The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-04-15
A Little Mouse.


perhaps pardonable-into the Office OF
sistant at St. simons Church, there was
distinct rise in charitable fervor. This in
crease. OF course. was feminine IN quality,
81 for the average man has one invariable way
s. OF loving his neighbor as hmself-he grOwls
and puts his hand into his pocket.
Good works are gratifying in themselves,
Vet a spiritual pill is a pill for all its i'm
materiality; hence il is none the worse for
4 a sugar ceat. The Rev. Gedney was inter-
esting: the more he tried 10 enace himself
the more so did he become. He could not
4 change his form. which was tall, and
straight. and robust. nor his eyes. which
were expressively azure, nor his color
which-dear. dear if this category be con-
tinucd IL viii seem that confidential re-
marks at the meeting of the DoTcas Society
have surely been overheard.
But the young clergyman did not see him
self as others saw him. Had he, he might
have fingered, Narcissuslil1e. by the pool
OF vanity instead OF securing the byways
and hedges. In that case the rector the
Rev. Or. Muffin, would have been con-
strained 10 do something himself. dan
gerous innovation on the conviction Of
years. established through careful study of
Trollope's novels. that In any reasonable
division of churchly labors and emoluments
the curate assumes the former. No, Gedney
Just was well content with his lot He was
single in devotion 10 duty-too single, alas!
furtively si~hed the spinsters
No wonder these vestals were unanimous
in his praise; he was so hearty so unaf-
fected. When he met one on the street and
gave that handshake. with it's superimposed
clasp and asserted Il am so glad to see
you" with acute accent on the go"
that one thereafter maintained that his
f4fr Oh. NTH
a holy light Alack for the frailty of spirit
ual signs. This intensity. in truth. was
reflection Of the wretched mans striving TO
recOllect his accoster's name.
For the Rev. Gedney Just had his secret,
his thorn in the flesh, legitimately there.
too. since he derived it from his father
That parent had been so absent-minded
that his only had been a constantly
recurring surprise 10 him. "Ur! AIR he
would calculate. "Gedney, hey? Why. when
was he born2' one day that parent had
fOrsOt 10 breathe and hence had died and
then tIedneyS $ mamma had forgiven him.
but FOR all that she determined that the
son should not follow in the steps-the mis-
Steps-Of MS father. She strove in vain
however. only succeeding in implanting in
the iad strong shame of his falling
As a clergyman, therefore, Gedney not
only concealed this trait from habit, but ne
hal Keen sense OF the sacredness of his
Office. and felt that ridicule, while endur-
able by the man, could not be submitted TO
by the priest. He cultivated various sys-
TENS or mnemonicS and tried by the as
ISOLATION of ideas to conserve his own iden-
uty. Poor, single man. often, in the midst
OF his planning mis- mind would float away
and then luck alone could answer for the
erTatic actions of his body. Poor humble
soul he little realized how closely ne was
watched When he tied a blue thread
around his little finger, meaning thereby
laundry" he never imagined that the next
decorated in the belief that thus they were
initiating some mystical form of worship.
1t was great comfort to Gedney's man.
ma when he had been called to St Simon's,
for she recognized that her sheep need not
be exposed TO the ruthless Shearing of the
ordinary clearinghouse keeper. Her init
mate friend. the Widow Darling, dwelt in
the town in all that comfort of which an
diuuenJ mddle-aged widow IS apt TO be an
expert. Letters were exchanged, and, after
his induction-if that term may again be
attempted-Gedney occupied the second
story front rooms of her luxurious home.
And when, of evening, after he had
found his slippers in his writing desk and,
a consequence, fshed out his sermon
from under the bed, he settled into his
easy chair before the glowing hearth, he
would speedily regain his equanimlty, and
murmur. 1T is good TO be here
But the vestals of the Dorcas Society did
nor s al all II In their eYes the WIDOW Bar
ling was not old enough. nor her daughter
decorous air of monastic secusion. How
ever, the former soon withered into crone
and the latter shrank into a chit before a
more imminent danger. 1t was whispered
that Venetia Lanes disdainful glance
waned as IL rested on the young clergy
man; waned, and then grew warm
Doubtless il was this same atmosphere of
dsdain which had preserved Venetia Lane;
for she admitted to be thirty-five years old.
with a curling lip which plainly asked
what OF it?" And, indeed, what or 1t!
She was a beautiful woman, stately as a
Queen with the walk Of a goddess, What
Of IT, indeed? Was there a man who ever
came within her influence who had not
an who ever saw her who dared 10 dispute
her superiority? Thirty-five years old? Why,
Of course she was, and for the next twenty
years she proposed TO be the same peerless,
superb unapprOachable Miss Lane
II was after Diana had CHANGED upon EI-
dyMion that her nrst Wrinkles dppeddI 81 ~;
Passion is a disturber; Ii wrencheS pIaciu
nerves and drives away peauIy sdteP; - =
few months after Nenetta Lane met OTeu-
ney Just she changed her views resardihss
the future, and perceived that Nhe lEIe q, pi
man had come. Eighteen years or social
success had given snrewdneSs 10 NeISua::
For her every masculine book was WltnOuiS
a clasp. She read Gedney accurately, anG
was taught admiration by his strength and
had no mystical meaning TO her, yet IL
bound her TO him like band of steel. How
what a guide she would be for his in
nervousness If only he were eager 10
was open to her, TO her alone OF all the
deI Otees who wOrshiped at his shrine, with
ticn was that OF a chit of daughter
Norah Barring And truly the young girl
wa siieht and brown. and were it not for
her ewes indeed, the Rev. Gedney just
would have never remembered her name
yearn as best he could; but they were such
virgin pools Of light that he never even
had TO pause TO think. Not that he saw
much OF Norah. She was still busy VIII
her music and languages, stll eTShdd
OWED bv her mothers lingering vivactty
Put gradually. in his mind, thousand lit
tie unnoticed attentions and comforts re-
vived and combined and associated them
selves with the Iimpd glance OF those pure
Young ewes: gradually he came 10 reaiize
that he liked her. and that without her
instead of occa siOnally losing himself ht
would be completely lost And these same
soft Orbs were keen North knew all abou
the thorn in the flesh. else how could sh'
So often deity avert its point 1t de
lighted her TO think that she could serve
this grand man: that when he, the King
became involved in a net of tribes, she, m
Iftrle mouse. could gnaw away the stranus
or YES: the Rev. Gedney Just liked
NOrah: perhaps that was why he was s.
blind 10 Miss Lanes prediction, so lnsel
sble TO the advantages OF her protectl,,l "a
There are shepherds, Ii IS well known, pS
for whom the dumbest sheep VIII VIII
confidence open its mouth and bieaL i
was mortifying for Miss Lane 10 turn iron
her beauty 70 her ingenuity; put hst PIS
sion was too eXigent for any hesitati
Since the Young clergyman WOulu not -