St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1874-07-24
AND WHAT BECAME OF HIM.
Our Boy"

s. to follow luSt here. Not Il bIt OF 1t.
Three wears ago. when first clappcd
ewes on '.our boy" suppose he was
fully twelve years old. Who might
have been Clarcncc'S father | have not
the least idea about. suppose some
one cared for the boy, because occa-
SionallN | had noticed Il pale Young
woman. in Il din"y black gown. come
furtiNcly to the front of the office, and
passed in to 'our boy" Il package done
up in Il bit Of old newspaper. and from
the fact that the parcel WAS greasy.
was SuIe il contained food for our boy.
But who the woman WAS, WIS no bust
ness of mine, nor of the office. Clarence
got three dollars Il week. and WAS the
err;ind boy. When he WAS not running
about the streets. he sat in the darkest
part of the dingy office, before ii ram
shake table. on which stood Il copying
press. for making copies of ON CORES
pondcncc was one of his functions.
| wish could make the boy IN oh
irct of sympathy. but if tried my very
best ! could not. When it Was bitter
cold. some three winters ago. and ON
boy had on IL miserably thin Jacket, ii
size too small for him, and when the
snow was knee deep. and his shoes were
ont at heel and toe. | never committed
Il greater piece of stupidity i'll the world
than when lent him my ovcrcoat and
arctics such rank imgrltitndc on the
part of the boy Would any one have
hclirvcd il! In the side pocket found
II bit of cheese. and of course Il grease
spot came from it, and my shoes were
run down at the heel.
OF course rarely exchanged ANY
words With "ur boy Between the fourth
clerk in our office and an crrand boy.
the gulf of dcmarkation in the social
scale could not he too strongly acccn-
tuatrd. OF course ! was forced. from
time to time, to point ont to Clarence
his line of duty. and had 10 explain T."
him that Il tendency To whistle Surrcp-
tiorISly in the office or even ON the land
ing. or to wet the leaves of his copying
book too much, or to blur the CORES
pon'lcncc, or To put Il three cent stamp
on Il foreign letter, would inevitably
end 10y his becoming Il f"rgcr or - muir
lercr.
II Clarence had even been good look
ing might have cNpatiatcd on that. |
am not, | suppose. much of ii Judge al
beauty, and suppose that some lads
have curly hair and blue eyes; but
Clarence WAS not 50 favored. His eyes
were dull and heavy and in Il chronic
state of rcdncsS. and the hair on his
head always looked Ia me like widowed
hay. One thing that WAS conmc,lahlc
WAS his prnctIality as to luncheon.
Exactly at twelve o'clock, when not
running about. he commenced his re-
past. His food WAS, invariably, ulr.
bread and Il lump of puttN-likc cheese.
What the boy ate or did not eat made,
of course. no difference to me, though
the monotonN of Clarcncc'S mid day
meal iritatcd me. From She ZcSt with
which he ate it. waS led to suppose
that il was breakfast and dinner. OF
course, to IL growing boy, with plenty
of exercise, II made little difference
how, when. or what he ate. am no
Spartan myself. and Il sandwich and ::
piece of pie Sriliccs me ANY day in the
year, but | must acknowledge la h,.
singular as To pies. and vary that pnr-
ton of my luncheon with the season.
Ten cents, for Il fourth clerk of an
economical turn of mind, who dcSpiSc>
waste, Is Il sum of money not To bc caIc-
leSsly thrown away. ! knew it waT Il
weakness of mine. when | once gave
our boy the above mentioned amount.
and ordered him in the most positive
terms To lay out the whole amount in
cakes. ScpaIatcd rs We were from ON,
another 10y Il sheet of ground glass, as
used to he busy over my books | could
not help watching the boy. aS the
shadow of his head came in my way.
ohScuring the dim light. sat at cN-
actly the same table some fifteen years
ago, and. suppose, WAS an annGN anc,
To the clerk who used Ia occupy my
present desk, Just AZ Clarence VAS {,
me. over the rrI;Ind hoN'S table Their,
hangs. to-day, just as there had. sup
pose. for the last fifty Years. Il cololc,
print of Il brig. with all sails set. skim
ming over the seas. bound for Funchal
III the MadciraS. that port hcim" visible
in the distance. l"u cant see the pie
tire very distinctly now. owing to
storm of dust. dirt. and cohWphs whicI
have "hScur"d it as long as | cnI
remember. sometimes Wondcrc,
whether Clarence ever WIS in inIagina
tion on the deck of that brig. :IS | HAY,
been Il hundred times when ! WAS
boy, carcrring over the bright seas. IN,
whether the whole thing ever hcc:lm,
To him. as il was to me. u kind of pie
tolial flying Dutchman. When wan
ted Clarence had hardly ever to raj
on the glass for him. The boy SCENE,
to anticipate my wishes. and Woul,
jump mp when even moved my finger
This alacritN on his part WAS Il sign "
. Scrvility which | drSpiScd. | shout,
have liked {" have seen my self when
was in that boys place Try ing to h
quick and ohligin". OF course di,
my duty thoroughly whcE | WAS "ou
boy" If WAS treated then with con
tempt perhaps it WAS best for me, an,
as always have had plenty of spirit.
returned exactly what received.
do not think have altered much as {,
temper since the time WAS '.our boy
nor us Il clerk do see the necessity fo
any change. ScVcnty-tiVe dollars
. month. aud am thirty-iivc. with III
old mother to keep after twenty wear,
service in the h"uSe-is not Il sum cal
culated to cngender much kindly feel
ing. though ! suppose it is about Il
much ~ am worth.
| had noticed that Clarence. general
ly Il silent hoy. had Il disposition towar'
responsiveness with me which WAS dis
gushing. think it WAS il May day
some two Years since, when lookiu;
through the window on Gold street, on
boy happened To see some lad or other
with II baseball bat under his arm,
walking galll along. | think the re-
mark Clarence made WIS. 'Wouldn'
he like t" he that boy ? 1t looked =
jolly, and did Mr.. Culpepper Chat
my mame) ever play base ball ," |. q
course, utterly squcIched the boy Il
once and for all time. us he fully de
served. Still Clarence would not re-
main nut down. | remember once whe