Litchfield enquirer., 1879-12-25
WHOLE NO. 2794

May summer had stolep upon us. capricious, 1 in short-lived beauty; fresh green was every where, and the grass, where it was allowed to grow, was rich and yellow with buttercups. After noon it was almost too hot; mypace fell to 8 crawl my mind, relieved from the cares of office, began to resume it's old habits l not | ed little turns of the head nervous laughs and
 coughs tricks which philosophical friend as- cribes to our insular shYness. @ g glat i.
 Tom Bolivar is not shy. While l was
 musing he came and seized me by the arm.
 should have liked to skake myself free of him, but 1 have not enough strength of mind to hurt
 anybody's feelings. Tom is, not nice in the park. He is little rough in dress and man. ners, rather loud of voice, and fond of being
 looked at. suppose that he is 2 fine-looking l fellow he is certainly big. He is burly, and
 heavy for young man; suppose that he is young. He has broad nose and rough red dish skin, in which the color is fixed, and sug- gestive of the regular but moderate cOnsump- |. tion of alcohol; the bloom of youth has been succeeded by the blossom. People look at
 him askance, and he takes it for admiration. 1 do not like to walk with him in the park. Il say, look there l" cried Tom, with unne- cessary noise, and, grasping my arm, as if 1t
 were pint pot 'look at that old blazer" | looked, and started There was something | familiar in the extraordinary figure. It was certainly extraordinary. There was pair of Hessian boots, which were so old and had
 been so rubbed and polished that should
 have thought them but polish and tassels, if boots could stand without leather. Was it possible that vanity prompted the display of
 these shrunken limbs2 As my eyes passed
 upward noted an old, old coat, which stirred faint memories of gentlemen with long whips
 in unsuccessful circuses. It was magnifcently frogged, but obviously thin. It had been blue all over, but was now very white in parts. It was so tight that methought the poor old but
 tons were one and all frenzied in the struggle for existence; each life hung on thread.
 Could it be that the cause of this display of
 the board-like form was vanity The hat was not in harmony with the remainder of the
 costume. The garments were the garments of
 the romantic Stranger" of KotZebue. The
 hat was the reckless, mysterious sombrero of the Mexican of Captain Mayne Reid. Redo.
 lent of the prairie was the handke rchief, loose
 ly knotted about the white scanned throat. 1
 looked earnestly at the face, but it was not
 familiar. "He does this every day." said
 Tom, showing me toward this eccentric caval-
 fer. ''Did you ever see such a gay old guy ?" Tom spoke in his hoarse whisper, which seems to have the effect of telephone. was
 uncomfortable, and pushed on without sec-
 ond look. Yet saw nothing else. The fig ure haunted me. paid no attention to Toms
 remarks on fashionable folks nor even to his
 emphatic nudges. My memory was fitting from place to place, from epoch to epoch of
 my career. On a sudden it lit upon the old gentleman. Why should l think of him
 This cavalier of the Park, for all his shrunken limbs was evidently younger than that vener- able artist. Moreover, nobody knew better | than that the old gentleman on the boards 1 and with no glass before him, was shy. had long ago decided that the quality which lay
 beneath his tricks and oddities-the soil from 1 which they drew their vitality-was shyness. ] It was in the highest degree improbable that a shy man would attire himself as if he run a circus in the boundless prairie, and, thus
 conspicuous, would tread. the park at it's most
 fashionable hour. The idea was intoerabe.
 whistled it down the wind, and turned my
 attention to the minuter peculiarities of per- sons less highly cOlored. 1 wished that 1
 could whistle Tom Bolivar down the wind it
 would have required May hurricane. With
 Tom still dragging at my arm 1 turned. and
 agaln encountered the Mexican stranger. As
 1 met him he glanced at me from the corner of his eye, and quickly averted his head. I
 knew the movement , my vague fancies leaped
 together and were certainty it was the old
 gentleman. It was impossible but true.
 Tom gave hoarse laugh to show his ap- preciation of the unusual costume. 1 shook
 him off and started in pursuit of my friend.
 Tom said "Halloo !" and followed me. Push-
 ing somewhat roughly through the sauntering
 crowd, d,I came to the side of theold gentleman
 The old color came up into the thin lined
 cheek, but with strange difference it was
 no wonder that he looked younger, for he was
 elaborately made up. 1 took his arm as
 did so, 1 heard kind of roar of astonishment
 behind me. 1 turned my head and saw Tom
 Bolivar standing open-mouthed.. For a mo-
 ment he stood ikea beast in a slaughter-house,
 then he fed 1 was rid of Tom. The arm
 which took was trembling; the color had
 ebbed from the cheek and left it ghastly, for all it's decoration. The old gentleman nut
 tered something, and interpreting his speech
 to suit my wishes, 1 hurried him out of the
 crowd. There were people all about us star ing. A cad laughed; a policeman made
 witty remark. Afterward remembered these trides. At the time 1 thought of nothing but the old gentleman, who seemed about to faint. l helped him into cab, and followed him,
 though he made feeble gesture of expostula-
 tion. 1 asked for his address He fumbled
 in his old coat, and with poor imitation of his ancient flourish gave me card grown dir
 ty and limp about the corners. On it was
 written in pencil an address. His dwelling
 was in the dreariest street ill Soho. He had
 bedroom in mean house--a bedroom to the corners of which the brush of the slattern paid angel visits; whence, when the faded, stained
 blind had gone up crooked, one could discern 8 smudged back window, two irregular chim- ney- pots, some defective slates, probably cat. In his room in Soho I saw the last of the old gentleman. He liked my visits; used to send out for moderate supply of whlskey.
 Under it's influence he made few remarks
 He said that he could not understand why
 managers had suddenly ceased to offer him engagements. ''Soon after my daughter left
 me, he said. '1 fell out of employment I
 have never been able to understand the reason.
 faaI hakV h,~xo sk as ever." He had just finished his first, tum-
 bier. On another occasion he begged me not
 to suppose that his daughter had been unkind.
 l asked if she had not been able to help him.
 He pushed his tremulous right hand into the
 breast of his coat and in an attitude of pride said: 'fUnder the circumstances, did not feel that could accept pecuniary assistance" !" Then his hand came out from his chest; he seemed to shrink in his chair; he bowed his head almost to his knees, and heard him muttering, 'God forgive mel" he said, q felt that he had forgotten my presence); q could not take her money. l trfed-God forgive me?-but couldn't"
 When last visited him he was wandering little he was nervous and fidgety. He muttered fragments of prayers and plays, and broke of again and again to ask if it was not time to go to the Park s'I mustn't miss the park, !" he said; "everybody'll be there-the public-1 can't do without the public " Af- terward he prattled as if he were talking to a child. I could not hear much, but at last he spoke out very clearly, and said "Baby must clap her hands to pretty mamma when the big curtain goes up." After that he said nothing. He would not touch his whiskey, and knew that the end was near f-y s.f ....f
 There will be the novelty of two Connecti- cut Legislatures meeting in one week at Hart ford next month. The last Legislature was SO confident that the biennial session amendment would be adopted that it adjourned to meet on the 9th of January, but as the biennial ses- session project was voted down the members -