Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1889-11-02

had formed plans
md itineraries for consuming such time - b
hopsd TO have. changing them again and
again TO conform 70 longer or shorter Ieriods
Hs was prepared 70 be an Intelligent tourist,
70 see only what was we'll worth being looked
Il and t. study much that could not be seen
n sny other place which be Vas ever likely
70 visit
At last he was In New York. bis time
would be l1rA>d only BY the expense Of re-
naming st hosel or boarding houss Yet he
found himself utterly vithous impulse to fol-
low any Of his carefully perfected plans He
stroIled about great deal, but in an utterly
aimle>s way He passed public buildings
which be knew BY sight - among those no
had intended to inspect. but he did not even
enter their doors; the great libraries In which
for years be had hoped to quench the literary
thirst that had been little more than tanta-
hzed by the collective books IN Hayuton were
regarded with impAtiencs " all be saw
Wills rambling about alons, nothing really
dxed bis attention but the contents OF shop
Window He could not pass Q clothing store
without wondering il some OF the goods ne
saw within would not become him better
than what be was wearing; hs spent hours In
looking at displays Of dress goods and ima&
ming how one or other pattern or tapfc
would look on Lucia; and be wasted many
hours more In day dreams OF purchasing
only for her-the bits Of jewelry and other
ornaments with which some Window were
oiled
Loneliness increased the weakening effect
of his imaginingx He knew absolutely mo
one in the city but the Tramlays and Marge,
and he had too much sense to impose himself
upon them, besides, Marge was terribly I'M
interesting to him, except a. material Tor
study Of human nature-material that was
peculiarly unattrsctive when such specimen
as Lucia was always in his minds eye and
insisting upon occupying his whole attention
His loneliness soon became intolerable; after
. single day Of it he hurried to tho river, 70
gardless Of probable criticism and teasing
based on his new clothes, to chat with Sol
Mantring and the crew Of the sloop The in
terview was not entirely satisfactory, and
Phil cut his visit short departing with q brow
full Of wrinkles and heart full Of wonder
and indignation at the persistency with which
Sol and both his men talked Of Lucia Tram
lay and the regard in which they assumed
Phil held her. How should they imagine
such a thingf He well knew-and detested-
the rural rage for prying into the affairs OF
people, particularly young men and women
who seemed at all fond Of one another; but
what had he ever done or said to make these
rough fellows think Lucia was to him any
thing but boarder in his fathers housed As
he wondered, there came to his mind a line
which he had often painfully followed in his
copy book at school: The face of youth is an
open book It did not tend at all to restore
composure to his own face.
Hour by hour he found himself worse COM
pany He had never before made such dis
covery. There had been hundreds and thou
sands of days in his life when from dawn to
dark he had been alone on the farm, in the
woods or in h fishing boat, several miles of
shore on the ocean, Yet the companionship OF
his thoughts had been satisfactory He had
sung and whistled by the hour, recited to
himself favorite bits Of poetry and prose, re-
hearsed old stories and jokes. and enjoyed
himself so well that sometimes he was an
noyed rather than pleased when an acquaint-
ance would appear and insist on diverting
his attention to some trivial personal or bust
ness affair Why could he not cheer himself
now-he who always had been the life and
cheer Of whatever society be found himself
in!
He tried to change the current Of his
thoughts by looking at other people; but the
result was dismal in the extreme. He loung
ed about Broadway, strolled in Central park,
walked down Fifth avenue, and from most
that he saw lie assumed that everybody who
was having pleasant time driving fine
horses, or living in a handsome house, was
rich He had been careful:y trained in the
belief that "a mans life CONSISTENT not in the
abundance Of the things which he possesseth,"
but his observations of New York were
severely straining his faith. He was entirely
orthodox in his belief as to tho prime source
of riches but he suddenly became conscious
of an unhappy, persistent questioning as to
why he also had not been born rich, or bad
riches thrust upon him. He understood now
the mad strife for wealth which he had often
heard alluded to as the prevailing sin Of large
cities: he wished he knew how to strive for
it himself-anywhere, in any way, if only
he might always be one Of the thousands Of
people who seemed to wear new clothes all
the time. and spend their evenings in elegant
society, or in the gorgeous seclusion Of pal
aces like that occupied by Marge's club.
For instance, there was Marge. Phil had
asked Tramlay what business Marge was IN,
and the reply was, None in particular lives
OIL his income What, asked Phil of him
self, was the reason that such a man, who
did not seem much interested in anything,
should have plenty Of money and nothing to
do, when a certain other person who could
keenly enjoy. and he believed, honestly i'm
prove, all Of Marge's privileges, should have
been doomed to spend his life In hard endeav-
or to wrest the plaincst1ood from the jealous
earth and threatening sea, and have but
chance glimpse Of the paradise that the rich
were enjoying-a glimpse which probably
would make his entire after life wretched
Could he ever again Be- what he had 20 long
beeni-a cheerful, contented young farmer
and fisherman He actually shivered Is he
called up the picture Of the long road, alter
nately dusty and muddy, that passed his "a
theirs house. its sides Of brown fence and
struggling bushes and weeds converging in
the distance an uncouth human figure or .
crawling horse and wagon its only sign Of
animation. and contrasted it with Fifth ave
niue, its boundaries handsome houses and it,
roadway thronged With costly equipages
bearing well dressed men and beautiful wo-
men. Passing the houss Of a merchant
prince, he saw in the window fine bronze
group on a stand how different from the lit
u plaster vase Of wax flowers and fruits
WHICH Huu Dttu tSipto kuIOuku IuOLuST
"best room window As long a. he could ~
member
Yes, money was the sole cause Of the differ
ence: money, or the lack Of it, bad cured
bis father as IL now was cursing him. None
Of the elderly men he saw had faces more in
telligent than his father. yet at that very
moment the fine old man was probably clad
in oft patched trousers and cotton shirt, dig
ging muck from . black slimy pit TO enrich
the thin soil Of the wheat lot And his mo
Their it made his blood boil to think Of her in
faded calico preparing supper in the plain old
kitchen at home, while scores Of richly clad
women of her age, but without her alert,
smiling face, were leaning back In carriages
and seemingly unconscious OF the blessing Of
being exempt from honieiy toll
And. coming hack to himself, money, Or
lack Of il. would soon hanixh him from all
that now his eye was feasting upon Il
would also tanish him from Lucia He bad
read stories Of poor young men whom won
drous chances of fortune had helped TO the
hands and hearts Of beautiful mAidsns clad
in fine raiment and wearing rars gema. but
hs never had failed to remind hiuanslf that
such tales were only romances. now the
memory Of them SEEMED ouiy to emphasis
the sarcasm Of destiny Money bad made
between him and Lucia . gulf q vide - ths