The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1883-08-02
TOMPKINS.

T0MPKINS.
years Of age, with a bright young face,
DARK eyes and iron-gray hair. We were
Z reclining in a field, under a clump of pines,
on a height overlooking Lake Champlain.
Near by were the dull-red brick buildings of
the University of Vermont. Burlington,
blopning with flowers and uncovered in
trees, sIoped away below US. Beyond the
town, the lake, a broad plain of liquid blue,
sieps IN the June sunshine, and in the
FARTHER distance lowered the picturesque
Adirondacks.
ut is certainly true" said Tompkins,
turning upon his side so as to face me, and
dropping his head with his hand, while his
elbow rested on the ground. Don't you re-
member, l used to insist that they were Pc
culiar, when we were here in college?"
I remembered it very distinctly, and so
INFORMED my old classlnate,
Always said" he continued, shat l
could not do my best in New England, be-
cause there is no sentiment in the atmos-
Pnere, and the people are SO peculiar"
Ss9o have been living in Chicago" I re-
marked inquiringly.
~That has been my residence ever since
we We're graduated; that is, for about sew
enteenyears, y he replied. -
you are I'm business there, I believer" I
not name the particular line.
"Halioop' he suddenly called out, rising
20 his fees, and looking toward the little
> 0roBn road near u.s. Hooked in the same
direction, and saw a plainly dressed elderly
couple on foot, apparently out for q walk.
Iompkins wenthastily toward them, helped
the lady over the fence, the gentleman fol-
towing, and a moment later / was intro
dpeed mi. and Mrs; Pember, of Chicago.
Tompkins gathered some large stones,
pulled a board off the fence inrather q reck-
Z less manner, and fixed a seat for the couple
-lsSnere they could lean againsta tree. When
Shey were provided for, l reclined again,
q but, Tompkins stood before us, talking and
g~esticulating, sr,s. ssfeI - 90
''This,n said he, Sis the identical
place, Mrs. Pember. Here you can see
7She beauties / have so often described. Be-
fore you are the town and the lake, and be-
3 yond them the mountains of Northern New
York and Gf You win please to turn your
head that great blue wall behind you,
! twenty miles away, is composed of the
3 htghest mountainsin Vermont. The mount
aims in front of you are the Adirondacks.
and those behind you are the Green Mount
aims. You are at the central point of this
magnificent Champlain Valley; and you
are comfortably seated here beneath the
shade, on this the l~oyeliest day of summer.
Dear friends, l congratulate YOUR and
TomPkins shook hands with Mr.. and Mrs.
Pember.
And there, Timothy,n observed the old
gentleman, pointing at the University
buildings with his cane, sis actually where
you went to college,"
sit was in those memorable and classic
halls, as my classmate here can testify.O
replied Tompkins. sand here we roamed
in 'Academus' sacred shade,' and a good
deal beyond it. We went fishing and boat.
ing during term time, I'M made long trips
to the mountains in the vacations. In the
mean time, this wonderful valley was pho
tographed upon the white and spotless sem
soriun of my youthful SOUL"
Going, going, going!" cried Mrs. Penn
Der, with a light, lippling laugh, glancing
at me. THAT is the way 1 stop Mr.. Tomp-
k1Ds when he gets too f1owery."
Tompkins looked at me and Redeemed.
up" he remarked, ST am an auc.
ttioneer in Chicago"
l FASTENED to say that l felt sure he was
a good one, and added, in the kindest wav
u could, that l had just been wondering
SIS it a good deal of a come-down?u
asked Tompkins, with a mixture of frank
ness and embarrassment.
replied that the world was not what
: we had imagined in our college days. and
That the calling of an auctioneer was hon.
orable.
A general conversation followed, in the
course of which it appeared that Tompkins
had boarded at the home of the Pembers
for several years. They evidently looked
upon him almost as their own son. Thew
were travelling with him during his sum
3"This is a queer world,n observed Tomp-
kins, dropping down beside me and living
nat on his back, with his hands under his
head. u came to college from a back
neighborhood over in York State and up to
the day L was graduated, and for a long
: time afterward, I thought 1 must be Presi,
dent OF the United States, or a Presbyte-
ran mlnls1er, or q great poet, or something
remarkable, and here I am an auctioneer,"
: Occasional remarks were made by the rest
( OF us for a while, but soon the talking was
mainly done by Tompkins.
said he: 'S1nce l was graduated, I never
was back here but once before, and that
was four years ago next August. / was
travelling thls way then and reached here
Saturday evening. I was in the pork bust.
mess at that time, as a clerk, and had to
stop ON mere TO see a man for the firm. 1
put up at the best hotel, feeling as COM
Portable and Indifferent as I ever did inmy
Ire. There was not the shadow of an idea
IN my mind of what was going to happen.
On Sunday morning I walked about town,
It began to come down on me.D
What, the town." asked Mrs. Pember.
mo; the strangest and most unaccount.
able feeling l ever had in my life,n an
e swered Tompkins. SIT was thirteen wears
since l a said good-by to college. 1t
had long ago become apparent to me that
the ideas with which 1 had graduated were
visionary and impracticable. ] compre-
hended that the college professors
were not the great men I had once
president was merely a human being. I
had been hardened by fighting NV way, as
u man has to do in a great
city. As the confidential clerk of a large
pork house in Chicago, 1 felt equal to the
next man, whoever he might be. If a pro-
lessor had met me as I got off the cars here
Saturday night, it would nave been EASY
Tor me to n him: But Sunday morning,
as familiar objects began to appear in the
course of my walk, the strange feeling of
which l have spoken came overme. 1t was
the feeling of old times. The white clouds,
the blue lake, this wonderful scenery,
thrilled me, and called back the college
Ashe spoke, my old classmates voice
tremb1ed.
"You may remember that I used to like
Horace and Virgil and Homer" he re-
marked, sitting up, crossing his feet tailor
fashion,, and looking appealingly at me.
lreplied, enthusiastically and truly, that
he had been one of our best lovers of the
poets.
swell. continued Tompkins, ssthat Sun.
day morning those things began to come
back to me. 1t wasn't exactly delightful.
My old ambition to do something great in
the world awoke as if from a long sleep.
AS r prolonged my walk the old associa.
'tions grew stronger. When I came near
the college buildings it seemed as if l still
belonged here. The hopes of an ideal
career were before me as bright as ever.
volumes of poems and other writings by
~Tompkins, and his marvellous successes
were as clear as day. In short, the whole
thing was conjured up as If it were a pict.
p ure, just as it used to be when I was a stu.
dent in college, and it was too much for
me-"
Tompkins seemed to be getting a little
boarse, his frank face was very serious.
Timothy" suggested Mr.. Pember, "may
be You could tell us what that big rock is,
out in the lake"
"Why, father, don't you rememberi
That is rock Dunder," said Mrs. Pember.
81 guess it is" said the old gentleman.
musingly.
"We1l," resumed Tompkins, "as / was
saying, on one side were Homer and Virgil
and Horace and Tompkins, and on the
pther was pork. I cannot explain it, but