The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-11-11

eyes, indeed, I had" repeated Tompkins,
his chin quiyering. sit was not the thing
for a fair-minded man to think 80 poorly OF
himself; but | was alone and the old associa.
tions and the solemn services were very i'm
pressive. There was Lucy in the choir; she
always could sing like a nightingale. When
l heard her voice again it overcame me. I
did not hear much OF the sermon. / think It
was something about temptation and the
suggestions OF the evil one, but 1 am not
sure, for had my head down on the back Of
the pew in front OF me most of the time. 1
had to light desperately to control my feel
ings. Que minute ] would think that as
soon as the services closed 1 would rush
around and shake hands with my old ac-
quaintances, and the next minute l would be
doing my best to swallow the lump In my
throat. 1t was as tough a sixty minutes as 1
ever passed. But finally the services were
ended. l felt that 1t wns plainly my duty to
stop in the porch and claim the recognition OF
my friends. ! did pause, and try for a few
seconds to collect myself; but the lump grew
bigger and choked me, while this tears would
flow. Besides that, as the adversary Just
then, in the meanest possible manner, sug-
gested to my soul, there was that pork. /
knew would have TO tell Of it IL l stopped.
But | did not stop; l retreated. When /
reached my room at the hotel / felt a longing
l ~ Z " VI DMu L Jul
not leave on Sunday. So in the afternoon |
sat with the landlord on his broad front plat
form, or piazza. 1t was not the person who
keeps the place now, but one OF the oldest
Inhabitants, who knew all about the Burling-
ton people. He guessed that I was a college
boy; he thought he remembered something
about my appearance. l did not mind talk
lug freely with a landlord, for hotels and
boarding houses bad been my home in Chi
1900 \ knd $40. I.a. - .t--l. $500 49,
asI am to this day. This landlord was
a good-hearted old chap, and It was
pleasant to talk with him. While
we were sitting there, who should
come along the street but Lucy, with a book
in her hand. She was on the opposite side
walk, and would not look up. She would not
look at a hotel on Sunday. asked the land
lord about her, and he told me all there was
10 tell. She was living in one end of a little
wooden cottage over toward Winoosli, an
other factory woman occupying the other
part of the house. They made a home to-
gether. The landlord said Lucy was an ex-
cellent woman. and might have married one
Of the overseers In the factory any time she
chose for years back, but she preferred u
single life.
When got back to Chicago l kept think
ing about Lucy Cary. The old times when
we used to live In Wilmington came back to
| my NINA. ID LTuLu OF IL was, 1 was getting
along a little, at last, in Chicago in the way
of property, and ! found myself all the while
planning how l could have Lucy Cary near
me.n
d you want to marry her TimothyP ~
inquired Mrs. Pember.
alt was not that" he replied: ''but I
wanted to become acquainted with her again.
l knew she was the best girl l had ever seen.
She always was just as good and pious as any
body could be. We were like brother and
sister, almost, when. young; and when l
thought of home aud my folks and old Viii
mington and the college days, somehow Lucy
was the centre Of it all. In fact, almost
everything else was gone. My folks were
scattered, and Lucy and Uncle Jason were
nearly the only persons up this way that 1
could lay claim to. There Is n kind of lone
some streak comes over a man when he has
been grinding away in a great city for a
good many years and comes back to the old
places, and sees them so fresh and green and
quiet, and he can't get over it. He will cling
to anything that belongs to old times. l wus
strongly influenced to write to Lucy, but
finally / did not, l determined that | would
get all l could for two OF three years, and
then | would come here and face things. l
would get something comfortable, and would
have a place l could call my own In Chicago.
Then, when l had it fixed, I would come und
see Uncle Jason and Lucy, and stand the
racket. OF course it was nonsense to feel shy
but 1t seemed to me that / could not say u
word until 1 had something TO brag of. They
knew, in a general kind of way, that was
In Chicago, dealing in pork, or doing auc-
tioueering or something, and that was as
much humiliation as l could end ure. To be
sure it was nothing to be ashamed of, for l
had been an honest, faithful man; but to
come back to my friends empty handed,
without money or fame, and gray-heGded at
that, was more than l could stand. II l had
had anything, or been anything, just to take
the edge off, l could have managed it. As it
was, 1 looked ahead and worked. If
any man in Chicago has tried and planned
and toiled during the last three years, l am
that man. There has been a picture before
my mind of a pleasant home there"
"And have you calculated to marry Lucy
Caryf' inquired Mrs. Pember, in an eager
voice.
"Perbaps it WINS not just in that way,
very seriously. you know | told you
that the landlord said she preferred "a single
life"
"Timothy T%ompkins," exclaimed the old
lady, apprehensively, don't deny it-don'tl
Think how dreadfully you will feel If you
know you nave told n lieln
at il nothing to be ashamed of, Timothy,n
said Mr.. Pember, In u kind and sympathetic
voice.
"If you put 1t in that way" answered my
old classmate, in strangely mournful tones,
"all | can say is, there was never anything
between us-nothing ut all.
And did you come here this time to see
herr inquired Mrs. Pember, almost starting
from her seat, and with the thrill of a sudden
guess In her voice.
az suppose it was rs much that as any
thing" replied Tompkins, doggedly, looking
Town, and poking with II short stick in the
ground at his feet.
And that is what made you act so
queer" unused Mrs. Pember 'Have you seen
herr
"Let him tie. the story, Caroline" urged
the old gentleman, peevishly.
Tompkins looked gloomily out upon
the lake and the broad landscape for a few
moments, and then, resuming his narrative,
said:
"As ] was saying, l have worked hard, and
have got a nice little pile. l am worth
t35 900. When made up my mind to come
east this summer the money to pay Uncle
Jason for what he had done was all ready. 1t
made me choke to think how long l had let
IL run. l figured it up as near as l ~could-the
300 that anne to me in college and the $500
after that; aud l put in the simple interest OF
! per cent according to York state law,
which brought the sum total up to nearly
1900, and to fix 1t all right 1 made it an even
thousand dollars. Then 1 bought a new
buckskin bag, and went to a bank in Chicago
and got the money all in gold. knew that
would please Uncle Jason He once talked of
going to California to dig. suppose he had
never seen a pile OF the real yellow coin in his
life. wrote to him that | was to be in Bur.
lington, and that l would be ever so glad il