eerful,
unselfish man, left the world and its business cares behind him when
he placed his hand upon the door of entrance to his household
treasures. Like other men, he had his anxieties, his hopes and
losses, his disappointments and troubles; but he wisely and humanely
strove to banish these from his thoughts, when he entered the
home-sanctuary, lest his presence should bring a shadow instead of
sunshine.

Madeline was just twenty years of age, when, as the wife of Edward
Leslie, she left this warm down-covered nest, and was borne to a new
and more elegant home.

Mr. Leslie was her senior by eight or nine years. He began his
business life at the age of twenty-two, as partner in a well
established mercantile house, and, as he was able to place ten
thousand dollars in the concern, his position, in the matter of
profits, was good from the beginning. Yet, for all this,
notwithstanding more than one loving-hearted girl, in whose eyes he
might have found favor, crossed his path, he resolutely turned his
thoughts away, lest the fascination should be too strong for him. He
resolved not to marry until he felt able to maintain a certain style
of living.

Thus were the heart's impulses checked; thus were the first tender
leaves of affection frozen in the cold breath of mere calculation.
He wronged himself in this; yet, in his worldliness and ignorance,
did he feel proud of being above, what he called, the weaknesses of
other men.

It was but natural that Mr. Leslie should become, in a measure,
reserved towards others. Should assume a statelier step, and more
set forms of speech. Should repress, more and more, his heart's
impulses.

In Leslie, the love of money was strong; yet there was in his
character a firmly laid basis of integrity. Though shrewd in his
dealings, he never stooped to a system of overreaching. He was not
long, therefore, in establishing a good reputation among business
men. In social circles, where he occasionally appeared, almost as a
matter of course he became an object of interest.

Observation, as it regards character, is, by far, too superficial.
With most persons, merely what strikes the eye is sufficient ground
for an opinion; and this opinion is freely and positively expressed.
Thus, a good reputation comes, as a natural consequence, to a man
who lives in the practice of most of the apparent social virtues,
while he may possess no real kindness of heart, may be selfish to an
extreme degree.