The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1884-01-03
A BACHELOR,s CONFESSION.

Ihose who Tor twenty years and more
have been absent from home had best, ac-
cording to my experience, remain away al
together. To return is to destroy illusions
hitherto firmly believed in; ones friends
are dead, are married, nave gone away, or
are no longer the same one remembers
them. Your very birthplace is lost to you;
the house you once called home is perhaps
a school-house, the fields you played in are
covered with villas, down the green lanes
rows of shops run. Few stings come more
sharply than that feeling of being a
stranger where once you stood familiar.
The smart had sent me from England row
ing over the Continent, never stopping at
any n place long enough to find enjoy
ment in 1t; and now, my years holiday all
but expired, l was returning with a heart
hghtened by the anticipation of going back
to India and settling down among my old
chums, who would, / knew, welcome my
advent and listen to my stories. Not that
l had many to relate; one seldom expa-
tiates, ON the experience Of disappointment,
n mine was not a temperament to court
or attract adventure. An everyday, COM
mon-place, ifty-year-old bachelor is al
lowed to go his own way without getting
much notice given to him.
was returning to London from Paris by
way of Dieppe; the month was September,
and the weather was hot enough to make
the longer sea journey seem inviting. I
found myself at the station with a good
half hour to spare, ana to while away the
DOOAor AOWopdPCIog u
emptied my pockets, arranged my note
book, and sorted my money. 1t seemed to
me l had agood deal more French gold than
lneed carry back with me, and I asked a
military-]ooking individual standing by If
he knew of a money-changer handy. Yes,
there was one round the corner of the op-
posite street, not ten doors away-he would
keep an eye on my belongings while / went
so far. I started, found the house, man.
aged my business, and returned just in
time to be let out on the platform, hurried
to secure q corner seat in q carriage,
When I had drawn breath il struck me I
need not have been in such a hustle, for al
though there was a crowd Of passengers in
tho waiting-room, none Of them came in
my ways; apparently L was going to make
a solitary journey. No too fast, though;
here comes sQme fellow-travelers-two. a
man and a young lady; they pass my car
riage, come back again, hesitate, look
round; n finally she gets in and he
walks away, to return a few minutes later,
and stands chatting at the window, out of
which she leans. l get a good view of the
mans face-not a pleasanton to my mind;
his eyes roam uneasily about, as if looking
though the girl is talking earnestly and
quickly, he seems to pay very scant atten-
ton to her.
Up comes the ~guard-there is a final
scrutiny of tickets, a banging of doors, a
shrek, a groan, q shriIl whistle and we are
of-unexpectedly as it seems to nv com
panion, for she starts up crying: "Papa!
papaW and then: 80, mon Dieu !" and then
she has sunk down on the seat in a passion
of tears.
this was the way l s~oliloquized on the
occasion-"what have I done that 1 should
have the grief of this young Niobe forced
upon meE" Positively the girl seemed
able TO turn on taps of tears, for When she
drew away her handkerchief from her ewes
it was wet and sopping. An idea seemed
to have occurred to herself tina this utter
abandonment was a little out of season:
for, after throwing a timid glance in my
direction, she ,resolutely closed her hand
over the ball her handkerchief was reduced
to, buttoned her eyelids tight over her ewes,
as If determined not to let out any more
OF the tears that were there. tucked up her
feet, and sat silently battling with the sobs
which she could not quite overcome.
L cannot now remember what it was that
interested me IN the paper; but something
caught my notice and I suppose for a time
engrossed my attention, for the next thing
l recollect was a trainof thought travel
ing back into past days, caused by my ewes
having fallen on my fellow-traveler. She
was fast asleep now, II l was able totake
a good look at her. Poor child! 1 wondered
b was the cause of her sorrow-could ii
be leaving that broken down, rascally.
looking father! Suddenly a vision of my.
self came to me, and Twas living over that
day, when at something about her age, ]
had left behind all that was dear to me,
Great heaven! the agony l had endured at
saying good-by to mother, the horrible
fo~rlornness that took possession of me
LAUGHED me out into the world alone, with,
out a creature near to care for me. The
mere sight of the scar left by those suffer.
ings stirred up my compassion to this little
stranger, whose feelings seem SO tender
Why, she could be barely seventeen; hel
face was much younger than her figure
round, peachy cheeks, where dimples love
to linger, a rosebud of a mouth, and eyes
for at that instant she opened them-as
blue as the forget-me-nots hat grow by
the river. Over the face there stole a little
pinkey flush and then there came a timid
conscious air, such as a child puts on who
fears it has offended you. Before l knew
it / was smiling at her, and she, though
still looking afraid, began to essay a half
smile back. Confound It'll what a nuisance
that l could not speak better French
should like to say something to her-but
what? Happy thought the pears that
had provided myself with at the stationl
seized the basket.
'Mademoiselle,o 1 said, "youlez.yous &C
ceptez une?" and I held them before her
OIL those roguish dimples that came Out
in hide-and-seek all over the face as she
answered.:
"Monsieur, I am not French, but En-
glish, like you"
'Then do have one 20 and in my haste tc
press them on her gave a little jerk for
ward, which sent the whole half-dozenr roll
ing on the floor. Well, by the time WI
picked them up, crawled under the carriage
seat, bumped our heads together, and were
reseated a little the worse for dust, we had
become friends and laughed honestly and
openly each in the face of the other. Il
did me good to see her plunge her little
pearly teeth into hat pear, the skin Of
which vainly entreated to be permitted
to remove.
ISIS is so good" said she, "for I fee
hungry now. There was a breakfast fol
me, but Icouldn't eatbeforeI came away; 20
and the CULVER in her voice supplied the
reason.
"Are you going to school?o 1 ventured tc
"Weil, yes and no; 1 am going TO q
school, but to teach as well as to lear1
there" was silent; and after a minute
she added: "At home it isn't as it used tc
be. Papa has married another wife. ]
AVE lost my mother-she died when l was
a baby"
"A6P" 1 said, by way of consolation
s'thnt ia a sad loss to anybody"
She nodded her head atirmatively.