The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1873-03-22

kind words upon him was something il
the nature of charity. And though h,
did not appear to have heard them, the,
could not have been disagreeable to on,
whom nature and poverty must have rem
dered singularly inexperienced in pleasant
greetings. Perhaps, however, he may have
had suspicion that it was his nature anG
his poverty that had gained him this; and
if he did think SO, he was not far wrong
There is many tender-hearted girl who
lavishes her best caresses upon her ugliest
and cheapest doll; many mother who
shows most affection for her worst favored
child, simply because it is cheapest, ugliest
or worst favored: and such caresses are,
therefore, not complimentary to the object
of them. The next day, this girl, who
must surely in her childhood have singled
out some preposterously hideous doll fol
her especial favorite, was working with
her needle as he passed the door. Her
companions, with looks of disgust, pointed
him out to each other as they would have
pointed out a toad. But she, doubtless for
that very reason, frankly greeted him with
a real smile. Doubtless she felt, uncon-
sciously, rs some tender hearted girls will,
that it is just the toads and spiders that
stand most in need of their smiles: that if
God, for some mysterious reason, had
thought fit to curse this man, it was not
for her to turn aside with loathing from
what God had done. There are some
whose natural mission it is to deal out kind
looks and kind words to those whom 9TH
ers scorn; and theirs is ninth Beattude
But this, though the most remarkable
event in it, was by no means the whole of
his day. He found some customers, though
not many; lie had not to draw upon his
purse veIy largely to invest in the cast-off
garments that it was his business to sell
again. And, when he did draw upon his
purse, it was with unwillingness written
in every crook of his crooked fingers. He
/ looked at both sides of a shilling, he even
felt round the edge before he laid it down.
and if one shilling happened to be ever so
! lllllc lHluiiei tDdn duOLutr, IL was lile
thicker of the two that he took. with the
thinner that he paid. Before the sunset
it was the eve of the Sabbath-he turned
homeward. He had not tasted food all
day: but, though his belly was empty of
all but gnawing pains, more contented
look began to pass over his face, and his
hapds relaxed their clutch a little as he
came in sight of his home-a wretched-
| looking slop- shop in street of Soho to
which Bean street was quarter ofpalaces.
Every street has some other to which itself
is aristocratic; perhaps there is even some
worse street than this, though even in the
backslums of Lambeth or Of Westminster
it would be hard to find. Still, home-so
they say, at least-is always home. Per-
haps even he had some heart-though it
must have been strange one-to which
even such form as his was dear; moth
er, perhaps, or sister, with whom he was
about to spend Sabbath of sympathy.
But, in spite of the look of pleased antic-
ipation that his features strOve to wear, no
voice greeted him as he entered the dark
ness of his shop. He put up the shutters,
sighed the sigh of relief that is drawn by
man who hates his toll when his day OF
toll is over at last, and then set to work to
devour hungrily some strange looking food
that he took from musty and mouse eaten
cupboard. 1t is not SO that men feed,
however poor they may be, who do not hive
alone. Then he washed himself after
fashion, went into wretched rat-run back
room, with single blindless window that
looked out into small blind court heaped
up with dust and offal, and with no furni-
ture save ragged mattress and the rem
nant of an office stool, took a key from his
breast pocket, and set down his candle
upon the floor. 1t was a wax candle, by
the way, of the very best quality; alto
gether out of keeping with the place and
with the man.
No one can imagine scene of more
| utter, more sordid restitution. 10 say
that it was not comfortable would be to
say nothing at all, any more than to say
the old clothesman was not handsome. 1t
was the home of miser, or else, saving
the ragged stock-in- trade, of an outdoor
pauper. there was no saying which OF the
| two The neighbors, who were chiefly
Irishmen and paupers, took the former
view: for when was Hebrew dealer,
though he dealt but in cast-of cloths, ever
looked upon by his poverty stricken neigh
bors as being one with themselves? His
solitary manner of existence, his meals,
with which the itinerant dealer in Tag
gots" had far more to do than the butcher,
his miserable cloths, all pointed in the
same direction; while his appearance and
manner threw fearful mystery over his
| apparent poverty. And, in point of fact,
! there have been men who have lived like
him, and yet have lived and died million
aires.
The key which he had taken from his
pocket he inserted in small round hole
close to the spot at which he had set down
the candle, and then, having turned it
twice, raised very small trap-deor that
had been formed by saving out about six
teen square inches of the floor. Into this
he inserted his fingers, or rather claws, and
extracted from it a small jewelers. casket,
which he placed upon his knees as he sat
on the grouud, in such manner that the
rays of the candle might fall upon its con-
tents as soon as it was opened.
He opened the case, and the expression
of his eyes showed that this object, what
ever it might be, was something that made
up for all-for hunger, for contempt, for
misery. 1t was this that stood to him in
place of all that was wanting to make his
abode home. And, in fact, when the
casket was opened the room in reality APP
peared to be transformed. 1t became filed
with strange green light as of some I'M
earthly morning; of the day which may be
imagined to exist for the eyes of mine-gob-
line who have never seen that Of the sun.
To him. at least, this light, whether real
or imaginary, had an intoxicating effect,
/ hot IF !, Oh