The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1891-03-18

came in sight veritable old soldier
clad in an old blue coat and carrying
heavy cane. In answer to our inquiries,
he volunteered to pilot us to the
" Home " and to one of the finest views
in that region. SO we followed him.
He was communicative in the extreme,
and his voice, peculiar one, rippled on
in quiet monotone that was sometimes
amusing and sometimes tiresome. His
career had evidently been a checkered
one. AT one time he was owner of
fifty thousand dollars; then, master of
a ward school in Plttsburg; politician
and evidently possessed of large ae-
quaintance among political men, for he
seemed to have been "Haill fellow,
we'll metl" with every man of note
whom we could name. He claimed to
have had large share in securing the
election of Harrison in 1910, having, as
he said, written more than two thou
sand letters in his behalf. But OIL the
scathing he gave to the present admin
istration / wish / could remember
the string of contemptuous, vituperative
adjectives that rolled smoothly off his
tongue, their very smoothness present.
ing queer contrast to the passionate
hatred of the "powers that be " which
he designed TO express. The only
wonder was how any government could
subsist with such hater under ito
banner. AT length we took advantage
of period in his discourse to ask for
the ground of his dislike. He answered
with the very quintessence of emphatic
contempt, Everythingl We pressed
the question of specific charges, and no
pen can reproduce the peculiar tone,
the concentrated bitterness, with which
he uttered the one word, Imbecility!"
Meanwhile we bad climbed steep
ascent and suddenly found ourselves at
a point overlooking the Mississippi for
several miles Of it's course. 1t is indeed
a beautiful view and we were glad to
rest ourselves against the fence and let
our eyes wander from Fort Smelling in
the distance to where the bluffs in the
direction of St. Paul hide the Father of
Waters from sight. He has evidently
travelled not far from his cradle here
and has but little of the fatherly aspect
which graces his lower course.
The Home" lay just behind us,
beautiful for situation and presumably
the Joy of the weather-worn veterans
who have drifted into its comfort
able haven. But with our com
panion everything was out of joint.
For him, once rich and important, TO
have to live out the remnant of his DAYS
, pauper, as he expressed it, was Bit
ter pill not to be swallowed without
: wry face and angry protest. His fell
,, low veterans, viewed through his eyes,
,, were a quarrelsome set, illiterate, re-
, fusing to sun themselves in the light Of
. his superior intelligence, or, ;;aa ether
words, to listen to lectures on learned
i subjects, which he delighted to give,
/ actually removing the copy of "Web-
= ster's Unabridged which he had
placed on the table in their gathering
room. You should have seen the air of
unimpeachable virtue with which he
$ drew himself up and assured us that
s there was one there to whom whiskey or
!, sour cider was no temptation, and that
4 was" myself" Our time was short.
3 We had not seen Minnehaha, and so we
$ declined to explore the interior of the
9 imposing building and turned away,
: trusting that there were some con-
q tented hearts there for whom the sun
' set was bright and the morrow sure.
: Our crusty old friend offered to go with
o us and put us into the most direct path
J, - to the Falls, and as we rested moment
. by the way he said slowly, as if sum-
k ming up the conclusion of the whole
n matter: 81 have often asked myself
The question whether life is worth liv-
4. ing. ana, after thinking it all over, ]
> have concluded that it is not. Life is
:, not worth living' Poor old mani
" There was something pathetic in such
{. an utterance from one who had known
y so much of the world and had had such
Il opportunities of living. "'Vanity of
9 vanitiesl all is vanity saith the
u Preacher"
l. He babe US goodbye at last and we
g followed The path expecting every mo-
= ment to hear the silvery ripple of
1t Laughing Water. A few more turns
and we reached the Falls, but--what
n a falll Only little water trickling
/ over green, messy pile of nature:
At masonry. Only dainty bridal veil
t, half concealing, half revealing, wha
T. lay behind. At first we were disap
pointed, then almost angry, and Their
le the sense of the ludicrous came to oul
iee rescue and we laughed. 1t was only
~ the ghost of Minnehaha, but beatifu
"a even as faint reminder of what thu
r wild woodland scene must have beer
k, once when foaming cataract laughed
r as it leaped over the precipice, maxim!
- the forest ring with its mirth.
The scream of the coming motor re
called us to the present and to the fac
, tn, v lunch time was near, so we hurried
away. AS we stepped from thu car OF
our retu 'rn to the city, we passe,"7 ih'
sign. 81 'ese cars for Minnehaha
Falls" an pnehaha Drippingsl" sub
stituted my frien&, with Yankee mat
ter-6f-fact-ness. II was irreverent, l
know, but our ideal had been broken