West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-05-07
THE PAPER WEIGHT.
1t Figures as the Savior of HUI
man Lives.

ln one corncrofthe long library there
stood an ebony secretary which was
old and stained with use when the pre-
sent century was yet unborn No one
knew where this antique desk. with its
ogrc-likc back. goblin arms and gnarlcd
and knottcd legs which ended in great
carved claws, had come from original
~. The master of the house had
picked it up in little unfrcqucntcd
inn i'm Roumcla. 1t had stood i'm his
bed chamber, where il served aS dress
ing-caSe, lavatory and cluthcs-prcss
During the night its grim presence, so
oddly out OF place, like tombstone i'm
drawing room, had given to his
dreams a strangcness and vividncss
that made AN impression upon him
which the bright sunlight of the sue
cceding day utterly failed To remove.
30 nc bargalncd with the tavcrn-kccpcr
for IT though the medium of his valet.
50 aS not to excite the old mans cupi-
dity. and finally bought il for an amount
much larger than its value. and had
IT shipped to his residence i'm this
f y
TO those of his guests who are attracted
10y It's grotesquencsS, but the servants
and who, by the way. knows SO much
about the house as the ScrvantS?- tell
different story. The valet who bar
gained FOR 1t relates weird tale of
: murder i'm the old castle among the
/ Balkan mountain, where the secretary
l. supposed to have originated, of a
missing Will, of secret drawers under
the goblin arms, of trickcrv. of
charming hcircss and of an eventual
clearing up Of the mystery to the i'm
| tense enjoyment OF all This is the
/ tale of the servants hall, and i'm the
hands of the glib valet il thrills his
listeners and adds not little to his
fame ae hero, for wallets ar, only hu-
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 I'm one end of thc.li-
brary, ON Partisan rug of great rich
ness OF color and depth of pile, il stands
the mute and unmOvablc attendant
upon five O'Clock teas, evening mu,i-
Gales and whist parties, where lis his
tory Is a. little appreciated a. though
II were planted in q drawmg-rOOm on
the planet Mars.
Upon the shelves i'm the back of the
secretary there are various curioS of
varying degrees of value and uglincSS.
also picked up in odd place, i'm the Old
World and valued chiefly for their u,e-
tuIncss and rarity Among these is a
vase 'prrtuiN shaped. for a wonder and
dclicatcly colOrcd. IL came from the
Orient whore several hundred wears
4 IL. 4
aud weeks compromising aud mixing.
with pc,tlc~ and mortars, shaping and
rrshaping, burning and glazing. until
this article wa, turned out "a perfect
one Of IT, kind. This vase j, very proud
of its rarity and It's value. I'm the cata-
lOguc which the owner has IL j. de
scribed i'm whole page and IL. cost j.
marked IN large figures printed in very
black type The amount is ten thou
sand dollars. and cOunOis~cur- declare
NJ i~ rare bargain even at that On
either side OF ~ are other vases not so
pretty, some antique pots and mugs.
and various other articles Of vertu
which with ~auccr- rough and cracked,
and plates long since used, go to make
up au industrious amateur collection
On the desk below these shelves there L.
some writing paper. % magazine or
two. paper knife Of Japanese manu-
tacturc and plain--hapcn, iron
papcr-wcight with turned knob
handle. II is clearly more for use than
ornament, and the presence Of any
thing useful among so many ornament,
often gives rise 10 talk. for bric-a-brac
viii gossip as well as people. and with
a. little Judgment too. On this oc-
Ca-iOu the library was very quiet The
guests had gone down tO dinner the
lights were turned down low and the
ornaments felt in moro talkativc
mood than usual.
"Wcll. observed the japanese Pa
per Knife 90 the Chinese Vase you
have had praise enough to-day t0 salts
fv amy one who is not disposed to bc
greedy Which, of course, YOU are
not 10 added, with cutting irony
Yes, replied the Vase languidlv.
for 10 learned that all fashiouablv pco-
pie were languid the more fashionable
The more languid they were and 10
10 think that ! am very rare and very
beautiful
40 this remark the Egyptian Idol at
the farther end Of the shelf smiled with
exceeding 0contUnptuousncss and added
NOT % little 90 the hidcousncss ts maker
had given &c.
Beautiful indeed" itchucklcd. ma
lcipu-ly. why only last year they
called mo beautiful
"Ibat was % joke, my dear IDOL
brok. u the Knife. sharply "Thc,
occasionally do get on Joke now and
then br way of diversion
They never called sou beautiful.
rctug.d the Idol rudplv.
So responded .hc Katie l Rm
u.riH.
wen 9wa d i9f LRl msusf