The Hillsborough Recorder

THE LAST BELL.

It was a beautiful morning in the month of May 1826. I was sitting by the side of Helen Harris, the only girl I ever loved and I believe the only girl that ever loved me,-any how, she was the only one ever told me so.
We were sitting in the piazza of her father's house, about a quarter of a mile from the landing place, waiting for the bell of the steamboat to warn me of the moment that it was to part my love and me.
In the range to pass it through the course of my life, that in order to accumulate a little of this world's gear that I might be the better prepared to encounter the demands of matrimony. I was destined to cross the blue Chesapeake, and seek in the metropolitan city the wherewithal so much desired. How many swains have been compelled like me to leave home and the girl they loved, to wander in search of gold? And-and good girl jealous! how many have been--dis--disappointed! Out of them, perhaps; for though most of them have obtained the gold, like me, may be they did not get as much as they wanted. But to the piazza-
Well!--we were sitting in the piazza, and as may be supposed, were talking of our love and separation, and all the etcetera of our situation.
We were waiting for the most unwelcome sound that ever saluted our ears, namely the steamboat bell. It is known to all who know any thing of steamboats, that their bells give two warnings to those who have engaged for a voyage: the second is the signal for starting.
You may rely on it we talked fast; we thought fast, and abbreviated our words into such rugged sentences, that nobody but ourselves could understand them.
The first bell rang--the second pealed over Mr. Harris's corn field and water melon patch to the piazza, like the knell of hope, and I sprung to my feet, and trembled like an aspen.
"O George, wait till the last bell rings," said Helen, as the big bright tears came over her eyes of blue."
Do no such thing," answered the hoarse voice of Mr. Harris as he arose like a spectre from the cellar, where he had been packing away his cider-" Do no such thing," he repeated: and "George," he continued, " carry this advice with you to the grave-and may it be of service to you-" Never wait for the last bell."
I was off like a chased deer; the last bell rung as I approached the steamboat, and I had scarcely time to get aboard before she was pushed from the wharf.
On my passage I had time for reflection, and after a few flutterings at my heart, occasioned by the separation from its idol. I composed myself to cool reasoning, and the conclusion of the whole matter was, that it was dangerous to wait for the last bell.
My career in the search of pelf has in a degree been successful; but I verily believe, had not the old farmer told me " never to wait for the last bell." that I now should have been as poor as the morning the farewell shivered from my lips upon the heart of my lonely Helen.
I came to the big city, took lodgings at a hotel, and any person who has ever lived at a hotel but for a single day, can rehearse the danger of waiting for the last bell. I did it once; it was the day I entered: and I lost my dinner. I have always been ready for the dinner bell since then, and the first stroke has found me at the table. I mingled with mankind, and I saw thousands who were waiting for the last bell. In business they were slow, and bargains slipped by them. In the payment of their liabilities they were backward, and their credit consequently suffered.
For six months I was a clerk; it was a short apprenticeship; but my never waiting for the last bell, that is to say, my doing every thing I had to do in the right time, won a place for me in the affections of my employer, and which induced him to offer me a partnership. I accepted; and in every instance when the bell rung, it found me ready.
I have been in business and married nine years, and I have yet to be found napping when the bell rings.
The first love letter I wrote, contained an approval of the sentiment of farmer Harris, and Helen was not long in setting her opinion for our side, when I informed her that if I had waited for the last bell, she would have not received it by that boat.
I had almost forgotten to tell you that Helen is my wife, and she, for one, will never repent the morning I took her father at his word, and ran for life over the water melon patch and corn-field to get to the boat in time.
Now I would just beg leave to say a few words to our young men about this thing of waiting for the last bell. When I arrived at Baltimore, I waited on some gentlemen to whom I had introductory letters, and they recommended me for a situation; one was soon offered, which I was told had been refused by four young men, to whom it had been offered before I came to the city;-the salary was low: but said I, " they are waiting for the last bell." and I was not slow in accepting of it: and glad I am of it, for it was the making of me.
Shortly after I became a partner in my present business, our custom having increased considerably, we advertised for an additional clerk: the salary at the beginning was the same that I had received. Many called who were out of employment, but they seemed as though they had rather wait for another bell, and they refused. I know them all, and the young gentleman who was accepted, is worth four times as much as any one of them.
Haste for the first bell, accept the first offer, and keep it until you get a better:- remember the common adage, "half a loaf is better than none;" and be assured that if you are worthy, be your first offer what it may, if it be respectable, it will lead you onward—upward.
I once knew a young man of first rate abilities but he formed the disgusting habit of stopping at the tavern, whenever he could make the opportunity -here he always waited for the last bell, reluctant to leave while he could spare a moment. He is now an habitual drunkard, and if he is not careful, the last bell of life will find him in a bad condition. It will be hard for him to bid a long farewell to his last glass.
Life is short; hours fly with the wind's rapidity, and he who habitually puts off until the last bell, the affairs which claim his immediate attention, will come out, according to farmer Harris's prediction, at the little end of the horn.
Shakespeare says " there is a tide in the affairs of men, which, if taken at the flood, leads on to fortune." My young friends, he who waits for the last bell can never take this tide at its flood: the man only who is watching to embrace the first opportunity can have the least hope of success.
Young ladies, I have a word for you. In the street I live in, there is a lady who has been seven years in choosing her partner for life. She is handsome, and pretty well off, and has had several respectable offers, but she was waiting for the last bell-and she is likely to remain to the last a belle: for she is turned of thirty, and says she will agree to the first proposal that is made to her; but it is perhaps too late; and she must buy her blessedness ever.
Now, I beseech you, my dear young friends, all of you who may read this little sketch, put not off till to-morrow what you can do to-day; that is the true meaning of the injunction which has been of so much service to me; and whenever you feel a disposition to postpone any thing, no matter how trifling, remember the words of farmer Harris, "Never wait for the last bell."