The Portland daily press., 1873-03-15
From Good Things Monthly Magazinel.
Little Peep Show.
PART LII.

fARI III.
There was peep show in the street, with
the usual large round goggles to look through,
the usual pullers, and a man of the usual
sort pattering away at the side about what
was to be seen within. 1t was u very simple.
hearted and simple headed people who lived
in this little town, and men and women, old
and young, as well as children, came to have
a look into the peep-show. Nay, as il was a
holiday-time, even The great folk came ard
mingled with the rest. 1t is true they came
sauntering up, looking the other way, and
prete4dng to be surprised when they got close
to the show itself; but tor all they came, and
each of them paid his p 'nny with an air Of
good-humored liberation, bordering on con-
tempt, as if it was beneath him to take a
peep into such a poor-concern. Now there
were the Seven Wonders of the World in
this show, and a great deal m ore that 1 have
not time to mention. rt-r s-.t-.-'
The doctor took his peep and said, -four
ishing his cane, that here was nothing in it,
The lawyer, Milling sarcastically, took his
peep, and then said he would have the law of
the Snowman for an impostor. kven the
Clergyman took his peep. amid the tittering
Of the pumpkins, and though he slightly re-
buked the lawyer for his severity, said he
feared it was a very hollow exhibition. Now.
have already stated that it was show of
VIC oCtOu w OhuCio Vi VIC w Ollu 81 WudG
did he expect, especially as, being staunch
Protestant, he would have objected to mir
acle lay, or anything Of that sort?
In short, there was general discortent at
the peep-show, though all the spectators were
not as critical as the doctor, the lawyer and
the paIson. So they all went home to their
suppers, and very hearty suppers those of
them made who eould afford it, some of then
expressing a very poor opinion of the Seven
Wonders of the World, though without CIV
ing any particular reasons; only, somehow,
the wonders were not good en- ugh. The
parson, the attorney, and the apothecary for
got all about it, and things went on in the
little town, next day. The man with the
peep-show had travelled EDWARDS to some
where else, to make other people discon-
tented with the Seven Wonders of the World.
II.
Among the spectators who went from the
peep-show dissatisfied with what they had
seen was child, who had had long, quiet,
and intense look at the Wonders. As he
turned away from the show he said nothing,
but there was light in his eve, which
strangely contrasted with the other express
ion that was visible in the countenance. 1t
seems to say Something better;' and yet I
suppose that must be all nonsense, for it has
been scientifically laid down that if Y III cover
up the face, and look at the eyes through two
holes of their exact size and shape. you will
see that they have no expression whatever.
Nevertheless, as the little child walked dream.
lily away, his little eyes struck fire, as YOU
might say, into other eyes. Good Gracious.
who was the kind old soul of the place, aud
seemed really to live for others, and not at all
for herself, caught the eyes of the child, and
smiled, meanlngiy, but sweetly. A pair of
lovers, who had also looked into the peep
show, and had been disappointed like the
rest, said to themselves, THAT is the child
we saw looking in when we were there. He
must have seen something more than we
did" Then they thought again, you know,
and said to themselves, "Tbe expression in
his face is only his simplicity, bless him."
And the little child passed on, and the
light of the morning star was in his eyes,
though it was now dusk, so that nobody saw
1t, not cen his mother when she put him to
:ed. Indeed, she said, ''Drat it /! you've torn
your p.nafore: looking into the peep-show,
Il be boundP
Then the dusk passed into darkness, and
the noise of the little town into silence, and
the night was over all things just as it had
been over all things thousands of thousands
of times since the ornament was set. The
stars awoke and the people slumbered Who
knows their dreams? That poor man dreamt
that he had fortune; the longing student
that the libraries of the world were at his
right hand the schener that he had won the
giddy damsel that she had new bonnet. By
the side of the sick-hed the loving watcher
prayed tina. the sick might be better to-mor-
row. The little C. lid who had left the peep
show disappointed, dreamed not at all, but
when he awUke, the light of the m rning star
was still in his eyes, and many one who
looked into them came, from that hour, to
hear whisper in his heart, which sounded
like Something better"
By and BY it got nose1 abroad in the little
town that the little child had said he would
some day make better peep-shoW than the
one which had just disappointed everybody
80 much, Of course he was very much
laughed at, and the townfolk took to calling
him Little Pee )-show. Those who had been
loudest in expressing their discomfort with
the travelling show of which we have spoken,
now ridiculed the idea of the child's ever
making better. The lawyer argued the case
very strongly, and proved th't the Seven
Wonders of the World constituted show
which never could be surpassed The apothe-
cary was very angry with ''tho.e vagarie,,"
as he called them, and assured the child.s
parents that nothing would injure his health
more than to let his mind run On the maxine
Of better show. Lastly, the clergyman
boxed very sharply after the little child;s at.
tenda nee { church, and pointed out TO him
that it was flying in the face of Heaven itself
to attempt Something Better, when the Seven
Wonders of the World had been tabli helm
their place for centuries by the best and most
religious historians. The bea lie received
private in tructions to give his child crack
on the head if there was ever the slightest
reason to presume, from the expression d
his face at church, especially during sermon
time, that he was thinking of Something
Better. ,EE3
". atf-aFE
For all that, the expression which remind
ed you Of the mornin star did not 60 out of
this childs eyes, and the people still contin-