Daily Iowa State Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1856-1859, 1859-04-09

The NARRATIVE OF 4 SENSITIVE MAN
NJ JEREMIAH oYS0Go.

l lelt grasp upon Ill n"ou'"e''
ing round, l saw John Perley again at
NV side. Shaking him of, | walked
ahead. Upon entering Pine street, on
INV wav back down to the Levee, l
looked back toward the spot where |
had left John. He was still standing
there, looking as disconsolatc and be-
wiIdered as q stray goose. 1t positive
ly did me good to find that the man
possessed some scnsib,lity, and cLuck-
led inwardly at the recollection Of the
severe cut had given him. hoped
it would at least teach him that ! saw
through his willy schemes-the purse
proud, doub!e-faced rascal ~
Here lnvoluntarily interrupted Mr..
finder with" But, sir, you should
have spoken to him, at least. 1t could
have done no harm, and might have
resulted in satisfactory explanation"
MIR. Gynggo." replied the Sensitive
Man, | must once more desire you
to defer giving your opinion upon my
conduct until get through with my
narration" And then he resumed:
latter concluding my morning walk
| returned home. Upon entering the
sitting-room, sir, ! found the serpent,
John Perley, seated at my hearth, in
conversation with my wife! The de-
ceitful wretch was even playing with
my youngest daughter, whom he was
fondling as If he was the best friend we
had on earth. And the man was about
to ruin me and turn us out OF Our old
homestead, sir. These thoughts flash
ed like lightning through my BRAIN
In another moment John Perley was
upon his feet and advancing towards
me. | iustinctively raised my cane to
defend myself. But he had no inten-
ton of attacking me, excepting with
words-and they hurt me more than
blow from his fist would have done"
Tom Tinder,' he exclaimed, 'why
did you not apprise me Of your tronbles
before it was too late! Why did you
not grant me the privilege of repaying
a portion of the debt l owe you?'
"'Mr. Pcrley,' l replied, 4 did not
anticipate the misfortune ; and if had
sir, you were the last man to whom |
would have applied for assistance-if
that is what you mean
atom Tom y he cried, you pre-
tend to be Just and fair in everything
else. Why not with me- Even the
convicted criminal is permitted to say
a word in his own defence before
judgment is passed upon him. Will
you not allow me the same privilege !!
Tom finder, | value your friendship
too much to permit you to hold to your
present feelings towards me without at
least attempting to set myself right in
your eyes
Proceed, SIR I replied; will be
pleased to hear what you have to say
We took seats, and John Pcrlcy con
tinued:
"Tom, l will not dwell upon the
contempt with which you have treat
ed my letters. You returned many
Of them to me unopened; but l per-
sisted in writing to you, hoping that
you would finally receive them in the
spirit with which they were written.
Need l assure you that I would not
have SO degraded myself before any
man than Tom finder! Bnt ] will
not upbraid you, Tom. Let that pass
"'Well, Sir-what next? | asked.
"Well, Tom, l have but few
words to add. The first intimation l
received of your failure was through
the newspapers. Knowing your ex-
tremely sensitive nature, l dared not
make direct offer of my services, and
so-and So"
"And SO, sir 2
"'And so, seeing an advertisement
Of your house, lot and furniture for
sale, resolved to act first and ask
your permission afterward. l sent my
head clerk, honest Peter Jarvis, to St.
Louis with instructions to purchase
every article offered for sale by you,
and not to suffer the value of a pin to
go into another's hands. l also pro-
vided him with private letter to your
trustworth book-keeper, (who, you
may remember, was with us during
our former Partnership with whose
assistance Jarvis managed to find out
all your noteholdcrs. lie bought your
notes. Here they are, as we'll as the
deed for this house and lot" And
John Perley exhibited them, neatly
done up in slipof paper.
"l suspected as much | cried, start
ing to my feet; and now, sir, that l
am an your poorer, what do you propose
to do with me 2
"'John looked at me in amazement,
for minute, still holding the notes
and deed between his fingers.
"'Why, Tom, what do you mean 2
he asked. What terrible suspicion
has entered your brain NOW don't
know what you mean by asking what
propose to do with You, but can
soon show you what l propose to do
with these 1'opers.'
"And before my wife, who had been
watching him with the eyes of a
lynx, could prevent it, pop went the
valuable documents into the crate.
"They were consumed in moment.
With them disappeared all my hard
feelings towards Jack Perley; and the
blaze the burning papers made sent
such ray Of light into my thick ,kull
as had never pierced it before. Nv
injustice to Jack, my unjust suspicious
Of his motives, were now as apparent
to me as the flame which brightly
blazed in the CRATE. For the first time