The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-08-01
MYSTERIOUS MRS. WILKINSON

MYSTERIOUS MRS. WILKINSON,
 wonder whether a man ever really forgets single incident of his life-for- gets it, mean, beyond all possibility of recovery. should be almost inclined to doubt it. can't help tancying that all my personal experiences are stored up somewhere about me in a sort of ghostly record office, and that might search the archives If only knew the trick of dis covering them. It so often happens that some chance association of ideas awakens the most unexpected echoes in our mem- ories, restores us to our youth, our boy- hood, our childhood, and not only ena- bles us to recall something that took place in those far-away days, but actually lifts us for a moment or two out of our present into our past selves, so that we feel as we once felt, and see as we once saw-until the vision fades and leaves us with queer, painful sense of loss.
 suppose everybody experiences this sensation occasionally. It came upon me very strongly one evening when was sitting in the house, listening to Pole, who had embarked upon one of his de- liberate attacks on the home secretary. Pole was humming and having a good deal; frequently he paused for some sec onds, trying to find the word that he wanted, and more than once, failing to md It, he went on quite cheerfully with out 1t. He was not in the least embar- rassed by his lack of eloquence; he had a general idea of what he meant to ex- press, and that was enough for him : every now and then he looked at the speaker with kindly reassuring smile, as who should say, ," It's all right. Only give me tune and I'll get through this thing somehow" knew he would get through it somehow, and also knew that there was a. pitfall ahead of him into which he was morally bound to tumble. And, sure enough, he did tumble into it. He tumbled into 1t, SO to speak, with a crash which provoked some derisive laughter from the opposite benches whereupon the orator, who is always ready to do justice to joke, even when he doesn't understand it, began to laugh too, and then those about him were in- fected by his untimely merri nent, and so by degrees the entire assemblage, with out distinction of party, became convulsed.
 1t was at this moment that the house of commons suddenly disappeared from my sight and was replaced by another chamber and quite different occupants. It is long, low room, paneled with old black oak; its benches are filled not by legislators, but by schoolboys, of whom l myself am one. Anothersbcy Is standing up, book in hand, construing Homer. MT. Speaker is represented by gentle man in cap and gown who is turning line after line of the Had out of literal into respectable English. This, at least, is what he thinks he is doing but in reality he has got little too far ahead and is taking the literal reading for granted, in certain impatient way that he has 1; so that the ostensible translator has only to catch the words as they fall and repeat them rapidly in order to be spared all personal trouble and responsibility.
 "Thus he spoke, and hurled his spear,'" murmured the master.
 "' Hurled his spear," echoes the boy
 q" Nor did he miss him."
 "Nordidemissim."
 "Well," says the master, looking up with dawning suspicion, "what is that l''
 "What's what, sir P'
 "What is nor did he miss himr"
 A pause and then -" First aorist, sir, ,' responds dear old Pole triumphantly from nordidemiyo :"
 He always used to be called "dear stupid old Pole" in those days believe And yet don't think he ever quite de. served the epithet of stupid. He didn't take the trouble to learn his lessens when he was boy; he doesn't take the trouble to master the details of subject now but he is so perfectly good-hu mored anc so imperturbable that he always ha. his wits, such as they are, ab out him, ane 1t is difficult to make him look foolish In later years have known him, under pressure of emergency, show an ingenuit, equal to that which he displayed in tn, invention of that amazing verb noydide mis0, and with happier results.
 l returned to actualities from my brie excursion into the past just in time to SC, the right honorable gentleman, the sec retary of state for the home department rise to crush the honorable member fo Mid-Wessex. He could not order Pol, to write out the lesson three times il Greek and English, but such punishmen as he could infict he did. His sarcasm was tremendous; his allusions to the OK traordinary ignorance of the laws of th land which seemed to prevail anon those who were liable to be called upol to administer the same were of a kind t make me,nbers of the unpaid magistrac blush for their order; and when in feel ing accents he deprecated the wanto waste of public time entailed by suc speeches as that to which the house ha just listened, am sure we all felt that tn complaint was for once not an unfounde one, And Pole sat with his hands in hi pockets and smiled and did not care tw