The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1895-07-18
A FRIENDLESs MAN.

fAofh Va my pOhoaSue Eluerupnt seek
ing employment, q tall, straight man,
with hsir slightly grlszled apd,a stiffness
had apparently been made for smaller
man, for his waisteoat and his trousers re-
fused to meet, and round his waist was
wound q red bandanna handkerchief. He
apologized for this irreguiarity, on the
ground that the possession OF only one
shirt rendered ii difficult for his laundry
woman to get to work as frequently as
was desirable. But his collar was ire
proachable, his mustaohe was waxed, and,
amid the wreck Of his fortunes, he had
chung to his eyeglass, which he screwed
Into his right eye at intervals. From the
waist upward he looked like q retired colo
uel From the waist downward he pre-
sented the appearance Of sandwich man.
But as the head Is of more import than the
feet concluded that he was gentleman
and offered him cigarette and a drink.
BE accepted the cigarette and smoked 1t
with somewhat feverish haste. As for
drink, he would take lemon squash.
1T is better to drink nothing stronger
when one is looking for work, " he or
planned; "it may prejudice possible en-
ployers."
How long have you been looking for
work." asked.
Three years" he replied. "I have an
swered hundreds of advertisements, pawned
my clothes to pay the postage and worn
out my shoes tramping the city. But
keep pegging away, and it will soon end.
1t Is sort of-penancc, " he added reflect
lively, contemplating the ash of his ciga-
rette.
What are your" asked.
failure-at present." he replied,
with a quiet laugh. "But I have been
most things"
"Tell me-
First l was medical student OF Shelf
Held; then l ran away and enlisted and
served in the Indian mutiny. After that
l got place as medical officer on an
American ship. On the west coast Of Afri-
ca caught yellow fever, was deserted by
my comrades and had TO walk 800 miles
before / picked up another ship. After
that went to Paris, completed my med
teal studies and took my degree of bachelor
OF science. Since that have done every
thing you can think of. have Invented a
faoe powder that was advertised in all the
papers and brought me in eco week I'M
til my business partner bclted with the
secret and the cash. have been an artist
showman's agent, assistant editor Of a
scientific paper which died. as it WERE In
my arms; / have been in nearly every
country of the world and know French,
Italian and Spanish as we'll as English
not to speak OF Greek and Latin"
Why not put your experience into
bookp"
"Ahl Do you remember an article In
The Pail Mall Gazette some years ago on
The Real "SheF''"
II remember 1t very WELL"
II wrote that. For had come across
Oboah women in Africa who were every
bit as wonderful as Rider Haggard's She.
Only Rider Haggard, In Difference to Eu-
ropean taste, had made his heroine beau
tiful white woman instead of a hideous
black beldamo wrote that at tho request
of Mr. Stead, and Immediately q promi-
nent firm ofpublisherso offered me $50 down
and a royalty for book of adventure on
the lines of She Here is the letter"
He handed me the letter.
And you wrote tho book?"
mo. My health broke down and l had
to go into hospital. l had had nothing
TO cat for five days, and it nearly finished
me. When came out and went to the
publishers, was too late"
And whore are you living nowP"
AT sort OF - mission, in White
chapel. have cubicle all to myself and
pay sixpenoe night
A dosshouse, In fact2"
Some call 1t that. But there are better
men than myself there. They have sery-
Ices, and so FORTH but take no notice Of
them. The ourate is good fellow, but an
ignorant man. Would you believe itP"-
he dropped his eyeglass and turned with
flashing eyes on me-"he cannot perceive
the difference between Greek aorist and the
Crock perfectr'
Is it important-ip Wow ofp''-
Important, sirY See herel" and he
drew from his pocket worn copy of the
revised version of the New Testament and
laid 1t before me. Passage after passage
was scored and corrected. On the margin
and Mt the foot of tho columns were noted
the MSS. from which the corrections had
been made. ~ Is my version of the re-
yised version. 1 tell you tho revisers knew
no English and very little Greek. It has
taken inc years TO complete, but 1t will be
ready in a few weeks now"
But how do you get hold of the MSS.
of the gospels9'
Il have copies Of many of them In my
locker ut the-at home. The rest find at
the British museum in my spare time
ond have had lot of spare time in the
past three years.
10y ttVuA IahCh Ut u lEtSn cigarette
while reflected ON the incongruity of a
Greek scholar in dosshouse
Why is iti' I asked, "that n man Of
education, experience and capacity can t
got work when he wants itf'
Il know no one, = he replied IT sup
pose am the most friendless man In Lon
DON
" But a man of your knowledge, who
doesn drink who
He turned suddenly on me and looked
me in the eyes.
"Ah, that's it" he said. II ought to
tell you that. Some years ago l married
unfortunately. 1t was not her fault
and she's dead now. But had trouble.
And drank don't do things by halves,
and was drunk all the time for two
| years. Now it is three years since / touched
anything stronger than claret-and tho
man who lives where live can't often af-
ford even claret. Well, well-thrce years
of penance should atone for 1t, shouldn't
itS / shall get some work before Pm too
old to do it.
Then he rose and went out with his
erect figure and stiff gait, with his eycglass
ind absurd clothes, buck to his dosshUuse
10 revise the Biblc-New Budget.
The Leader Among Roses.