Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-05-06
JACOB AND POLLY.


ers in Lombard street At least he always
considered himself attached to the estab-
nent as messenger, though he had never
"signed articles" with the principals, and
was just barely tolerated outside on the
pavement, at an acute angle of the build
ing and three feet from the street doors,
where customers and clerks were not
likely to tumble over him He had
been hanging outside this big bank for
many years now, and it had become Gus
tom Of late days to send him on little err
rands which were not within the province
Of regular clerks duty, and which the
clerks of Parkinson, Goldchest & Co.
would have scorned to perform at any
price whatever. If anybody required a
cab, Jacob was sent for one; il country
gentleman with a big balance on the books
wanted to be shown the way to the Bank
Of England, or Billingsgate, or the Tower,
Jacob was told off as a guide; il something
was wanted surreptitiously by the clerks,
in the shape of a newspaper or a ham
sandwich, Jacob was sent for it, and there
had been times when it was even consid-
cred safe to trust him with a telegram.
Jacob received no salary, but was sup
ported by voluntary contribution, like q
amounted to in the year there had been
much speculation concerning, at the bank,
amongst the clerks 1t was set down. by
young and imaginative minds, as pretty
penny, take it altogether" But taking
Jacob Cattley altogether, was, to the CT
binary observer, to set him down as q
poor, half-starved, ill-clad, miserable old
man, struggling hard to live, and always
on the brink of failing at it. A shabbier
old gentleman was not to be found; but he
was never in rags, and he always boosted
"A clean face under his rusty brown top
hat, which he poised at the extreme back
of his grey head He did not appear to
flourish on his contributions, but gew
thinner and more pinched with every week
Of his outdoor service there.
Still he had what the clerks called his
tips" and Mr.. Goldchest, every Saturday
morning, when he left the bank, and be-
fore he stepped into his carriage, the door
of which Mr.. Cattley always opened for
him, gave him something. it was noticed,
but whether sovereign or threepenny-
piece was a matter of uncertainty, the
claw-like hand Of Jacob closing SO quickly
on the gift. The junior clerks thought it
would be a "threepenny,' Mr.. GOldchest
not being liberal paymaster, in their
humble opinion, forcibly expressed each
quarter-day, but Jacob, probably of re-
ticent disposition, never let them know,
and, at all events, he did not wax fat on
his emoiuments: and in the rainy and
frosty seasons caught many a cold and
cough, and wore, winter and summer, the
same suit of gray threadbare clothes, to
which, in very inclement weather, n red
cotton neckerchief relieved by white
lozenges and tied in a strange knot, was
added, by way Of protection, to a giraffe
like throat
Jacob was considered a poor hanger-on;
but Jacob had his hangers-on too, and
people whom in his turn he took upon
himself TO patronize There are always
depths below depths in this eccentric
world of ours, and always some poor
brother and sister TO whom a hand can be
held out, or a little kindness rendered, and
Jacob Cattley had his dependent in the
background, and one who waited and
watched for him as regularly after bank
ing hours on Saturdays, as he waited and
watched for Mr.. Goldchest about noon;
and this dependent on Mr. Cattley was q
dark haired, dark-eyed purveyor of penny
"button-holes" and two-penny bouquets, a
poor fiower-girl who regarded Mr. Cattley
rs a regular customer on Saturdays, one
who was always good for penny, some
times even twopence, when he had been
extra fortunate il the city.
Jacob, il may be said, never purchased
his flowers in Lombard street; no one in
that busy center had seen Jacob Cattley
spend penny piece upon anything, but
once away from the city proper, and hurry
ing on towards Blackfriars bridge-on the
Surrey side Of which he lived and which
he crossed regularly twice a day to and
from "his place of business, any one who
had taken the trouble to watch him
which no one ever had-woald have seen
Jacob somewhere in the neighborhood OF
Ludgate hill bargaining with Polly Baxter
for n nosegay every Saturday afternoon.
Jacob Cattley would even condescend to
patronize Polly Baxter, and to occasionally
pass n remark upon the weather, or the
extent of her stock in trade; but all this
was done in an auStere, stand -offish way
which did not encourage conversation in
return, and which was a washed ont COPY
OF the great Goldchest manner, when the
big banker skated across the pavement to
his carriage Polly Baxter did not know
this, and thought IL was very kind of the
old gentleman in the looking COM
forter 10 say word or two to her now and
then-words which, with all their GOODNESS,
had n little ring in them of interest or
or something not easy to COM
prehend, and which the flower girl did not
attempt in any way to account for.
Suddenly Jacob Cattley was missed
from Lombard street, and from the neigh
of \ nd. ta ~,
ter's basket blushed with flowers in vain
for him. Every day Polly Baxter had
been accustomed to see him between and
5 trotting homewards, with his sharp face
set due south; every day he had said
'Gcod- morning," in grave, faterly way,
and with solemn bend Of his long neck;
and on Saturdays. as we have intimated,
he always stopped to bargain with her for
her gayest penDyworth. And now Jacob
was missing; and no one knew where
Jacob lived, so that the mystery Of his dis
appearance might have been solved by
call.
Hes dead, for sixpence poor old cove"
said one of the junior clerks. a pert and
slangy and oyer-dressed youth. whom
Jacob had in his heart dislikei. despite the
offering of a penny now and then. Hes
of, depend upon it. I'm sorry l was SO
ieuced hard on him last week"
Polly Baxter wondered more about him
than the rest of the community aware Of
his existence. She did not know why she |
should bother about the old man. but |
she did He was something removed |
from her life, regular customer gone, |
and that WAS to be regretted when regular |
customers were scarce When she had |
bought her flowers at Covent Garden mar |
ket in the early morning, and had taken |
hem 10 her little attic where she made up |
her penny punches for the day. she caught |
herself thinking of the funny little bloke.- |
md of his grave, old fashioned ways |
Polly Baxter earned her own living hon. |
sstly. and made the best Of her position by |
thrift and industry. coming very close to |
once or twice in the hard times /
which will turn mp TO the hard-workers. |
still she fought on, and had begun to |
each herself to read and write of late DAYS,
md TO find her way on Sundays to a little /
,hapel down a back street, and listan with 1
nuch surprise TO what they told her there.
nd TO wonder why It had been kept from
er all these years, and why no one in the
highways and byways Of her life had sad
word about il.
Possibly thinking Of this had made her
hink Of other folk as the light filtered
title through the darkness Of Polly Bax-
er's lie. but she did think great deal OF
be poor old-fashioned little man who
eemed TO have vanished like ghost, and
. became matter of speculation why he
ad ever bought flowers OF her at all. being
man who probably had not much to