Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-10-18

for lunch, excited my wonder.
There was vase of cut flowers in the
middle Of the spotless tablecloth, and in
the plate set for Taras stood a small loaf,
set up in a white serviette which would
have made me laugh If / had not been SO
perplexed by the strangeness of every
thing. The quantity of food also seemed
quite ludicrous too. 1t was the ordinary
hour for dinner. and all that was prepared
for the repast of a great, hearty man, was a
box of sardines, a plate of radishes and
some butter, and Mere Lucas brought
nothing more except a cover for me and a
bottle of wine, which she stood on a small
silver niate.
We ( down, and seeing Taras take the
loaf out and spread the serviette over his
knees did the same, though it seemed to
me about the oldest thing in the world,
and then he passed the sardines for me to
help myself / could very well have eaten
all the little fishes there were in the box,
but out of consideration for him who was
three times as big as me, only took about
quarter Of the contents, and also took
about n quarter of the number of radishes,
but could not help looking ut Taras in
surprise when he took but two sardines
and only three or four radishes. well,
however does he liver" 1 asked myself.
May 1 fill your glass;" he asked, taking
up the bottle, ''or would you like beer in
stead:"
Il amt partic'lar,'' said; "winde's good
enough for me-"
The wine made me shuddtr. 'Four-half'
was nectar in comparison with such sour
stuff, l thought. However, I gulped it
down and said nothing. not to appear too
nice. 1 had scraped out my plate and was
screwing up my courage to tell Taras that
would finish up the box if he didn't want
any more, when Mere Lucas hustled in,
whisked OF our plates, knives and forks,
and set others in their place, though the
cutlery was as bright and clean as if it had
just come from the makers. Then she
placed a steaming dish on a stand.
Come" said to myself, there's duff to
fill up with at any rate"
But found that it vas Il savory dish
macaroai au gratin 1 know now-and that
was not half bad, besides which there was
plenty of it, and to my great relief Taras
took all that left. Then in came another
dish-cutlets, with paper frills around the
bones, and potatoes frothed up in n fash
ion as odd as everything else, and by this
time began to wonder when this sort Of
thing was going to end. However, there
Sas no more to eat except fruit after that,
for which / was thankful, as my appetite
was fully satisfied, and did not like to re-
fuse lest Taras should think 1 was dis
pleased with my food. But the oddity of
the whole meal was capped by Mere Lucas
bringing in large bright pot after dessert
and filling two small cups with hot coffee,
which we had to drink without milk.
Il usually smoke pipe with my coffee"
said Taras. DO You objcctS"
"Garn!' replied. 1T amt likely"
He filled his pipe slowly in grave silence,
! nd watched him, trembling with anxiety,
for l felt that he was ABOUT to decide my
fate. He had not yet spoken word with re-
gard to my future, waiting until my bodily
needs were satisfied and my mind was in
better condition to grasp fresh ideas before
opening a subject which to him Mt least
was of such weighty importance.
Il have been very silent" he said after
lifting his eyes and regarding me for mo-
ment with kindly solicitude, because
have had n great deal to settle in my own
mind. But that is settled now, and If you
like we will talk about''-he turned his
chair round so to face me and added,
after a silent puff at his pipe-"about to
morrow
"Tomorrer!'' 1 echoed. What's a-goin
to happen them
That is what we must try to decide.
Tomorrow at o O'Clock shall go :othe pot
terry where work.
You amt a-goin to send me away till Q
tomorrer morninr" said joyfully.
NO. Mere Lucas will take care Of you
| tonight. Have you any notion what you
shall do afterf''
YES" l replied resolutely Il made my
mind up to it while 1 was in the station
'us. l shall go back to Shadwell. 'Tain't
no good. 1 got to live and face it out like
the rest on us. And l can't get Twin
where amt known. I'll go back to the
| Joy. Dessay I'll get off with punch or
two. Then Putty'n come round and give
| me job, cause he knows doR't nick the
beer nor the coppers."
fply I Ara
you related to that man in any way"
Not me. don't member ever havin
no relatives"
HE is not even u friend?"
/ Il told you l amt got no friends-not
one. If 1 had, do you think I should ha'
gone and done what 1 Gid down there in
! the meshes Greenwich way"
He shook his head. Then, after a pause
he asked me if thought could do some
thing better than go back to the old life.
NO" said l. Il can't think of nothing
else as I'm fit for and would do me bet
ter. Can you?"
Yes" he replied, laying down his pipe,
! and leaning forward with n new light
flashing in his deep, earnest eyes he contin-
ued: Il can think of something much bet
ter. You are filter for new life than the
old"
You don't mean an institootion:"
asked. chilled to the heart with the dread
that he should think me worse even than
| was as / recollected the proposals with
regard to living new life made by the
missionary who visited me in the station
| house cell.
NO, 1 do not mean anything of the
Sort he replied, with q flash of angry re-
pugnance in his eyes. "On the contrary,
am thinking of removing you from all asso-
Citations with the world you have lived in
and its people-of placing you in position
where nothing shall recall the past-of sep
arating you from previous conditions as
completely as if you were to be born again
upon another earth. To do that you must
think that your life begins from today;
that the part of your life in the past has
been blotted out. You must abandon all
the ways and customs to which you have
been used. Even the language, such as it
is, that you speak today must be changed
for a new one Every link in the chain that
connects You with the past must be broken.
You must begin just like n child who has
everything to learn. Do you understand
me!"
I'm a-gettin at it. Here, it's like as il
I'd never been picked up out of the river
and was just a-goin straight to heving,
amt it?"
what is your notion of heavenf"
well, I've heered say it's kinder place
where you don't have to do nothin but sit
about and emily yourself and never want
anything more'n you've got"
''Then it isn't at all like that, for you
will have more to do than you have done
yet awhile, and there will be pain as well
as pleasure, and you will never cease to
want something better than you have"
1T stands to reason l must do lot il
I'm to learn everything like kid, and how
Pm a-goin to do it's ticker if l amt to
speak my own language"
Learn another"
1t puzzled me to see how this was to be
, | DONE until, seeing my perplexity. Taras