Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1888-04-21

| SsAlSo VI w III " O1t AuIll duu us Iol.1u pm
losopny. Many ard many an invitation, yo,.
may be sure, he had, but nothing coaij
tempt him from his upland valley. lie would
shake his head and smilc over his tobacco
pipe with deal of meaning. "You com
too late" he would answer. II am deay
man now; have lived and died already
Fifty years ago you would havc brought n?
heart into my mouth; and now you do ,t.
even tempt me. But that is the object Oh
long living, that man should cease to car
about life." And again: "There is only af,
difference between a long life and o goc
| dinner: that, il the dinner, tho sweets COM
last" Or once more: when was bo,
was bit puzzled, and hardly knew whether
it was myself or the world that was curious
and worth looking into. Now, know it Is
myself, and stick to that"
He never showed any symptoms of frailty,
but kept stalwart and firm to tho last; bu
they say he grew less tallativo toward the
end, ard would listen to other people Ly th
hour in an amused and sympathetic silence
Only, when he did speak it wGs moro to tin
| point, and moro charged with old experience
He drank bottle Of wire gladly; above al
at sunset on the hilltop or quito latc at nigh
under the stars in tho arbor Tho sight O.
| something attractive and urs,ttainable sc"
soned his enjoyment, be would say; and L!
professed he had lived long enough to Gdtair
a candle all the more when he could cornpult
/ it with planet.
One night, in his I'D year, be awokc in be
/ in such uneasiness of body and mind thct b
arose and dressed himself and went ont
mediate in tho arbor. 1t vas pitch dal
without star; the river was swollen, 2l,
tho wet woods and meadows loaded th, az
with perfume Il he'd thundered Gur.I.n L.
day, and 1t PROMISED more thunder 10.
tho morrow. A nlurly, sitting nigh
for rian of e.. Whether it wa
tho weather or the walciu.nccs, -
some little touch of fever in his old limb
Wills mind was bcsicGed by tunultuorS al
crying memories. lis boyhood, the MI
with the fat young man, the death or h.
adopted parents, the summer days with Mar
jory and many of those small circumstance
which seem nothing to another, and arc J
the very Gist Of mans own life to himself
things seen, words heard, looks mscoGStruc,
arose from their forgotten corners an
uSurpcd his attention. The dead themselvc
were with him, not merely taking part i.
this thin show of memory that deiled befo!
his brain, but revisiting his bodily senses :.
they do in profound and vivid dreams. tt
fat young man leaned his elbows on the table
npposito Marjory came and went with al
aproaful of flowers bc5wccn tic garden Gnt.
che arbor; he coU,d hear tho old parse:
knocking out his Pipe o. blowing his rcSoaaL+
nosc Tho tide of his consciousness cSbcd
! and flowed; he wao ro-lc:i irncs h2sf CSlccp and
drowned in k:3 rocoilcctioas of tho past,
and sometimes he wa3 broad awake wocdcr-
ing ct hi.:.sclf. But about the middle
of the night ho was startled By the
voice of tho dead miller calling to him ouo c.
tho house cs he used to Go on the arrival G.
custom. The hallucination was SO rcrfCc.
that VIII Gprang from his scat ccd stood
| listening for the SUMMONS to be repeated; and
as he listened he became conscious of G.,o-hC'
noise besides the brawli2g of the river end
the ringing il lis fcvCriGl carr. 1t TGS Ike
tho stir of the horses end the crcal,ing 0,
harness, as though u carriage with al i'm
patient team had been brought up upon th2
road before tie courtyard gate. At such ca
hour, upon this rough cnd dangerous pass
tho suppositioI wC8 TO better than aEsard
and Win dismissed i. from Lis Mid, and r.
s2nel lis seat uDon tho Cr5O- chair; tn
sleep closed over him aTain Ike running
water. I-c Was o1co again awakened b. TIC
dead ra.llcr5 cal, thilner ard moro spectral
than before; and once again he heard tic
roisc of an cluipaGe u?oa tho road. And GO
thrice and four tunes, tho same dream, OF tat
samo fancy, presented itself to his Cc-2Gc3;
until at length, smiling to himself as vhc:
ono huIIor3 a nervous cid, he proceeded
towards the gate to set his uncertainty al
rest
From the crbor to the cato was TO great
distance, and yet it took Nlll SOHO tiIGc; il
seemed as if the dead tAic!:c:.od around kiia
in the court, and crossed Lis path ct every
G,~-A I, Y -
by an ovcrpowering swcctlcss of Ecliotropc5,
it was as if his garden Lad boca planted wiz.
this flower from c3d to CID, C::d tic Eot,
damp night had G-awa fcrth C.l their pc
fumes il breath, Low tho holiotlope Id
been Marjoly'3 lavoTiec flower, cLd since he,
death net one of them had ever been planted
in Wills ground.
~ must be going crazy" he thought. "PooI
Marjory and her hcliotropes.n
And with that hc raised his eyes towards
the window that had once been hers If Ee
had been bewildered before, he was now c.
most terrified; for there was light il TIC
room; tho window was an orange obloaG Gs
of yorc, and the corner of the blind was lifted
and let fall as on the night when he stood AID
shouted to the stars in his perplexity. Tho
illusion only endured an instant, but it left
him somewhat unnamed, rubbing his eyes
and staring at the outline Of tho house G1d
the black night behind it. Whilo he thus
stood, and it seemed as if ho must have stood
there quite long time, thero carao rc-cwc.
of tho noises on tho road, end ho turned il
time to meet a stranger, who was advancing
to meet him across the court. There was
something like the outline of a great carriage
discernihle on the road behind tho stranger,
= n
so many plumcs.
"Master WillE" asked tho new conner, in
brief military fashion.
THAT same, sir" answered VIII. "Can
do anything to servo youg"
II have heard you much spoken Of, Master
Will" returned tho ether, ".nuch spoken Of
ard well. And though l have both hands
full of business l wish to drink bottle of
wine with you in your arbor Before l go 1
shall introduce myself"
VIII led the way to tho trcllis and cot q