Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-09-21

street and was heard coming down the
next II was evident the town would De
thoroughly canvsssed. Gould l read
Well. / had tried it In private circles.
Nilitaci non sine gloria, and at the pubic
Latin School where graduated had won
the Hancock medal. The first thing
was to ge, books. asked the clerk, but
he was q book keeper, not book lender
However, he thought might obtain the
loan at the Athenaum, on depositlng their
valuation As I only wanted them to 60
from the library-room TO the hall upstairs
| ventured on this, depositing with bold
front but beating heart my twenty dollar
bill. and receiving Shakespeare, Byron,
and three volumes of Mrs. Browning.
Also copy Of Handy Andy. This last.
being doubtful OF my skill IN rendering the
Irish tongue, | took to my room, unlucK-
ily. The others l thought could man
age at sight, especially as meant to keep
TO the pieces an " by heart, and wanted
the books more for form than for use. by
this time the tea gong sounded, and went
to the table with an anxious breast and a
sense of being the observed of all observ-
ers. Miss P was already there, but In
my seat was the .fend, l mean the artist,
in human shape. / expected to see Miss
Minnie look embarrassed, but she only
looked radiantly happy, and smiled sweet
ly upon me as / passed by to take my
place at the foot Of the table.
/ could not eat in fact l had q doubt
whether it would be well to attempt it
before public reading so after bearing in
silent torture the spectacle of the vampire
helping Miss P 10 blue fish and black
berries, retired to dress. That operation
was limited to the putting on of cloth
coat in place Of tweed, my last clean
collar, and taking my last ditto hsndker-
chief, and at seven l started for the hall.
The streets were not inconveriently
but ait is early yet" l said,
had left Handy Andy in my
room, not feeling quite up to the comic,
but in mood to which l was sure Othello
would come in great force. / found the
town. crier, who was also to be the money
taker and stage manager, at the door, but
no one else. He suggested that, as il was
still daylight, it wasn't worth while to
light up yet, to which ! agreed, and re-
tired to the dressing-room with my vol
umes, a solitary candle and glass OF
water. / shut the door, SO as not TO be
disturbed by the noise of the assembling
and gave myself up to study. l
had heroically determined not to look at
my watch lest should get nervous, and
when eight o'clock struck from the South
Church tower, l confess started with
surprise. Selling my books and giving
myself no time for stage fright, walked
dignifedly on to the platform, found my
first place, and raised my eyes to survey
my audience. There were two people in
the hall, ghoul and his victim, l mean
the artist and Miss P The crier, that
is, the ticket-saker, stood by the entrance,
his hands in his pockets My audience
preserved a respectful silence, though
there was queer look on the face of the
female portion, while the monster, mean
the male part, made motion of the hands
suggestive of applause. 1 sank back into
a seat. The crier walked up the hall, put
ting out the lights as he went, and saying
in a voice startlingly loud in the stiffness
. S no use waiting any LOGGER might.
and the sooner shet up the less gas will
be wasted. III jest hand them folks their
money back and you can settle with me"
Then, as the company dispersed, one OF
whom, by the way, declined TO receive his
quarters, gay ing soto u9ce, "1ve bad de.
ighttul entertainment, and really feel
scru. les at taking anything
back" The crier projected 10 sun up,
'The hall, well, we can't charge more'n
balf-price under the circumsl aocts-
the hall'll be ten; lights, well, say
two n half. My cryln' two n
half, ought TO be five; 3 jest
IS much work g if the whole
island come Sta'din' at the door" Che
could not say taking tickets), "dollars;
sixteen dollars Jest. Then, there's the
books, Miss Coffin said rs to see EN-
here they be, no, there was six,
md here's only five"
l remembered that l had left Handy
Andy at my room, and as that would give
ne little more delay, asked him to call
1t the hotel for the other volume, and
strobe away. was tempted to turn to-
ward the wharf and to keep straight on
from the end of the pier, but for the sight
Of u couple slowly walking up the street.
One was my solitary female gu spectator,
and the other demon in velvet coat and
When / reached my room again, the
volume was gone, and must be paid for II
not reCOVtTcu; IL WINS out VI d oct, uut tudl
was trife compared with the fact that
my bill, my counterfeit, was deposit.
My friend the crier was good-natured,
however, and agreed to call in the morn
ing. Moreover, it served me as an excuse
for not settling that night, that must re-
turn the book or know what it would cost
me. Besides, he was secure that could
no more leave this island than Robinson
Crusoe could leave his.
l sat down on the hotel balcony, IN utter
despair. From the parlor came murmur
Of low voiced conversation, and l fancied
that the tones were those of woman and
3 serpent, that is, a painter but | cared
not. What was | to do? My bill at the
hotel; my afternoons bad luck, twenty
three dollars; my evenings failure, say
twenty more; my fare to Boston, where l
must be by the next evening. 1t may seem
q light matter, but to an inexperienced lad
Of nineteen it was no joke.
While sat there, absorbed in my trou
BILE, hand was laid upon my shoulder
which made me look up 1t was Fred.
P. "oee here, my boy, I've been
looking for you all the evening. Here's
Minnie says she must 60 tomorrow,
and-I don't like to trouble you,
but she wants enough for her fare
to Boston, and I've lost my wallet to-day,
l believe; can't find it anywhere. Let
me have that twenty I Maid for the boat