The mountain Democrat., 1865-10-21
Prem Good words.
O6fselVOs Considered as Rpeeters,

has It ever occurred to the reader how
nearly akin to q specter be must be to
great many peOpIeS
II may not have done so, and as bavt
NO wish to give offence, will not ask hin
to assume the white sheet, but will do 81
myself The population of our town Il
set down 81 about eighty thousand souls
but am not on speaking as;1S r4jE ~
hundred Of the inhabitants, and not tb'
hAlf OF those ever grasped my fingers. -
10 the other seventy nine thousand eigh
hundred, At least, am = phantom. Mos
Of t"em, | suppose, at one time or other
and in this or that place, catch . glimpse
OF me. am in thousands Of eyes . spec
ter Of the streets, . spirit which Saunter'
through the market place, q GRIMM.
shadow at the concert, or Hlmy worship
er 81 church. What do people think o.
me! Do any Of them CONSIDER me to b,
growing old, or am ! held to be still mod
erately yOungS Is my style or dress gen
orally approved. or do | now and ther
wear a bat rather too long, or appear ii
the same coat too Oltenf Am ] though
tall or dumpy, broad or sln,i Does my
personal appearance crafty anybody
What, | wonder, do the children playing
at the gables think of me what the olC
folks what the men - what the women
TO each and all Of these, | necessarily on
one Of the moving figures Of the phantSs
magoria Of the town, and they must fora
some judgment OF my appearance anC
performance.
Spue Of them must always see mt
about one time and one place. ! dali!
pass the same shop doors and house win
dows at nearly fixed hours; and dare say
people here and there expect mt as they
do the milkwoWau and the poStman. DE-
any Of them say, "CODe, Mary, hurry
the breakfast things away; there's tba
nan With the light waistcoat gone past
1t may be that TO another man ! am 4
pair Of light trousers (shall ! confess to q
weakness Eor theah p, and elsewhere
Inay be identItied as broad brimmrd hat
l have done a!l this myself IN the case o.
other people. but brought home in thi'
0anner, it is fiightful A few select per
sons, too. see me from some such Specla
points OF view that must look very queeI
to them.
lwOnder how appear to the parSon III
is large church. and he does not vlSil)
whO neveC Sees Me excepting from out .
the pul pit. as | siI, IN the near corner 0
the pew, looking Upward. Iexpec, lOOI
60 him rather long faced, and should LAY
that ne must sce that my hair is growing
thin at the crown, which Of course turthe
mOdiheS his notion OF inc. In the eyes o
some people, | must be mainly ASSOCIATED
with some particular act; they only Sc
me IN one certain posture or attItude.
What do the peO le who sit IN the mex
pew, aud especially thu ohs,Tvant old lad!
think Of tiny stN le oi putting my tace in
side my hat for lew seconds? IWondeu
# the good folks approve at my sin.in
and my mode of making the rrSp"ns' ;
The crowd wh" pass my work room "ln
dow oRIy catch a sight al my head ant
shoulders at the drsk--what kind ot n he
ing do seen to be IN thur eyes? OuT
very civil ticket collector on the ialiwa,
Ouly behoids the sitting in the carrlag'
Le can not km"N t" three ar tour 'rct
what NY hight is; III tn >trre'> he "onm
only r,c"g'.Iz nv face: Nhat soft al n
p rSon do IaPprar tn him
viii venture "na tiny dlLrt sSl"' hcft
How different niacr>. equally "ith pr
Snn>, tok when Sv,u iI",n cel IaIn pIi'l
,egrh spots!
,.l, Il,
from the pulpit, rs not the sam building
to the parsOn A> it Is To me from my Pc"
corner. where only >re part ot III, nave
aud portionS vi the chancel. A court o
justice surveyed from the unjo>Iled quei
OF the bench contrasts strangely with The
view Of the place got irom It's crowdec
area. The jury h"x, can stat from *
periencr, and should say the dock. tho
| am not an authority there, also, have
their own special points Of view.
1t is very obvious tnat canu0t answer
the questions | have asked us to what
people think Of me in the respects named,
but can recall what think ni them un'
der similar circumstances and from my
own experience. | am sorry TO say, got
an inkling that some of them must con
ccive very quctrly Of me. and on some
p intS, not unlikely miSjudge me sadly.
A eOo1 instance, or, perhaps, three Or four
of them, Tor could give lots, may better
indicate what | mean.
There is q specter who, at nOontide,
daily walks the street, on the other side,
at the time | pass, atlired during two
thirds Of the year in q white hat and vel
low nankeen trousers His sallow, deep.
lined visage, somehow, always seems td
me to be that Of . swindler, and would
not trust the man with two pence ha'pen'
ny.
also recall a waddling apparition, clad
in rusty black silk, Of sinpering old
woman, carrying a big umbrella. who is
generally being let into k-lnoking
house, about ten o'clock Of morninY, as
| go by, and at the first glimpse, cOnvic'
tinn always rises in my mind that the an
cient dame takes snuff and drinks whisky.
But upon seriously cross questioning my.
self al this moment, | have not all iOta OF
proof in either case for anything | can
positively state. the one is philanthrO'
pist, going out on errands Of mercy, and
the other is an agent Of the temperance
society: while the horrible thought sug'
grsts itself that somebody may associate
the idea of murder with my plaid contin'
uations, and may fancy my gait suggest.
i've Of bibular exceSSes. For all that,
shall feel n Shudder of repugnance, and
experience a spasm of disgust to morrow,
when | observe the tall, nankeen spectre
and behold the squat black silk APparl'
ton. On the other hand to take con
trary instance, it is quite a diSappoint-
ment to me, if do not once in the day
meet the shade of 9 ruddy faced elderly
gentleman, remarkable for an unusual ex'
panse of white vest, and the wearing OF
bright leaf or two Of something in his
button.hole; even at Christmas he'll sport
a twig of holly rather than be quite bare;