Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE LOST INSURANCE. QASS the wine, Walter, said Mr. Drayton to his son; J then, rilling the glass and raising it to his lips, he added, Here's to your future happiness and prosperity, my boy. The fair-haired, pleasant-looking young man so addressed, who was head clerk in a flourishing business, and in receipt of a tolerable income, was on the eve of being married, and it was in reference to that event his father's words were uttered. Walter Drayton looking pleased at the remark replied, He thought he had every prospect of happiness with Ellen Morton; and there was, perhaps, less of a lover's partiality in this opinion than is sometimes the case, for Miss Morton was a gentle, lovable girl, and, though young and inexperienced, was not devoid of good sense, a certain degree of judgment and decision of character, she would, therefore, probably make a good wife, and Walter Drayton might have been supposed to have shown considerable discrimination in choosing her; but in fact his selection had been more guided by Ellen's pretty face, and a certain winning manner, than by any reference to more sterling qualities. However in this respect he differed not from hundreds of other young men, aye, and young women too, for who can judge a character impartially when in love; and Walter Drayton and Ellen Morton were sincerely in love with each other, therefore were blind to any little defects of character that existed on either side, and imagined, as lovers often do, that greater happiness than as a rule fell to others would be theirs. So they were married, and set up housekeeping in a modest way, the small house not lacking comfort, and, thanks to Ellen's taste, even exhibiting a degree of refinement not always to be found in larger and more luxuriously appointed dwellings. In truth ...