The Delaware herald., 1854-05-31
aftiisttllantous,
"THE MAN OVER THE WAY"
BY ALFRED w. COLE.

When a man has no business Of his own to
attend to- it is notorious that he is very fond of
rheddiing with his neighbors. Old halt-pay
officers, naval or military, unmarried ladies OF
Vi certain age and small means, widows without
nCum5rance--these and a few others are the
greatest meddlers and busy bodies in creation.
Young men of small fortune and no profession
are ,esfnelined to sin in this respect; but they
can cascely be said to have nothing to do, be-
cause they generally have frighttul amount
of m scalef on their hands to perpetrate; and
this lee ps them so well occupied [ill occupied
we should say,) that they have not so much
tine to attend to othsr peoples affairs as might
be ina gined - ,-.-. s, ......4.
When avow that belong TO the class Of
b.chelors have mentioned, charitable reader
VII naturally conclude that / am what the
s French call a ndaoais sabiet. Sdch is far
from the case. Positively ana not aware OF any
particular amount of iniquity that can be lad at
my door. fncither game, drink. keep bad hours
nor commit other peceadilloes which go to swell
the list of sins usually booked to an idle man D
tce1dnt. Perhaps ought not to take too much
cledit to myself for my exemption from these
little bachelor NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. am dread
folly in love. Absorbed as am in this passion,
Lave no thoughts to give to dissipatlon-thc
iCol Of my heart possesses them altogether.
11ofcEb dIc ScIihSAis NV ~htAf VI
Ee one but themselves, notice no one but them
selvesI form noexception to the rule, saving one
instancs-I have long had terrible curiosity IA
know all about athe Man over the Way but
must be q little more explicit. live IN lodgings
las nineteen bachelors out of twenty DO, unless
sthey have chambers in the Temple. The house in
which my rooms are, stands in a narrow street
in the .neighborhood of Hyde Park. Exactly
opposite, occupying tho first floor like myself
lis the gentleman whom have named "Tht
Man over the Way" e. ~
He is apparently man Of fifty or sixty year
Of age, sanburnt in face, and with iron grel
hair. He is dressed always in long brow
coat, grey. trowsers and waisicoat. and blacl
nee kerchiefofthe old style-that is 10 say tw
or three yards Of silk swathed round his throat
as an Egyptian mummy is wrapped in liner.-.
There is nothing very remarkable In the man
&sppearance, and yet he possesses strange iaa
cination fer me. Icannot help thinking OF nll
ssanl looking at him, and wondering what ne !
and who he is, andswhether he has anything 4
with my fate /; fot, ridiculous as the last Taa
seem, cannot divest myself Of the idea thu
his man IB bound up in some mysterious wa
with my history. 1t is perfectly useless to ret
son with myself en- the srpposltiou, and poir
out its absurdity Il believe it, and cannot shak
my faith by any process Of logical induction.
In consequence of this idea, L am become
curious (se far as this individual is concerned
as any of lhe old half-pays, or maiden ladie
or unencumbered widowsI have mentioned.
see a butcher boy with meat in his tray goiT
near the house, / watch to see if he calls theE
and wonder whether the meat IS for the d.
ner Of sThe Man over the Way" If see y
man himself reading, / wonder what book
has, and what he thinks OF it. But beyol
eyerything.I j wonder what he thinks Of me, al
what he designs to do regarding me; for .
perfectly certain that he watches me almost
much as ] watch himself tt@ ~
as And yet the reader must not suppose that
ssthin1t 81 4Ihe Man oyefthe Way 81 excluiir
1y as to,nlake me forget my adored Julia
fromjf writeto her every day, and the bake
mar, delivers nv letter TO the Cook, and the cd
gsvts il % the lady's maid, and the lady's mi
masses il into, .lzss hands Of Julia herselE 4
penny past would be more expeditions, no eotl
but also there would be no secrecy about
ard oar sourss Of srue love runs not smooth,
- scoumpdgeou Of q father has forbidden me
Z. housse, sxSd commanded Julia never to thipl
me nesim How foolish these old gentlan
are 1 Nj. Sniggles fthat's the papa In t
tony by his absurdly unreasonable condl
giyer pain 10 Julia and myself and forces