New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-11-26

Bruised, wsve beaten. We gained the bay
Ny life as left, but my ono treasurelay
Lost. in my IT -, for ever and aye.
THE CANvAsSER's TALE.
BIZ MARK TWAIN.
Poor, sad-eyed stranger! There was that
about his humble mi@n, his tired look, his
decayed gentility clothes, that almost
reached the mustard seed of charity that
still remained, remote and lcnsly, in the
empty vastoess of my heart, nOtwlthstand-
Jog l observed . portfolio under bis arm.
ami said to myself, Behold, Providence
hath delivered his servant into the hands OF
another canvasser.
Well, these people always get one inter-
ested. Before / we'll knew how it came
about this one was telling me his history.
and l WAS all attention and sy mpathy. de
told it something like thi:
NV parents died. alas, when was lit
tie, sinlees child. My uncle 1thuriel took
me- to his heart and reared me rs his own.
He was my only relative in the wide world;
but he was good and rich and generous.
He reared me in the lap of luxury. knew
no want that money could satisfy.
In the fu'laess Of time WAS graduated,
and went with two of my servants-my
chambermaid and nv valet-to travel IN
foreign countries. During four years l
fitted upon careless wing amid the beau
teous Rardens of the distant strand, If you
will permit this form Of speech in one
whose tongue was ever sttuned to pocsy;
and indeed I 90 epeak with confidence, ~
one unto nis kind, for I perceive BY your
eyes that you too, cir, are gifted With tho
eled in the ambrosisl food that trueti6es
the soul, the mind, the heart. But Of Ill
the thinRs, that which most appealed to
my Unborn aesthetic taste was the prevailing
custom there, am0pg the rich, OF making
collections of elegant and costly rafi,iee.
dainty oJets de vertu, and in an evil hour
tried TO upl,ft my uncle Ithuriel to . plane
Of sympathy with this exquisite employ
nent.
Iwrots and told him of one gentlemsn's
vast collection Of SHELL; another's noble
elevating and refining collection OF undeCi-
pherablc autographs; another's priceless col
iectivn of old china; another . nchsntipg col
lection of postage stamps. and 60 forth and
60 on. Soon my letters yielded fruit. My IN.
clel began to look about for something to
make . collection of. You may know, per-
haps, how feetly taste like this dllates:
His soon became . raging fever, though l
knew it not. He began to negl. Ct his great
and turned an elegant leisure into rsbid
search for curious things. HE wealth was
vast and he spared it not First he tried
COW bells. He made . collection which
filled five large salons, and comprehended al
the different sorts of COW bells that ever
had been contrived, save one. That one
an antique, and the only specims IN extant-
was possessed BY smother collector. Ny
uncle offered enormous sumo for 1t, but tho
gentleman would mot SELL Doubtless you
know what necessarily resulted. A true
collector attaches NO value to collection
that 10 not complete. His great heart
breaks, he soils his hoard, he turns his
mind to some field that seems unoccupied.
Thus did my uncle. He next tried
brick bats. After piling ny vast and in
tensely interesting collection; the former ss
again; he sold ont his souls idol to tina re-
tired brewer who possessed the missing
brick. Then he tried flint hstchets and
| other implements of primeval man, but by
and by discovered that the factory where
they were made was supplying other col
| lectors % we'll a. himself. He tried Aztec
| inscriptions and stuffed whales-another
| When his collection seemed 1T last perfect,
| . stuffed whale arrived from Greenland and
an Aztec inscription from the Cundurango
| regions of Central America that made oil
| former specimens insignifcant. My unCle
| hsstened to secure these noble gems. He
| cot the stuffed whale, but another collector
l got the inscription. A real Condursngo, ~
| possibly you know, 10 possession OF such
| supreme value that, when once : collector
| gets 1t, he will rather part with his family
| than with it. So my uncle sold out, and
saw his darlings 20 forth, never more to re-
| turn: and his coal black hair turned white
| "a snow in q single night.
| Now he waited and thought. He knew
another disappointment would kill him.
He was resolved that he would choose
things next time that NO other man was
collecting. He carefully raade up his mind
and once more entered the field-this time
| to make Q collection OF echoes.
"Of what" said !.
echo in Georgia that repeated four timer;
his next was . six-repeater in Maryland;
his next was Q tbirteen.repeater in Maine;
| his next was nine-repoater in kansae; hil
pext was q twelve-repeater in Tennessee
which he got cheap, 90 to speak, because II
WAS out If repair, q portion OF the craR
which reflected it having tumbled down
He believed he could repair it at cost Of
few thousand dollars, and, by increasing
repeating capacity; but the architect who
undertook the job had never built IN
echo before, and 90 he utterly spoiled
this one. Before he meddled with it, II
used to talk back like m0ther-in-law, bul
now it was only 1T for the deaf and dumb
asylum. Well, next he bought lot O
cheap little double barreled echoes, scat
tered around over various States and Ter
ritoriee; he got them ct twenty per cent Of
by taking the lot. Next he bought . per
fsct eating gun Of an echo in Oregon, and j
| coat n fortune. can tell you. You maj
know. sir, that 10 the echo market the scsi'
Of prices 10 cumulative. like the carat seal
In diamonds; in fact, the same phrsseolog.
is used. A single-carat echo is worth by
$40 over and above tho value OF the land !
il On; tvo-carst or ble'barreled ech'
is worth $50; five-carst iswsrth $3.50: !!
ten-osrat is worth $l3,00Q My uncle
Oregon echo, which he called the Urea
Pitt Echo, was Q twenty-five caret gem
and cost $2l6, 900; they threw tho land In
for it was 400 miles from settlement.
Well. In the meantime my path Va
| q path of r0ees. I was the aCcepto>
sutton of the Only and lovely daughter Q
an English earl. and was beloved to dis
traction. In that dear presence l SWAN II
seas of BLISS. The family were content
for it was known that was sole heir TO q
uncle held to be worth five milli0Ds OF do
lars However, none of us knew that %
uncle had become collector, at least I
anything more than q small way, for %;
thetiO amusement.
Now gathered the clouds above my M
conscious head. That div no echo, zinc
known throughout the world M the Gses
| X nh.i-noor. or Mountain Of kepet Il ioni