The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1863-10-01

oSAApNANoS3 N~N
I lay all nerveless and death-like in our sup
lporting arms.
1t did not occupy long time for us tc
reach the street which [ had indicated. Or
the step of the door of the rag-and bone shop
which formed the basement of the house
whence l had seen the old man come, two
white-faced children sat staring with lack
lustre eyes. Shrilly they shrieked to a slat
tern in the shop, that ill had befallen the colo
second floor" and that he was being brought
home by two gents and bobby in a cab.
We lifted him gently into the house, anC
asked to be directed to his room. The slat
tern sent child before us, who led us up the
dirty stairs The door of his room was lock
ed, but felt the key in his pocket as helC
him. We committed our charitable trespas,'
and brought him into his own room.
1t was very bare and very desolate. There
was thinly-covered beadstead in a corner
and on this we placed the helpless body. The
only furniture beyond the merest necessities
was a row of some twenty volumes on the
| floor. And in a corner were piled in order
hve-and- thirty MS. books, matching the ONT
which | had rescued from the gutter, all la
belled and numbered from l. to xXxv. The
nearest approach to anything edible was {
half burned candle in an old brass stand.
felt thrill of pity for the misery that Imight
have alleviated Did it remind me that
might relieve misery without the passing in
centive of sentimental interest in a strang
er F.? If not, it ought to have done So
The time that had taken had suffced fol
my friend to pass sentence on the patient.
''He has received a violent shock, and prob
ably some internal injury. There are no bones
broken; but he has not many minutes tt
live"
And, in truth, an Impractical eye would
have deemed him dead already, so motion
less he lay Awed and silent we waited by
the mean pallet. My friend held in his hear
ty brown hand the shrunken wrist. In an
other minute he laid it gently on the apology
for couch.
''The pulse is STILL" he said ellis labor
here is over"
And so the old man lay in state on his poor
hearse. On his wan, pinched face there was
That long disqn
Merged in rest
The worn, frail body had not been strong
enough to support the shock that robbed it o.
its soul. 1t was only lean and very coarsely
clad, but to me it had certain majesty, as
it lay paled in its old rags | knew little of
its departed tenant; but this much did know,
that he had spent much at least of his life in
the earnest prosecution Of one allotted work.
So much was proved by the toll in the Muse
UNI, and the pile of MSS. in the corner. OF
how many could the epitaph be said with
truth that they had done any work with all
their might Perseverance always wins re-
spect, even when it is akin to infatuation. |
had witnessed the dead mans perseverance,
and had no reason to suspect him of folly.
could not but honor his memory.
And his book? Surely might take with
me that one volume of all the thirty six
that one which l had saved from ignominy
| would return it to any one having a claim
to the effects Of the deceased who might be
discovered by my inquiries. l longed to learn
Of that ponderous monument of pa
tient ;zdustry~the fruit of the work of years.
Was it likely 10 benefit mankind?
placed it in the great pocket of my loose
overcoat, determining to examine it at a great
er leisure. By the help of the policeman who
had accompanied lis, the necessary ccmmuni-
cations were made to the local authorities. =
My friend was compelled to leave me to con-
cIude the business myself; but l did not de-
part until had made arrangements for ev-
cry necessary search to be made for the posi-
Die kinsnan of the dead man, and had prom
ised to defray the expenses of a decent funer-
al, in case that it should appear that the old
man was utterly friendless. His landlady
knew nothing about him beyond the fact that
he had lodged i'll her room for about three
months, and had spent the whole day abroad.
lie owed her for only two days rent. She had
never known Of any one having visited her
tenant He was very quiet and very harm
less. Quiet and harmless enough now was
his corpse, poor old man extracted prom
Use from the slattern that she would allow no
one to enter his room with the exception of
the servants of the parish and the coroner
She undertook that the door should be kept
locked. | could not bear the idea of the in
roads of the lazy loungers Of the alley in the
room which had all the sanctity Of the grave
arrived late that day at the museum, and
lid little when [ reached it. d. 7 was vacant
or me; but. how changed was d. s! A
grave gentleman was studying in the origin
Il The Love-Letters of Arisanetus. ct was
lot always the youths of eighteen who mis-
Used their privileges of entry) made many
L bold effort to fix my attention on my work,
out it was no use. The image of the old man
vas perpetually before me. | read or wrote
or some five minutes at time and then
idgeted or pondered for twenty.
At last | determined to give up work for
,he day. | called i'll cab on my way home
1t the house where the dead man lay, and
earned the hour of the inquest on the NOR
'ow. 1t was to be at three in the afternoon
had no opportunity that night to study the
Ms. in my pocket, for was going out to
Inner party. The sadness of the morning
md the festivity of the evening Jared on my
pirit and the thought Of the old man haunt
d me. l babe my host goodnight before
lis other guests, and walked to my chambers
n ''the dewy freshness of ''the silent air.
determined to go to my bed without delay,
md, having risen, regetus 0d an@nia, in the
morning, to get through such a portion of
ny work as should make up for the defcien-
y OF the previous day. and enable me to at
end the inquest with clear conscience.
My rest in the night was something like
ny work in the day. was disturbed by the
collection of the old man who had been run
yer. l saw him pause before he left the
avement. | was the driver Of the van that
Tiled him. | was eating venison and sip
ing white port in the room where he lay
cad. was compelled to transcr1be slX-and
hirty quartos in as many hours. l was romp-
lg with squalling children in the library of
be Museum. was anything rather than
he quiet sleeper. 0, old mani methought, !
Thy did not fix my quarters at K 16? Per
APPS there | might never have encountered
-Ou.
Morning dawned-or tried to dawn-thro'
be mlsts eff London, and [ was soon on my
7ay to Bloomsbury, | entered the Museum
Nth strange sense of depression, and set to
york. The books | was consulting were
pread without delay on the leather of D. 7. |
}. s was empty 1t CHANGED that had to
Sc foreign dictionary, whose place was on
he other side of the room. rose, leaving
ny papers in my place, and was absent per
APPS ten minutes. To those of my readers
7ho have never seen the Museum Library, l
aust explain that the double rows of seats ra-
late from the centre, where are the catalogues