Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-10-31
THOMAS YARN.


uTe, lOIdinE his place Ia tho energetic tnE1 Of
MOse5TOyk rather bscsGSe hr Wa 100 amor phDuS
10 be kicked out then from aBy power OF hls 0w
TO keep IN. Thomas arm had never made A H.
ing, but had hang, a barusrle, on somebody
elso's living al II- life. lie was ugly. ami dirty,
AMI door, aud lazy. vet these terms seem too
strong tor % ueh uI1us q creature. The CplOrs
in which bic portrait should be "a, nted are what
theFreuch caI tents dsgrIisS-snuify brown
pale olive greens, mixed aud t2rGy grays. No
black, no white, no red, All shadow, dead lights,
q poor, fOrl0rB, faded picture. which no gaii ~
coveted He Wa a sort OF connecting link be-
tween the earth- worm and man, sug costing both
extremes NeJ the creature WAS Sl-i.Y, and hal
his own little corner of wit anu bImOE; once Ia
about ten wears he said gOOj thing He hat
never harmed anything, not even = iy; ia f4cS,
he and tles were rather IutimAte, and hal
acquired a right Of Plssess0gshiP from long DC
cupancy o. a dirty. cuItainlsss tavern wintO v,
which Was the height from which Thorn ~ Yarn
surveyed late a. AZ went on ia MOss0rOOk. He
WAS in Some remote way supposed t. lie gen
t!emau, perhaps because lie never did anyt1IUg
perhaps for a better reason. At any rAse he was
tolerated M some OF the beet frOEt-p Erl1rs when
on centeUnisls, and on such inIre4 ue1tiy-OccG7-
ring occasions he pat on a clean sd1Tt and made
a call. Thomas Ysrn was not dirty Tor the sane
reason tea Il said TO have governed a Celebr3-
ted English scholar, "becauSe 1t rhyme1 with
GOethe,' no, poor Thomas ga- not even Htera-
~, that nett 70 nOthingness in good, hard work
iug New England. Hls HABITS grew out of
siJvenly soul; the cold waters OF energy and An
bitiCn lad never sssaded down Thomas L arms
back. He WAS sunk low in the slums o { laZineSs
and inertia. Who knows what bad deprived
InOmA5 a ATu o. his OirtlFlElf OF Success. who
knows what heaTt-sches had pArayzed his en-
ergles3 Who knows any OF the great secrets Of
Nature?-Vby one b-ain works and another Will
not? and Why one man sits stln while another
man runs
one thing Thorn Is Yarn always poss.s ell, AMI
that was the village news. The J4veTn-WinJOw,
m spite OF the flies, was Il good field OF Obssrva-
ton. he went round with tue returns OF cleo
tiOns, with the deaths and marriages, aud the
latest, we'll authenticated scandal. Never ml-
ugnant, never prone To see evil, Thomas still
told what BE heard j. an Invaluable local news
paper. He w0Ild put h.s sad d g1re in psnite3t-
IL At the side door a. II 70 say that the news he
brought was his OGly excuse for bsiny.
There were TunOrs OF his once being seen
driving nurse, but this WAS not we'll autIentI-
Gated. IL gave 100 much energy aud decision
70 the picture, sui WAS re ecte1 81 most a. N
probable, but one great, grand, i'm pOrtanf thing
lac had done, one event Illuminated his exist
nee, and &c never was tired talking OF Il AMI
bCaSriug OF IL. He hal once l. zen raAFriei 4. and
he could uJt forge she pride, pOnp aa1 cir
C1mstsnce Of that Occ ssiOB-
Possibly at that mJmsnt he IA Eht nave been
cleaner aud m0-e prosperous ina AZ any s15ss-
guent enc; else why did that very pretty girl,
with her long black halr,-alTays remember cred
IN tbs village admIlngl yr-Why mad she 80 over
eStiuzted her own powers Of endurance as u
marry TsUmss Yarn2 Mary bin she did, ami
naturally died in two years, 10 be ever after the
primal beauty snd saint o. his life. He nevec
could sufficiently praise her hair. tie placed it
among the consultations like BereDiC5's, and
wore one long trrss, folded IN China paper, next
his heart The WAY ne wOTshippei his " Mary in
Heaven" aiflfmed Thomas Yarns claim to tue
name OF Gentleman. he had been lin business"
when he married, but he failed Immediately,
and that continued TO be bis business forever
after. TEe tavern swallowed him up, and it
was on it, worm eaten porch that he first
learned that ne Wa re n smb 5red IN Cav. an
mOndsgtIl. Some one else knew that pIece Of
news before be did.
