The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-10-30
DEAD LETTERS.

LUZ 9WO WOOhb were TWO years Oh IuQs
two centuries of real enjoyment, two
eternities of rest, compared to the con-
slant drag, drag in that lonely business
which took up all his hours in work and
all his night hours in dreams. Two
weeks away from the constant reading
of letters which were written for other
eyes than hist How he ever got into
the dead-letter Office he could not say,
and how he ever staid there without
growing wild to an extent of pulling
out all his hair and ramming pens into
his brown eyes he couldn't for the life
of him tell. He had staid on two years
and was much honored, in a small way,
as a skillful clerk in the department.
He couldn't tell why again. In fact,
his career was a series of So couldn't
tell-whys," which, however, were the
cOgs of the wheels which kept his life
agoing. A casual observer might have
told why he was considered one of the
best clerks In the department, and said
observer would have remarked that it
was because he Therel I've got
so far without using a name, and I
hoped I'd get clear through the story
without committing myself but it's no
USE. These pronouns are terribly ex-
acting things, and I shall have to get a
or I shall be unable to proceed any fur
ther. Well, Tom will do, won't it
Toms a name, and there are lots of
Toms infWashington and several Toms
in the dead-letter Office. Now, then,
we'll take another start with Tom and
the observer.
say that the observer would have
remarked that it Ego back few lines
for the explanation of the "it'" was be-
cause Tom had very tender heart in
his possession. A sad thing to have
tender heart when you're dealing with
persons, they say. Tom thought it was
sadder when dealing with letters. He
would choke fifty times each day
while reading some earnest, heartfelt
epistle which, despite the love and fidel-
ity mothers hand had buried in the
lines, had miscarried, nor would ever
reach dear sons eyes. Or perhaps it
was a fathers strong call-strong in
tears and strong in love-which would
never bring back to the home-fold g
straying daughter.
The letters Tom read with heart
ache, which spread like neuralgia, and
somehow filed his whole body with an
untold pain, were by the thousand a
year but his interest in the sad cases
was never tagging, and he always made
a good push to have the letters which
came from loving hands for loved ones
take one more chance of reaching their
destination. If Toms successes had
been each block of granite the Wash
ington monument would have been COM
pleted over eleven moths ago.
Tom was to have two weeks vacation
two weeks, commencing In two days.
He wasn't often idle but this morning
he held one of batch of letters-epis-
tolary corpses-and sat thinking of any
thing but his work. Where should he
go in vacation? There was no mother,
or brother, or sister waiting for him to
come home. There were no kisses of
welcome waiting for him among green
hills or by pleasant, shining waters.
! Where should he go? Heigho He
couldn't make up his mind. With a
shake, like a cat awaking, he came back
to his work and gazed on the one letter
from many in pile before him he had
semi taken up. The di-
rection of the letter was as follows
Miss Clara F. DeDnett, ST. Adams,
Vermont.
The postmark bore the name of Provi-
dence, r.. l., and date of July 20. On
the other side of the envelope was a
pretty monogram of three letters, F. II.
W., or W. q. F., or II. W. F., or some
combination, Tom couldn't decide which.
So he opened the letter and read 4:
CLARA-My heart is nigh breaking. May !
not come back was wholly wrong; but my
love for you made me unreasonably exacting
and unwilling to yield. Forgive me, for
Heavens sake, and say may come to you.
I will wait one week more in Providence to
hear from you. Do write. FRANK.
No date and no signature. ''Just
! - T1,o
only thing settled is that the first letter
of that monogram is an r, blue f.
That doesn't amount to anything.
don't know the second letter. mean
which it is" Somehow he was led to
nut the letter one side instead of throw
ing it in the waste receptacle. He
thought he'd like to look at that mono
gram once more, it was such a pretty
one.
Five, six, seven, eight, nine more let
ters read, and nothing in the shape o1
business yet. Number ten Number
ten was in a small, delicate hand, di
rected as follows: "Mr. Frank a
Wendell, st. Adams, Vermont"
Tom had quite forgotten for the mo
ment the other st. Adams letter, but o.
a sudden he cried out to himself
HullO st. Adams is full of basinesI
To-Day no bIcn ObCLCu -AN AOtha
MY DEAR FRANK only hope you hav,
, gone back to st. Adams, for Heaven alon,
knows how else this may reach you taxi
my only chance, it seems to me- left for hap
piness. I must write, since my heart will no
/ let me sit longer and feed on my own sorrow
without breaking. Dear, since you went ava.
from me on that sad, sad night, not one mo
ment of peace, no day when song was pleas
I ant TO hear, no day when I could sit SILENT.
glad, has come to me. Only longing for you
ID - aid
trust me and though 1 could easily have eX
. planned would not. l. for that short hal
| hour believed could bear everything, since
l bore your harsh words (as they then seemed)
, Now know was wrong. Darling, will Vol
I not write to me just one word to say vol
7 forgive me, and, il you can say you still low
: me Shall 1 never see you again? Dea
heart, I was never anything but to YOU ant
o that can show you il you viii come to me o
= lot me write to you. VIII you not write to me
, just one letter, and will bless you each dal
1 live, II God makes me live thousand years
: Always being, am still. only yours.
I CLARA f. BENNETT
Wallace street. Fitchburg
2 P. 81 am with my cousin, passing tn
summer and unless hear from you, trust
may never return TO St. Adams
No. he didn't, that clerk answered
/, after he had got through staring at Tom
! "Who'd be likely 70 know a youni
! fellow about the city ?" again aske,
, Tom.
! Well (second long stare), the clerl
! thought he (the clerk would, and he't
never heard of Frank Wendell or an
/, other Wendell, except an old fellow VIII
i sometimes came round to buy bottles a
, the hotel. That wasn't the one the gen
tlemen meant, was it
! Tom thought not.
Tom was manifestly brought mp stand
ing. So he went TO bed.
Next morning he had another look a