Argosy, Vol. 1 (December 9, 1882) — page 105: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

The old women of Harewood could tell of the romance of Bob White and his city bred bride. ' -It seems that years ago, long before Newton Falls became a settlement, a Mr Carpenter of Rochester had discovered what a sportsman’s paradise was Cranberry Lake, and had spent several summers there in camp with his fam- ily. Carrie Carpenter was a girl with just the amount of love of an outdoor life to become charmed with a camper’s existence. Bob White was one of Mr. Carpenter’s guides, a handsome chap, tall, straight as the pine of his na- tive forests, and possessed of a wistful expression in his face which immedi- ately interested the romantic Miss Carpenter. The result may be imagined. This woman who had been reared in civili- zation, gave up everything to marry the guide, Robert White, and live in the woods all the rest of her life. So that is why tnere was a “ but ” in the affection of her daughter, Carrie White, for Hiram Chester. The child of this city bred woman, who had elected to forget her old existence and live the -vild life of the forest, was situ- ated in an exactly opposite position to that her mother had occupied. Carrie White had been born to the life her mother loved, and she longed for the life her mother had forsaken. Carrie had ambition. She wanted to break away from the narrow confines of being only a guide’s daughter. She wanted to go into the civilization that her mother had hated. That is why she hesitated when Hiram Chester had asked her to be his wife. She felt proud to have the love of the best man in the whole region, and she told H1so. H1couldn’t see, then, why Carrie wouldn’t marry him. She urged him to leave the woods, go out into the world and make a living and a home for her. Then she would consider. But Hiram Chester was matter of fact. He had known too many of the young men of the lake who had become dissatisfied with the life of their fathers and grandfathers. They had gone into c‘vilization, and the majority of them had confessed themselves failures in the big world, and had been only too glad to come home again to their mother forest. “Tm not ashamed to be a guide, Carrie,’ Hi would say when they argued on the great obstacle to their marriage. “It’s a natural life. Man wasn’t born to live cooped up in cities and tear his life out in one long scramble to.get ahead.” (Hi had never been further toward the busy life than Carthage.) ‘‘ What do city people come up here for? They want rest and big air. Why, Carrie, if you and I’d go to a city and live, we’d smother to death. No green trees, no water like that lake out yonder, no nothing, but noise and brick and stone.” Hiram’s arguments were good, no doubt, but when a woman’s mind is made up, and backed by a strong ambition, not even the persuasive reasonings of a Demosthenes or a Webster can avail aught against her own private opinion. Thus was Hiram Chester held in suspense for a year and a half. He could do nothing but plead and wait during all that time. Then a new obsta- cle to the fulfilment of his hopes appeared in the person of Tom Jameson. That individual was well known to the inhabitants about the foot of Cran- GOH GoOOO ‘SS COLNT