The morning call., 1891-01-18

'7Bso, Tho, Ny DdrftnG"
snce, was devoted to the study of science
with view TO the prevention rather than
the cure Of disease.
am my father all over again-a perfect
mental as well as physical replica, even TO
dread of the noise made in tearing paper
and TO the ownership of ridiculOusly short
almost rudimentary thumbs.
In all the old deeds the Clegg farm is de-
described as situate, lying and being in the
parish Of Poquonock, township OF Windsor,
commonwealth Of Connecticut comprising
three hundred acres, more or less; but upon
my fathers death l sold off the greater por-
ton Of this land, as the wooden mills and
anchor foundry which he had established
ana in The management OF which he had re-
tanned a controlling interest were a sutfi-
clent tax upOa my time and attention with
out working the Old farm. At the date Of
these experiences. the Clegg residence was
without question one OF the finest specimens
of Colonial architecture in the Old common
wealth. l took great pride in keeping it in
perfect repair but in spite Of the exterior
and interior dignity and grandeur. ike my
father, l preferred to inhabt 4 smaller
building standing about a hundred rods
from tie mansion which was varionsly
kn0Nn as Dr. Clegg's Office, study or labor
atory.
Here was delightful little world Of my
own. where apart from the noise and hustle
Of existence and surrounded b. my books,
papers ami chemical paraphemaiia l lived a
life which was 50 sweet with c0ntentment,
and fragrant with deep ana unTestrained
thought Jhat as you may imagine, l passed
most Of my time here. But to make this
g.
assistant Of far more than usual competence
and trustworthiness. In one, Bramwel
E5kei, had found such person. lie was
an extraordinary man, Of wonderful bnsi-
peSs capacity, ana seemed to divine nv
wishes SO readily that he spared me the
trouble OF long explanation, thing which
was extremely d,sIasteful 10 me- He en-
Joyed my confidence so thoroughly that |
can't remember ever having added up q col
umn of figures IN any one Of his accounts.
And Vet hr was not pleaSant-taced man,
and was 5 lacking in urbanity and amiabil-
lty that frequent complaints reached me-.
But his industry, honesty and capabilty
reduced all such censure to an unnoicea5le
There was one thing the world was ALWAYS
expecting me TO d., but which l never did,
and that was to marry. There were two
reasons why refrained from taking a wife;
one was my dread lest | should get to love
her better than l did my books, and the
L
feared she might, in her New England love
OF orderliness, insist upon arranging my pa
pers and tidying my study
But think not that | was in any sense OF
the VOID a selfish man. Across the garden
IN the grand old family mansion, had three
hearts beating for me-three hearts so warm
ana true that they Kept my life flled with
the sunshine OF love. One belonged to Mrs
Gregg, relict OF Amos Clegg, a cousin of my
father. She had been for years at the head
OF my household and was woman Of most
loveabie character: the second heart red
dened the cheeks of her daughter-a maiden
so sweet in disposition and so fair in face
ana form as to richly merit the name which
had been bestowed upon her-Theodora,
gilt If the gods; while the third of my trio
of hearts was hung in the breast of my be
loved Writ, my adopted son. At this time
he was within short distance OF the TWEEN
ty-second milestone in the journey of life,
and handSomer, manlier, cleverer young
man would have been hard to find Writ
had but one fault # may call it such, and
that was his shyness of women. Yet
strange to say, he enjoyed the reputation Of
being mischievous, rolicking fellow among
his classmates in college.
L half suspect all this was my fault. l
had made him even in early bOvhood q lover
OF books, and given bis mind that peculiar
twist which now had good reason to de-
plore.
When a man reaches 90. as l had, and
sees a patch of white on his tsmnIes IL ;S
thoughts concerning the use TO which he
shall put the ten or fifteen years yet to his
credit.
This was my case exactly. | had large
fortune and now | desired to put my earthly
- house in complete order so that if | should
be taken away there would be no confusion,
no dread Of any catastrophe, only tears and
regrets at my absence, followed by a sweet
calm and enrolling devotion to my memory.
10 this end | sought an interview with
cousin Myra-a woman of extremely serene
and logical lntellect-and made known my
plans to her. which were TO bestow my en-
tire property upon Writ, and to have him
make Theodore his wife. This done, life
would take on a new charm for me, and
seated In a snug corner of the dear old fire
place shouldn't die, but should merely fall
asleep with the voices of those best loved
on earth growing fainter and fainter in INV
ears like music on the water, as the b. at
which bears the singers drifts gently down
the stream.
To my more than astonishment Cousin
Myra roceeded TO inform me that Theodore
had. and with some show OF reason, too, /
must admit, reached the conclusion that
Writ disliked her-that it was Idle for her
to indulge in any dream of ever becoming
his wife, and that, therefore, she had, by
her silence at least, given a semblance of
favor to the suit of Mr.. Yokel.
''Mr. Yokel p | stammered out.
Why yes, cousin; II seems that one day
last winter Mr.. Yokel saved TheOdora's
life"
"Theodora's lileY' l repeated as in a
dream. =" Why, 1 have heard nothing of
THIS"
Nor ] either, cousin" continued Mrs.
Clegg. until two days ago. Theodore kept
II from me. | now learn that while visiting
the woOlen-mllls the skirt of her dress
caught into he machinery, and that Mr.
okePs presence Of mind alone saved her
from instant death"
And he has now asked Theodore to be
his .wife?' came from me in a tone
which sounded so unlike my own voice that
l was startled by it.
Yes" replied Cousin Myra.
turned quickly away to conceal my emo
ton. One would have thought that this ac-
ton on Yokel's part would have opened my
eyes to his true character. But it did not. |
attributed his failure to inform me of his
love for Theodore and his suit for her hand
70 my own repellant and unsympathetic ma
ture. However, l none the less firmly re-
solved to ignore his proposal completely and
exert myself to the utmost to accomplish my
long-clerished project of a union between
Writ and Theodore ] had observed them
both with the trained eye of specialist and