Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-10-11

Pennington hat night on winged feet.
| Then occurred ons of those sudden changes
in the wind of public opinion" which show
the uncertainty of that kinl Of property.
| Mr. kockaby was unanimously pronounced
n brute. Mrs. Carter was taken up and
made much OF. The women called upon her
| and wept with her rs she lay on her sick
bed, and the men sent her messages of ex-
traorinarv kindness, garnished with strong
utterances ON the subject Of Rockaby's
baseness. II she had been sixteen instead
| of sixty she couldn't have received more
| compassion, or better played the role of in.
| jured and heart broken maiden.
Mr.. Rockaby, the idol of the town fort
night before aAd one of its stanch citizens
| for three score and ten years. was now con
sidered n black at heart as any villain in
lurid fiction. His reputation went down to
| zero in sin gle night. His grief was pro
| nounCed n sham. his honesty cloak, his
| life lie Tho general conclusion was that
he was too great scoundrel to 60 unpup-
ished He must be shown that conduct Of
50 dark a dve would not I've tolerated by
the s~lf-respecting people Of Pennington.
And they carried out their throat to tho
letter
Two days after his last conversation with
Mrs Carter Mr.. Rockabv walked down TO
the po~tofiice. the first time since his illness,
carrying a lighter heart than he had known
for fortnight. He spoke with almost
childish amiability 10 the first acquaintance
he met. His friend nodded coolly and
passed on Still, he didn't think any dis
pleasure was intended Nor did such
thought come to him when another man,
two women and then two men passed him
with the same fricid haste Conscious of
no e"il he was without suspicion
The postotiice idlers parted at his ap-
proach and made way for him as for an
engine of destruction, each man max ing his
face perfectly blank. M RDckaby got his
mail nodded here and here and passed out
dazei by the sudden lowering of the otial
skies, but neN or dreaming m the cause On
the sidew ak he met Mrs. Ltteton. She
was carrying an immense bouquet, and
wore an all-is vanity expression in her face
which Mr. Rockaby had never seen there
before.
Good afternoon, Mrs Littleton," he sad
pleasantly. II hope you are quite we'll"
MI ISpthhbN luiuh heaven, am
we'll; but there are those who are not, and
who are in deep all ction besides" and she
sighed
"Indeedr said the kind old man, sympa-
thetically, "who Is sicki'
The opportunity for a center shot had ar
rived, and Mrs. Littieton fired it with
nerve and promptituie She drew step
or two away, gave him a look of the So
verest disdaln, and said, in the most cutting
tones: II am carrying these flowers to
poor Mrs. Carter" Without waiting for q
reply she nodded on her last word and
stepped right"ously OF
Mr. Rockaby was thunderstruck. Was
this the meaning of his neghbors coldnessI
Could it be possible that after living up
rightly among them nearly three score
years he was TO be summed ON a rumor
the true SIDE of which they could never
know
Yes, Mr.. Rockaby, it is quite possible.
Others besides Yourself have been aston
shed to learn IT,
He went home in a sorrowful frame of
mind. Had he been IA philosopher he could
have laughed at the small -mndedness Of his
knew not of, and been happy But he
wasn't a philosopher. He was only an
honest, simple-minded, kind old man, who
loved the people of his little town and re-
joiced in their good opinion OH feeble
and lonely, piteous subject indeed, WAS he
Tor the people Of Pennington TO vent their
wrath upon. II they could have looked
into his heart and seen the trustfulness and
| truthfulness that dwelt there they might
have been more sparing of their arrows OF
reproof. But they did not see. Alas! they
never see.
Days went by and Mr. Rockaby's neigh
bors We're still distant and cold. He was
o>traclzed like a murderer In the community
| where he had so long dwelt in honor His
heart was breaking for lack Of human sym.
pathy and because OF human cruelty.
Weeks pass Il, but they brought him no
hope. His soul was being murdered day by
day.
Under this dreadful pressure the poor
mans self confilenc" went down. He began
to believe himself the villain his townspso-
pie represented him 10 be. This belief af-
fec Ell no. only his mind, but hi, manners,
, He slunk past his oil friends with his head
down, like a condemned criminal. He went
no more into their houses, and they came
no more to his. OF course they noticed his
changed demcauor, and the most mercilass
of them ''guesssd the old rascal was feeling
II at last How terribly he was feeling it
they could never guess
AT last he found it unendurable and con.
cludei to end it If it was in his power to do
50. He went over 10 the Grays and told Mrs
Carter that he was prepared TO marry her
If she wouii accept him. She waiteI only
long enough to put on her best gown and
they were married within the hour and
walked over to Mr. Rockaby's house ogether.
This was the loudest thunder clap OF all for
Pennington. 1t shook its very foundation
stones All resntmVit gave way to curl
osity Half the town went that same
evening to call upon the 'hsppy
couple" Never were newly married
folk visited 50 promptly nor congratulated
80 lavishly. Toe local weekly came out
three days later with gratulat notice a
| column long, wherein Mr.. Rockaby had
every commeudable adjective IN the ed
| itor's pie horic Ocabulary bestowed upon
him, and tbs bride was held up as Il pattern
OF excellence ani beauty.
But the old mans heart never rebounded.
He found no happiness in bis changed sur.
roundings The kind speeches OF his neigh
bors brought him no pleasure. He had
been driven to desperation by their cruelty,
and now be discovered that their good
opinion, which had been purchased at .
loss OF self respect was yalueless 10 him.