Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1889-09-24
THE WOMAN IN GRAY.

THE WOMAN IN GRAY.
Ny friend jenkins drew another Of
my office chairs toward him. laid his feet
acruss 4, and cmitteda long drawn spiral
of smoke from the lip- from which he
had Just removed the stem of a meer'
schaum which was my chronic envy. !
had IN vain endeayorci 81 bcg. purchase
OF pufloin the said pipe
'No usc. old boy." had been his inya.
riablc reply "Thi. pipe belonged To the
old 'Studcnien lAgcn.' aud cling 10 II
A. Ia sofi ~ relic.
"Achl those olI Vienna days. How
merry they worc. ar how full Of work.
jenkins. NJ a.. lay back In his chair
and watched the spirals expand and grow
dim until they blended with the general
murky tint ~ the atmosphere In my In
ncr Office and muscd We had spent the
preceding two hours or more preparing
specimens fof the microscope. and. now
that the evening vas well on L. way.
had laid aside work for our customary
good night smoke our friendship had
hccn a strange enough Que. Meeting
drst nj B,lroths Klinik In Vienna, the
exchange ~ casual remark inspired by
the feeling of camaradrric among siu.
dents IT the same sciences had lci 10 an
acquaintance full ~ pleasure to both
1 had lefi him there. with face pointed
to the Orient. when ! turned my rrluct'
ant steps Parisward on my return to
America
"Go-i.by. old fellow may write To
you some time. but not now.
when have made the wclkin ung
With the name ~ the famous Dr jenkins
you will surely hear from me. until that
shall h. ioo busy 90 carry on much
correspondence Peace h. unto you. "
llc wuing my hand In parting. while
the merry look in hii eyes. that made
one forget for the noncc that lilc ~as
not all Joke. dimmcd a little
"'And 20 you. psacc.' aud turned
away
Three year. pissed. and walking rapid
iv around the corner - Chestnut street
in the early dusk. on my way a. my
office IN Twelfth. ran uuccWmouiously
into pedestrian coming with equal
momentum fum Twelfth "a Chestnut
4 tcs pardon, sir' didn't scc YOU.
said l. hastily as ! recovered irum the
relound and Ni,- rushing past him
Its only fair tu supIusc you wouldn't
have bumped yourself against me to
your dcirimcnt n YOU had seen mc. sir.
~ | acccpi your apology IN ~ entirety.
turned I'm nmazcmcni to sec what
manner II man was my late opponent
Who should answer my am,nde honom'
be IN this wise. AMI wc both burst into
a hearty laugh.
We we're 10Th bit shaken In the
conclusion. l b.iicyc." continued be,
laughingly. but It did. u youll pardon
me. sound liiilc asinine IN YOU to cN'
plain that YOU didn't s.c me. May !
ask. sir. " YOU run into people that way
when YOU do $50 tli Hmf
A. be- had spoken | had turned little,
and the u ,hi from the rtrCt lamp on
the corner had fallen on my face.
"Brown. as i've. OIL 10y. how small
the world ~"
Jenkins!
4 hand clap followed that bridgcd the
silent year. and made us chums again.
aud ia Vienna.
you shall come home with me Tor the
night said l. Come; no refusal
dwell hard by. by the way. which hotel
are you at. jenkins. and III send around
Tor your traps!
"Im not at a holel-my traps are
too numerous for transportation-and
can't remain away from my office To-
night, even for the pleasure of staying
with my long lost Brown"
"Oaice" had stammercd. 81 don't
quite comprehend. In Philadelphia
Precisely. You grasp the situation
with amazing cleaness. Sixteenth and
Girard. Been there two years
And ~ IL was For two years We who
believed each other at the antipodcs had
walked the streets ~ the same great
city, scarcely more tlian a stones throw
apart. How old IL all seemed.
We took up the old friendship where
We laid IL down. AMI again plcdded on
our way together. We studied, We In.
vestigaled, We made elaborate chemical
and physiological experiments and re
searches. And yet the wclkin had mol
ning with the namo u jenkins. The
modest paironyrnic, Brown. had not
reached out Its octupus arms and drawn
10 IL the gaze of all the world.
Things were In this stage the evening
our story opens. jenkins watched th'
rings ~ smoke blend with the surround
Ing haze for while-,hen spoke, as one
who had been wrestling with a might,
problem;
Things don't seem To me TO BE- quits
equally divided Ia this world. Brown
Do they TO your The rich are too riel
and the poor are too poor" continued h'
directly.
"Oh. come. nowi Don't let us have
Any of ttdt rptt W ro-hhteAte ofets
thought you had some sense" said l.
"Its 80. though. all the same contin
ued he. Just by way Of illustration
as a study In social science, say. look a
the patients who hock 10 the Dives o
our beloved profession. and then at thos'
who come 90 see poor lazaruses, o
Lazari. or lazaroni-hang II, what !
the plural OF Lazarus. anyhow Well
whatever II Is. you and belong TO u
professionally. you know"
laughed In spite Of myself. while ! RI
piled
"Monsieur jenkins, you love To talk
but you know as well as that Dives, a
you call him collectively. has. nine time
out Of ten. made his way up 10 his pres
ent eminence through the same channel
you and are steering cur craft slowl
along
"where would BE- the justice In c,
pecting man who had patientl
worked his way. and slowly built th
reputation on which he now stands
having to compete on equal terms wit
unknown tyros like those Of which. wit
all respect to my audience. the presen
gathering In my Office Il composedr