Litchfield enquirer., 1874-08-13
Whole No. 2S0/

trance. Once only had he moved-when l tho Professor came and took his daughter 1 by tho hand: He gave an imperceptible start, controlled himself, then, dropping his hand little, closed his eyes and kept
 them closed until she returned to his 1 side. Thero was an intermission, during l which tho Professor walked about tho , platform, shaking his mane and wiping
 hls forehead, and surveying the audience ! with an air of lofty benevolence, as il, hay
 ing sown tho seed, ho was expecting to 1 sec it germinate on tho spot. At last he | rapped on tho table and introduced eiIe old gentleman-Colonel Clifford, the Great l Mathematical Magician and Lightning
 Calculator; after which ho retreated in turn to tho background-if gentleman
 with tossing mano and flowing beard that
 turquoise ring, and generally expansive 1 and lmpOrtunate presence, could be said 1 to be, under any circumstances, in the | background. The old gentleman came forward and made his bow, and heyoung l girl placed herself beside him, simply, ,un- | atfoctedly,s Withl her hands hanging and crossed Ill front of her-with all the child lsh grace and serenity of Mignon in evil holm Molstcr," as we sec her grouped with tho old harper. Colonel Gifford's performance gave mo an exquisite pleas ! ue, which | am bound to confess was | quito independent of it's intrinsic merits 1 These, l am afraid, were at once too nu- | mcrous and too scanty to have made it a popular success. It was very ingenious 1 piece of scientific contrivance, but it was mcagrely adapted to tickle tho ears of the groundlings. If one had read it-thc l substance of it-in handsomely printed l pamphlet, under tho lamp, of wet even-
 ing when no one was likely to call, one would have been charmed at once with l tho quaint vivacity of tho authors mode 1 Of statement, and with tho unexpected 1 agility of Onc's own intellect But in 1 spite of an obvious effort to colLmcnd | himself to understandings moro familiar
 with the rule of thump than with the diff
 forential calculus, Colonel,Gifford remain
 cd bcnignantly but formidably unintelli- glblc. Ho had devised-so tar as un- 1 dcrstood it-an: extension of tho multi 1 phcatlOn table to enormous factors, by ] which he expected to effect a revolution
 Tn tho whOlo science of accounts. There wa3 tho theory, which rather lost itself | thanks to his discursive fervor in the 1 mlsts of tho higher mathematics, and there was tho practice, which, thanks to his daughters cooperation, was much ! moro gracefully concrete. The interest ! ing thing to me was tho speakers person. allty. not his system. Although evident l ly very positive old man, ho had a sin l guiarly simple, unprctentious tone. His | intensity of faith in the supreme impor- | tance of his doctrine gave his manner | sort of revorential hush. The echoes of ! Professor Fargo's windy verbiage increas- l cd tho charms of his mild sincerity. He spoke in feeble, tremulous voice, which
 every now and then quavered upward
 with excitement, and then subsided into
 weary, plaintivc cadence. He was an 1 old gentleman of q single idea, but his
 one idea was a religion. It was impossi- l bic not to foel kindness for him, and inn
 agine that he excited among his auditors
 something of tho vague good will-half 1 pity and half reYerencn-thnt nnnnrrnpte1 l souls entertain for those neat, keen-eyed, | elderly people who arc rumored to have 1 strange ways and say strange things-tO ! be cracked" in short, like fine bit of porcelain which will hold together only SO long as you don't push it about. But it
 was upon the young girl, when once she had given them tasto of her capacity, that they bestowed their frankest admira- ton. Now that sho stood forward i'll the
 bright light, 1 could observe tho charac-
 ter of her prottiness. It was no brilliant beauty, but D sort of mcagro, attenuated, | angular grace, tho dclicacy and fragility l of tho characteristic American type. Her chest was flat, her neck extremely thin, her ylsago narrow, and her forchad high and prominent. But her fair hair encir- cled her head in such heecy tresses, her checks had such 0 pale pink flush, hoF eyes such an appealing innocence, her at titudo such q quaint unconscious felicity, that ono watched her with kind of up- start belief that to such stainless little spirit tho working of miracles might be | really possible. A couple of blackboards were hung against tho wall, on one of
 which tho old man rapidly chalked prob lcm-chooslng ono, of course, on tho level
 of tho brighter minds in tho audience. The young girl glanced at it, and before we could count ten dashed off a great
 bold answer on the other tablet. The
 brighter minds were then invited to veri-
 fy, and tho young lady was invariably
 found to havo hit tho mark She was in
 fact little arithmctical fairy, and her fla
 thcr mado her perform series of gym
 naStlcs among numbers as brilliant in
 their way aa tho vocal flourishes and rou-
 ladcs of an accomplished singer. Com
 municating with her altogether by the
 blackboard, hO drew from her host of
 examples of tho beauty of his system of
 transcendcnt multiplication. person
 present was requested to furnish two enOr-
 nous numbers, one to multiply the other.
 The old man wroto them out. After stand
 ing an instant moditative and just touch
 ing her forehead with her forefnger, she
 chalked down tho prodigious result. Her
 father then performed rapidly, on the
 blackboard, tho operation according to
 his own system (which she had employed
 mentality, and finally satisfied every one
 by repeating 1t Ill the roundabout fashion
 actually i'll use. This was all Colonel Cliff
 ford's witchcraft. It sounds very ponder
 Ous, but 1t was really very charming, and
 l had an agreeable sense of utilization in
 the finer parts. of my intellectual mech
 anism. I felt more like a thinking crea-
 turc. had never supposed was com
 lno to p to take a lesson in culture.
 It seemed on the morrow as if, at any
 rate, 1 was to take lesson ill patience.
 It was Sunday, and I awoke to hear tho
 rain pattering against my window panes.
 A rainy Sunday at P was prospect
 to depress the most elastic mind. But as
 l stepped into my slippers, l bethOught
 myself of my unfinished volume of "Don-
 Quixote," and promised myself to borrow
 from Sancho Panza philosophic proverb UT oO tpE1ICIOio GO ny SlGudblOu. Lon Qnixotc" cOnsoled mo, as 1t turned out,
 in an unexpected fashion. On descend-
 ing to tho dinning-room of tho inn, while
 I mentally balanced tho contending claims
 of muddy coffee and sour green tea,
 found that my last evenings friends were
 also enjoying tho hospitality of the estab-
 hghment. It was tho only inn ill the
 place, and it would already have occurred
 to moro Investigating mind that we were
 fellow-lodgers. Tho Professor. happily,
 was absent; and 1t seemed only reasonn-
 bio that ghost-seer should lie in bed
 late of morning. The melancholy old
 mathematician was seated tthe breakfast
 table cutting his dry toast into geometri-
 cal figures. He gave mo 2 formal bow as
 I entered, and proceeded to dip his sod
 don polygons into his tea. The young girl was at the window, leaniug her fore
 head against tho pane, and looking out in. to the sea of yellow mud in tho village street. I had not been in the room