Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-07-28
With which he turned on his heel, and
left the old lady wondering if what he
said was really true.
CHAPTER III,

Not very long ago 1 had occasion to
visit Cincinnati, and by invitation stop
ped with Hal Rivers, at his snug bach
elor quarters, instead of at a hotel. He
had prospered. From a journeyman
painter he had worked his way up till
he had established large store apd
mandatory for the preparation and
sale of paints and kindred commodities.
He was not yet a millionaire, but his
income was a very good one, and his
duties by no means onerous.
While there formed the acquaintance
of Max Van Heyden, an artist, of Ger
man descent. He was dreamy, philo-
sophical sort of fellow, possessing much
talent, and l became quite intimate
with him through his frequent visits at
Halls lodgings and his fondness for dis
cussiOn. ~HE
One evening we were talking about
the rarity of phenomenal character. /
had been reading work on statistics,
and was much surprised by the truth
with which deductions could be drawn
from general estimate. The same num-
Der of suicides Cor nearly the same), for
instance, might be expected every year.
and from the same causes. There would
rected and sent to the Dead-letter Office
just so many annual removals, and
fires, and murders. We are always sur
prised by the mathematical regularity
of statistics. Life and its actions seem
to be like disease, chrono-thermal. 1
said this much to Hal and Max, who
were present.
"Very true," said Max, "yet we are
continually running against phenomena.
At times it seems as if every separate in
dividual were cast in a totally different
mold. Where are these classes who do
the same thing every year?'
/" Everywhere. misdirected letter
last week, for the first time in my life.
You may commit murder tomorrow.
Hal, here, may kill himself. We shall
then have added our mites to the annual
lists.''
"I should like to see the statistics of
thought and emotion. How far could
they be carried, wonder? thought,
yesterday, that I had found q curious
and unique study-a phenomenal char
acter-but dare say that close statistics
would give US a class of the same kind
so many in Cincinnati, so many in New
York, in London, or Paris.''
81" Who is your study-your phenome-
non?''
"Oh, only my washerwoman. She is
an odd specimen-an ancient dame who
has been very handsome, and very rich,
l believe. She comes after my soiled
linen like queen entering penance-
cell in chapel, and bears it away with
the air of Pharoah's daughter carrying
off the infant Moses.''
"She has sseen better days. thenp"
"Yes, but is too proud to whine about
it. 1 learned yesterday that she has a
daughter whom she supports in COM
fort, if not elegance, by her labor"
'sNice kind of a daughter to live on
the old lady, eh?"
"That is the odd part of it. The
mother keeps her in profound ignorance
of her condition. The daughter is living
with distant relative, and the old lady
only visits her once month, when, of
course, she is a great lady again. She
has trumped up some plausible story of
a small income, 1 suppose; and so goes
on, wearing herself out, that miss may
wear out silks and laces."
"Self-denial is virtue rare enough
to be worthy of cultivation"
eyes: am obliged by my conscience
to pay high prices for my washing, but
it is not self-denial, think, so much as
pride. The ancient dame is too proud
to let even her daughter know how poor
she is. She doesn't mind me, becauseI
am a stranger; and she thinks know
nothing about her. Her assumed name
and double-veil worn in the street are
disguise enough
The result of this conversation was a
general desire, on our part, to assist the
old lady in her labOr-which, though
imposed by pride only, had, neverthe-
less, something of nobility about it.
agreed to employ her during my brief
stay, and Hal wished to do so perma-
nently. Max gave her our address, and
when she came Hal recognized Mrs.
Bland.
A mistake in the character of lawyer
she had trusted had been fatal to her
fortune. Farms, houses, and, finally,
money had been swallowed up in law
suit, to 90 into the pocket of her attor-
ney. Reduced to poverty, she had sent
Flora to visit her relatives in Cincinnati,
without informing her of the truth. The
village where she had been so aristp-
cratic was no place to live in when she
was penniless; so she soon followed
Flora to town, and actually began, at
fifty-five. to work for her bread.
3 The lesson was terrible one, and the
apology she made to Hal when he told
her who he was and the circumstances
of their last meeting, was curious
between conscience and
dignity. He had not forgotten the in
terest that Flora had taken in him, nor
that which she had aroused; and he
only wished for an opportunity to show
Mrs. Bland that there was a dignity
which coarse garments and unintellec-
tual pursuits could not tarnish.
The family with whom Flora lived
was one of the most respectable in Gin
but it was not very difficult for
Hal, well-to-do and cultivated as he
was, to become acquainted with them.
Flora remembered him-she blushed
when she heard his name--she bright
ened up and became vivacious when she
chatted with him of their first meetings
and conversations. In short, they be-
came intimate, far more intimate than
a. L.