Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1878-04-16

No doubt he lied to me many times anC
scandalously, for he was mortal and no.
wholly without egotism; bat ne did it
when he deemed it advisable, in such s
large, overcoming, cliff-iike way, that il
was almost as good as the truth. Where
there is so much to interest, says some
generous philosopher, there must be yet
something to pardon.
| Why the boys in the office called him
"Old Noah," could never quite make
out. Perhaps it was because he had
travelled so far and seen SO much that
his life seemed to them to have projected
forward, somehow, faster and farther
than the years counted. Or, it may
ence to all the alert and urging elements
of everyday life gave to him, in their
estimation, something of the leaning
and waiting spirit of one aged before
his time. Certainly he bore no physi-
cal signs Of being an old man. He stood
erect, lacking even the depression of
chest that is Characteristic of his craft
his eyes were full, clear and steady !;
and the slight touch of silver in his
whlsker5 made his face stronger rather
than weaker. He could not have been
more than forty he might easily have
passed for thirty-fve. The oldest thing
about him was his COSTUME. That was
always and conspicuously in the pathet-
ic second childhood of decay, and al
Ways, too. out of harmony with the
prevailing weather, thus appearing to
have been left over from the preceding
season. The summer that I saw so
much Of him he wore q heavy, din gy
heaver-cIoth coat, usually buttoned to
the chin with clerical exactness-too
often, | apprehend, only to hide the
want OF shirt; and he declared to me
with every indication of truth, that
pair OF brown cotton overalls had served
to temper the bitter Illinois winds to
his sh1vering frame during the previous
winter.
1.-THE peacock is a pretty bird" he
remarked to me once, casually dis
coursing upon this matter of apparel,
''but it doesn't count; with all its gaudy
feathers, it can't sing worth cent. It
looks well, but its music is the most
abominable noise [ ever heard-and I
have boarded il house where they
kept melodeon," :" he added, with con-
elusive toss of the head.
Like most printers, "Old Noah" was
a good deal Of a cynic, though his cyn-
icism was SO closely woofed with a
subduing sincerity that it was very diff
flcult, frequently quite impossible, to
tell where the one left of and the other
began. AS l have said, he looked upon
life as play, and he was fond Of recit-
ing Shakspeare's "Seven Ages" in sup
port of this idea. It's all right" he
would argue, ''as long as you don't care.
That's the whole secret. Ignorance is
bliss oltener than we think it's know
Ing too much that bothers people; and
| IF 'Ya Intl, ~
show, don't you see? Itisn't altogether
unlikely, let me tell you, that well-be-
bayed dog, asleep in the sun, and sure
of bonefor his dinner, isn't better off
han we are, with ali our wisdom, and
all our doubts" And YET hereveranced
wisdom, ! am sure, and respected ali
honest opinions, and [ think that, away
down in his heart, IuEked quiet faith
in the saving power of virtue; but [
doubt if he believed very much in the
naked moral strength Of human nature.
l was telling him how George InsIey.
known to us both as q hardened speci-
men Of the pTintcr-toper, had taken the
pledge and was manfully keeping it
and after l had finished, with the as-
suTance that Insley had not tasted liquor
tNr nearly six nlonths Ihe subsequently,
shat himself, poor fellow y he dropped
his head, and then locking up with an
incredulous smile, said quietly:
"Ihere 2caS some truth liz those Ara
bian Nights stories, then, after all ?r
,5inguiarly enough, 100, his skspticisnl
wGs confined to his own sex singularIy,
[ say, for he was q man, you know,
and not woman. "It was Eve that
the snake had to charm and betray,"
he was accustomed to put it; adam
fell as & matter OF courae." This was a
little sophistic, to be sure, as E.Ucl, of
his logic was apt to Ea. out Tie senti-
ment OF it was so lluightiy that it read
lily Won hlm credit among his critical
fellow printers, even at the expense of
some disloyaity TO their own personal
sense OF masculine superiority.
He had been il love, once in his life,
this tattered prcdigal and the venture
had not been what could be called a
complete success. lie told me all about
it. OF his own accord one restful Right.
as we sat on the bridge at the foo5 of
Kansas avenue, listening to the culver
Of the cottonwood foliage. and watch
ing the river slowly gather the shadows
to its taWny bosom. He was religiously
sober that night for q wonder, and felt
that it must have been some subtle witch
craft OF the atmosphere, rather than the
few SO so remarks we had Just been ex-
changing about Phil Reade's marriage
, with the winsome little singer, Minnie
Beais, that SO auddsniy drew his eyes
away from the water and out into the
vague perspective beyond the opposite
shore, and sent his thoughts backward
with g bound, as it were, to the rich DAYS
when every sky was blue to him, and
every sound a rapture of harmony.
she Ey:s 3 COED, solemn Girl he
; began, "and think her intentions were
honorable all the time. l know, now,
that she was not handsome, for her eyes
| were crossed slightly, and her cheek
, bones were high, and her chin had a
, retiring turn-the face didn't Justify
you understand-and her hair inclined
to redness; but she was as beautiful to
! me, then, as flower, and J. loved her
| very dearly. 1 vas holding the ed.
case On the quincy Herald, in Illinois,
at the time, and saving money every
? week. was expecting to be a man Of
: family, you l.u0W. i had iiXcd ia it,v
r own mind what kind of house we
would have, where we would buy our
| groceries, how the children would lool,
= and what we would name them there
, were to be several Of them, all girls, ana
/ a. hundred other things that I'ni asham-
, ed TO THINK OF now. But it was ak very
| real TO me then, tell you. Not that /
] ever spoke to Isabel-pretty name.
e wasn't it?-about such matters. Oh,
1 no. We we've 3 vary sensible pair OF
lovers, !. can assure you, and our court
ship was painfully correct. There was
; none Of the you bright orb nonsense
= about rs. We weren't bit spocney.-
| We di6n't turn the Light down. nor
say darling Notany. Once, only once,
t pat my arm around her waist, and
!, might have kissed her, may be, but she
f looked s4uaIaiy into my lace, and said,
l You forget, and that vas ali there
: was Of it. used to wish, sometimes,
= that she would be a little more demon
D stiatIve-one gets tired of mere words,
/ you know, in takes of that kind-but
: perhapB--perhaps it was better as it
) was"
e He paused ana pressed his hands 10
! ms Tofen sad, as il rs reared tha sweet
= memory would slip away from him in
: his talk and sat waiting for him to
$ proceed, busying myself meanwhile
&, = sf,,, al,