Page:Peterson's Magazine 1842, Volume I.pdf/47

36 permission of the creditors, and that as soon as she could remove, the house and furniture were to be sold. Mrs. Wiley, the housekeeper, had already dismissed the servants, with the exception of one, and was only waiting for Emma's recovery to form her own plans.

"Dear Miss Emma," she said, "have you no property of your own, and to which of your friends will you go?"

"I have no fortune, no friend; save you."

Strange as this may sound, it was true. Her parents were Scotch, without relations in this country, and Emma could not think of going as a dependent on those she had never seen. Her mother, who died when she was twelve years old, had carefully withheld her from forming any childish friendships and had made it her dying request that she be sent to a distant seminary, whose principal she held in high estimation, to remain till her seventeenth birth day had passed. Thus she entered the gay circle of her native city, with all the charms of being a personal stranger, and as she now felt, with all its loneliness, for her father had been a mere man of business and cultivated no friendships-true, many had called during her illness to inquire after her or leave a card, and doubtless some would have done much to aid her, had they known her real situation, but each supposed some other to be more intimate than themselves, and thus the poor girl was literally without friend or adviser. She requested that Mrs. Wiley call on the lawyer who had transacted her father's business and desire him to put at the disposal of the creditors the jewelry with which her father had delighted to load her and the most valuable part of her wardrobe. This was positively refused by the gentlemen in question, who insisted on her retaining all that had been considered her personal property, including her musical instruments, and intimated their intention of settling a thousand dollars on her. Through the same medium, she refused, with many thanks, for their kindness but consented to keep her instruments and jewelry, as she understood the debts would be nearly, if not fully, discharged. And then, for a home, Mrs. Wiley, with some hesitation, mentioned her own plans, which were to rent a furnished room in the suburbs and live upon the income of her savings from many years of service in the family, aiding herself by taking in plain sewing.

"Would Miss Emma," said the worthy woman, "condescend to remain with her till she could think of some more suitable plan?"

"With the truest gratitude, dear Mrs. Wiley," said Emma, "I have twenty or thirty dollars by me, and when that is gone, I can dispose of one of my instruments, so I can bear my part in the housekeeping till I can devise some plan for my support. Not a word—it must be so; even then, I will owe a home to you. You can procure fine work and embroidery for me, and perhaps I can thus afford to keep those dear relics of the past." In a few days, this plan was put into operation. The bustle of removal for a while roused Emma, but soon, when confined to the one small room and toiling from morning till night over some weary piece of sewing, for which she was so poorly paid that even her small expenses could not be met by the proceeds, her spirits at times completely sunk, for though she often experienced the sweet peace of a believing heart, religion, though it supports, does not change our natures, and it is not the intention of the All Wise that his chastisements shall be unheeded. While the support it affords gives the Christian bright hopes of the felicity experienced from enjoying the unclouded light of God's countenance, his heart still bleeds for his own and others bereavements, and he feels this is not his abiding place. Mrs. Wiley marked with regret, but without surprise, the increasing depression of her charge, and when a couple of months had convinced her how trifling was the income produced by her needle, she suggested that her many accomplishments might secure her a respectable home and salary as a teacher, since she continued firm in her determination not to seek support from unseen, almost unknown, relations.

"I have thought seriously of it myself," was Emma's reply, "and this morning I read an advertisement in an old paper that I have kept to show you. The required qualifications are immense, but if they will dispense with Greek and Latin and some sciences not very useful to a woman, perhaps I can meet their requisitions as well as most governesses. I can add one or two languages not mentioned as a compensation." Though the advertisement was an old one, a letter was sent according to the direction, and in due time, a favorable reply was received. German and Spanish were accepted in lieu of Greek and Latin, and a knowledge of the harp for trigonometry, surveying, &c. "If Miss Benson had a harp, she might bring it with her, and they would pay the expense of transportation, provided when she left she would dispose of it at a reasonable price. As to salary, she was so much below their requirements she could not expect much, and one hundred dollars a year, with board and washing, was all they would give.."Such was the purport of the letter of Mrs. Olden, of the village of Vatican, western New York.

"Sell my dear, dear harp to such people," said Emma, in strong disgust, "the present of my father, the companion of so many hours, never, never, and yet I am about to sell myself, for I see it will be slavery." Mrs.Wiley was very unwilling; her dear young lady should put herself in the power of such low-minded persons as the Oldens evidently were, and for so trifling a compensation. But then the situation was a healthy one in the country. Emma's constitution would never bear a southern climate, nor her spirits the risk of meeting old ac-