The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-11-12
BACK WINDOWS.


April Il, ls-.-In utter ennm and
desperation have AT last begun diary.
Did ever believe that ! conld descend
TO such a missish expedient2 But no
one knows what be Is capable OF until
he tries, and - the times that try mems
souls develop strange and unsupported
resources.
Is this one of the aforesaid tines
Well, all things considered. / should
rather say ii j.. Here am 1, Philip
Leigh, an utter stranger in the city, Just
about launching on commercial ca
reer under the most favorable auspices,
" eager-hearted A. a boy when first he
leaves his fathers field and all the
rest of il. That Is what | was two
weeks ago. and the first clause still
holds good. What am now2 A bun
die of aches, thing Of nerves and SEN
sibilities. Bah, what is manhood
worth if slip on bit OF orange-peel,
a twist Of the knee, can reduce one TO
such pitiful level7
No use grumbling? No, my philo-
sophie soul Would that YOU AWAY,
ruled this mortal frame. Unluckiiy,
you don't. Human nature Is weak, CIV
en- to repinings, and much haunted By
black specters Of gloom and enHla.
What defenses have | against their too
frequent incursions?
Plenty OF pens and paper; certainly,
but to what use2 l have no friends 10
whom care 10 pour out my woes
which is lucky for the friends BoOks'
NV library i certainly limited. | did
not come here 20 lead a boOkish life,
and beyond a Bible, Shakespeare, and
one or two other volumes, my shelves
are bare.
Women never seem at a loss TO dis
pose Of their time. What do they do,
wonder? Sew. / suppose; but, alas,
that panacea j. denied me. Oh. my
mother and my revered grandmother,
why did syou let me 90 out into the
world thus unprovided for2
Wei. if / am 70 write a diary, some
thing must be written that Is clear.
Shall feel my mental pulse. and re-
cord it, variations with tender solicit
tudes Hardly, 1 think, for / have a
strong conviction that .sthat way mad
ness lies, and what am specially be-
ginning this diary for is TO avoid NOR
bid inspections and imaginings.
What then? To journey round my
room after the fashion If Lemaistrc?
Genius might extract something from
the aspect of a bachelors room, in the
''three pair back Of New York
clearinghouse, but I confess that is
quite beyond my abilities. II Is all new
and prim. | have no time to fit myself
70 my nook, nor my nook TO me-
Well, then. outside. Outside there
are yards-city yards-and a row Of
houses with the wrong-side-out look
peculiar TO the backs Of city houses.
The fronts are brown stone, know.
Are the characters Of the inhabitants AS
different in the front and rear, won
der? Have they all back doors, where
the mean little higgling vices come and
90, while the lordly virtues stalk grand
~ up and down the front steps How
much could one learn Of ones neigh
bors' characters from these same literal
back doors. / wonder?
The house opposite looks rather more
attractive, or less repulsive, than the
rest. The scrap of grass plot is fresh
and green. and the borders are brown
with the rich tinge of newly-raked mold.
Two children are skirmishing about the
yard with the futile bowls to which boys
OF tender age are so marvelously at
tractei.
Eta" calls one Of them, in a shrill
squeal.
A girls head appears at the window
above.
My fish has come unburiedi" plain