Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1896-05-29

l be with one leg and one armp Who
would give mo an outfit, and now could l
keep pace with the boysP 1 lave always
dreaded to live until my eyes dimmed and
ears deafened and my blood grew so thin
II cold that it could not answer back
glow for glow to the sweet fervor and heat
of young life around me. l saw al old
chap at the hotel last week that had to eat
his food with his front teeth, and no
Chewed and mumbled his ~victuals like a
goat. Tom, old boy, would you like to
see Dandy Dick cat in that style and nave
to wear padded clothes to make himself
look fit to be seen at n tableP No, old fell
low. Better go before the wine sours and
the roses fade in the vases. I'd rather
And he smiled up into my face that old
sweet smile that made him SO beautiful
and dear to us who loved him.
well, boys, l can never tell you how
the words, and, more yet, how the smile
Of my oomrade, lying there on the turf, all
manned and crippled as he was, Gained
me. Nor did it seem so strange to me, as
some might think it would, that he should
shrink from such a future as lay ahead of
him should surgical skill enable him to
linger along on the earth. And so l made
no reply to his saying, but sat and looked
as one looks at n face that is sweet to his
eyes, and which he will soon see no more.
"'Have you any word for the dear
ones?' l asked, for between my eyes and
the face l was gazing upon there came a
vision of an old brown house amid the
Vermont hills, with four giant naples in
front of it and IA brawling stream in the
meadow beyond, and 1 knew that tears
would fall fast and long in the old home
when the news of Dandy Dicks death
should be flashed to its doors, and so 1
asked of the dying man, Have you any
word for the dear ones Mt homer
"'Certainly, he replied in the pleasant,
sweet way that was his habit. Tell
mother 1 never have found a face among
all the girls as sweet as hers, nor a hand
as soft on my head Then, after a mo
ment's pause, he added, Tell the general
that l died like a gentleman, with clean
cuffs and boots like a mirror, and Bob
Bob is something of a cub, you know
and the light in his eyes as he said it was
us merry as his heart had ever been; tell
Boil to be careful of his laundering and
keep himself well groomed when he takes
the road as one of the great fraternity of
commercial travellers, for no man can sell
goods who doesn't keep himself like a gen.
tleman.'
Il must confess, comrades, that l
wanted to say something more-something
even graver-for through the mist of my
tears l could see that the whiteness that
comes but once to the face of man was
coming to Dicks, and that he was nigh to
the line hat non can come to but once
nor ever return from, and l longed to
know how his soul stood as it drew near
to the crossing, and so l summoned up
courage for the question that no true man
asks of true man save when the two stand
with hand claspcd in hand on the edge of
last parting.
"'Dick, l murmured, how looks the
road ahead, and what comfort can you
leave NE and the many that love your
" Tell the boys'-and he said it with a
sweet cheerfulness-'tell the boys that |
came to the end of my trip as a drummer
should who has sold straight goods in a
straight fashion, and l shall pass in my
accounts to the great firm without fear or
quaking, for all charges are duly made out
and every item correct, and l have no fear
but that l shall get a new outfit and a
good route when l ask for it tomorrow
And he feebly raised the white hand that
was unmarried ana placed it in mine.
Il could ask no more, for l knew that
Dick had told the simple truth, and l felt
IL my iNAAA AAlANN L "AA1 I3AAA - -
to sit beside a man who could say what he
said and face the future-the great, dim
future that lies waiting US all beyond this
life-so cheerfully. And so | said no other
word, but, with my hand in his, sat wait
ing on the edge of that river that was
flowing so nigh mt flows on unseen save
by those who have come down to it for
their crossing. And so l sat silently hold
ing his hand, waiting. But in a IN
a memory came to me, and |, bending low
to his ear, softly said:
" Is there no dear one, Dick, to whom
you would send "A message?"
Life has been like wine to me, old
boy he whispered softly, and the girls
have been very kind, for they and l were
young, and their hands were soft II their
mouths sweet, but l have never loved
grossly nor lone evil to any. There's a
locket in my bosom, and in it are a face and
a name you will recall when you see them,
and she and | have loved, and loved truly,
and had the cars kept the track she would
have been my wife next spring, when the
ice melts and the flowers bloom, you know. )
And to his lips that never more would
move in mirth there came the curVing of
his old merry smile at the verbal flourish
with which he had closed his pathetic
statement. Anu lncn Une lOOh lHat COllleS
but once to mortal face came to his, and
he knew he had come to the end, for, gath
ering up his failing strength, he family
said:
Tell the boys to sell their goods
straight and keep their accounts square,
that they may stand well with the great
firm at their home coming
"And with these words of love and
counsel to the boys the spirit of Dandy
Dick passed upward on its travels.
1--WE buried him, with all the honors of
the travelling craft, in the little graveyard
with its white marble gravestones among
the green hills where he was born.
"As we were on our return to the depot
| paused at the top of the hill that over
looked the valley where our comrade sleeps,
and what l saw romans printed on my
memory and will remain while l live, for
l could SEQ a grave, with two women,
darkly CARRIED, standing by it, and a tall,
white haired old man, holding a horse at