Gov. Hammond Vas rich aud prominent cit
tZen, who had been terribly stricken, in the
midst OF his prosperity, by the death of his only
son, young man but few years married, who
hal left ons young daughter.
IL A rfH and
raOnd did not like to have it de cat. Bat
Fate was stronger than be. He lett his hus
property . this little girl, s1mething IN the
same disappointed frame OF mind "a Domsey,
and he added singular c1ficIl. IL WAS to
charge his executors to pay small annuity to
Thomas Yarn, and 20 give him the charge OF his
library. which ~ as large ard IN great disorder,
and which nee led attention and repair.
This library had come from two lawyers,O
gentleman, aud one Clergyman ancestor a.
Gov. Hammond was fOni Of eN planning his vari-
Gus forbeaTs, and had bsen generally tumblet
by the Governor, no grea+ rester, into an unOc-
cupied room, which was not uusuitei 10 IL. be-
ing q wing OF the house IN which Emily, tn
chIld-heiress, lived with her Aunt Margaret and
the old servants The little unconscious owner
OF all this rambling property was a healthy,
hearty, robust little girl, with an early pFOPsR-
sity for tales of fancy, and leg,timaIely for
novel reading. She spent her Saturday, after
moons, and some part OF the next day, in ner
library, sitting on the top step of a ladder read
ing The Cottages Of Glenbumie.1 "a Simpl.
Story" or "Thsdteus of WARSAW" There,
wrapped IN the delicious mantle Of rom Ince,
would she lit for hours, while Thomas Yarn
would iOOk up from his paste pots a. a dreamy
InOle might contemplate a butterfly. lie and she
were great friends; not having arrived At the
critical age she did not notice his sOiief habits
IS Aunt Margaret d, but willingly PIT her
soft, white hand in his. and WAS lei 10 M4ry's
grave, listening with mach gravity to the &C
count Of that famO1s wedding, and locking
with swee,iy soIroSful eyes 81 tue long tress of
II Wa a part of Saturday afternoon 70 EMILY;
part OF .'Eha1deUs OF warsaw "A part of that
golden Prime which Emily was passing through;
snd, a. be was indu gent, and let her press Wild
flowers IN some OF tho old theological works,
Emily thought he Vas model Librarian.
Emiy found the library rather OverstOcked
with the sermons and grave fO!lOs OF her clergy
nan ancestor. rather TOO spsTssly furnished
with the "Thstdeus OF WarsAs" school Of lit
erature. She had gone through Scott, and gen
tie Miss Austen, and Miss EdgeWorth, and dull
old Mrs. SherwOOf, " hOse story OF s.Iiich in tia
Kitchen and Poor IN the Par.ur," Is chiefly val
liable for it, recipe FOR nAktug sooseberFy-taCts.
She hal wept over that rel seuiDg work Of
Little Henry and his Bearer" she haI shud
deTed over The RGttan Boy and she had got
To Pope. Then she began % sigh FOR fresh fields
and pastures new. Cooper she tried and could
not; and, as Tor the theological works, what
were they good for but to press lowers I'M
q old, dry doctors, did not your pulses beat a.
this image OF spring and hope, AMI Joy threw
open your musty pages, A1i lay the freshly
gathered hOSers in your heavy grasp Were
these the only flowers you had helped 10 pres
down and dry MP?
Who wiz read those Accumulated word. Of
wisdCm-Old sermons, theo3Og ic A! tire atfses rec.
ords OF undying dulness2 Why does tue great
est of subjects lead to such poor writing
81 wish there were some novels, d" said Emily
one day. from the top OF the ste g-laddsr
"Noveis ant good for yOung people" said
Thomas Yarn.
"But like them,-i like book that - vsr7
beautiful In the beginning, and very sad in the
middle, and very magnificent at the end.r said
Emily, who did not want for words.
Gwen, guess you'd better not read so many
of EN-. That ism st sill like life j." said poor
ThOmss, remembering the tsyern-wiudOw; be-
sides your Aunt Margaret says you walk in your
sleep, and have bad dreams, sand guess you'd
petter 20 on and get some more wild flowers.
so Emily would dance OF TO the woods and
Thomas looked up some more novels for her and
finding sood, old-fAshioned story, would leave
X seeldentAlly on the top OF the step-lsdder
sufficiently rewarded n he saw her 4 a Of nIess
are a she ciseeTsrsaR Tasrs Ksss no poison