The sun., 1878-04-21
AMUSE1fHN1S.


Mo i,or. Amiscrable little i.as jet that struG
sij I'm IFS wire cage high up on the mouldy |
s..k wall throw q wavcring and pallid CLEAN |
,. h,r n.,,tre, and ! saw that she was carry |
AMI arriiu NJ flowers.
afs il possihe" | said. that you have not |
...,..vn that weakness? Besides. 1, is un- |
t.anby to keep them in your chamber"
shall ncvor forget the tender cxultntion and |
,athos with which she replied:
'"wbv io.morrow's Eastcr-Easter Sunday. |
rm rou. TO send them to church."
Che PASSED ON. | saw her Il moment like n |
.tdo,y at the end of the passage. heard the rat
,.of wheels and then pushed my way to the |
s,se remember now how unusually the cir |
mrstan,cs and conditions of tho place affected |
:, Familiar as I was with the people and
hi, task. everything wore new aspect of
enniug. fcvcrish uurcallty. The promptcr
"a. sleepy and cross. The stage manager was
,olcn,. The wings were full OF groups. and
me- characters as their turn camo. rushed into
,ho glare of the stage with mechanical smile.
and rushed back as II glad to get out of the To-
rus The shimmering air above the footlights
made the great chasm OF grinning people be-
,ond dance In hot eddics. and between the rip
,les could see swollen faces and long rows Of
figures strangely uniform with common ami
mai delight The very music that came up
from the orchestra seemed sitting. like the odor
OF dead bouquets. The resounding irony OF the
anplhuse smote me with lcaden mockery.
looked in at cell that the leading man called
his dressing room. Hc was leaning against
,he partition under the gaslight tanning him.
sell, with n broad slouch Nat. and looking over
his part His face and neck Glistened with the
moisture that WINS oozing from his body. The
,f tho Iar bfp,a
petual fever. He was irritable. sick. and petu-
hnt
remember coming out Of this plaoh into tho
soo night air as one wakes out Of delirium into
sonyalescence. An Easter moon was hanging
in the sky and the city lay asleep in the placid.
white light.
Then Milccnts words came back to me. as II
they were floating on this sweet night air. " To-
morrow is Easter sunday"
wml. what Off
Ny dear reader with the chimes coming In at
your open window this morning. let us not try
to separate the great fact from the great senti-
mcnt when they pulse together in tho common
ather.
am going to tell you my experience. They
are facts or sentiments. according to the me-
dium through which they pass.
Two things stuck to me on that night with
tenaeiy that | cannot explain. One was the
seAly oppressive odor Of the flowers that had
encountered In the theatre The other was the
sad and weary look OF Millicent when she said.
Tomorrow is Easter"
came down town. All the clocks in the sky
said II was Easter morning in Printing House
square. But all the evidences OF life in that
nocturnal workshop said It did not make bit
Of difference. The very pavements spouted
steam. The ground shook as If the great heart
Of the city had been imprisoned underneath
Windows cleaned high up. Her. and there a
newsboy had gone to sleep on the iron gratngs
OF the vaults. using the hot vapor for a counter
pane.
Do not for one moment think that Printing
House square looks unlike itself on Easter
morning. Nonsense. That is not 1t. 1t is al
ways the same. let the morning be what IL may.
But on this occasion / brought the odor Of
dead flowers with me. II hung in my clothes.
At intervals got puff OF it-subte. deathy.
eyanoscent
1t might be imagination; but then. rs you
know very well. a man might ns we'll die OF hy-
drophoba as OF the fear of IL. And nobody in
Printing House square. l find. ever has timo at
one O'Clock in the morning to draw fine line
between Imagination and fact.
II.
But look you. When there is a taint as OF
yesterdays blossoms in the AIR. you see things
strangely. | thought the night workers were
ghosts. They had stealthy air / had never
noticed before. The phantom reporters never
looked up from their weary tasks. / said to
myself this is the dream OF yesterday These
demons OF the night preserve il so that man
can recall its horrors and tears tomorrow. A
shadow life. You have TO catch the adumbra-
tons when the sun is gone. and the oxygen is
scant. For when the blaze OF life is full you
cannot see the shadows.
There is one short interval in the night when
tho noxiOus eXhalatons Of the earth lie in a
heavy blanket on men and cities. For an hour
the pulse OF life beats at its lowest At that
hour the watcher sees the invalid die Then II
is We have the mysterious dreams. Then IT is
that in the last descent OF sleep we touch the
earth that is waiting for us.
That is the hour to cat h a car and wind your
iunerea way up town. II only 10 see the ghosts
twill pick up
We call this the dead OF night 1t is because
the dead Of a great city are astir.
The tide Of darkness and silence has whelmed
the last saloon. Here and there a cellar yomiis
out figure. II is phantom. Here and there
something skulhs from II side street 1t is Il
Tol.4.. Who d.ed about three years ago.
remember very distinctly now that / en-
countered on that night ride some OF the most
uhearthly faces | ever saw. | remember how
unreal the pale countenances looked as they
boobed and swayed with the motion of the car
Above all remember one peculiar sensation.
II seemed to me that the paint. the lewelry. the
hnery on the bedlzzened corpses gave out that
same unml,takabe odor that had hung to me
all the evening
Dld you ever wake up suddenly in the night
and find y,ur bed surrounded. and your
chamber packed full Of mourners. pressing
close 10 look down on you as you lay there
helpless
lhri were ghosts. The doctor will tell you
"e' We're Illusions. Don't believe him. Illu-
slonS DO not wake you UP with such start.
lney VIII all fit away with the light. But
you can never quite rid yourself Of the impress
s'oh mat they will all come again at some time.
ana then you will go away with them.
II ever that visitation is made to YOU you will
ho'lee with sickly wonder the odor of dead
mowers IN your room or in your soul. as If
every ghost had retained the last bouquet that
Aad been laid on his cOffin.
oleourso the moment lifo ceases in the met
topolltan body there come. rs come TO the ind-
Nuual body, all noXious and fostering
10, ii,