Emily Goodridge's health was much improved by her journey to the North, and every year the same party repeated it. I need hardly say that during my clerkship I was a constant visitor at the house of Mr. Goodridge, and that his daughter and myself were the best of friends. Flora used to go there every afternoon; but she could not venture out, as I did, in the evening air.
Years rolled on, and brought their changes. I was a merchant in prosperous circumstances. Flora, in a measure, outgrew her bodily infirmities, but she was always an invalid. I heard from Sim Gwynn once in a great while. He took care of the minister's horse and his garden. He could not "keep a hotel," and he did not aspire to do so. He was contented with enough to eat and enough to wear.
I am still a young man; but our firm is Bradford Brothers. We are doing well, and in time hope to make a fortune. Whether I do so or not, I shall still be happy, for my wife—whom I picked up one day on the Mississippi River—is joy enough for this world, though I have another, and almost equal joy, in dear Flora, whose home is also mine. We are blessed of God, and blessed in ourselves, for we are as loving and devoted to each other as when, years ago, on the raft, we journeyed Down The River.
OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS
All-Over-the-World Library. By Oliver Optic. First Series. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25.
- 1. A Missing Million; or, The Adventures of Louis Belgrade.
- 2. A Millionaire at Sixteen; or, The Cruise of the "Guardian Mother."
- 3. A Young Knight Errant; or, Cruising in the West Indies.
- 4. Strange Sights Abroad; or, Adventures in European Waters.
No author has come before the public during the present generation who has achieved a larger and more deserving popularity among young people than "Oliver Optic." His stories have been very numerous, but they have been uniformly excellent in moral tone and literary quality. As indicated in the general title, it is the author's intention to conduct the readers of this entertaining series "around the world." As a means to this end, the hero of the story purchases a steamer which he names the "Guardian Mother," and with, a number of guests she proceeds on her voyage.—Christian Work, N. Y.
All-Over-the-World Library. By Oliver Optic. Second Series. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25.
- 1. American Boys Afloat; or, Cruising in the Orient.
- 2. The Young Navigators; or, The Foreign Cruise of the "Maud."
- 3. Up and Down the Nile; or, Young Adventurers in Africa.
- 4. Asiatic Breezes; or, Students on the Wing.
The interest in these stories is continuous, and there is a great variety of exciting incident woven into the solid information which the book imparts so generously and without the slightest suspicion of dryness. Manly boys will welcome this volume as cordially as they did its predecessors.—Boston Gazette.