Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-02-13
THE CANDIDATE.

i 1 liz NAN IL Ia IA.
Ssug was forty five years Of age, and one
Of the most painstaking students Of his
time Of life to be found in Picking.
For the past thirty year, he had regular
~ entered his name in the great civil serv,
ice examinations which take place through,
out the empire Hard indeed had he striven
to qualify himself for the honor of official
employment; but he was, alas, by nature
rather dull, and year after year he was un-
successful. For awhile he never got out
Of the last thousand OF the ten or twelve
thousand candidates who aspired as he as
pred.
Time went on, however, and by the help
/ o. the most untiriug assiduity he began,
toward the middle of his life, to be regard
I'll Is Il promising student. If he contin-
ned TO progress in the same ratio, there
was vet some likelihood that ere he was
fifty he might meet with his reward.
Stug was the more stimulated to perse-
we're. igasmuch as ne was not at ease in
his home circle. His father was dead.
I., mother was blind and Of an unamiable
disposition. Indeed, she was more Than
unuiahlc; by some alteration of heart
she began to scott at her son and upbraid
Lm Tor his deficiency Of intellect. She
also behaved very badly indeed to her
uIGEGrgr-in-law, the students wife
Herein Scng appears to have shown
,omp iudiscretiOn He married q girl with
enchanting teeth and eyes but next to 10
brains This was Ii manifest ContraventiOu
t the natural law, which impcls =. dull
man 10 seek a clever wife and an intel
.estuai man mere doll of Il girl for help
mate. IT would have mattered Iess-evsn
il It bat not been positive convenience
had not Nine. SeHg tas we Will call tie
old lady Songs mOthcrl become much in
eapacitatrd by her blindness. As it was.
Size desired a daughtcr-in-lgw whom she
could rely upon 10 do cycryt thing connect
ed with the house from buying rice to
dg-tU- the domestic ciiiCies. as well as to
be- Infinitely patient aad long suffering
Under the abuse and even blows which she
loved % bestow upon -ubordinates.
>"l-~ wife, however, was not such a
-El She suited Syng. and Seng suited
Deer, because hp WAS at all times fairly civil
t"-u. Ler She took the greatest posi-
Bile are % her teeth and daily washed her
eyes with celebrated perfumed water
warranted to preserve their brightness.
tor the rest, she was content so she could
avoid her mOtherin-iaw' voice and the
cane with which, latterly, in her old age,
.lr band woman was often wont to pursue
L-F VAN was it for SCng, in response to
Ills mother = complaints. odOle forth moral
AiN.Hs Tor his wife's improvement. The
up! DOOR phrases We're eXcellently spoken,
'-, they fell on unfcrtile soil. And, more
ever, when Seng perceived through his
Npectacies how snow white We're his
spouse pretty teeth, and with what an at
a"t,!'e ulster her eyes sparkled toward
Inn. even he was, more often than not.
''Hp,ed 70 caress when he meant to scold
Inns sort Of thing exaSperated the mother
.".'a" !inmeasurably. Latterly she became
yer! bitter, and would run amuck about
.Ar house with the cane i'll her hand, beat
ing TINS way and that, and calling her
W. ,"-N-"l-in-law many opprobrious names
-"' s.rl would stand in an alcove and
'o.sA Ihe old "Jman's proceedings quite
-A.iAly and without either the wish or the
thought OF haunting her. But, when the
s"Nh 'i the cane approached in her direc-
''A She would gently step through the
'.N'." 1i the alcoye, not forgetting even
'.. Il from the outside, lest an accident
'-'.i happen. The old woman would
.....A"e her malevolent ruShes to and fro
1'-' she WAS exhausted. Then Seng's
'"' would return, and, with soothing
'"'ts. iTs To asSuaEe the poor blind crea-
.'s luminosity against her; and when
-. was more than commonly exhausted
sag would take her upol her knee as if she
ere" baby, and rock her until her strength
-''- .AiIEuatlOn had recovered themselves
H'lL scenes As these became very com
.'''- -A The house. They moved poor Seng
-.ii- more than once, and he might
'...e '".n heard muttering to himself n
--.S % preCepts enjoining the duty of
''''' love and torDearance under all cir
INSTANCES But there can be no doubt
1,' 'Ala agitation at home affected his
.-1''les NJ the examinations His depres-
~" is something terrible when the lists
Fp1"Iru, and he realized that he had
S'.1eU no ground-or as good as none
az the previous twelve months
D. w men SenS reached the ripe age of forty
mother died. This was a sad blow to the
~ man. Not that he would have been
s'-C"'oiable for his mothers loss in itself,
ne had schooled himself into the assur-
~ -n"I she had long exhausted the pleas
- Oh existence. But, as a matter of
- with her vanished the means of the
is AoIa support. 1t was an ubiquitous
S-I HS' The old woman, from mere spite,
- - pequeathed such estate as she had to
oy.. nsacs OF a certain pagoda on a hill
~ against her house. They were to build
80 80 Ahe tomb, with south aspect, on an
- - helghboring hill, to keep her memory
green for period.
o,5sS 'er was there such hard and extra
tba.I calamity. 1t was of kind, too,
HI Nuote poor Seng in bis tenderest part.
.va. Nother had insulted him forever and
ana sue had not had confidence in him
- Ms regard for the sacred law which
d. son 10 do all he oan for his parents,
Sas.se how was he to know that the
eAlatural feeling which had prompt