The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-05-26

SaAds os uos o<sa6 WostnJ Va Ss~n cSsss6 called an acquaintance Yet the pur- chase of single book opens the way to
 friendship which needs only subsequent
 visits and purchases to make strong and
 enduring. In making these statements
 recite only my own experience for with
 the buying of Crusoe I was taken into
 the booksellers friendship and conf-
 dence. was no longer compelled to
 remain on the outside, gazing iongingiy
 at the tastefully-bound volumes, each a
 little world in itself, displayed within
 My fifty coppers had wrought miracle
 greater than ever was achieved by the
 wonderful lamp of Alladin. could now
 enter and become acquainted with the
 booksellers varied possessions, which,
 in my eyes, made him richer than Cr9sus
 of old. At first dared only to look al
 the books scattered about me; but soon
 grew bold enough to take them down
 and examine their contents. Fresh pur-
 chases made us still stronger friends, and
 I was allowed to wander at will about the
 stall. Thus. in the stray moments caught
 from my school-boy tasks, read. for the first time. "Gulliver's Travels" Seot.'s
 'lvanhoe, and Dydens' translation of the "Eneiad.' well remember with what e4geness followed the fortunes of the ong-suffering Eneias. Studies over for the day. how eagerly would hasten back to the fascinating volume. How carefully handled it. A princess would not have treated the eostliest laees more ;enderly. How eAul,ed when in the last book the prince kills Latunus. and enters upon the peaceful possession of his kingdom. The brave Trojan himself could not have been more Jubilant than was 1.
 By the printed page on the book-sell- CTS stand followed Bayard Taylor on his far-famed walk through Europe i; with him seemed to join in the revel- rles ot the German students. or to wander a, midnight in awe and wonder through the mighty coliseum at Rome. Here, too. read Willis Absalom." which to my boyish fancy tand are not children, though untrained. our best critics after all J It seemed one of the grandest poems ever written. Here began my aequaint- ance with our own nimitable Cooper and unapproachable Hawthorne. The first pu, me all aiame with enthusiasm and excitemer::. What boyish tears shed over the death of Uncos. bravest and noblest of Indians. with which The Host of the Mohican closes. How much l admired noble. plain-spoken Notby Bumpo. who. in so many things. was what Cooper himself would have been under the same circumstance The Pilot" however. influenced me more strongly than did ," The Leather Stocking Tales, as 1 read. seemed. in fancy, to tread with John Paul Jones the deck of the imperilled vessel. and to hear above the roar of,he wind. the crash ef the thunder. his sharp. stern words of com mand. Hawthorne. too. exercised over me spell of entertainment strongly diff ferent, but none the less powerful. than that of Cooper. Since arriving a, years of maturity l have read over and over again his matchiess :. Scarlet Letter, but never again will the magician wand hold me spell-bound. as it did. when a boy. read it for the first time in the stall of the bookseller. How strong seemed the fascination So strong that Il held me powerless. and would not let me go. |, was winter-the only season in which to read and fully appreciate Hawthorne when read it, and when. at last. would tear myself away, the short. dark days. would be drawing to a close. and as sped home the little town would seem suddenly transformed to gloomy Salem. and dared not look behind me. fearing l would espy some dark-browed. grim Puritan. with tightly drawn cloak. pacing slowly behind me.
 An. Tn our digressions. we have left the bookseller waiting. But no harm has been done. for he IS patient fellow. and can wait-indeed. one part of his business is to wait. For no matter how rash and eager they may be in other things. no matter how extravagant their ideas. people never buy books in haste have often seen a man who. perhaps. but an hour before had spent handsome sum in the gra,ihcation of some sligh, whim, pause, deliberate. and haggle with the bookseller over book worth. at the least. but few shillings, and then perhaps leave without buying. And how wise some people become when they visit the book-stall; what an air of learning and erudition they pu, on, They may rely implicitly on the statement of the merchant, or take as authority those of the tailor, but they never deign to take the advice of their bookseller They may be entirely ignorant of the cost. the various editions. perhaps even the nature of the work they are seeking. bu, the bookseller will never know il. Many time have seen book-5uyers show m OCT willing audaci,y. q fearless selt-eonhdenee. which. devoted to a better cause. would make them greater than Cesar or Ma poleon. Often have 1 observed man who knew little Latin and less Greek :" in examining some fine edition of classic author put on an air Of learning, which though the great scholar could never have equalled, it would have done honor to Bentley. My friend T., whose store is one of the best in the land. and who knows what is in the books he handles. has many amusing stories to tell of GUS toners whose seli-con6dence, in regard to literary matters. is only surpassed by their annoying ignorance. One story in particular he tells with much amusement il is of an old man whose appearance in-