Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1867-02-08

if you would like a good, warn sup-
L am hungry, he answered. e1er-
gstically, and moistening his lIps With
his tongue.
Aud thirsty ?"
Very r.
you shall have something eo cat
and drink, upon. one coHdlEleB-
well e.
'sThat you tell me how you lost your
arm
Are you a detective, mister 2'' he
suspiciously demanded
No"
Then I'lI go with you, thank you,
and he began to brush the shaVings
from his clothes, and to clumsily
smooth the unkempt hair.
There was a restaurant close By
where [ ordered a substantial meal for
my guest. That finished, and with a
pitcher of something warm within his
reach, he told the following story, be-
ginning in a moralizing strain, and /
stopping at times TO fill his glass from
the pitcher, or to walk the little com {
partment with a nervous stab that
seemed to ease his heart a aI2kle i
did not interrupt him to ques Ton or
comment on his story, told p aeeps
base voice, with a broad acceat that
made the interview strangely musical.
HIS narrative, pruBed of man mac
curacies Or eApiss1ior4s began as fol-
lows:
"If, as I have somewhere read, (and
I have read little, man S life IS made
up of accidents, then the history of.
my life would, I think, prove the
truth Of that assertion. for I am
scarcely out of one trouble, great or
small, before another tFeads on its
/ heels and trips me up. aE a poor
man, always have been one If poverty
has any blessings, any salve for the
ragged wounds it gives to ragged men,
and women, know little or nothing
of them.
4 have seen women string beads
black and white and red and blue
| beads. held on a needle for second,
then pushed dOWnWards to make room
for more. That is the way the thread
of my life has been strung with trOub-
les, and there's been very little of the
pure white among that kind Of beads.
It's been taWny white and s0oty white,
and jet black, and bruised green, and /
blue, but little that was pure and un-
soiled no beads of amber pearl or
gold
I'm not complaining for years of I
trouble have ruined that miserable
way of relief After thirty years Of
conflict with the world, I am like a
blind man In fight everybody hits
me when [ don't see EN- accidents
and incidents bruise body and soul, |
and [ can't see whence they come or i
whittier they go. What's the use Of
such a fellow as am ? He's Of no
use to any oue-not even himself
lou wanted to know how / lost my
arm Sh0uldnl -tlnIz4s that was
pretty bad misfortune Z 1 count that
as one of the diBgy white beads of my
life for, though I lost my arm,
saved my life. and I cling to life as if
it were full of happiness. This may
seem unreasonable, yet it's natural.
IF it hadn't been for England and
Chicago, / don't think my left sleeve /
would be empty. There's a riddle you
can t guess. No one can guess it who
/ doesn't know my whole life and IN
| the only one who knows it's alphabet
| from A t0-Well almost to Y, for [
don't think I've many more years to
/ live.
Perhaps you'll not think much of
my riddle when the story's told but
you mustn' t forget that it cost me my
arm, and you'd place big price upon
g0lsr arm-yesl upon little bit of your
little finger Mine was q dear adven-
ture. therefore bus, through it I got
/ something l can I sci Eaor can i buy
that which went for nothing. I've
said that if it hadn't been for England
and Chicago, I should have what
have not, and should not have what
haYe-a dangling sleeve. To make
this plain [ must 60 back ten years or
so, to show how the whole thing hap
pened-
Ny parents, buxom, hale and cheer
ful couple, with a heartiness of life
and living that sweetened their food
with wholesome favor, were small
farmers in England. They we're poor
and had six children. Children are
the teeth of poverty and bite hard.
But my good parents kept cheerful
and worked hard and the teeth stop
ped biting after a while. My mother
used to say that her children kept her
alive because as long as they we're
! dependent upon her she couldn't give
up and when they became independ-
ent she could not get out of the old
habits Anyhow, they had the chill
dren. of whom [ was the eldest. When
] L was dUOAb LW6AAB-AbFO years oA0 Il
came to the conclusion that I had
. MIXED the COWS and held the plow
and trampled in its furrows about long
enough to prove that | couldn't sue
ceed in life in such way. It's the
hardest kind of existence, this farm
work, and I've always wondered how
young men of spirit could endure its
dullness when they we're working for
somebody besides themselves. Shine
and storm bring no relief and final
" the boy grows up to be man, with
? mighty little spirit, and whose thoughts
are all for plowing and sowing the
! ground and getting out of It food
, enough to fill the stomach of those
r belonging to him. I thought It would
! be with me as with my father and his
: father, and for generations of fathers
and sons.
2 Even now can not decide wheth-
er I was right or wrong In going to an
r other country. At that time we had
< lots of stories of how poor people
S thrived in America how they had a
. little ease and comfort aud indepen-
: dence in that country before they died
5 Here and there I had managed to save
a a little money, and I resolved to leave
the home folk and go to America, be-
!. lieving that I should not fail success
F.; The old people had children to com
). fort and care for them while was
s gone. All those were grand hopes
IL af mine 4nd you see me, now
: 1T was all arranged among cur
= selves and father, out of his littl
e savings, gave me money which I wa
IS to return to him if I got along fnel.
a IN my new home But I did not intenr
J. to set out on this long aud lonesom
le Journey without taking with me, a
to my wife, little fair-haired lass a
/. modest and industrious girl as coul
t. be found in the country. This las
was Bessie Tiltott. One day I spok
a. out my love.
lg Bessie, dear, will you go to Amer
Id lea with me ? Do you love me enoug
ut for that p
q, ''She put her arms about my nee
a and looked up into my face with be
d, great hazel eyes.