Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1886-04-22
THE PAPER-wEIGHT.
1t Figures as the Savior of Hu.
man Lives.

In one corner of the long library there
stood an ebony secretary which was
old aud stained with use when the pre-
sent century was yet unborn. No one
knew where this antique desk, with its
ogre-likc back. goblin arms and gnarled
and knotted legs which ended in great
carved claws, had come from original
ly. The master of the house had
picked It up in a little unfrequented
inn in Roumela. II had stood in his
bed chamber, where IL served as dress
ing-case, lavatory and clothes-press.
During the night its grim presence, so
oddly out of place, like tombstone in
a drawing room, had given to his
dreams a strangencss and a vividness
that made an impression upon him
which the bright sunlight of the sue
ceeding day utterly failed TO remove.
So he bargaincd with the tavern-keepcr
for it though the medium of his valet,
so rs not TO excite the old mans eupi-
dity. and finally bought il for an amount
much larger than its value, and had
city. This is the story he tells
70 those Of his guests who are attracted
by its grotesqucness, but the servants
and who, by the way. knows so much
about the house as the servantsP-tell
different story. The valet who bar
gained for it relates a weird tale of
murder in the old castle among the
Balkan mountains where the secretary
is supposed to have originated, of a
missing will. of secret drawers under
the goblin's arms, of trickery, OF
charming heircss and of an eventual
clearing up of the mystery to the in
tense enjoyment of all. This is the
tale of the servants hall, and in the
hands of the glib valet il thrills his
listeners and adds not little to his
fame as hero, for Wallets are only hui
man after all. But whatever il came
from, whatever was its age and how
ever romantic its past history may have
Been, its present is certainly common
place enough. In one end of the H.
brary, on Partisan rug of great rich
ness Of color and depth of pile, it stands
the mute and unmovable attendant
upon five O'Clock teas, evening musi-
Gales and whist parties, where its his
tory is as little appreciated as though
il were planted in a drawing-roOm on
the planet Mars.
Upon the shelves in the back of the
secretary there are various curios of
varying degrees Of value and ugliness,
also picked up in odd places in the Old
World and valued chiefly for their use
fulness and rarity. Among these is a
vase prettily shaped, for a wonder. and
delicately colored. II came from the
Orient, where several hundred years
ago some patient Celestials spent days
aud weeks compounding and mixing,
with pestlcs and mOrtars, shaping and
reshaping. burning and glazing, until
this article was turned out a perfect
one of its kind. This vase is very proud
of its rarity and its value In the cata-
lUguc which the owner has il is de-
scribed in a whole page and its cost is
marked in large figures printed in very
black type. The amount is ten thou
sand dollars, and connOisseurs declare
il is n rare bargain even at that. On
either side of il are other vases not so
pretty, some antique pots and mugs,
and various other articles of vertu
which with saucers rough and cracked,
and plates long since used. 90 10 make
up an Industrious amateurs collection.
On the desk below these shelves there Is
some writing paper. a magazine or
two, paper knife of japanese manu-
facturc and a plain-shapen, iron
paper-wcight with a turned knob
handle. II is clearly more for use than
ornament, and the presence Of any
thing useful among so many ornaments
often gives rise TO talk. for bric-a-brac
will gossip as well as people. and with
as little Judgment too. On this Oc-
casion the library was very quiet The
guests had gone down TO dinner, the
lights were turned down low and the
ornaments felt in a more talkative
mood than usual.
"Well," observed the japanese Pa
per Knife TO the Chinese Vase. "YOu
have had praise enough to-day TO salts
~ any one who is not disposed to be
lreedy. Which. of course, you are
not, il added. with cutting irony.
Yes replied the Vase languidly,
for it learned that all fashionably peo-
pie were languid-the more fashionable
the more languid they were-and IL
was an apt scholar. "Yes they seemed
20 think that i am very rare and very
beautiful"
AT this remark the Egyptian Idol at
the farther end Of the shelf smiled with
exceeding contemptuousness and added
not little 10 the hideousness its maker
had given II.
beautiful. indeedr' itchuckled. ma
liciously. 'Why. only last year they
called me beautiful. -
THAT was a joke, my dear Idol, "
broke In the Knife, sharply. They
occasionally DO get OIL joke now and
then by way Of diversion"
They never called you beautiful" ;"
retorted the Idol. ru ulely.
NO. responded The Knife, II am
uscful.H
..Woll. so was /, for that matter"
answered the Idol. Several thousands
Of years ago. when i was young, pre-
sided over the deslinies Of q kingdom
and was consulted about every thing
that WAS done"
II dare say" snapped back the
knife. ''and whore, 1 may ask, IS that
nation nowP'
..What makes you 80 yaluableP'
nsl,od tho Papcr-WoiGht OF the Vase.
~ am 80 rare answered tho orna-
ment with faint trace Of enthusiasm,
sand cost the labor Of many men for
very many yonrs. I represent years Of
toll. OF trials, Of sacrifice, Tor inc men
who made me gave mp thei9 pleasures
during thar lime and were shut up In a
dinnf workshop like 80 many slaves. l
AIN fDc result Of n secret process.
E,rcN the Emperor did't know how !
has made.
'And son" interrupted the Knife,
lnqislilfolY 10 fhc Weight "what dld
yeo o.lY How much are you worihF