Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-11-03
A PASSAGE FROM THE LIFE OF A
COMMONPLACE PERSON.

Small and neat-verv; age uncer-
tain; spectacles, thin faded hair, faded
Overcoat to match and an alpaca UNI
brella. He may be good. Will, but he
is one of the most communicating per-
sons have seen for some time"
"Did you ever see an original-looking
clerk?'' queried viii, refectively, from
his sofa by the fire. cit seems a moral
necessity. that they should all be fash
toned after the same pattern.''
els he a clerk?'' I asked, turning
round from the window.
"SoFord told me this afternoon. jay,
his name is; he's the cashier at Grims-
by's."
The said cashier had just come up the
house. A woodward on one side and a
long, low store-shed on the other sepa-
rated the two houses, that and ours,
from the rest of the street. The other
had been empty for months past, but a
week ago the bill had been taken down
from the narrow, dusty window; some
old fashioned furniture had arrived in q
cart, under the charge of grim-faced,
deaf old woman, and lastly the tenant
himself appeared upon the scene, and
from the open laths of the Venetian we
anxiously surveyed him, and straight
way came to the aforesaid conclusion.
Will was an invalid-there. was some
thing wrong with his spine, and often
for weeks together he never left his sofa.
There were only the two of us now, and
necessarily spending the greater part of
our lives shut into our tiny house, we had
fallen into a habit of watching and
specializing upon the stray threads of
buster lives that sometimes drifted past
the quiet corner where our barks had
stranded. This was one. We had
built up tall castles round the coming
unknown, and it was rather a descent to
find such an insignificant, commonplace
parsonage for the occupant.
For two or three months his comings
and goings were matter of careless in
difference to us. There was not the
shadow of popularity about him to
waken any interest. Punctually at
twenty minutes to nine every morning
he let himself out of the front door
punctually at twenty minutes past six
every evening he let himself in. Every
Sunday morning he went to church,
and in the afternoon read big, brown
volume that might have been either a
family Bible or Shakespeare, and af-
ter a heightened discussion the first
week upon his possible reasons for
wearing such remarkable drab over
coat, we left our little neighbours move
ments unnoticed and uncriticised.
At length, in the middle of one bleak
October night, we inaugurated an &C
uuaintance with him. Will was seized
with one of his worst attacks; the doc
tors house was nearly mile away, and
our one maid was q stranger and knew
nothing of the place; there was no time
to lose, and in utter perplexity slipped
out at our front door and knocked loud
" at the next. 1t was opened, after
what seemed terribly long interval, by
little Mr.. Jay himself, with q candle in
his hand; he looked slightly amazed at
the sight of me.
"Isn't it Miss Bryce?' he asked; sis
anything the matterP"
cit is my brother-he is so i'll, and I
haven't any one to send for the doctor;
would you mind"
"Of course I will,'' he interposed;
and remembered after how promptly
the response came; "where does he
livep'
/ told him, and hurried back. The
doctor came, he had helped us through
many previous illnesses, and shortly af-
ter the paroxysm passed, and Will
quietly dropped off to sheep.
He was not able to come down the
next day at all, and we took our tea up
stairs together in the evening. In the
midst of it there came a gentle knock at
the front door, and message was
brought up that Mr.. Jay would like to
see me for Q minute.
..The first cali of the SERIES" COM
mented Will. "MiDd you thank him
for me, for fetching Ford"
Mr.. Jay was standing on the rug in