Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-04-02

FL Of grief. TO sit during tie afternoon
G. his accustomed bench with the 9TH
CT ca,.dies In the morning he hest
hin.s1i 10 ELd new enlargement he
was in ry0,.pt q a small Vsusiun from
his late ngs'rr IN recognition Of 50
many years Of faithful seryicr. tut the
sum did net suffice to give him indie
pcndcnce. he Was sCoa engaged, for the
links wcp thronged with players
This time his employer was a new
conner, who knew nothing Of SLOW
backs" popularity. He was nearly
stunned with surprise az what he deem
ed the caddie's insolence on his first ut
terance OF the inevitable words. He said
nothing, however, on the first OffenSe,
bat when il was repeated expCstulated
in unmeasurcd terms To his surprise,
his rebuke brought "Slowback" 10 the
verge of tears. Then, partly uy his Op.
ponent and partly by the opponents
caddie, the situation Was explained.
He found himself able to mingle "a meas
ure of pity with his wrath, but through
out the round the ejaculation, many
times repeated, in the speakers own
despite, spoiled his intended stroke and
led 10 the immediate payment Of the
caddie and rejection Of his further serv-
ices
Several times during the ensuing
weeks did now one and now another,
in ignorance or in pity. engage the un-
fortunate man TO carry clubs, but in no
case could his idiosyncrasy be endured
beyond the limits Of Il single round. he
made efforts that were absolutely heroic
to overcome it, swathing the wooden
comforter around his mouth until as
phyxiation threatened him, but through
all the folds of the stuff came, with
muffied righteousness, the hateful ex-
| clamation which the man would have
/ given worlds to have withheld. DO
/ what he would he could not rid himself
/ of this damnOsa hGreditus, bequeathed
TO him, along with his slender pension,
by his departed master Gradually he
grew to recognize the hopClossness OF
his condition and ceased even to seek
employment. He spent his days sitting
dejectedly ON the accustomed seat, grow
ing thinner and more gaunt as poverty
set its grip more firmly upon him,
grateful if now and again one of his
friends on the bench would give him
fill of tobacco for his SELDOM replenished
pipe.
AT length he ceased to frequent the
links altogether For some days no one
seemed to notice his absence. Then il
was noticed that "Slowbatk" had dis
appeared, and we began to ask questions
about him. His crOniCs knew nothing,
only that he had not been down 10 the
links for day or two. We inquired
where he lodged and with some diff.
Guilty found the locality. 1t was up a
steep stair III little house of back
street. His landlady told us that she
feared he was not well. For some days
he had not left the house and had eaten
next to nothing; said his stomach re
fused food, and that he had no appe-
tite. We asked her whether she thought
he lacked for money, but the woman
said no, basing her information on the
fact that he had kept his small rent
paid up.
When we went III, it appeared at once
that he was very bad. lie lay on the
bed terribly wasted, scarcely more than
skeleton Of Il man. We asked whether
he had seen doctor and being told
no sent off for one at once. He seemed
to recognize us, and strange smile OF
pleasure struggled across his thin fea
lures He even tried to speak, but thu
only word we could distinguish was hi.
terrible ejaculation of SLOW backH
though whether he were trying to speal
Of himself thus by his familiar sobri
quet or whether he deemed himself
still carrying for his old master OF
the links we could not tell. Then III
relapsed into silence and seemed t,
sleep.
AT length the doctor came He tool
but one glance at the poor figure on tn,
bed, passed his hand beneath thu
. clothes and laid it for moment owe
the heart. Then he turned to us, with ;
grave face. "Slowback" was dead. -
, Cornhill Magazine