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JAN. 4© 
©©RE’S RURAL WEW-YORKER. 
NEW YEAR GREETING TO OLD FRIENDS. 
BT MBS. MABT D. B*INE. 
Dear “ Rural,” I wish yon a Happy New Year I 
Long, long may you live your subscribers to bless! 
And, quoting the words of our old Irish Mike, 
“ Sure I'm wishing yer shadow may Diver grow less!” 
Old ” Rubai.,” you've come to us many a time 
With bits of advice on tbls. that and the other— 
We welcome your timely suggestions, you know, 
And look upon you as a friend and a brother. 
’Tis wonderful, really, how ynnng you appear, 
Considering your age—you'll excuse me, 1 know 
But 'tis truly a fact that the ladles have learned 
To look upon you us a charming old beau. 
But while I am loud In my praises of yon, 
There's one MooKEtnwhoml must offer a greeting. 
May the New Year be laden with blessings for him - 
May be flourisb.wlth health and prosperity meeting! 
May your numbers of Jolly subscribers Increase, 
My blessed o fl ” Rural," and may jou o'erflow 
With all that is witty and sensible, too,— 
And may l have a c-bancoin thus helping you gTow. 
For him who has guided you safely thus far 
Thro 1 human uncertainties, hn rd ttmf* and trouble. 
I wish, most sincerely, a “ Happy New Year!” 
And that joy for the future may fall to him— double! 
(iur J§toni-®cl^r. 
MARTHA’S TWO LOVES; 
OR, THE WIFE’S HOME. 
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF MADAME 
Wir.DERMTTTH. BY ANNE JAY. 
[Continued from page 18, last number.] 
CHAPTER III. 
To the merry days succeeded quiet evenings, 
when the grandmother, Martha and Ursula 
spun in trio. Martha thought it much more 
romantic, and suggestive of the days of knight- 
errantry, to use the spindle, and truly she look¬ 
ed very pretty with the graceful distaff tied with 
sky-blue ribbon, her favorite color, and the lit¬ 
tle painted trifle to hold her flax, which the 
doctor had once brought her from a fair. 
Tiie little wheel hummed, the spindle huzzed: 
all were silent and busy when Martha began a 
song in which Ursula joined : 
‘‘Spin, spin,my daughter 
and I will buy you n 
gown,” 
“ Yes, yes, dear mother, 
I would like that I 
And so on to the 
closing verse: 
"Spin, epln, my daughter, 
and I will buy you a 
man.” 
‘‘One that, dances well 
dear mother, and I’ll 
do the best I can.” 
Here the song end¬ 
ed in n merry burst, 
of laugh tor. 
'“Yes, yes, such a 
one would suit you 
best," Baid the old 
lady, also laughing. 
“Grandmama,” be¬ 
gan Martha, after a 
pause, “ how pleasant 
It used to be when 
you would tell me 
pretty stories while I 
spun. You never tell 
me any now." 
"You silly child; 
who would think of 
telling stories to such 
a great big thing!" 
“Ah, yes, you can; 
only a little different 
from the one about 
Hansel and Grethel. 
Tell us, for instance, 
grandmama, how you 
first met grandfather." 
Her grandmother 
smiled. “That is 
easily told,” said she. 
“ My late father was 
very much of a favo¬ 
rite with the Duke 
Charles, who asked 
him once, as he talked 
with him, if he had 
not a son to whom he 
might give a situation. 
‘No, your Highness,' 
said papa, ‘ but 1 have 
four daughters.’ ” 
“•Ah, then I shall 
send a good subject to 
marry your eldest 
daughter, and in that 
way help you on a 
little.’" 
“ ‘Allow me to thank 
your Highness very 
humbly,'” said my 
lather. Afterward he 
told my mother about 
it. We girls were of 
course to hear nothing 
of all thjs; but Gustel, 
the youngest, an inquisitive thing, hid in the 
corner and listened, and told us afterwards how 
the Duke was to send some one to marry me, 
for I was the eldest. Then I commenced to 
cry, for I liked our substitute, Mr. Grundel, 
and did not. want one whom the Duke might 
choose to send; but Mr. Grundel, while sub¬ 
stitute, could not marry. 
