The Bozeman weekly chronicle., 1888-12-05
MY FRIEND Sparkling,
A Troubled Conscience and 9
Haunting Presence.

A Troubled Conscience and
Haunting Presence.
lam amanufncturero of and dealer In grave
stones and monuments. There are three men
who hahituuly associate death with busi-
ness the GoStor the undertaken and the
tombstone malinr have the finer feelings
and sen iMunts Of the average man, yet my
occupation has led me to regard the great
and spI'Fn change chiefly from business
| point OF view. That nlel should die has
| seemed 80 me DIS IL matter of course, and as
| II pna,a..Iy mcaus for tho support of my
SET AMI Iimily. Still, death may produce
! ElcHt sanck i'll me, as was the case with
| that Of NY friend Sparling.
| We had pcen friends from boyhood. He
lived near me; my way to and from busi-
I, ness lco past his house. ! met him almost
daily. A.utunl assistance over some Of the
hard places Of life, a similarity Of tastes,
and frequent interchange of thought and
opinion had endeurod each Of us 10 the
other.
For week had been busy with prepara-
tions for a long business tour. 1t was tc
last three months The day before my de
parturc mad met Sparkling and had said to
nm: 81 am going on another tour. Lest
we should not meet tomorrow, let US say
goodbye now" We separated with
hearty hand-shake and the friendliest Of
farewcls.
was to take the evening train Of the
next day NV ticket for New Orleans was
in my pocket, my trunk packed, the
parting with those at home was over, and
the hack was taking me to the station. The
afternoon paper was in my hand; opened
it and the following paragraph caught my
| eye;
"SUppEN DEATH-As we go to press the
| painful news reaches US of the death of our
! esteemed ctizen, Ezra Sparling, which oc.
| Cured at hrs residence about three O'clock
| this ffternoun, TIE occurrence will be as
! startling as painful to his host Of friends
! and acGuaintances, as the deceased has apr
I pareatlv been in the best OF health. The cause
| YVES Eto,ably heart disease. Particulars are
! necessarily deferred till our next ISSUE"
The paper dropped from my hand; the
shock made me faint for moment Spar
ling dead! l could not comprehend 1t.
The hack had just turned into the street
on which was his house. looked at my
! watch; there was not one moment to spare
| Shall l tell the truth, that this certainly
gave me great relief, just thena /, of all
men. should be with the afflicted family in
that dark hour: and here was an excellent
excuse for the non-performance of the sad
duty. ] shrank, as all do, from the dis
agreeable task.
The hack went swiftly to the house; the
| driver knew he had no time to lose. saw
! in the twilight that the blinds were closed;
| two or three neighbors were on the front
steps. | had glimpse of woman doing
something at the door. "Putting Grape on
the knob" said to myself, and the scene
disappeared like some fieeting picture con-
jured up by the memory.
So my journey was commenced with q
heavy heart. looked about anxiously for
somebody at the station who could tell me
something more about my friends death.
Nobody could The two or three with whom
! was able to exchange few words about
it before the express came and went knew
what did and no more They had seen the
brief newspaper announcement, and that
was all.
lay awake two hours that night after my
berth in the sleeper was made up, thinking
of poor Sparkling, of his bereaved family,
and what ought to do in the premises. 1t
was an unusual occasion with me; nobody,
not even relative, had ever departed and
left the gap in my life that this man would
leave. Naturally, l began to condemn my
self for fastening away as had done, after
learning of EZra's death. To be sure, my
plans were all previously made, and the
three days delay that would be necessary
in offering my consultations to the family
and attending the funeral would be incon-
venient. That was all, merely little de-
rangcment of my plans, not even involving
any business loss. l became angry and
dissatisfied with myself as these reflections
proceeded, and tried to excuse my conduct
by the plea that the news had come upon
me so suddenly that had no time for the
c1lm reflection Dpcaesnry IN n ohop0a of
plan. My conscience was stern monitor,
and would not excuse me SO easily. "He
would never have acted thus toward you,"
was its comment upon my apologies.
tossed about uneasily; proposed in my
mind that would get of at Cleveland and
return home; resolved the next mo-
ment that l would do nothing Of the
kind, but would send a long tel
egram to the widow, explaining the
necessity of my absence and rendering my
sympathy; decided next that this would be
an absurd thing TO do-and at last fell to
sleep with nothing settled. When awoke
was three hundred miles from home, and
Cleveland was an hour behind me. / tried
to put away all thoughts Of Sparkling, and
fix my mind on business
1t would not do The man who attempts
to fight battle with his conscience is al
ways in the wrong, always sure Of defeat.
Moreover, that kind of a contest will ex.
clude every thing else from his mind till it
IS settled. When the train reached Cincn-
natl was conquered. Letting my baggage
go on left the car, and in q fever Of i'm.
patience walked the station until ! could
take return train.
From the probabilities Of such occasions
had settled it in my mind that Sparling
would be buried on the afternoon of the
third day from that of his death. Time-ta-
bles We're studied, conductors interrogated,
and it was made certain that ought in due
course to reach home at three o'clock in the
afternoon Of that day.
That would be q very close thing, reflect.
I'd. There would be, probably, only time
lor m % take carriage and join the pro-
sessis- 10 the cemetery. Much distressed
IA mind, resolved to do this, if circum.
stances admitted of nothing more.
But even this poor privilege was denied
me- There were maddening delays and
detentions; 1t was not until midnight Of the
third day that I left the train at the home
station.
My state of mind admits of no descrip-
ton. feared to learn the truth; I would
not inquire il the funeral had yet taken
place. There were no carriages there at
that hour and walked alone through the
deserted streets.
There was full moon and the gas lamp.
were not lighted. But the time was July.
and the foliage often vailed the moonbeams'
The force OF habit led me through the
street where Sparkling had lived. 1 would
not think of calling at that untimely hour.
Imust learn the particulars Of the funeral
at home, but in my remorseful condition of
mind it seemed to me the correct thing to
do to walk slowly past the house Of the
mourning, and abase my soul before it.
AS neared the gate l saw a tall figure
leaning on it. The form and the attitude
were so familiar to me as to strike me
through with terror. halted abruptly.
The face was slowly turned toward mo