News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-02-25
THE EIGHT FORTY-FIVE.
A BRIGHTON IDYL.

Every body outside the office of iona
than Greysark & Co., East India mcr
chants, of Rood Lane City, knew Mr.
Jonathan Greysark simply as a very we'll
to-do bachelor, of fiye-and -forty-fresh
faced, well-dressed, genial, and affable
as man tolerably well fitted out with
the good things of this life and unham-
pered by ties and encumbrances should
be. But Mr.. Philip Penn, whose days
were passed within the Office, regarded
his wealthy and popular employer from
q somewhat different point of view
Mr.. Penn had by his steadiness and
business knowledge in no small degree
helped Jonathan Greysark to his envi-
he had served the house faithfully for
upward of twenty years yet he was still
simply clerk, in which position, des-
Pite frequent prayers and petitions, Mr.
Greysark was apparently determined to
keep him until the time came for dispen-
sing entirely with his services. Alto
gether, poor Penn's life was by no means
hanpy one, for in addition to his COM
merclal troubles, he had an eternally
grinning domestic skeleton, in the shape
in the felOn's dock on charge of extern
sive forgery, had passed many years in
prison, and who now could only be kept
quietly in the background by the allow
ance which the unfortunate Penn made
him out of the exceedingly moderate sal
airy he drew from the Rood Lane office,
Greysark knew this, and was also aware
that tarnished name was an almost
tnsuperable bar to his clerks advance in
any other line of life; so he meanly took
advantage of the fact by getting a most
unfair amount of work out of Penn, and
paying him miserably inadequate salary
for it.
Jonathan Greysark lived at Brighton,
and came up to town every morning on
the s AS express. In this famous train he
had acquired from long usage prescrip
tive right to particular seat in partic.
ular compartment of particular car.
riage, and the guard suffered a consider.
able reduction in his weekly largesse il
he allowed a stranger to usurp this
place.
But, the old guard having beer
shunted elsewhere, and a strange officia
who knew not Jonathan, having been sub
stituted, it so happened that one morn
ing Greysark, his rug on his arm and his
paper III his hand, staggered gravely
and magisterially up to the carriage
only to find his particular compartment
and, in fact, his.very seat-occupied
Under ordinary circumstances he would
have resented this unwarrantable intru
sion, in an unmistakable manner, but
upon this occasion, as the occupant was
a pretty, modestly dressed girl of eigh,
teen or thereabouts, he could only vent
his feelings in grunts and scowls, anC
betake himself to another seat. But
when, the next morning, he found his
place similarly occupied, his position be-
came somewhat embarrassing, and only
the girls pleasant face checked audible
expression of his discomfort The same
thing occurred the morning after, and the
morning after that, and the young 8:45
bucks, who, of course, regarded the
affair as capital joke, remarked that
the great man, instead of ramping and
raging away to another carriage, not
only contentedly went into the same one,
put passed much greater part of the
hour and quarters journey in looking
at the girl over the top of his newspaper
than In studying the city article. In 6
fortnight's time it was observed that he
handed her out, carried her little parcels,
and saw her safely into an omnibus fol
the Mansion House; and in three weeks
time it was noted that he chatted as
easily and familiarly with her as if he
had known her for years.
In short, it became very evident that
the wealthy bachelor of Rood Lane was
enamored of the young lady. When his
attentions first became marked she as
sumed the proper attitude of unpro-
teCted virtue and confined her answers
to rather curt mOnosyllables, but when
her feminine perspicuity assured her that
her admirers behavior was inspired by
tho most honorable of intentions, sheun.
bent and told him that her name was
Phyllis, that she was q student at the
South KenSington School of Art, and
that she resided at Brighton with heI
aunt.
''Dliss Phyllis" said Greysark one
morning, as they walked along the
London Bridge platform, ''as some sort
of assurance that l only entertain the
most genuine feelings of respect and
and admiration for you, think | should
mention that my name is Greysark, thai
am the head of one of the most res ,occt
ed houses in the city of London, and
that, as | am quite aware that an ac
quaintance of this casual nature is apt tx
give rise to erroneous impression in the
minds of people who only Judge by
appearance, with your permission, moth
ing will give me greater pleasure thar
to call upon your aunt at Brighton"
At the mention of the namc Greysark
the girls color deepened somewhat, and
she raised her eyes to his face for few
seconds. Then she said:
''I am sure that my aunt would bc
delighted to make your acquaintance
Mr.. Greysark."
Accordingly, on the following Sunday
Mr., Greyssrk, instead Of performing hi