Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-02-27

| HAAK cluded from the sensi-
WS~t mt tive .'society" Of his
| "A n W. country. But London
| gun l Z/I% cares nothing for these
| matters. 1t takes peo-
pie, both in good and an ill sense, for what
they are worth. and asks no questions about
either their relatives or their antecedents. 1t
| welcomed Mr.. Pullen because he was a hos
pitable fellow. and Mrs. Pullen because she
| was good natured and took so kindly to the
prosperity that had befallen her. If it had
been told by any mischievous person that MIR.
Puiien had been practical miner it would
probably have said that it was an argument in
| favor Of early marriages. and if it had known
better would not have cared
Indeed. though their old neighbors may have
! fought shy OF this excellent couple we ac-
knowledged their merits and had no objection,
so long it was at home. to cultivate. at all
events make use of their acquaintance. Hence
| 1t happened that when 1 got my first clerkship
| at Messrs. Bullion & Ingots got an introduc
ton from my people to the Pullens in London.
We beforehand they even believed them
seives-that they were in London, but the fact
was that though their residence could hardly
be called suburban, they were not quite in
what is dangerously termed the village"
They were good way off from my lodging in
King street, st. James. and l did not often take
advantage Of their hospitality, though it was
generously rendered The people one met at
their dinner table were like themselves middle
aged. and not much TO my youthful mind.
think they were financial people with whom Mr.
Pullen had had commercial relations, and they
talked of matters l did not understand. Ii
there had been daughters in the family it
would doubtless have been different, and
L shoulS have joined the lawn tennis parties
often saw playing in the public gardens at the
back of Nigo square, but there we're no young
people to attract me.
Moreover, l must honestly add there was
another reason which disluciined me to much
| intimacy with the Pullens, or rather another
Cause, for 1t could hardly be called a reason;
| 1T was Bethany, their butler. To those who
have not read David Copperfield. it may seem
Incredible that any young gentleman should
be made uncomfortable by somebody else's
butler But then was very young, and Belamy
| made me know it. He was solemn, sedate and
intensely respectable. One has heard of but
! lers who look like bishops. but this one looked
| like an archbishop. He had been recon-
| mended to the Pullens on their arrival in town
| and been with them ever since. Mrs. Pullen
once described him 20 me as n perfect treasure
! but think she secretly afraid of him. and
| l am quite sure her husband was though he
tried to persuade himself that he was actuated
| by love and not fear On our first acauaint-
ance thought that perhaps Beilamy had found
out that his master had been a miner and
thereby got the upper hand of him. His
former places had been Cor be said they
had beenl in great establishments with per-
sons OF title, and 1 believe it was
| that absurd circumstance which mainly
weighed with the simple couple and estab-
lished the mans authority in the household.
He ruled it. not indeed with a rod of IRON but
as it were with pastoral staff. There was an
unctuous dignity about him which would have
adorned the very CHEST ecclesias tica position
But what objected TO was what in those salad
days called his internal patronage. He made
me feel so very, very young. and when re-
sented it, made me feel younger. / haze
known him at dinner party give me u
winegass less than other people. 1t may have
been an accident. but firmly believed it to be
a hint not to mix my liquors; and once when
looked III at luncheon time he omitted to give
me napkin. as though Iwere not an adult.
] am ashamed to say that Bethany was certainly
| "a cause, as old Burton calls it, why my visits
| to the Pullens were few and far between
IL was with some feeling of Lcnitence and re-
morse indeed that after a very long interval
started one September afternoon to call in
Vigo square. knew i ought 20 have done so
| any time within the last two months, and also
| that was doing it then because almos, all nv
| other friends were ont of town and could not
afford TO be SO particular at other times in
my choice Of hospitaEties. A good dinner at
old iulien's, even though Bellamy might re-
| proach me from the sideboard with my youth
| and inexperience, was better than dining alone
| at a restaurant, for club had none.
| Imagine, then. how my conscience smote me
| when drew nigh that hospitable door to find
| hearse and a couple of mourning carriaees
before it, Either poor Pullen or his wife Cfor.
| as have said, they had no family) were evi,
| IDENTIFY about to be taken to their long home
Indeed, even while l looked the coffin was
brought out, and after it was borne away
saw Bellamy in the portico deeply but respect-
| ably affected and waving a farewell bIessino
to the lamented remains was not more IN,
charitable than most men of my age with
whom eyniclsm is only popular because they
did strike me that had never seen a more
hypocritIcal looking scouudrel in INV life. A
to asking him any question in connection with
| the mournful occasion it never entered INV
mind to do so; it would have seemed a wrong
| to the memory of either host or hostess ar d I
came away without knowing which of them
| had departed. though with sincere sorrow To-
the event itself.
In the papers I could find nothing abont IL
and we had no common friends. SO there was
nothing for it but to wait a decent interval
| and then call with kind inouIries." mis-
dutifu attention was put stop to in a yery
| unexpected manner in a fortnight afterward
by my meeting Pullen himself in the city