The Portland daily press., 1895-06-01

house observing the school, that he was
verv nroud of me. Before leaving he
called me into the entry and gave me a
40 bill. It was generous, for he was a
moor man and had his wife and children
to support. 1t brought tears to my eyes
when he handed me the money and told
me- was the flower of the family and
the pride of the settlement. | felt as if
I would rather die than fail Of fulfilling
the expectations of my friends. There
was great delight in it, and it was all
inexpressible joy to know that my rel
atiyes and the neighbors cared SO much
for me.
"To comprehend this thing fully,
Mrs. Pember, you ought to be in col
lege, and when you are getting hard up,
and see no way but to leave, get let
ters, as did from Uncle Jason, with
$5 or Sc at time in them. Such a trifle
would carry you through to the end Of
the term and save your standing In the
class. If you were Burlington college
boy while you might be willing to de-
part this life in honorable manner, you
would not beswilling to lose your mark
and standing as student. You would
regard the consequences of such dis
aster as very damaging to your charac~
ter and certain to remain with you for
ever.
"I may as we'll say, while it is on my
mind, that I do think this matter Of
education is little overdone in this
part of the country. A young man is
not the center OF the universe merely
because he is a college student or a grad
uate, and it is not worth while to scare
him with such an idea The only way
he can meet the expectation of his friends
under such circumstances is to get run
over accidentally by the cars. That CON-
pletes his nartyrdom and affords his
folks an opportunity to boast of What ne
would have been had he lived" "
''Tell us more about Lucy, ''said Mrs.
Pember.
eyes, certainly" replied Tompkins
'Luoy had a wonderful idea of poetry
and writing. 1t is really alarming to
stranger to seq the feeling there is up
here in that way, The impression pre-
Walls generally that a writer is superior
to all other people on earth. I remem-
ber to have heard that one Of our class,
a year after we were graduated, started
a newspaper back here about ten miles,
on the bank of the Onion river. He
might just as we'll have started it under
a sagebr ush out on the alkali plains. He
gave it some queer Greek name, and
heard that the, publication was first a
semiweekly, then weekly and then very
weakly indeed until it came to full
stop at the end of six months. 1t would
have been ridiculous anywhere else, but
being an attempt at literature I suppose
it was looked npon here as respectable. -
"And did you use to write poetry?"
queried Mrs. Pember.
Not to any dangerous extent" re-
piled Tompkins 81 do no1 deny that
tried while in college, but I reformed
when went west. / think Uncle Jason
always had an idea that it might be
better for me to be Daniel Webster
He stood by me after I left college, and
for three years continued to get those
letters, with s. or SO at time in them.
They kept me from actual suffering
sometimes, before I got down off my
stills and went to work, like an honest
man, in the pork business. -
I thought you were going to tell us
something about that girl, " tuggested
Mrs. Pember
s'Yes, I was,' rejoined f'ompkins.
"When saw Lucy here four years ago,
in the gallery with the singers, felt as
| if itwould be impossible for me to face
her and talk with her. She would not
have known me, for one thing. When
was a brown haired boy, raaking poet
ry and being martyr and doing sere-
nading and living On Goldfish and crack
ers and soup, I-eould meet Lucy with a
| grand air that made her shudder, but as
sat there in church, gray and worn,
dreaded to catch her eye or have her see
me- Although there was not three years
| difference in our ages, yet it seemed to
me that was very old, while she was
still blooming. Then there was the feel
ing that | had not become a great poet
Or orator OF anything really worth while.
On the contrary, l was just nobody II
seemed like attending my own funeral.
I felt disgraced. Of course it was not
all true l had been good, square, hon
est, hardworking man. -
eyes, you had indeed, Timothy, ~
assented Mrs. Pember, with an emphat-
ic nod.
Eyes, indeed I had, repeated Tolnp-
kins, his chin quivering. ''It was not
the thing for fair minded mall to
think so poorly of himself, but I was
alone, and the cid associations and the
solemn services were impressive. There
was Lucy in the choir She always
could sing like a nightingale. When ]
heard her voice again, it overcame me.
L did not hear much Of the Sermon. [
think it was something about tenpta-
tlon and the suggestions of the evil one,
but | am not sure, for I had my head
down on the back of the pew in front OF
me most Of the time. had to fight des-
perately to control my feelings One
minute would think that as soon as