The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1881-10-13
lFrom the Living Age.l
MY FAITHFUL JOHNNY.
CHAPTER 1.

Everybody knows the charming
song which is called by this name. l
hear it sometimes in a young house
hold full of life and kindness and mu-
sic, where it is sung to me, with ten
der indulgence for my weakness and
limited apprehension Of higher efforts,
by the most sympathetic and softest
Of voices. A kind half-smile mingles
in the music on these occasions.
Those dear people think I like it be-
cause the translated words have a
semblance Of being Scotch, and | am
Scot. But the words are not
Scotch, nor is this their charm. I
don't even know what they are. Il
will come again, my sweet. and bon
ME" That, or indeed the name even,
is enough for me. l confess that I
am not musical. When I hear any
thing that I like much, at least from
an instrument, [ instantly conceive a
contempt for it, feeling that it must
be inferior somehow to have commend
ed itself to me. I wander vainly
seeking an idea through fields and
plains Of sonatas. So do great many
other lowly people, like me, got gifted
with taste or (it) hearing; but, if you
will only suggest an idea to me, l will
thankfully accept that clue. | don't
understand anything about dominant
sevenths or any mathematical quantity.
"How much?" [ feel inclined to say
with the most vulgar. Therefore my
faithful Johnny" charms ME because
this is a suggestion of which my fancy
is capable. [ don't know who the
faithful Johnny was, except that he is
to come again, and that somebody,
presumably, is looking for him; and,
with this guide, the song takes hum
dred tones, sorrowful, wistful and
penetrating. | see the patient wait
ing, the doubt which is faith, the long
vigil-and hear the soft cadence of
sighs. and with them, through the
distance, the far-off notes Of the prom
ise-never realized, always expected
II will come again y This is how /
like to have my music. | am an ig-
norant person. They smile and hu-
NOR me with just tender touch of
the faintest, kindest contempt. Stay
not contempt. the word is far too
harsh; let us say indulgence-the
meaning is very much the same.
do not think [ had ever heard the
song when | first became acquainted
with the appearance Of man with
whom, later, this title became COM
pletely identified. He was young
under thirty-when saw him first,
passing my house every morning as
regular as the clock on his way to his
work, and coming home in the evening
swinging his cane, with a book under
his arm, his coat just little rusty,
his trousers clinging to his knees more
closely than well-bred trousers cling,
his hat pushed back little from
his forehead. 1t was unnecessary to
ask what he was. He was a clerk in
an Office. This may be anything, the
reader knows, from lofty function
ary managing public business, to
numberless nobodies who toll i'll dusty
offices and are in no way better than
their fate. It was to this order that
my clerk belonged. Every day OF his
life, except that blessed Sunday which
sets such toilers free, he walked along
the irregular pavement of the long
suburban road at nine o'clock in the
morning were it wet or dry; and be-
tween five and six he would come
back. After all, though it was mo-
nOtonous it was not hard life for he
had the leisure of the whole long even
ing to make up for the bondage Of the
day. He was pale man with light
hair, and face more worn than either
his years or his lahors warranted. But
his air of phyical weakness must have
been due to his colorless complexion
or some other superficial cause, for hi
extreme and unbroken regularity wa
inconsistent with anything less than
thoroughly good health.
He carried his head slightly throw
back, and his step had a kind Of irTeg
, ularity in it which made it familiar t
! ! me among many others !; at each half
dozen steps or so his foot would dra
upon the pavement, giving a kind Q
rythm to his progress. All these pa,
ticulars [ became aware of, not sue
denly, but by dint of long unconsciou
observation, day after day, day afte
day, for so many years. Never W;
there a clerk more respectable, mo-
D regular. I found out after aWhi
Ie that he lodged about half a mile fu
" ther On in one Of the little houses in
which the road dwindled as it st'~, st'.,1
ii o,,1 4oxuorJa H. - NeAl