The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1885-01-03


Emblem's is one OF two or lh,ee shcls
which stanl together hut II diff RS from It's
neighbors ia many important particulars
For it has no platc-glass, as tho others nave;
nor does II stand like them with open do)rs;
nor does it far. away gas Mt night; no" Is II
bright with gliding AMI fresh paint; nor
does il seek to attract notice by posters ana
bills. On the contrary, IL retains tho "Ih'
small and unpretendng pnncs of cl"ss " len
II has al ways had: in the evening II is dinIy
nshteA, aud II c,osas early; itsdoor iSa ways
shut, and although III name over tb s''opis
dizzy one feels that u coat Of p int, "hils II
would crtainly freshcn up the plac would
take something from its character For
s,con hand bookseller who respects him
s. must present AN exterior when mas
5, mo m o. fad splen lo', Of worn paint
and ,habb.nesS Within the shop books mo
the walls aud cunber the II DOR. There are
An outer AMI an tnnor shops IN thc former
small table stands among the DOCKS, at
which Mr.. James, the assistant, = always NJ
work cataloguiuE. when he Is not tying up
parcels; sometimes even with gum m /
paste repairing the slight2r raNage" OF
tine--foxs findings and cIose-cut mar ms
no man can repair, In the Inter "hIch
is Mr. Embem's sanctum, there are en- 'lih
and a table, also covered vita boo, a
writing desk q small safe an glass ctSe,
wherein are eculed the mos. costly TO Ky
IN stock EmbIen's, a. mus be COMES, d,
IA no longer quite what 1t was IN former
davs: twenty, thirty or forty years ago
that glass case was fil,el with precious
treasures. In those days il q man wanted u
book Of county history, or of genealogy, or
OF heraldrv he knew where was his best
chance Of finding IL, FOR Emblcm's, In It's
prime and heyday, had its specially.
But Emblem is now old, and Emblem's
sbop Is no longer what IL was to the collector
OF the last genor alton.
II WIS an a rternoon in late September, and
IN this very year OF grace, eighteen hunir"d
and o phty-four Tn day was as sunny and
warm as any of the days of It's preiec 'S'or
Augustus the Gorgeous. Int yet there was IN
sntumnal fee,in, in tho air which male IL
self felt even in tho streets where there were
no rod anl yellow Virginia crecPor, no
SQUARE gardens vita Lang trails OF inISnOn'
cite and banks OF towering nasturtlums. Ia
hct. YOU cannot any where escape thu aul am
nal feeling, which begins about tha miiiIe
OF S.. p,em Der II makes old leope TANK
with sadness that tho 2rasshopper is 'u.-
den in the land, aud that the a.non !-tr 10
about to flourish but the young it'iiIlS wiCh
n yinous aud intoxicated rejoicing, ~ II the
nine Of feasting, fruits, harvests md young
wine strong and frui,y. WAS upon the word
H. made Mr.. James--his surname has never
been ascsr t,inei, but man and hoy. MIR.
James has been at Emblem's for twenty-five
wears and more--leave his table where he
tIa bronnv CutniOVup
and 20 to the open door, where no wasted u
good minute and half in gazing up at the
clear sky and down the sunny street Then
he stretched his arms and returned 20 hlS
work, implied by the senss OF duty rather
Than bv the scourgo OF necessity, becn'''
there WINS no hurry about the catalogue an
most Of tho books in it we're rubbish, and ut
that season OF tho year few customers could
be- OK pected. and there were no parcels to tie
up and send out.
Behind the shop, whore lad been original
" the back pnrlor" in the days when
every genteol house in Chelsea had both its
front and back parlor latter for sitting
and living in, the former for tho reception
OF company this afternoon tho proprio-
tor, the man whose name had stool above
the shop for fifty years, tho Original an!
only Emblem. He was-nay, he is-for you
may still find him in his place, md may
make his acquaintance over county his.
tory any day in the Kings Road-he il an
old man now, advanced in the seventies. who
WAS born before the battle OF Waterloo wa,
fought. aud can remember G elsea when 1t
was full OF veterans wounded in battles
fought long be ore the Corsican Attia was
let Loose apon the world His face wears
,he peacefu and wise expression which be-
longs peculiarly TO his pro ession. her
callings maxi man look peaceful, but not
all other callings make him look wise. Mr..
Emblem was born by nature O
calm OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES he would
not have been happy in his business; a
smile lies generally upon his lips, and his
eyes are soft and benign; his hair is white,
and his face. once rudy. is pale, yet not
shrunk and scanned with burrows as happens
W SO many old men, but rounl AMI firm;
like his chin and lips 1t is clean shaven; no
wears a black coat extraordinarily shiny In
the ale We, and q black silk stock just as he
used TO wear in the thirtioS when he was
Young and something Of dandy, aud
would show himself on Saturday evening
In the pit OF Drury Lane; and the stock Is
fastened behind with a silver BUCKLE He il,
In fact a delightful old gentleman TO look
at and pleasant to converse with, and on his
brow everyone who can read may see,
visibly stamped, the seal o harmless and
honest life. At the contemplation OF such
man, ones opinion OF humanity is sensibly
raised, and even house-agents plumbers AMI
suburban builders, feel that, after all, virtue
may bring with il some reward.
The quiet and warmth OF the afternoon,
unbroken to his accustomed ear, as it would
be TO a stranger. by the murmurous roll of
London, made him sleepy In his hand he
held letter which he had been reading for
tbs b dredth time, and which he knew by
heart every word; and as his eye closed he
went back in imag ination to q passage in
the past which 1t recalled
He stood. in imagination, upon the deck
OF q sailing ship-an emigrant ship Tie
year was eighteen hundred AMI sixty.four,
o year whsn very few were tempted to try
their fortunes In . country torn by civil
var With him were his daughter and bis
son-in-lav. and they were como 70 bid tho
latter farewell
MY desr-my dearr cried the wife, in
her husbands arms. ''coms what may, will
1,in you In year"
Hr husband shook hs head sadly.
''Tbsy do not want me here, be said; thu
Ia - r.. T.