Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-01-04

"By five o'clock the holiday became
so intolerable that said I'll 20 and get
a dinner The best dinner the town
could provide A sumptuous dinner
sumptuous dinner for one. A din
ncr with many courses, with wines Of
the finest brands, with bright lights,
with a cheerful fire, with every condi-
ton Of crmfort-jnd I'd see if 1 couldn't
Tor once extract Il little pleasure out Of
a holiday.
"The elegant dining room Of the IA
nous caterer looked bright, but it was
empty. Who dined ut restaurant on
Christmas but me? There was a
flutter of surprise when I ordered a
dinner, md the few attendants were,
no doubt, glad Of something to break
the monotony of the hours.
"My dinner was elegantly served
The spacious room looked lonely; but
the white, snowy cloths, the rich win
dow-hanagings, the warm tirts of the
walls, the sparkle Of the fire in the
steel CRATE, gave the room an air of
elegance and checrfulness; AMI then
th" tah!c ut which dincd was close tt,
the window, nni through the partly
drawn curtains were visible pictures of
lonely, cold streets, with bright lights
from many window il is true, but
there was storm, and snow began
whlrllng through the streets. let my
Imagination paint the streets as cold
and dreary us it would, just to extract
a little pleasure by way ofcontrast from
the brilliant room of which was ap-
parently sole master.
~ dined we'll, and recalled in fancy
old, youthful Christmases, and pledged
mentally many an old friend. ond INV
melancholy was mc}lowing in low, sad
nndertenc, when, inst as 1 was raising
= glass OF wine to my lips, I was start
led by picture ut the window. pane.
1t was pale, wild, haggard face, in a
great cloud of black hair, pressed
against the glass. AS I looked, it van
ished. WIEN q strange thrill at my
ncart, which my lips Knocked with a
derlsive sneer, finished the wine and
set down the glass. It was, of course,
only begger girl that had crept up to
the window and stole bright glance
at the scene within: but still the pale
face Troubled me little, and threw a
fresh shadow on my heart. filled nv
glass once more with wine, and was
again about to drink, when the face re-
appeared at the window, It was so
white: 50 thin, with eyes so large, wild,
and hnngry-looking, and the black,
unkempt hair, into which the snow had
dr'fted, formed so strange and wierd
frame to the picture, that / wes
fairly startled. Replacing, I'M
tasted; the liquor ON the table, rose
and went close to the pane. The face
had vanished, and I could see no object
within many feet of the window. The
storm had increased, and the snow was
driving in wild gusts through the
streets, which were empty, save here
and there hurrying wayfarer. The
whole scene was cold, wild and
desoiate, and could not repress a
keen thrill of sympathy for the child,
whoever it was, whose only Christmas
1t was to watch, III cold and storm, the
rich banquet ungratefully enjoyed by
the lonely bachelor. I resumed my
place at the table but the dinner was
finished, and the wine had no further
relish. was haunted by the vision at
the window, and began, with an unrea-
sonable irritation at the interruption,
to repeat with fre:h warmth my detest.
alton of holidays. One couldn't even
dine alone On holiday with any sort of
comfort, declared On holidays one
i was tormented by too much pleasure
on ono side, and too much misery on
the other. And then, I said, hunting
for justifications of my dislike of the
day, How many other people are, like
me, made miserable by seeing the full
hess of enjoyment others possessed g"
"Oh, yes, l know," sarcastisallv re-
piled the bachelor to comment of
mine, "of course all maenan,mons-
generous and noble-soulcd people de-
light i'll seeing other people made yerv
happy, and are quite content to acccnt
this vicarious felicity. But /. Won see.
and this dear little girl"
"Dear little girl!''
"Oh, I forgot" said Bachelor Bluff:
blushing little in spite of a desperate
effort not to do 50. "I didn't tell vou.
Well, it was so absurd! I kept think
ing, thinking Of the pale, haggard,
lonely little girl on the cold and desc
late side Of the window-pane. aud the
over-fed, discontinued, lonely old bach
elor on the splendid side of the win
dow-pane; and l didn't get much hap
pier thinking about it, I can assure
you. drank glass after glass of the
wine, not that enjoyed its flavor any
more, but mechanically, as it were, and
with sort OF hope thereby to drown
unpleasant reminders. I tried to at
tribute my annoyance in the matter to
holidays, and so denounced them more
vehemently than ever. I got IN once
in a while and went to the window, but
could see no one to whom the pale face
could have belonged.
"Atlast, in no very amiablc mood. I
got up, put on my wrappers, and went
out; and the first thing I did was to
run against small figure crouching in
the doorway. A face looked up quick.
ly ut the rough encounter, and / saw
the pale features of the window-pane.
l was very irritated and angry. and
spoke harshly; and then, all at once, I
am sure [ don't know how it hap.
pened, but it flashed upon me that /.
of all men, had no right to uttera harsh
word to one oppressed with so wretch
ed Christmas as this poor creature
was. couldn't say another word, but
began feeling in my pocket for some
money, and then asked a question or
! two, and then don't quite know how
i it came about-isn't it very warm
here 2" exclaimed Bachelor Bluff, rising
and walking about, and wiping the per-
spiration from his brow.
5, "Well, you see," he resumed, ner-
vously, cit WAS very absurd, but T did
not believe the girls story the old
story, you know, of privation and suf-
1erlng, and all that just thought
IA 60 home with the brat and see if
what che said was all true. And then
l remembered that all the shops were
closed, and not a purchase could he
made; and went back to the rcstau
rant, and persuaded the proprietor to
put up tor me a hamper of provisions.
which the half-wild little yo,,ngstcr
helped me to carry through the show,
dancing with delight all the way. And
isn't this enough?''
mot bit, Mr.. Bluff. We must
have the whole story.'
= 81 declare" said Bachelor Bluff,
"there's no whole story to tell. A
widow with children in great need,
that was what I found; and they had
a feast that night, and II little change
to buy them LOAF and Il garment or
two the next day; and they were all 80
bright, and so merry, and SO thankful,
and so good, that, when | got home
that night, was nightly amazed that,
instead Of going to bed sour on holi-
days, L was III Il state of great content