Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1886-01-30
EVERYDAY TRAGEDY.

[Theodora,, In neiroIt rree prnss.

These persons are not exactly those
who are called day laborers, but belong
10 mat great class OF working people
who ARE employed in laboratories and
factories, in telegraph and telephone of
noes, and IN anu about railway stations
and the like, Among them all was one
man whom for many months noticed
specially. Ii was not that his face was in
any way remarkable for beauty or at
Effectiveness. Indeed, had it not been
Tor the expression it might we'll have
been called a very ordinary one-but
there was something in the steady eyes
and IN the sweetness and strength about
the mouth which ! found very interest
ing.
When first saw him he was already
verging upon middle age, but his step
was still sprightly, and his honest ewes
looked out bravely and cheerfully from
a friendly countenance.
There was occasionally in his company
young woman, who evidently came
out to meet him. This happened often
est, in spring and summer evenings
when the days here are at their longest
and finest, used often then to watch
Tor them, for it was pleasant 10 see the
shining of the mans countenance and
the shy smile with which the girl
would turn to listen to him.
needed to be no cla;ryoyant to dis
Germ how matters stood Lttgecn them
nor to guess that each had chosen wisely
and well. AS the days slipped onward
perceived ty changes in their name
that my young people had been mar
RED. The girl came now almost daily
10 meet the man. She 10 longer held
herself shyly alcof, but leaned openly
upon his arm as she walked Leside him
They were always talking eagerly and
confidentially together, and | could vel
fancy the little domestic Details she wa,
giving hi~, or iniaginc the story of bust
ness worries or successes which he
poured into the ear which listened SO
alphabetically.
After tire it seemed to me that thu
world was going hardly with my young
people. Her dress, which had ALWAYS been
plain and unobStrusiye, now grew mora
and more simple, and missed the bits OF
rlbsol or dainty adornment, which had
heretotore made It fresh and iaunty.
My friend $ face, too, grew to have anX-
lous lines about it. | noticed how his
straw hat did duty until late in the au
tumn, and how shining and threadbarc
was his clothing, with all the seams
showing White about them. 1t paired
ne, too, as the weather grew severe TO-
observe how scantily he was protected
from the winds of winter, and how he
stroye with comforter and mIttens 10
supply the place Of the much needed
great-coat. But the shabbier grew my
friends exterior the more noble ard
beautiful became his countenance, and
the very soul of patience and courage
seemed to look out at me from his earn
est eyes.
Tor 6 time | lost sight OF the youne
woman but at last one day she came,
walking slowly and dragging, with some
EFFORT, baby carriage behind her |
was shocked to see the changes few
weeks had wrought in her appearance.
Ter eyes were shining so brilliantly,
such vivid hectic spot burned upon
either check and the cough was so hol-
low and frequent that | felt nv heart
sink within me. It may seem strange
that | made no effort to know person
ally these people i'll whom | was so
deeply interested but class distinctions
are the most impossible of barriers
here i'll republican America I
knew that they desired no helm or
charity, but would have resented bit
terry any advance which they might
have construed into oIicious interior
ence or even offensive patronage on my
part. 30 was forced to content nv
self with watching and plying them
from afar. The poor baby was always
so trall and defeated creature, with
seemingly so loose hold on life, that
was not surprised when very soon the
young mother came walking alone and
desolate and drawing no baby carriage
behind her. Her dress was a chean |
black print, and the man when he met
her had on his shabby hat a scrap o"
rusty black Grape by way of mourning.
After this they showed even more
plainly the pinch of poverty and could |
well fancy how their little hoard had
dwindled with the expenses of the
babys illness, death and funeral The
poor young mother began to shrink and |
dwindle rapidly also, and seemed al.
most to vanish away like the snow in
spring time. She came very seldom now
to meet her husband, and when she did
so leaned heavily upon his arm and
walked slowly and YEARLY, and the face
was drawn and white which had so
lately been Wreathed with smiles and .
dimples.
And very soon she came no more to
meet him. | still saw him almost daily.
but he had suddenly grown old and
STOPPING. His youth seemed to have
dropped away from him like a garment.
His hair grew gray and scanty almost
in night season, and his face which
had long been so pathetic, now appeared
to me almost sublime in its pain and
patience. No youthful comeliness could
have seemed TO me half so touching or
beautiful as that worn face with its
deep lines Of suffering and fortitude.
| know that this was but very sim
pie, every day tragedy which l had
been watching Just common work
ingman love and heart break, with
nothing more terrible in it than a sickly
baby's dying and poor young woman
wasting away in consumption, but,
alter all, the great truths of love and
death, the agony of passion, despair
and heart break are much the same to