t he
suffered in voiceless longing for his fair one, throned afar in his
languishing gaze. I knew that he plucked flowers meant to be given to
her, only to lay them carelessly on the floor beside his seat when
school "took in," lacking the courage to bestow them brazenly upon his
idol as others did. I knew, too, his thrill when she came straight down
the aisle, took up the flowers with a glance of sweet reproof for him,
and nested them in the largest vase on her desk. But my poor affair had
been in an earlier day, and my namesake wove novelty into the woof of
his. For in that wonder-book of the fertile-minded Gaskell was a form of
letter which Calvin Blake Denney began to copy early in December, and
which by the following spring he could write in a style that already put
my own poor penning to the blush. Did he write it a hundred times or
five hundred, moved anew each time by its sweet potencies, its rarest of
suggestions? I know not, but it must have been very many times, for I
would find the copies in his school books, growing in beauty of
flourish day by day. As well as if he had confessed it I knew that this
letter was intended for the father of his love--for old Sam Murdock, to
be literal, who uncouthly performed for us the offices of drayman; but
who, in my namesake's eyes, shone pure and splendid for his
relationship. Doubtless the letter was never sent, but I am sure it was
written each time with an iron resolve to send it. Its title in the
excellent book was "From a Lover to a Father on his Attachment to the
Daughter," and it ran:--

=DEAR SIR: As I scorn to act in any manner that may bring
reproach upon myself and family, and hold clandestine proceedings
unbecoming in any man of character, I take the liberty of distinctly
avowing my love for your daughter and humbly request your permission to
pay her my addresses, as I flatter myself my family and expectancies
will be found not unworthy of your notice. I have some reason to imagine
that I am not altogether disagreeable to your daughter, but I assure you
that I have not as yet endeavored to win her affections, for fear it
might be repugnant to a father's will. I am, etc.=

Under this was provided "A Favorable Answer," in which Sam Murdock might
have said that he had long perceived this thing and applauded it, and
would the young man "dine with us to-morrow at six if you are not
engaged, and you will then have an opportunity to plead your own cause."
But chill