Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1878-03-12

Travelled. II get seaslck on the CATS,
he said to me once, with a grim smile
and then be added slowly snd in
shrinking tone, "makes my feet sore L
ride too During the previous year h'
had "msde the tour Of Canada SIS h'
phrssed il; thence 10 Boston, New York
Charleston, New Orleans, and up th,
Mississippi to S.. Louis, and then across
illinois and Iowa, and finally TO Topeka
He had not worked over a week in any
one place, nor rode mile oa the whole
journey. "a hankerin' for scenery" wa'
the reason be gave me for this extended
'vn he And surely he had not been
b.inJ 10 he shifting delights OF sky and
sea AID ,ioSing forest which bad
opened ou, b, 'oir him like an uDrOlling
picture. Nor had he Jailed, vsga6ond as
he was, TO note the peculiar and varying
traits of the different people among
whom his travels had led him; for he
bad keen insight, and detected 3 flaw
or ioible of character as If il had been
Ia bourgeois letter in g line OF nonpareil.
he was better than book TO me. since
he read himself and tGrned his own
leaves; and grew TO look forward all
the day TO his coming nightly visit with
impatient eagerness. No doubt he lied
IL lN 81 .
ho Vas mortal and not wholly Without
egoIism; bn, ho did il. when he deemed
ii advisable, ia such large over coming,
cliff-like way that it was almost as good
as the truth. Where there is much 10 in-
terest. says some geuerons philosopher,
there must yet be something 10 pardon.
Why the boys in tue ofii-e called him
"Oij Noah. | cou.d never q1ite make
ol;. Perhaps il was because he hal
travelled 50 far and seen 50 much iha;
his life seemed to them to have been
F. projected. somehow, faster aud larIher
than the Years counted. Or, il may have
been that bis supreme indif renee 10 ali
the alert and urging elements OF every
day lie gave to him, in their estimation,
something OF the leaning aud waiting
.pirit OF one aged before nis time. Ce.-
tairIy be bore 10 physical signs OF being
an old man. IL stood erect, lacking even
I the depression Of chest that is character
isIit OF his craft; his eyes we're tuli, clear
and steady; and the slight touch OF ST..
yer IN his whiskets made MS lace strong
er rather than weaker. lie could not
! have been more than forts; be might
easily have passed Tor lhirly-hve. The
oldes' thing about him was bis costume.
/ That VAS always aud couspicuousy in
/ the pathetic second clildholl OF decay.
aud always. 100, out oi harmony with
the prevailing weather, lnu, appearing
to have been lett over from the preced-
: iug season. Tao summer TIA, | 50 > SO
I much OF him, he wore a heavy, diugy
beayer-clolh coat. usually buitoned TO
the chin with clerical exc ne,s-too OIL
teu spprehend, only to hi'e the want
OF SHIRT; and he drc'sied 10 me with
every indication Of tru,h ths, a pair OF
brown cotton over4ls h-d served TO
temper the bitter Illinois winds to his
shuddering frame thro' the previous
winter
The peacock is = pretty bird" he re-
/ marked 20 me once, Casually discoursing
upon this matter OF apparel, but it
doesn't count; with al lis gaudy feath.
ers. it can't siog worth a cent. 1t looks
well, but It's music is The most a5omins-
DIE noise | ever heard-aud have
boarded in a house where they kept a
melodeon, " he added. wi'h q conclusive
toss Of the head.
Like mos. printers, "Old Noah was q
good deal of a cynic, though his cyni-
cism was So closely wo)led with siuceri-
" that it was very difficult, frequently
quite impossible, to tell where the one
Left of and tho other began. A. have
said be looked upon life as play, aud
he was fond OF reciting Shakespeare )
Seven Ages' in support of this idea.
"It'S all right he wouId argue, las long
as you don't care. Tnat's the whole
secret. Ignorance IS bliss, oitener than
we think; lis knowing 100 much that
bothers people, and if your bothered you
can't enjoy the snow, don't you see? II
ISL altogether unlikely, let me tell you,
that well. behaved dog. asleep in the
sun aud sure Of bone for his dinner ism i
better of than we are, with all our wis
dom, and all our doubts. And yet he
reverenced wisdom, | am sure and re-
spected all honest opinions, and | think
that, away down in his heart. lurked u
quie, faith in the saving power Of virtue
bu. | doubt ii he telieyed very much in
the naked neral strength of human ma
ture. know be once sorely tried mY
patience in that regard. / was falling
him how George Insley, known to u:
both as a hardened specimen OF the
printer-toper, had taken the pledge and
was manlully keeping ii; and alter
had flashed. with the assurance that les
ley had rot tasted liquor tor nearly six
months (he subsequently sho, himself
poor fellow ,. be dropped his head s