Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1896-06-13


! glanced az the shiny sleeve Of his
coat and my eye Travelled up 10 the
| frayed collar.
Every penny said the man with
the glass eye. and l caught the active
| pupil looking al me with touch OF
Offense
1--we never had any windfalls like
that" said. trying 10 speak enyiOusIy
and propltiaie him.
Even u legacy isn't always bless
ing" he remarked with n sigh. and
with an air Of philosophical rcsigna-
ti1n he put the red nose aud the wiry
muRtache into Ills tankard for space
Perhaps not" said.
He was an anthOr, y0n see. and lac
wrote lot Of books
Indeed
THAT was the trouble Of II ALL" He
stared AT me with the available eye 10
see II ] grasped his statement. then
ayerted his face little and produced
n toothplck.
You See" he said, sInacking his
lips after pause. I'll was like this.
He WAS my uncie-my maternal uncle.
And he had-whaf shall call iti--a
weakness for writing edifying litem-
tnre Weakness IL hardly The word
downright mania Is nearer the mark.
Had been librarian in Polytechnic.
And as soon as the money came 10
him he began 10 indulge his ambition.
Its simple. extraordinary and incom.
prehenslble thing 10 me. Here was "A
man of thlrty-seren suddenly dropped
Into n perfect pile OF gold. and he did
not go-noi days bust on II. One
would think chap would go aud get
himself dressed n bit decent--say n
couple dozen pairs of trousers nj
West End iailOr's. but lac never did.
You'd hardly believe IL. hut when he
died he hadn't even "A gold watch IL
seems wrong for people like that TO
have money. All he did was just To
lake house. and order In pretty near
~ five tons Of books aud Ink and pa
per. and sci 10 writing etllfying liiera-
tnrr as hard ms ever lac could write. I
cant understand II, lsnt lie did.
THE money came 10 him cnriously
enough through maternal uncle OF
his. unexpected like. when he was i've
and twenty. My mother. II happened.
was his only relation IN all the wide.
wide world. except some second cotis-
Inns 81 his. And was her only son.
You follow all thati 1ue second cons.
lns had only one son, too but they
brought him up 10 see The old man too
soon. lie was rather sp0ili young
ster, was this son Of theirs. and direct.
~ he set eyes an my uncle he began
bawllng out as hard as he could. Take
i'm awny--pr. he SAYS. Take I'm
away and 50 did for himself entirely.
IL was pretty straight sailing, YOU
think, for me. chr And my mother. ~.
ing sensible. careful woman. settled
the business In her own mind long bc.
fore he did.
"fie was a curious little chap, was
my uncle. as ! remember him. don't
wonder at the Md being scared. Hair
just like these Japanese dolls they
sell. black and straight aud siiff ai
round the hrim aud none In the middle.
and below u whiilsh kind ~ face and
rather large dark gray eyes. moving
about behind his spectncics. lie used
10 attach n great deal OF Importance
10 dress. and always wore Tapping.
oyerroat and hIg brImmcr felt hat
of most extraordinary size lie
looked runlms little bcggar. can tell
You. Indoors II was as rule, dirty
red flannel dressing gown and black
skull cap be- had. That black cap made
him look hike the portraits 81 all kinds
or celebrated people. He was always
moving about from house 10 house.
was my uncle. with his chair. which
had belonged 10 Savage 1.andor. and
his two writing tables. one OF carlyie's
and the other Of Sheily's, 80 the dealer
told me. and the compleirgt purtahlc
reference library In England. he said
he had-and he iugged the whole cara.
van. now To n house nj Down near
Darwin's old place. then 10 Reigate.
near Memedith. then or TO Hazeimere
that's where the ozone grows--then
back TO Chelsea for a bit and then up
20 hampstead. He knew there was
something wrong with his stuff, but he
never knew there was anything wrong
with his brains. II was always the air
or the water or the altitude or some
tommy rot like that. so much depends
on environment" he used 60 say, and
stare at you hard. as II he suspected
You were hiding n grin at him some
where under your face. so much de-
ponds on environment TO sensitive
mind like mine
what was his namey You wouldn't
know II told you. He wrote nothing
that any one has ever rend-nothing.
No one could read IL. He wanted to be
n great teacher. he said. and he didn't
hhVW Wbdi ht NtUitu it ttHtn uuN
more than a child So he Just bleth.
cred at large about truth and right.
eousncss. and the spirit history. and
all that. Book after book he wrote
aud published at his own expense He
wasn't quite right IN his head. you
know. really. And to hear him gU on
at the crities-not because they slated
him, mind you--he liked that--but Ne.
cause they didn't take any notice OF
him at all. What do the natlons
wantr he would AJAX. holding out his
brown old claw. Why. teaching
guidancel They are scattered upon the
hills like sheep without shepherd.
There Is war, and rumors of war.
and the unlawful spirit OF discord Il
land. Nihilism. viviscction. vaccna-
ton. drunkenness, pcnury. want. so.
cinlistic error. selfish capitall DO you
gee the clouds. Jnmesy my name. you
know. DO You see the clouds hover
ing over the land? And when Il all
the Mongol waitsg He was always
very great on Mongol and the sccptcr
,i.It u.s