Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1886-07-15
THE PAPER-WEIGHT.
IL Figures as the Savior of Human
Lives.


there stood an ebony secretary which
was old and stained with use when the
present century was yet unborn. No
one knew where this antique desk,
with its ogre-lllle back, goblin arms and
gnarled and knotted legs which ended
in great carved claws, had come from
The master of the house
had picked it up in little unfrequent-
ed inn in Roumelia. 1t had stood in his
bed chamber, where it served as dress
ing-case, lavatory and clothes-press.-
During the night its grim presence, so
oddly out of place, like tombstone in
q drawing room, had given to his
dreams strangeness and vividness
that made an impression upon him
which the bright sunlight of the sue
ceeding day utterly failed to remove.
So he bargained with the tavern-keeper
for it though the medium of his valet,
so as not to excite the old mans cupid
ity, and finally bought it for an
amount much larger than its value.
and had it shipped to his residence in
this city. This is the story he tells to
those of his guests who are attracted by
its grotesqueness, but the servants--and
who, by the way, knows so much about
the house as the servants?-tell differ
ent story. The valet who bargained
for it relates q weird tale of murder in
the old castle among the Balkan noun
tains where the secretary is supposed
to have originated, of q missing will, of
secret drawers under the goblin's arms,
of ftrickery, of a charming heiress and of
an eventual clearing up of the mystery
to the intense enjoyment of all. This
is the tale of the servants hall and in
the hands of the glib valet it thrills his
listeners and adds not a little to his
fame as hero, for Wallets are only hu-
man after all. But wherever it 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 Ii
brary, on Partisan rug of great rich
ness of color and depth of pile, itstands
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
it were planted in q drawing-room on
the planet Mars.
Upon the shelves in the back of the
secretary there are various curiosities 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 8 wonder, and
delicately colored. 1t came from the
Orient, where several hundred years ago
some patient Celestials spent days and
weeks compounding and mixing, with
pestles and mortars, shaping and re-
shaping, burning and glazing, until
this article was turned outs perfect one
of its kind. This vase is very proud of
its rarity and its value. In the cata-
logue which the owner has it 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
it is a rare bargain even at that. On
either side oft 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, go to make
up an industrious amateurs collection.
On the desk below these shelves there is
some writing paper, a magazine or two,
a paper knife of Japanese manufacture
and plain-shapen, iron paper-weight
with turned knob handle. It is
clearly more for use than ornament,
and the presence of fanything els so many
ornaments often gives rise to talk, for
will gossip as well as peo-
pie, and with as little judgment too
On this occasion the library was very
quiet. The guests had gone down to
dinner, the lights were turned down
low and the ornaments felt in q more
talkative mood than usual.
"Well," observed the Japanese Paper
Knife to the Chinese Vase. "You have
lad praise enough to-day to satisfy any
one who is not disposed to be greedy.
Which, of course, you are not ~ it add
I'd, with cutting irony.
"Yes," replied the Vase languidly,
or it learned that all fashionable peo-
Die where languid-the more fashiona-
Die the more languid they were--and it
vas an apt scholar. Eyes they seemed
% think that am very rare and very
At this remark the Egyptiyn Idol at
he farther end of the shelf smiled with
exceeding contemptuOusness and added
not q little to the hideousness its maker
lad given it:
Beautiful, indeedv it chuckled, ma
iciously. "Why, only last year they
,alled me beautiful"
'That was q joke, my dear Idol,n
,roke in the Knife, sharply. "They
occasionally do get off joke now and
hen by way of diversion.n
"They never called you beautiful
the Idol, rudely.
"No," responded the Knife, II am
lseful."
"Well, so was /, for that matter"
the Idol. "Several thousands
If years ago, when I was young, I pre-
jided over the destinies of a kingdom
Ind I was consulted about every thing
hat was DONE"
II dare say" snapped back the
Knife, land where, may ask, is that
nation now?"
"What makes you so valuable?" asked |
The Paper Weight of the Vase.
II am so rare" answered the orna-
nent with a faint trace of enthusiasm,
and I cost the labor of many men for
rerv many years. represent years of |
;oil, of trials, of sacrifice, for the men
who made me gave up their pleasures
Turing that time and were shut up in
. dingy workshop like so many slaves.
am the result of a secret process. Ev-
IN the Emperor did't know how I was
made"
"And you," interrupted the Knife,
to the Weight, "what did
you cost? How much are you worth?"
t asked, sarcastically.
II really don't KNOW" replied the
Weight, modestly. III never asked"
"Never asked,n repeated the Idol,