Litchfield enquirer., 1874-08-13

after them, watching the Professors pon-
 derous tread and the gliding footfall of the young girl, began to wonder whether
 he might not be right-might not, in
 truth, have that about him which would
 induce the most venerable of my ances-
 tors to revert from eternity and stop tho
 clock '- s. .'
 His handbills had done their office, and
 the tho Town Hall, when Icntcred 1t that
 evening. was filled with solemnly cx-
 pectant auditory. P--- was evidently for
 the evening q cluster of empty houses.
 While my companions scanned tho stage
 for the shadow of coming events, I found
 amplc pastime in perusing tho social
 physiognomy of tho town. \ shadow
 presently appeared in the person of stout
 young eountryman, armed with an accor-
 dion, from which he extracted an ingon-, ious variety of lamentable sounds. Soon
 after this mysterious prelude, the Profes-
 sOr marshalled out his forces. They con-
 sisted, first and foremost, of himself, his
 lconine chcrClurc, his black dress suit.
 and his turquoise ring, and then of an old
 gentleman who walked i'll gravely and
 stifiiy, without the Professors portcn-
 tous salaam tos the audience, bearing on
 his arm young girl in black. The Pro- lessor managed somehow, by pushing about tho chairs, turning up the lamps,
 and giving twist to the patriotic dra- pcry in the background, to mako his au-
 dience feel his presence very intimately.
 His assistants rested themselves tranquil
 ly against tho wall. 1t took mo but n
 short time to discover that tho younn pirl
 was none other than tho companion of the
 Professors tour of inspection in the cem-
 ctcry, and then remembered that he had
 spoken in the morning of the gentleman
 who performed tho mathematical miracles
 being assisted by his daughter. The
 young girls infrmity, and her pretty
 face, promised to impart picturesGuc
 interest to this portion of tho exhibition:
 but meanwhile inferred from certain ill
 suppressed murmurs, and a good deal of
 vigorous pantomino among the female
 spectators, that she was found wanting in
 the more immediate picturesoueness de-
 manded of young lady attached to q
 show Her plain black dress found no fa-
 vor; the admission fec had justified the
 expectation of a good Real of trimming
 and several bracelets. Shc, however, poor
 girl, sat indifferent in her place, Icaning
 her head back rather wearily against tho
 wall, and looking as If, were she disposed,
 she might count without trouble nil the
 queer bonnets among her judges. Her
 father sat upright beside her, with cane
 between his knees and his two hands
 crossed on the knob. He was a man of slxty-iivc-tall, lean, pale, and serious.
 The lamp hanging above his head deep-
 encd the shadows on his face, and trans formed It into sort of pictorial mask.
 lie was very bald. and his forehead. which
 was high and handsome, wore in the lamp
 light the gleam of oldivory. The sockets
 of hrs eyes wero ill deep shadow, and out of them his pupils gazed straight before
 him, with the glow of smouldering fire.
 Ills hlgh-arched nose cast long shadow over his mouth and chin, and two intensi- fled wrinkles, beside his mustache, made hl1,A look strangely tragic. WIJn his trag- lc look, moreover, he seemed strangely familiar. His daughter and the Profes- sor 1 regarded as old friends; but where had 1 met this striking specimen of an- tlque melancholy? Though his gaze seemed fixetb I imagined it was covertIy wandering over the audience. At last it appeared to me that it met mine, and that its sombre glow emitted spark of recognition of my extra-provincial and in- fcEentially more discriminating character. The next moment I identified him-hc was Don Quixoto in the flesh; Don Ouix- otc, with his salloW Spanish coiorinc. his high-browcd, gcntlemanly visage, his wrinkles, his moustache, and his sadness.
 Professor Fargo's lecture was very bad. 1 had expected he would talk a good deal Of nonsense, but 1 had imagined it would be clevorer nonsense. Very possibly there was deeper cleverness in it than 1 perceived, and that, in his extreme shrewdness, he was giving his audience exactly what they preferred. It is an as- ccrtained fact, I believe, that rural as- semblies have a relish for the respectfully ponderous, and an honest pride in the fact that they cannot be bored. Tho Pro- lessor, suppose, felt the pulse of his listeners, and'detccted treasures of latent sympathy in their solemn, irrosponsiye si- lence- l should have said the perform ance was falling dead, but the Professor probably would have claimed that this was the rapture of attention and awc. He certainly kept very meagrely the promise of hls grandlloquent programme, and gave us pound of pfecept to @ grain of example lis miracles WGro exclusively miracles of rhetoric. He discOursed up- on the earth Fife and the summer land. and related surprising anecdotes of his intimacy with the inhabitants of the lat ter region; but to my disappointment the evening passed away without his really bringing Ils face to face with ghost. A number of prominent citizens were in- duccd to step upon the platform and be but the sturdy agricultural of P-shOwed no great pliancY under tue Professors manual The attempt was general ly failure-tho only brilliant feature be- ing the fine impudence with which tho operator lodged the responsibility of the fidncO upon what he called his victims low development. With three or four young girls the thing was triflo better. One of them closed her eyes and shiver- cd; another had a fearful access of ner- vous~ giggling; another burst into tears, and was restored to her companions with m admonitory wink. As every one knew every ono else and every one else's family history, some sensation was probably pro duced by half dozen happy guesses as to the Christian names and last maladios of certain defunct town worthies. An other deputation of tho prominent citi- zens aseended the platform and wrote the names of departed friends on small bits of paper, which they threw into a hat. The Professor then folded his arms and his beard, as if he were invoking At last approached tho young girl, took her hand, and led her forward. She picked the papers out of the hat and held them up one by one, for the Professor to look at. ''ssThere is no possible eollusion," he said with four lsh, as he presented her to the audience. ''The young lady is deaf mutei" On gesture of her companion sho passed the paper to ono of the conte1nplative gray heads who represented the scientific curl ositY of p. and he verified the Profes- sors guess. Tho Professor, risked an ''Abiiah'' or 9 ''Melinda,'' and it turned out generally to be an Ezekiel or Hep zibah. Three several times, however, tine performers genius triumphed; whereup- on, tho audience not being up to the mark, he gave himself vigorous round of applause. He concluded with the ad- mission that the spirits were shy before such crowd, but that he would do much better for tho ladies and gentlemen indi-