Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-07-26
LITTLE BLUE EYES;
on,
H0V She Helped Me Ont Of Il,

bY NJ QUAD
Can sit with youI'
Certainly, SIR
nice weather.
Splendid, indeed
Crops growing iinelyT
Yes, couldn't do better.
Twas sitting In u passenger coach,
on u Wisconsin railroad, one day,
years ago, when n.good looking, pleas
ant spoken man came along, stopped at
my seat, aud the above conversation
took place, aud the latter part OF II ai'
ter had given him part of my seat
Now am regarded Us social man,
| like u joke, q good bit; aud think
sour, morose man, who uses his
tongue only when obliged to, is bound
to die of some terrible disease, aud 90
to some place Of red hot punishment.
On entering railroad cur always
look about for tnlkative man, and
then get as close to him rs possible,
aud drain him dry, ifthc journey is
long enough.
And want to state one thing more.
Left an orphan before could realize
the event which had made me one, !
got kicked here and cuAed there, and
grew up between folks as they say.
ought to have had at the time !
write, q pretty thorough knowledge Of
human nature, aud have been enabled
to read in mans face il he intended
me evil. / did not pride myself on be-
ing over keen or extra sharp, but the
knocking around among strangers
ought to give one u good experience.
Well, the stranger and ] fell into an
easy train of conversation as we rode
on together, and in ten minutes be-
gan to enjoy his company. He was n
well made fellow, finely dressed, and
he wore fine watch and simon pure
diamond ring. l never saw man
who could talk so easily and so pleas
antly. 1t seemed that he had but to
open his mouth and the words fell right
out.
l had travelled in the South, so had
he; / had heard the loud roar of the
Pacific, he knew all about it. l bad
been up in balloon, down in mine,
been blown up, smashed up, and re-
paired again; my new friend has ex-
: perienccd all these things; and was
waiting for something to turn up of u
more startling nature. We agreed on
politics, and l had never met such q
railroad companion.
Did you ever meet man who,
though a stranger to you ten minutes
before, could wrest from you secrets
which you'd sworn to yourself not to
reveal. Well, he was just such q
man. 1t was not long before he COM
menced asking me questions. He did
not seem to be trying to draw me out,
but he asked me questions in such a
sly, roundabout way, that before !
knew it was giving him my history.
l was just at that time on the point
of being admitted to the bar of Wis
consin as a student of Law & Law, of
Brierville.
The firm were old lawyers, with a
lucrative practice, and it had been
talked over, that in about month l
was to become the Co.. of the firm.
A year before, and an old farmer
named Preston, down about four miles
from Grafton, had died. and his mat
ters had been put into the hands Of
Law & Law for settlement. Preston
died rich. He bad money in the bank,
railroad stocks, mortgages, ETC., and
everything was settled up to the salts
faction of the relict and fatherless.
About year before his death, being
short of money and not wishing to sell
anything at sacrifice, Preston had
given mortgage on his farm for
$4,000. While the papers read zone
year from date, there was a verbal
agreement that it should be lifted off
any day when Preston desired. A
month after, when, having the money,
he desired to clear off the paper, the
old money-bags holding it refused to
disgorge, wishing to secure his interest
for year.
was on my way to ascertain the
date of expiration. A fire among our
office papers had destroyed the memoir
anda, and l must go down and get the
date from old Scrip, who lives south OF
Grafton about five miles. The stranger
had pumped all this out of me in ten
minutes and yet never once suspect