New-York tribune., 1890-01-26
MISS MAYNE'S CALLERS.
BY OWEN BALAlR.
And sympathies. how iraii'
Ill sound and smell!

=, NAA9o - on,,Io ,vHo were acquainted with II
attached no great Importance, Dut Whicn causea
ber n,uch concern; unduly much, no DOUBT, II
,,'a shonid estimate our reluctance TO leave Ille
bv our positive inducements 10 remain III 1t loI
Miss Nayue was lone splnsteI, lhe hulnOcr Oh
,vbose wears namely, siNty-hVe, considerably eA-
ccndod fbat of tie annual pounds upon which she
lad 10 live gentccly and poverty ana solitary
old age are not factors generally computed 10
produce large sum1oead OI ~ bcr cne
likely to affect an unusual result, as Will be seen
if we add a few details
Miss Mayne lodged i'll drab-0rick house, Sltu-
ated among a square mile or SO of similar boxes IN
an unfasbionable London suburb Here she was sole
mistress of one little dingy chamber, and was
furtber privileged 10 use the back-parlor for her
meals and for the reception of visitors. But lhe
first of these rights had now for some time been
in allowance OWING TO the intiTmltN of her health ;
and the second she had small occasion to exercise,
her friends and acqualntances benE lew ana
unenthusaStic, and her only accessible relative,
n married nephew, having discontinued his perl
odical visits very soon after she had bought Ecr-
seIf an annuity. If the Jacksons had realized
how much she counted upon these visits, ana
how She looked forward TO them from month TO
month. they probably would not have gwen up
their habit of paving thcm together with hopes
of mention in her poor little Will rs 1t was
however. the removal of that hope proved the
collapsc of a spring failing, which the troublesome
transit from :. w. to y f., with tedious trains
and buses and consequent disbursement oi SIN,
Dences became an lnSurmOuntaDle oDStIcN, anu
vas reegated TO the list OF things that " really
ourht 10 be done some day SO Aunt Charlotte
yainlv hoped and expected and wondered, until
tho barlev-sugar which she had kept IN TN
canister in case they should bring one Of the
children with them, melted 50 much mat she
had 10 throw it away; and at last she leit OH
looking out for them. and said; bitterly to her
self that people were all alike. a sweeping
induction, which, though here based upon IN
sufficcsAt data has no doubt an element OF truth.
Now II Is obvious that an existence whlch de-
pended for large proportion of Its pleasure upon
an incident so trivial can have comprised little
10 warrant any wel-regulated mind in setting
high value upon its continuance. may as we'll
therefore at once fOrestall the readers lnier-
ences. By admitting that Miss Mayne had no par
ticular reason for wishing 10 remain allVe eA-
cept that she was afraid 10 die; and. further-
more that this a very particul lar reason IN
deed ] am aware that such mood is at present
both fashionable and unphllosOphlcaI; SO uluch
so that when from time 10 time some ore nnds
the evils he knows more lmportunate uhah lhose
he knows not Of, and thereupon suddenly starts
on an exploring expedition IN the dark, IL Is
always proper TO call him pre-emlnently coward
Still / may plead against complete alenatOh Oh
sympathy and Withdrawal OF interest nom my
"a fortiori" craven heroine, that her age ana
seX-" soon shaken old in "a woman naturally
prone 10 years alike urge us 10 excuse her ior
fbe infirmity Of "a brain not fashioned with
nerves of steel: whilst l may also draw atten-
ton 10 her merits as useful example OF the
truth that extremes meet, since her lgnoQle re-
luctance 10 shuttle of this mortal coil LED her 10
adopt a line of conduct so exactly resein bIln9
that of many more enlightened people that a
snperdciaI observer might almost attribute both
TO the same motive. whereas they are, oi course
by a desire 10 cooperate with The
workings Of the unconscious. or TO facilitate the
designs of the potential world-souI.
