, 
and to a person at all skilled in female tactics, it 
was evident that she.was about to ask a favor, and 
had made preparations accordingly. His favorite 
waffles had been buttered exactly right — the 
peaches and cream were delicious — the fragrant 
black tea was neither too strong nor too weak — 
the fire blazed brightly in the grate — the light 
from the chandelier fell softly upon the massive 
silver service and damask cloth, — and with all 
these creature comforts around him, it is not 
strange that he forgot the letter and the tress of 
hair which so lately had blackened on the coals. 
The moment was propitious, and by the time he 
had finished his second cup, Mrs. Peters said, “I 
have something to propose." 
Leaning back in his chair, ho looked inquiringly 
at her, and she continued :—“ You remember Mrs. 
Leyton, the poor woman who had seen better days, 
and lived in East Granby?” 
“Yes.” 
“You know she has been sick, and you gave me 
leave to carry her anything I chose?” 
“ Yes.” 
“Well, she’s dead, poor thing,.and what is 
worse, she bain’t no connection, nor never had, 
and her little daughter Rosamond hain’t a place to 
lay her head.” 
“ Let her come and sleep with you, then,” said 
Mr. Browning, rattling his spoon upon the edge 
of his cup. 
“ Yes, and what’ll she do days ?” continued Mrs. 
Peters. “She can’t run the streets, that’s so; 
now, I don’t believe no'great in children, and you 
certainly don’t b’lieve in ’em at all, nor your poor 
uncle before you; but Rosamond ain’t a child. 
She’s thirteen, —most a woman,—and if you don’t 
mind the expense, I shan’t mind the trouble, and 
she can live here till she finds a place. Her 
mother, you know, took up millinering to get a 
living.” 
“ Certainly, let her come,” answered Mr. Brown¬ 
ing, who was noted for his benevolence. 
This matter being thus satisfactorily settled, 
Mrs. Peters arose from the table, while Mr. 
Browning went back to the olden memories which 
had haunted him so much that day, and with 
which there was not mingled a single thought of 
the little Rosamond, who was to exert so strong 
an influence upon his future life. 
. '_j- 
Chapter n.—Rosamond Leyton. 
Rosamond had been some weeks at Riverside, 
and during all that time Mr. Browning bad 
scarcely noticed her at all. On the first day of 
her arrival he bad spoken kindly to her, asking 
her how old she was, and how long her mother 
had been dead, and that was all the attention he 
had paid to her. lie did not even know the color 
of her eyes, or texture of her hair,— whether it 
were curly or straight, black or brown; but he 
knew in various ways that she was there — knew 
it by the sound of danciDg feet upon the stairs, 
which were woDt to echo only to Mrs. Peters’ 
heavy tread — knew it by the tasteful air his room 
suddenly assumed,— by the ringing laugh and 
musical songs which came often from the kitchen, 
and by the thousand changes which the presence 
of a merry-hearted girl of thirteen brings to a 
hitherto silent house. Of him Rosamond stood 
considerably in awe, and though she could wil¬ 
lingly have worshiped him for having given her 
so pleasant a home, she felt afraid of him and 
kept out of his way, watching him with childish 
curiosity at a distance, admiring his noble figure, 
and wondering if she should ever dare speak to 
him as fearlessly as Mrs. Peters did. 
From this woman Rosamond received all a 
mother’s care, and though the name of her lost 
parent was often on her lips, she was beginning te 
be very happy in her new home, when one day 
towards the middle of October, Mrs. Peters told 
her that Mr. Browning’s only sister, a Mrs. Van 
Vechten, who lived South, was coming to River¬ 
side, together with her son Ben. The lady Mrs. 
Peters had never seen, but Ben, who was at 
school in Albany, had spent a vacation the^e, and 
she described him as a “ great, good-natured fool,” 
who cared for nothing but dogs, cigars, fast horses 
and pretty girls. 
Rosamond pushed back the stray curls which 
had fallen over her face, glanced at the cracked 
mirror which gave her two noses instead of one, 
and thinking to herself, “ I wonder if he’ll care 
for me,” listened attentively while Mrs. Peters 
continued—“ This Miss Van Vechten is a mighty 
fine lady, they say, and has heaps of niggers to 
wait on her at home,— but she can’t bring ’em 
here, for I should set ’em free—that’s so. .1 don’t 
b’lieve in’t. What was I sayin’ ? Oh, I know, 
she can’t wait on herself, and wrote to have her 
brother get some one. He asked me if you’d be 
willin’ to put on her clothes, wash her face, and 
chaw her victuals like enough.” 
“Mr. Browning never said that,” interrupted 
Rosamond, and Mrs. Peters replied—“Well, not 
that exactly, but lie wants you to wait on her gen¬ 
erally.” 
“I’ll do anything reasonable,” answered Rosa¬ 
mond. “ When will she be here ?” 
“In two or three days,” said Mrs. Peters, “and 
I must hurry, or I shan’t have them north cham¬ 
bers ready for her. Ben ain’t coming quite so 
soon.” 
The two or three days passed rapidly, and at 
the close of the third a carriage laden with trunks 
stopped before the gate at Riverside, and Mrs. Van 
l Vechten had come. She was a thin, sallow-faced, 
proud-looktng woman, wholly unlike her brother, 
whose senior she was by maDy years. She bad 
seen much of the world, and that she was con¬ 
scious of her own fanced superiority was percept¬ 
ible in every movement. She was Mrs. Richard 
Van Vechten, of Alabama—one of the oldest 
families in the State. Her deceased husband bad 
been United States Senator,— she had been to 
Europe,—had seen the Queen on horseback,—had 
passed the residence of the Duchess of Suther¬ 
land,— and when Rosamond Leyton appeared be¬ 
fore her in her neatly-fittiDg dress of black and 
asked what she could do for her, she elevated her 
eyebrows and coolly surveying the little girl, an¬ 
swered haughtily, “ Comb out my hair.” 
