Page:Advice to young ladies on their duties and conduct in life - Arthur - 1849.djvu/56

48 eve of his departure, with a stock of goods, to a small but thriving town in the west. Her parents were in moderate circumstances; but she was their only daughter, and they had raised her most tenderly. Every dollar that could be spared was expended on her education. The highest accomplishments were sought for her. At the time of her marriage, she was a young, slender, sylph-like creature, that looked as if time had never showered any thing but blossoms on her head. She could dance with the grace of a fairy, perform with great skill upon the piano, harp, or guitar, and sing exquisitely. But she knew as little about housekeeping as a boy just let loose from school.

A few weeks after their marriage, the young couple started for their new home in the west. On arriving there, they found a little village of three or four hundred inhabitants, in which was a stage-house, or tavern, kept by a drunken Irishman. At this house they were compelled to stay for two or three weeks, until their furniture arrived. There was no other boarding-place in the village. By the time their furniture was received, they had rented the only vacant house there was. This was a small frame tenement, containing four rooms, two below and two above. It stood alone, on the outskirts of the