, 1872-12-22
FARN0W's CHRISTMAS PARTY.

O4os AAo Ml5 ht tA4O AIlAAAV
his plans md hopes; disgustea with himself
and the world; miserable because he Was dis
heartened and disguised. The dreams Of his
boyhood and the aspirations Of his manhood had
all been thwarted. He had longed fer m active
life, and his father-a plain man,
who dishked much learning, and viewed
public life with abhorrenoe-had brought him
up to his own business, and in tho course Of
time, had died, 1eavin.; him en npothecary with
neat store and trade; and, If thero wna any
one thing that Farnow disliked moro than an
other, it was the drug busine5s. Then, his carly,
love had been blighted, and Jemima had mar
riod his rival. And so it had always been with
him; to desire q thing Was to lose ito hate it
was to haYo it. Last, but not least, among his
burdens was his name: Farnow,-plainly in
viting pun; and how many were there who
declined the invitation 7-none. These puns
were like Goals of fire to his sonsltiVe soul, and
he bore them With tho resignation Of the martyr
at tho stake, shudderingly, yot dumblg. Almost
every stranger who came into his store asked:
SIS Mr. Farnow," and stopped, and thon
added, IS the idea dawned upon him, "uear
now2" and smiled . sickly smile ut his nit.
Farnow never smiled at these jokes; no, indeed;
he was as grave as mute at funeral; yet tho
soyerity Of his countenanco, eYon the dash OF
contempt in his face and voice, seemed to have
no effect upon these punsters. All his old GUS
toners, too, cracked their jokes; and such
jokesl Perhaps it was because ho could not
school himself to smile when they smiled, to
bear their jests with cquanimity, TINT they per-
severed SO; but, whatever the reason, perseVere
they did, until they nearly drove him mad.
In his younger days, he had written this tcrrii-
bic name in many different wayB, to puzzle the
joking portion ct mankind; but they drogo
him from one position to another, until at
last, rendered desperate by this continual
pursuit, he gave up all effort to escape It,
signed himself snrnI o. Farnow, and
let them enjoy their miserable jokes al
his expeuso, In the meantime, his senaitiyeness
upon the subject brought forth its Legitimate
fruit, and, whero one man had laughed at his
manor before, three now smiled at i, and en- en-,
loved that look Of deep disgust which would
cross his face in spite Of au bis efforts to the
contrary.
Thackeray tells Of man who Was once escort
ed through a magnificent palaco by the house
keeper, md who, after all the beauties Of tho
castle had been shown him, horrifsd the old
woman by saying, in sepulohrai voice: And
now, madam, will you chow US the closet where
tho skeleton is7" aud he insists that there is
skeleton in every house, jealously hid, yet ever
present. This namo was the bony guest that
abode with Farnow, and before whose horTid
front all the othoI cares aud sorrows Of his lie
ghrunk into ipsgnihcanoe; and he kept it, not in
olosot, but in nbool. Yes, he kept q record Of
these jokes, and, with dfeary exaatness, entered
them, and brought forward the amounts, and
calculated the averages, with as much care as
though it was part Of his legitimate business.
This book lay open before him, and showed
that. during the year, up TO that night, there
had been l, ,486 jokes passed upon his name, or
IN average OF four for each working day OF
twelve hours, or one for every three hours.
Was not this name, Of itself, . heavy enough
burden for one man2
So there ho sat that evening, behind his pre-
gcription counter, as forlorn q man as ever e1-
listed, living over again in thoaght his weary
iife: remembering with painful distinctnesa
every disngrseable circumstance. every aorroN
Of his boyhood, every thwarted longing OF hif
manhood, every CRY Of his bruised heart for help
when there was no help; and, to 1's a.11 moroa s'
| lifting; md it was dhriatmas-Eve.
! Yes, no knew it was. That tiresono Mr
| Boh]aBde1 had been in for the ostensible pur'
Farnow thought, for the purpose Of uttering his
tiresome jest: st Farnow,. you're quito nen. y
now!'0, and hsd informed him of that fact. Well
he thonght griuly, uhst WAS Christmas to hin
moro than any other day2
To others it Was day OF jo1ity and meri
mcnt; day when good cheer, pleasure, ant
charity reigned; when fires blazed IN every
homo, and hearts were warm With loVei but tx
him lonely, miserable man, it was sad day.
day when ho enTicd the men who had WlVe!
| and children; whon he watched the bright, happ.
faces Of the little ones, and then turned awa.
and sighed, and felt more detected than ever.
This Christmas Eve the jollity had alread,
begun. Tho streets wero filed with people, ant
on evorJ side he heard laughter and words 9
cheer. The stores were crowded almost u
oyerforing with people buying presents for th
little folks, and it seemed as though all trouble
had beon banished for at least . day. Even tht
poor wnsher-women in tho back alley ha,
bought cheap, ta.d5y toy for tho little By !;
his present to the child, and envied oven her
Christmas, to many, would DO bright day u
the calendar but to him. all, we'll! it woul
bo nothing out OF the common.
dren at tho fine church upon the corner, AMI b
smiled grim s1ailo ns he thought OF tho hard
straight-baeked seats, and the pompous Ill
paneborn marnhal]ing the itt1o ones about
who confors favor, rather than of ono nh
feels pleasure in tho giving. OF course, the
gifts would consist of ahoes, md scarfs, and oil
coats, aud Sunday School books, just the yer
things that children never wish for. Shoes, an
Rcnrfs, and old coats arc not. looked upon b
them in tho light Of presents, but rather as art
tic1es bound to como from somewhere withou
thanks: and Sunday School books, in whic
good litt1a jack always goes to Congress, an
bsd Ittlo Jim TO the gallows-bah! these poo
little fellows know better than that. Good llttl
Jack was "softy," and never went any plac
but to Heaven and bad little Jim, il ho WAS
sspia, !" got rich and had good time. Talk
them Of wealth and wickedness," Of q stale
OF and hatred therewith >" They d take the wealt
and risk the wiokedness the stall and risk th
hatred. They had tried tho dinner Of herbs
to their satisfaction.
What farce that Christmas party at Il
church would be, thought Faruow. The bad 1itt
Jimmies, for whom the really kind {but obtuss
people intended it, wouldn't attend, aud ther
; would ba present only the good little Jackie
. who would sit quietly and Listen TO MIR. Pang
bcrn's exhortatons. file past tho troe, and X
cove their nice little religious books, and the
, ! 60 home and read them.
The bad little Jimmiog felt TINT it uaB no plas
TO. them. They couldn't make q noise, NJ
j -sp,ak shove q whisper, nor laugh Except at III
. Pngborn's jokes), without reprinand fro
sone ono.
: mo, stree, you bet don't go," said bad HIT
! jim, and Of course he was child Of wrath, 81
. would so to the bad place and suffer through :
: etarnity.
AS Farnow thought about this party, an i'd
o suddenly popped into his brain: Why shou1dr
= hi rive q party to the bad children who wouldE