Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1898-04-21
The Ubiquitous Manikin.
BY FRANK BRANDRAM.

VOU would not have dignifed him
with the description of a little
man. Little is no. word to convey an
idea. of the lack Of size, He was >ridiic-
ulously, foolishly small-diminutive
fr;lil and utterly insignificant in ap-
pearance. He could not have stood
more than four feet six; and he was
slight in proportion. But his face
wore a..look Of preternatural gravity,
1ou might have imagined that upon his
shoulders had he any shoulders to
speak of-rested the cares of, an. en-
pire. He looked like boy masqerad-
ing with the head and face of a man re-
ducedt in size SO. as to suit his juvenile
bcdy:;H fAnd- the :solemnity Of ;his fea-
lures Was intensified by his clothing,
which was of the most funereal type.
He was dressed in a suit of black, with
black hat, black tie, and even black cuff
buttons; and he carried a: b1ackthorn
stick, almost as big as himself.
In most people you. can trace a re-
sembiance,t to some animal, or,bired, or
fish, if you are gifted with any ima:gina-
ton at all; and this manreminded me
very forcibly of "a jjackelaw. He had
rctreating chin and prominent nose,
which, in profile, looked very much like
bill: Then heehad peculiar way of
&C cking up one of his little, ferrety eyes
and looking at you out of the corner
OF it, just us a jackdaw does. ...
When heard him speak l found that
nd e
as his general appearance. 1t was a
mean kind of voice. l don't know how
otherwise to describe it.
l suppose il l had met the little man
en- the street might have turned round
Tor second to- look after him, and then
gone On about my business, without
troubling my head any more about him.
But l was so placed that I had nothing
to do for some minutes but watch the
ananikin; and the consequence was that
l did trouble my head about him, He
seemed to fascinate me. 1 could not
take my eyes off him. And afterI had
looked at him for some time feelino of
lrrltablllty seemed to come over me. 1
1elt curious longing to pick him up
between my finger and thumb and drop
him overheard into the dock. ..'-
For it was on board an ocean liner
thatlmetthis miniature piece ofhuman-
1ty. l was waiting for the vessel to
sail, on her voyage to New York.. NV
dlmlnutive friend was on the deck. an
pafently taking leave of lady pas
senger. While he was, perhaps, 40
years OF age, [ judged her to be about
70; and she was woman of normal
SIZE and pleasant appearance-so differ
ent from her companion. '''' b.
lie looked so little, so utterly i'm.
practicable, that there seemed Is he M.
reason no necessity, nor any excuse for
ms existence at all. And he had, with
all his portentuous solemnity, a certain
oePrecatlng expression; his lips were
continually twitching with a nervous
KIND OF movement, as though he were
framing an, apology for being alive at
all. 29'.'a7 -
At last came the signal for all
strangers to go ashore.
"Well, good-by, my DEAR" said the lit
tie man, standing on tiptoe to kiss the
lady, and speaking in that irritatingly
piping voice of his. ''Give nv love
to" but the finish of the sentence was
lost to me as he was hustled off the
boat.
| watched him go down the gangway
and then stand at the dockside.
At last the vessel swung loose from
her mornings; and as she moved slowly
out into the Mersey the last saw of nv
little friend with his black suit, black
hat, black tie, black cuff buttons and
general undertaker's air was his wav-
ang farewell salute to the lady pas