with energy and success, became dissatisfied with the trade he
was learning. The contemptuous words of Mary Dielman made him feel
that there was something low in the calling of a tailor--something
beneath the dignity of a man. He did not reason on the subject; he
only felt. Gradually he withdrew himself from society, and shut
himself up at home, devoting all his leisure to reading and study.
This was continued until he attained the age of manhood, soon after
which he procured the situation of clerk in a dry-goods store. At
his trade he could easily earn twelve dollars a week; but he left
it, because he was silly enough to be ashamed of it, and went into a
dry-goods store at a salary of four hundred dollars a year. As a
clerk he felt more like a man. Why he should, is more than I can
comprehend. But so it was.

As for Mary Dielman, she was not aware, at the time when she felt so
pleased with the attentions of Joseph Fletcher, that he was a
tailor--a calling for which she always expressed the most supreme
contempt. Her thoughtless words were not, therefore, meant for his
ears. The fact that she had uttered them was not remembered ten
minutes after they were spoken. Why she no longer met the
fine-looking, attentive and intelligent young man, she did not know.
Often she thought of him, and often searched the room for him, with
her eyes, when in company.

Nearly four years passed before they again met. Then Joseph was
greatly improved, and so was the beautiful maiden. The
half-extinguished fire of love, that had been smouldering in their
bosoms, rekindled, and now burned with a steady flame. They saw each
other frequently, and it was not long before the young man told her
all that was in his heart, and she heard the story with tremulous
delight.

The father of Mary, although a merchant, was not nearly so well off
in the world as many tailors. His family was expensive and drew too
heavily upon his income. The capital employed in trade was therefore
kept low, and his operations were often crippled for want of
adequate means. He had nothing, therefore, to settle upon his
daughter. When young Fletcher applied for her hand, his salary was
five hundred dollars. Mr. Dielman thought his prospects not over
flattering, but still gave his consent; at the same time advising
him not to think of marriage for a year or two, when he would no
doubt be in a better condition to take a wife.

The young couple, like most young couples, we