“My second slstor, Heiniuka, said directly 
sho would be the sacrifice, and marry t he Duke's 
man, for sho was very ambitious, and already 
pictured to herself a youngster with a ribbon 
and star, l suspect. Well, I took courage and 
told mama, and she told papa, and asked if Mr. 
Grundel was not. a good subject. Papa liked 
him, and wrote to the Duke about him, who 
was quite willing to promote him, and so it all 
ended happily. 
“ But Heinrika scolded for a long time, and 
said I was the cause of her losing the puke’s 
protege. However, she aftenvnrdB captivated 
the Rev. Mr. Schnepf, and did much better." 
** And my other great aunts ?” 
“Ludoviko took Dr. Schnuruer, and little 
Gustei. became Frau Oberam Amaunin. Ah, 
yes, we ivent off like hot cakes; those M-ere dif¬ 
ferent times.” 
Martha burst into a merry laugh, and com¬ 
menced to sing: 
“ And when grandfather took grandmama,”— 
and her roguish eyes glanced mischievously at 
her grandmother. 
Next evening the doctor came in early, and | 
seated himself comfortably beside the old lady. 
Martha had much ado to restrain her laughter [ 
M r hcn she looked at him, and recalled how com¬ 
placently Amelia had nodded from out his 
pocket. 
“ Why do you laugh so ?” her grandmother at 
length asked. 
“I was Just thinking, grandmama, of the 
story of the good subject whom you married.” 
“You thoughtless child, to speak so disre¬ 
spectfully of your own grandfather.” 
“ But is it not true, grandmama, that falling 
In love was not so much the fashion in those 
days as now ?*' 
“Do you think so?” said the old lady, not a 
little piqued. “Do not judge so hastily; re¬ 
member that Goethe, of whom you think so 
much, and Schiller and Burger, were living 
when I was young. I am sorry to Bay they had 
only too many apt pupils among more every¬ 
day people. Oh, I could tell you enough of 
such things; but this I will say, that more 
came of falling in love then than now.” 
“Oh, please, grandmama, tell us of some¬ 
thing that happened when you M'ere young!” 
“Yes, pray do, Mrs. Verwalterin,” chimed 
in the doctor, more quietly; “meanwhile I will 
light my pipe if you will permit me.” 
“Weil, as you all insist on it,” said the old 
lady. “ But you must give me time to think 
over something to toll you... Once, while I 
still lived with my mother and father, we had 
for a neighbor a certain colonel of noble birth, 
who bad six daughters, none of them exactly 
pretty, but all sweet young ladies, more especial¬ 
ly the youngest, Miss Elma. Behind the bar¬ 
racks, where tho colonel had his quarters, was 
a garden which adjoined that of a merchant, by 
the name of Uinohard. The Rtnqhaudb were 
well-to-do people, but quiet, and a little old- 
fasblonod. The son, hoM’cver, had boon in En¬ 
gland and Hamburg and Bremen, ne was 
home again at that time, and weighed out 
Coffee and sugar in his father’s warehouse. 
“The graceful young ladies whom he would 
sometimes stso So the garden knitting, or play¬ 
ing the guitar, had attracted his attention, 
Elma more especially. Once he summoned 
courage to offer her a bouquet over the hedge 
which divided their gardens. She after awhile 
learned that he understood English, which she 
lvad always studied with interest, fn short., 
they conversed together from time to time, 
and alivays with increasing pleasure, nut the 
young lady always Beamed as far above him as 
if she lived In a different sphere, and he never 
breathed a word of his attachment to her; they 
were both quite young, too. 
“Tho colonel was soon ordered to another 
barracks, and after a time he became a general; 
the old merchant died, and bis wife did not 
long outlive him. The son sold the old home¬ 
stead. Ho could not bear to live there ; and he 
wished, too, to sec more of the world. So he 
wandered far and wide, and was in danger of 
becoming a misanthrope from his solitary life; 
but GoD’it blessing went with him. for he had 
been a good son, and after ten years had elapsed 
he became partner in a thriving banking house 
in Hamburg, at the head of which was his 
cousin. 
“ In all this time ho had never forgotten Miss 
Elma, and had written once to his old homo to 
inquire what had become of the family, and 
was told that the general had died, leaving 
nothing behind him but children and debts. 
