The north Iowa times. [volume] (M'Gregor [i.e. McGregor], Iowa) 1856-1857, 1857-02-20
For the North Iowa Times.
THE REvERIES OF A BACHELOR.

The clock is striking eight, my fire
burns briskly behind two large old FASH
ioned brass andirons representing two
peaceable looking lions, who with eyes
wide open, are staring (and have been for
that matter for many day. hard at moth
ing. l have quite an affection for these
inanimate beings, and sometimes think, as
the freight brightens their metallic coun-
tenances, that they may have been living
creatures, transformed for some especial
wickedness and condemned, as punish
ment, to become votaries of Eblis or fire
supporters by some neurological God or
sprightly Queen Nab Z!
Eight O'Clock; how time flies Nine
and thirty years have rolled over my head,
and tonight at twelve another is added,
for all of which am to answer at the bar
Of judgment, of time mis-spent, talents
wasted, and worst of all, my Maker neg
lected a heavy balance against me in the
day book of time. Yet still l hope, as
what mortal does not even the criminal
waiting the dawn of day to be executed,
with moral certainty of death in four
hours, hopes on !; who knows but that the
reprieve is signed, nay, even on the way,
but time flies, bringing no reprieve and
shortening by each stroke of the pendu-
lum the chain, hope is vainly forging, still
he hopes on, and so with all, when hopes
leaves us tits time to die.
Eight o'clock, and this thought run
ming in my mind recalls me from my reve-
rie, to short retrospect of my life. Ny
father was plain farmer, renowned far
and near for his good dinners and glorious
cider, such cider too many time, have
the boys from the village together with
myself, on sunny afternoon in October,
stole into his press room and each select
ing barrel and inserting straw, suck
ed away as if life depended ON our then.
and there, filling our small bodies to re-
,pletion. By stealing don't mean that
we were forced to, for my kind father
would refuse me nothing reasonable, but
everything obtained in stealthy manner
tasted, or seemed to taste better My
mother was kind, gentle, and very firm,
and certain l am that two better parents
never existed. Why left them, know
not, but one stormy night l did leave them
together with all my home comforts, and
taking only few clothes tied up in kerr
chief, set out to make my way in the world
alone. ] shipped at New Haven for Eu-
rope, as cabin boy. What suffered
after that none bnt myself can tell, and
when l returned to find both parents dead.
my cup was full. l settled the estate and
took up the profession Of Medicine, in
which, thank God, / have been able to do
much good and am prospering wonder
fully. l have just concluded my daily
visits and settled down as the reader found
me, into plain Thomas Henderson. M. D.
and Bachelor, (not of arts but Of divin-
ity, or Divine Bachelor, as my friends
have it, and the most celebrated maker of
whiskey punches in the neighborhood.-
have a cosy set of rooms on the first
floor and though my landlady is a regular
smasher, though the female servant "a
sort of patent curiosity box on legs) will
use my tooth and hair brushes, break
bottles of wine, in vain attempts to get
the cork out without cutting the strings,
afterwards trying to hide the matter by
laying it to the rats, whose sleek coats
according to her version) cover multi.
tude Of sins. Though my clothes inva-
riably come from the wash minus some
valuable article in the shirt or collar line
attributed by the laundress to the wind
and afterwards recognized upon her son,
from which l deduct small theory Of my
own, viz that the son and wind have
some close efinity, either in the abstract
ing tendency Of the one, or the filling uI
tendency of the other, or perhaps, in the
tendency of both to produce gaseous
substances, / say thoug these few un