“Yes, I will,” thought Rosamond, who had 
taken a dislike to the grand lady, and suiting the 
action to the thought, she did comb out her hair, 
pulling it so unmercifully that Mrs. Van Vechten 
angrily bade her stop. 
“Look at me, girl,” said she; “did you ever 
assist at any one’s toilet before?” 
“ I’ve hooked Mrs. Peters’ dress and pinned on 
Bridget’s collar,” answered Rosamond, her great 
brown eyes brimming with mischief. 
“Disgusting!” returned Mrs. Van Vechten— 
“ I should suppose Ralph would know better than 
to get me such an ignoramus. Were you hired on 
purpose to wait on rne ?” 
“ Why, no, ma’am, I live here,” answered Rosa¬ 
mond, 
“Live here!” repeated Mrs. Van Vechten, “and 
pray, what do you do ?” 
“Nothing much, unless I choose,” said Rosa¬ 
mond, who, being a great pet with Mrs. Peters 
and the other servants, really led a very easy life 
at Riverside. 
Looking curiously into the frank, open face of 
the young girl, Mrs. Van Vechten concluded she 
was never intended to take a negro’s place, and 
with a wave of her band she said, “You may go; 
I can dress myseif alone.” 
That evening as the brother and sister sat to¬ 
gether in the parlor, the latter suddenly asked, 
“ Who is that Rosamond Leyton, and what is she 
doing here?” 
Mr. Browning told her all he knew of the girl, 
and she continued, “ Do you intend to educate her?” 
“ Educate her!” said he, “what made you think 
of that?” 
“ Because,” she answered, with a sarcastic smile, 
“as you expect to do penance the rest of your 
lifetime, I did not know but you would deem it 
your duty to educate every beggar who came 
along.” 
The idea of educating Rosamond Leyton was 
new to Mr. Browning, but he did not tell his sis¬ 
ter so,— he merely said, “And suppose I do edu¬ 
cate her?” 
“In that case,” answered the lady, “Ben will 
not pass his College vacations here, as I had in¬ 
tended that he should do.” 
“And why not?’’ asked Mr. Browning. 
“ Why not?’ repeated Mrs. Van Vechten. “Just 
as though you did not know how susceptible he is 
to female beauty, and if you treat this Rosamond 
as an equal, it vv^ilT^kke him to fall in love with 
ner at once.' feiiej P^Kjry pretty, you know.” 
Mr. Browning did not know any such thing. 
In fact, he scarcely knew how the young girl 
looked, but his sister’s remark had awakened in 
him an interest, and after she had retired, which 
she did early, he rang the bell for Mrs. Peters, 
who soon appeared in answer to his call. 
“ Is Rosamond Leyton up ? ” he asked. 
“Yes, sir,” answered Mrs. Peters, wondering 
at the question. 
“Send her to me,” he said, and with redoubled 
amazement Mrs. Peters carried the message to 
Rosamond, who was sitting before the fire, trying 
in vain to undo an obstinate knot in her boot-string. 
“Mr. Browning sent for me!” she exclaimed, 
her cheeks flushing up. “ Wants to scold me, I 
suppose, for pulling his sister’s hair. I only did 
what she told me to,” and with a beating heart she 
started for the parlor. 
Rosamond was afraid of Mr. Browning, and 
feeling sure that he intended to reprove her, she 
took the chair nearest to the door, and covering her 
face with her hands, began to cry, saying,—“ It was 
ugly in me, I know, to pull Mrs. Van Veciiten’s 
hair, aud I did it on purpose, too ; but I won’t do 
so again, I certainly won’t.” 
Mr. Browning was confounded. This ivas the 
first intimation he had received of the barberic 
performance, and for a moment he remained silent, 
gazing at the little girl. Her figure was very 
slight, her feet and hands were very small, and her 
hair, though disordered now and rough, was of a 
beautiful browu, and fell in heavy curls around her 
neck. He saw all this at a glance, but her face, 
the point to which his attention was chiefly direct¬ 
ed, he could not see until those little hands were 
removed, and as a means of accomplishing this he 
at last said, kindly,—“ I do not understand you, 
Rosamond. My sister has entered no complaint, 
and I did not send for you to censure you. I wish 
to talk with you—to get acquainted. Will you 
come and sit by me upon the sofa?” 
Rosamond’s hands came down from her face, but 
she did not leave her seat; neither did Mr. Brown¬ 
ing now wish to have her, for the light of the chande¬ 
lier fell full upon her, giving him a much better view 
of her features than if she had been nearer to him. 
If, as Mrs. Peters had said, Ben Van Vechten 
was fond of pretty girls, he in a measure inherited 
the feeling from his uncle, who was an ardent 
admirer of the beautiful, and who now felt a glow 
of satisfaction in knowing that Rosamond Ley-ton 
was pretty. It was a merry, sparkling, little face 
which he looked upon, and though the nose did 
turn up a trifle, and the mouth was rather wide, 
the soft, brown eyes and exquisitely fair complex¬ 
ion made ample amends for all. She was never 
intended for a menial,—she would make a beauti¬ 
ful woman,—and with thoughts similar to these, 
Mr. Browning, after completing his survey of her 
person, said,—“Have you been to school much?” 
“Always, until I came here,” was her answer; 
and he continued,—“And since then you have 
not looked in a book, I suppose.” 
The brown eyes opened wide as Rosamond re¬ 
plied,—“ Why, yes I have. I’ve read ever so much 
in your library when you were gone. Mrs. Peter’s 
told me I might,” she added hastily, as she saw 
his look of surprise and mistook it for displeasure. 
