The democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1868-1874, 1874-06-29
aOuR .RoY,v


"OUR ROY. Z s,s e
Our boyli ssitg9n6g .wl}su5A
Now perhaps some people OF philo.
progenitiye procliyiies may be led to
Imagine tliht d tender gpsh OF paternity
is to follow ihsth6te. Mot Sbit7of IT.
Three years ago, whom / flfst clapped
eyes nissotrboy, p Isuppose lheIswas
fully twelve years old. tWho might
have been Glarence's father / have not
the least idea about. l suppose some
one cared for the boy, because occa,
sionally 1 had Noticed q pale young va.
man ina dingy bldek gown, come fur.
lively to the front door Eof the Office,
and pass into lttour lboyi'l d package
done up in . bitiof old newspaper, and
from the fact that the pateelwas greasy,
I was sure it contained food for our
boy. But who the woman was wds no
business Of mine, nor OF tile office.
Clarence got So a week, and was the
errand. boy.bnWhei hewhs not running
about theistreets lie sat in theidarkess
part Of the dingy office, before 10, RAM
Bhackle table, on which stood q copy.
ing press, for makipg copies Of onr cor.
respondenee was ono Of llis innctions.s
1wish l could make the boy IN OBJ.
iect oflsympathy, but II l triedmyyery
best Icould not. When Il wds bitter
cold, some three winters age. and our
boy had on q miserably thin jacket, a
size too small for him, md when the
snow was knee.d deep, and his shoes
were out al Heel andGtoe, I never com.
mitted greater piece Of stupidity in
the world than when j lent him my
overcoat and Arctics. iSnch rhnkfin-
gratitude on the part OF thes boy
Would any one have believed itaa In
the side pocketI found d bit Of cheese,
and OF COURSE agrease spot came from
1t, and NY shoes were run down at the
heel.
or course 1 rarely exchanged any
words with our boy. Between the
fourth clerk in our Office and m errand
boy, tho gull Of demarcation in tlte.sos
cial scale could not be too strongly aol
ceatnated., or course q whsi forced
from time to time, to point ont TO Clar.
ence lis line Of duty, andshad 20 1e1-
plain to him that a tendency to whistle
surreptitiously in the office, or even on
the landing, Or to wet the e1eayes OF his
copying.book too much, or to blur the
correspondence, or 10 put q three cent
stamp on o foreign letter, would inevi-
tably end by his becoming q forgcr or d
murderer. stsSi / nc II . tAtli.as q
II Clarence had ever been good.look.
ing, I might have expatiated on that. /
am not, l suppose, much OF ajudge Of
beauty, and suppose that some lads
have curly hair and blue eyes; but
Clarence was not so favored. His eyes
were dull and heavy aud in r chronic
state OF redness, and the hair on his
head always looked TO me like mildewed
hay. One thing that was commendable
was his punctnality as to luncheon.
Exactly at 10 % 'cloels, wheninot running
about, lie Commenced his repast. Ills
food was, invariably. dry bread and q
lump Of putty.like cheese. What the
boy ate or did not eat made, Of COURSE,
no difference to me, though the mono
tony Of ClifeheeG midday meal irri-
tated me. From the zest with which
he ate i was led to suppose that II
was breakfast and dinier. '0f 'cothse,
to q growing boy, with plenty oi
exercise, IL made little difference
how, when, or what he eat.
I am no Spartan myself, andA sand
wich and a piece OF pie sufilces me any
day in the year, but1 must aeknog ogledge
to be singular as 10 pies, and vary that
portion Of my luncheon with the sea-
son. Ten cents, for q fourth clerk 81
an economical turn OF mind who dc.
spises waste, is o sum Of money MOTTO
be carelessly thrown away knew y
was weakness ofmine. when i once
gave our boy the Aforementioned
amount, and / ordered himIint theFmost
positive terms 10 lay out tho whole
amount ID cakes. Separated as We were
from one mother BY a'sheet of ground
glass. as I used TO be busy over my
books / could moi Ihelp mAtchmg the
boy, as the .shadowq Of his nheaal often
came in my way, obscuring the dim
light. / sat at exactly the same table
some fifteen years ago, aud suppress,
was an annoyance TO tile clerk Yhp used
to occupy my present. desk, ihst as'
Clarence was to me! !aio On tae iettand-
boys table there hangsito.day, iust, as
there had, / suppose, ioratha alast. NY IVY
years, u colored print tot aobEig, fHitlll
all sails set, skimming over the seas,
bound for Funchal, in the Madeiras,
that port being visible in the distance.
You cahlt ZEE tue picture very distinct:
ly now owing to storm q
dust, dirt and scobwebs which
have obbcufed it aa long as I can re- y
member. sometimea wondered Mhetn,
or Clarence ever was in imagination on
the deck Of that brig, ag l have been q
hundred times when ] whA Q boy,
careenihR over tho bright seiss, and
whether The whole thing ever became 70
him as II was to me, o kindiof pictorial
Wien i wanted Clareneeths hardly
ever to rap on the glass for him. The
boy seemed to anticipate my wishes,
and would jump up when i even nvyed
my finger. This ialacrity on his part
was a signoi seryility which aespisedi!
Ishould have liked to hayescen myself
when I was in that boys plnce trying Y
be quick and obliging. OF course idid
my duty thoroughly when ] was our
! hc,, TeAT -. 4. TsAa Aatadl than with con.