rvival of the longest
purse.

One evening, after my day's work in the city of G--was ended, being
lonesome in my hotel, I thought of a family residing there who had a
summer residence in R----, and concluded to renew my acquaintance with
the eldest daughter with whom I had enjoyed many rides and sails, and
to whom I had quoted many romantic poems the previous season.

With fear and trembling, for I was always a bashful youth, I rang the
door bell, and was ushered into the parlor where I caught my first
glimpse of a fair-haired, rosy-cheeked, graceful younger sister to
whom, at a glance, I knew I was married in heaven.

Whence came that vital spark blending our souls in one? Had we lived
and loved on some fairer shore? Who can tell? Had our spirits been
wandering through the universe millions of years seeking each the
other, nor finding rest until we met? Only the angels know.

All we knew and all we seemed to care to know was that at last each
had found the "alter ego" for which it pined. There were no others
on earth--father, mother, sister, brothers, came and went almost
unheeded. Strange as it may seem, on this evening of our first
meeting, we told each other the old, old story, first told in Eden,
reiterated by millions since, and will continue to be rehearsed until
Gabriel through his trumpet sounds the final love song to the world.

With favoring winds, o'er sunlit seas,
We sailed for the Hesperides,
The land where golden apples grow;
But that, ah that was long ago.

How far, since then, the ocean streams
Have swept us from that land of dreams,
That land of fiction and of truth,
The lost Atlantis of our youth.

Ultima Thule, utmost isle,
Here in thy harbors for a while,
We lower our sails; awhile we rest
From the unceasing, endless quest.

For a long time I had divided homes and a divided heart, one at the
old home with the old folks, the other in the city by the sea.

In our new-born and first-born enthusiasm, we applied to Mary's
parents for an early union of hands as well as hearts; but they wisely
insisted upon a year's interim, promising that, if at the end of this
trial time our ardor had not cooled, they and the minister would
"bless you my children," and our hearts should beat as one
forevermore.

The course of true love never did run smooth, and when the claiming
day arrived, Mary's mother told me that she had been credibly informed
that another girl had a prior cl