One of the daughters had married an officer, 
and there the family connection with the no¬ 
bility scorned to end. Two of the daughters 
had married, the one a doctor and tho other a 
IVL^IVIiyi.A/’S DARLING, 
minister, but. about the three younger his cor¬ 
respondent could toll him nothing. Rinohard 
lost no time in writing to tho doctor whoso 
name had been given, to inquire about bis sis¬ 
ter-in-law Elma. But tho doctor—I knew him 
well—was unfortunately tho most forgetful and 
absent-minded of mortals. His first lady-love 
had dismissed him indignantly, because he, 
one day, in a fit, of absent-mindedness, attempt¬ 
ed to make ubo of her little finger for a tobacco 
stopper. People told the story of him, that one 
night, after undressing, he put his coat to bed 
Instead of himself, and tried to hang himself 
on the nail. The names of bis sisters-in-law he 
found it quite impossible to remember, nnd no 
wonder, for one was named Alma, and one 
Selma, one Meta, and another Linda ; heaven 
knoMS M’hero the general’s wife got so much 
nonsense together. So, ivhen a stranger wrote, 
asking him about Elma, he straightway con¬ 
founded her with Selma, and wrote hurriedly, 
—he was always hurried—’’ 
“ Like tho dootor hero 1 ” said Martha, 
saucily. 
“ He wrote hurriedly, that she had married 
Pustor So-and-ao throe years before, and en¬ 
tirely forgot to mention to his wife—who I be¬ 
lieve was called Minna— the faot of the Inquiry. 
Thus Elma never heard anotliingof thomatter, 
and continued to lend her old life of usefulness, 
going from one to the other among her sisters 
ns she was most needed. 
“ Elm a‘ s bright but equable temper did much 
toMords preserving her good looks, though she 
could no longer boast, the freshness of youth. 
Whenever she revisited her old home, she loved 
to go to the garden, and sit in the arhor where 
she had taken her English lessons In times gone 
by. Whether UiNonAUD still lived she had no 
means of knowing. 
“In apito of his frequent disappointments, 
Blma’8 old lovor could not forget her, and still 
remained unmarried. Now, one of RiNonAnD’s 
best friends in Hamburg was a married lady 
who thought, as I do, that an unmarried man 
wholma tho meaim to marry, is Hko an empty 
coach which, though U. may journey to its des¬ 
tination, does so with its comfortable seats 
unoccupied and consequently is of use to none. 
Once, as sho discoursed to him upon her favor¬ 
ite topic, and tried to persuade him to her way 
of thinking, ho confessed to her that there was 
only one woman whom ho ovorhad, or could 
love, and that she was lost to him. His friend 
had also known the general's family aud re¬ 
membered Elma well, and she felt silenced 
and depressed by what ho told her. 
“Lt was some two 
years after the good 
doctor had written his 
unlucky letter, when 
the confidant, of Rino- 
hard, who was also a 
fellow townswoman 
of his, paid a visit to 
her old home. She was 
warmly welcomed and 
hospitably enter- 
t a i n e d everywhere, 
and lt chanced in this 
way that she often 
met Elma, M'hose gen¬ 
tle dignity quite 
charmed her. One day, 
after their acquaint¬ 
ance had already ri¬ 
pened into friendship, 
she observod to her: 
“ I know a gentleman 
in Hamburg, a towns¬ 
man of yours, who is a 
very warm admirer of 
your younger sister.” 
“ * I am the youngest 
of my family,” an¬ 
swered Elma, blush¬ 
ing. 
“ ‘ Did you ever 
know a merchant by 
the name of Ring- 
hard?" 
“Elma blushed 
more and more, and 
hastened to speak of 
the neighborly inter¬ 
course In the past, 
J but so confusedly that 
her auditor, who was 
by no means lacking 
In intelligence, did 
not fail to perceive 
how deeply Elma’s 
feelings were interest¬ 
ed. She said nothing 
further, for as she 
rightly thought, in 
such matters one can¬ 
not go to work too 
cautiously. On her re¬ 
turn to Hamburg she 
told Rinohard the 
result of her discovery 
that only Minna,Sel¬ 
ma and Meta ivere 
married ; Linda was 
I believe, dead—and 
Elma was still un¬ 
married. Ring hard 
was almost beside 
himself with joy at 
this unexpected Intel¬ 
ligence ; but liis more 
cautious friend quiet- 
t-*d ,lijs transports. 
