The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-10-30
ALL AN ACCIDENT.

ALL AN ACCIDENT.
It was at the opera. An opera-glass
had fallen from one of the upper boxes
on the head of gentleman sitting in
the stalls.
Now I had seen the glass fall; had
seen a round, white, braceleted arm and
a gloved hand stretched out to arrest,
as it seemed to me, its descent. It was
all done In a moment.
The gentlemen upon whose head the
glass had descended had been carried
into the lobby. An ugly wound had
been inflicted.
He was not killed, but gradually re-
vived, and turned his head toward me.
I knew hint was Stericker.
Then he moved tremulous hand in
my direction. He knew me, it seemed.
He tried to speak but it was some
time before he could utter any intelli-
gent sound. At last we discovered his
meaning. He had lost something which
he desired us, meaning myself and by
ISLANDERS, to search for.
Search was instituted accordingly.
After awhile, very near to the stall he
had occupied, there was picked up-a
glass eye
He was gratifed at the recovery of
his glass eye, but something else was
missing and that was SON found-a
| curious-Iooking stud; it was not pearl
exactly. It was of an oblong shape,
milky white, and semi transparent, in
| a handsome setting of brilliants.
Stericker expressed great satisfaction,
| in rather incoherent way, that the
stud had been found. He clearly priced
it highly.
"It was a nasty shock to fellow"
said Stericker, not long after this, as we
talked the matter over.
I quite agreed that it must have been
a very nasty shock-a most unfortunate
accident. At this he laughed rather
wildly.
Whatever you call it, don't call it
| that" he said.
"You mean that it was not an acci-
dentP"
It appears that he did mean that.
"But saw the glass fall, " I said.
Sc You mean that you saw her throw it
down
s'Saw? Who ?" demanded, ancon-
scior'sly adopting the interrogatives of
Hamlet
''Arabella sc |"
I thought him wandering in his mind.
I knew nothing of Arabella. I could
not remember that I had ever encount-
of that name And thence I came to
ask myself what, after all, did I really
know of Stericker himself? In truth,
it was very little.
sc It was Arabella's doing, of course,
he continued. "I know that very we'll
I know the opera glass, for the matter
of that. ought to. I gave it to her."
Where had first met Stericker am
by no means clear. I am almost GER
tain that I was never formally intro
| duced to him. But had seen him at
| various places upon numberless occa-
sions, until seemed to have acquired
quite habit of seeing him. So at last
the thing was becoming quite absurd
there was no help for it but to recognize
him as an acquaintance, at any rate.
| Finding each other so frequently face to
face in the same place, beneath the same
roof, and even at the same table, what
could we do, eventually, but laugh and
nod, and say, "What you here ?"
| And then we shook hands.
Still protest that I knew little of
him beyond what he told me.
And now had occurred this accident at
the opera-house, confirming as it were
my acquaintance with Stericker, and
| governing it almost into a friendship.
He expressed great gratitude for the
assistance had rendered him, although,
in truth, it had been little enough. But
again and again Le thanked me, and
presently, his wounded head having
been skillfully dealt with and relieved
by the application of strips of plaster,
l found myself at his lodgings in Half
moon street, sitting in an easy chair,
smoking a cigar and drinking temper
ance mixture of brandy and water.
Until then / had never really known
where Stericker lived.
'sAnd You saw her throw down the
opera-gIass ?'' he said, returning to the
subject of the accident. corrected
! him. had seen no such thing. But
he did not pay much attention to what
I said.
"And how did she look? Hand
some, of course. She was always that
though she certainly is not now nearly
SO young as when first met her-and
loved her. For what could I do then
but love her?
"There can be no mistake about an
attack of love any more than about fit
of the gout. 1 have suffered from both
Affections. In my time have loved
good deal, and I have, in return, been
loved very much indeed. / say It with
out vanity.
''I have loved and been loved" be
repeated, ands don't mind owning,
have in my time Tilted and been
Tilted" He said this with a morbid
Don Giovanni air, that thought par
ticularly Objectionable. ''Arabella Tilted
me-" he resumed, s. and has never for
given herself for it, nor me either.
How fair she was IN those days I She's
fair still, for that matter, though she
uses more pearl powder now than she
did. Fair, but false. Women are often
that, you know. Shall ] say always ?"
1 deprecated such an assertion. Ae-
cording to my experience 1t was far too
sweeping. He conceded that I was
right, possibly. Yet it seemed TO me
that he despised me for my moderation.
." You remarked this stud ?" He pro-
duced the stud we had searched for at
his request. and found in the lobby Of
| the opera house. cit would have