Be this as il may, the fact Is undenabe that
Miss Mayne did fear and was reluctant, and as
time went on her reIqctnce ana lear Ma" no zen,
dency 10 decrease Her illness was "A form OF
Heart disease and as rule caused her none OF
that acute suffering which, by reconclling us to
the prospect of its inevitable ternlnatOn SHOWS
Il II.t-a a.
present pains But she had occasional appall-
ing minutes of breathless distress and numblng
faintness, knowing from her doctor ; guarded
utterances that at such times her NE num- upon
a thread. Thus her antcipatlOns Of It's END came
10 be associated with her most dreadful physlcal
and thereby acquired shade OF
deeper gloom. From what ] have already sara,
il may be gathered that the resources al her COM
nand for dispensing and superscdlng the murkN-
CARRIED trains OF thought, which. under thcsc CT
not unnatufally arrived IrcIueHtrS
10 visit her, were scanty and lnenectuaL 10
begin with. her life was passed III one small
room which looked into back NaTd. IL was
many months since she had left the house: put
indeed as for a long time before She had finally
abandoned her brief daily cOnstltutionals she
had never started upon one without having
present TO her mind paragraph IN thc heHt
mornings paper, beginning Yesterday an cIueIN
lady was found lying IN All 1nSenslhlc STATE III
Wellwick Road" and ending: An lnques, was
not considered necessary y, " may be doubted
whether her Out-Of-doOr exercise can have had
of distraction were far from abundant. She
knitted good deal, chiefly wOollcn comlorters
and mittens for missionary sales but her eyeslEht
would not permit of fine stitches, ana; as you
know coarse wool works up very quickly ana is
rather dear to buy. 80 that she could not ahord
10 occupy herself in this way so IndustrousIy as
she would have liked TO, and her needles oileh lay
in enforced idleness. Nor VIII we consider ms
q trifing prVatiOn if reflect that these needles
and threads rightly understood. not seldom are
nothing less than levers used to lif the weight OIL
mOnotOnOus hours. and cables whercwlth - Dhd
the dercict thoughts from drifting INTO stran2e
and trOublOus seas With regard 10 more III
tellectual pursuits, her tastes were weaker ana
her limitations stronger: as, while sihaIi pIlhu
gaslight, and economy circumscnbed ncT IN ohc
direction, something which she supposed to Dc tlc %
voice OF conscience daunted her IN another foi ile
poor soul felt convinced that IN her pIecaIiouS
state OF health il was exceedingly dcpraNcd Ol hcf
pleasure from novels and newspapers than from
theological and devotional works, and TINS con-
viction perpctually lurkcd like serpent among
the flowers OF cheap fiction which would o'hcI-
wise have very harmlesslY blossOmed over some
OF the barcst patches in her barren days. She
struggled strcnuOusly against this evil propensity
never yielding 10 it without TcmOrsc and rigOT
ously adhering 10 fixed periods of psalm and ser
mon reading Yet the fact remained That il she
had freely followed her inclination, it might have
been SAID OF her, as Of Chaucers Doctor OF
Physik," that her "studie was but ltcl on the
bbel7 and she knew that this must be highly
reprehensble.
Moreover, her religion was not merely thus
negatively depressing; where it took away an
amusement il left menace behind Miss Mayne
belonged 10 a generation which had grown up al
a time when hell most realistically fiery and brinI-
stony. was a prominent article Of belief and one
deemed peculiarly well adapted for gfaphic pre-
sentiment 10 the youthful mind For example, her
nursery library had contained the story in short
words of a little girl who had died during iit
of anger. and whose subsequent history was cpl
dramatically epitOmized follows "SLe is
now in her pet in He'll And though She had
lived TO see a time when these crude cschatO-
logical theories were commonly diluted and re-
pudiated printed i'm the smallest type, and kept
on the very furthest back of the clerical book
shelves -" There there the black man shant
boceys coal-hole is quite safely locked 50 run oil
10 church like good children still, early i'm
pressions being always to certain extent lndel-
ible, the scent of the sulphur would chnS 10 her
religious ideas. the more persistently that her
mind though not of large dimensions. was honest
SO far as it went. and therefore could not easily