A ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 88, 16 October 1869, Page 5

A ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.

The Moscow correspondent of the "Manchester Examiner," writing on June sth, says : — " Eussia appears to be a country of surprise at present. A few weeks since we gave the details of the recent discvery of an ample fortune in the possession of an illiterate and hard-living peasant; and, within the last few days, the Moscow public has been startled by an even more extraordinary chapter of romance in real life, the particulars of which we extract in full from the columns of a daily paper. About twenty-one years ago, an infant, only a few months old, was intrusted to the care of a peasant woman in one of the Moscow Government villages, with instructions to have it brought up along with her own children, and to let it want # - for. nothing — a sufficient sum of money being deposited for its maintenance. These instructions were faithfully carried out, and the child grew up into a fine healthy boy, remarkable for quickness and intelligence—^characteristics which confirmed the suspicions which the neighbours had long since begun to entertain, that he was no,! peasant's child.' Time went on, and •fclie young adventurer gleaned, a partial knowledge o£ hi& early history ! from the gossip of the villagers, but i was still at fault respecting the name and condition of his real parents, his^ adopted father and mother being as ignorant ,on these points as himself. When he ' had nearly completed his fifteenth year, his protectors became involved in difficulties, and the money left for ' his maintenance being now all but expended, the youth, not wishing to burden. any further the kindness of those who had so long shel-' „. tered.him, made : hjs way to Moscow, and took' service with a merchant in that city. His employer was not long in discovering the abilities of the new comer, and speedily promoted him to a higher post, ■ with a considerable increase' of salary ; # and thus the persevering lad was enabled not merely ■:■:. to send assistance to his adopted parents, but to accumulate a small capital of his own • and with the funds thus acquired, he at length, after remaining more than <|Lve. years in his masters service, purchased a small ishop, p which h& purposed conuneuc-

ing business on. his own. account ; r with no higher ambition, probably, than that of owning a large shop in-stead-of a small one, and perhaps laying by enough to enable him to retire in comfort, and render easy the closing: years of the warm-hearted couple who had so long treated him as their son. But his career was destined to have a widely different denowment. All is at length ready for the opening of the new shop; and the youthful proprietor, stationed behind his counter, awaits rather nervously the advent of his- future customers. Two or three casual purchasers drop in in quest of various trifles ; and after them comes a matronly but still handsome lady, simply and tastefully attired. She looks attentively at the young dealer for a moment, and then calls him by name. ' That is my name, madam,' answers our hero, somewhat surprised at this unceremonious commencement. ' When and where were you born ?' pursues the unknown, in an imperious tone of voice, as if conducting a judicial examination. 'At Ivanovo twenty-one years ago,' responds the youth, with some uneasiness, inwardly wondering whether he can have got himself into any political scrape, or whether his fair interlocutor is merely amusing herself at his expense. ' Are your parents still alive?' continues the questioner with agitation. ' I cannot tell. Of my father I knew nothing ; and my mother, they tell me, gave me out to nurse when I was only a few months old. I never saw her to remember her.' 'But would you not be glad to meet her again ?' inquires the incognito, growing pale. ' What makes you ask that ?' says the young man in an altered voice, catching, it may be, a glimpse of the truth for the first time. ' Ah, Yaska,' breaks out the unknown lady, catching him in her arms, ' I know you, though you don't know me. I am your mother, and I have been looking for you this long time. Come home with me, and never speak of keeping a shop again. I have 50,000 rubles (£7000) of my own, and it's yours from this moment.' The mutual histories were soon related, and that of the mother proved fully as remarkable as the career of her son. It appears that, when very young, she had been the servant of an English resident in Central Russia, who fell in love with her and made her his wife ; but, fearing the displeasure of his family at so unequal a match, he had persuaded her to a private marriage, and had even, as we have seen, intrusted to other hands, the child which resulted from it. Shortly after the removal of the boy, his parents went to England, where they remained for fifteen years, at the end of which time the husband died, bequeathing his entire property — the £7000 above mentioned — to his wife. Finding herself independent, she resolved to return to Eussia, and endeavour to recover her son. This enterprise, however, was rendered difficult by the removal of his adopted parents from their native place to another town some distance off, and a considerable time was spent in. fruitless researces. In the course of her inquiries, she became acquainted with ah old Russian merchant of great wealth, who began by offering to aid her researches, and ended by becoming her second husband ; so that the youth, in one and the same day, found a mother, a step -father, and a fortune. Nor did his good luck terminate here, for the old man, who had naturally taken some interest in the object of his wife's researches, was so charmed with the appearance and manners of his step-son, when the latter at length presented himself, that he publicly announced his intention of making the lad heir to all his property ; and thus, it seems probable that, within a few years at the farthest, the ragged village child, the penniless errand boy, the petty shopkeeper, will become one of the richest men in the government of Moscow."