St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-02-02

He had loved the good-natured cyni
cism OF the shop, and entered heartily
into the serio-comic discussions OF mel
and affairs with which printers ar,
wont to tighten their labors.
His fellow-typos were doubtless cor
rect in their estimate Of his character
put mistaken as to the cause of its de
fects. In the solitude Of his luncl
room the events Of the past FIVE year,
rose wildly before him. He had en-
gagged in business venture of his own
and had failed. 1t was ill-advised. i'm
possible of success from the very start
put he had done his best. He had
worked with superhuman energy
"hiie wiseacres suggested foolish ex
Pedients and ignorant critics carped
Failure had been gall and wormwood
to the proud-spirited young man. ye,
he could not remember that anyone
had spoken Of him then as GaFnor had
Perhaps he had not been quite the same
since that ill-advised attempt, and yet
If only she had not died. ss
At home there had been no trace
OF constitutional crankiness" in the
chummy father and husband, nor
were his relations with the print
ers in shop a so very disagreeable
then. But when the relentless hand
OF disease. and suffering, and death.
had robbed him of his treasure, the
heart of Richards nursed the bitterness
of misanthrope and he hated the
world. which had ill-used him, and
mankind, who would not understand
him.
The words Of Gaynor's companion
alarmed him. Was there another
crushing blow in store for him this
Thanksgiving? Stee,e was his friend.
and it was true that Richards was far
more efficient than his predecessors,
but IL a concerted demand for his re-
moval were made there could be but
one result. He might not get another
place, and there was the deficit from
that ill-starred journalistic venture
which must be paid if he hoped to hold
up his head among men again.
Richards, as usual, was the last to
stop work. and the others had passed
into the front room or the street when
Minus approached him.
'.Steele wants to see you, Mr.. Rich.
ards"
The tense lines about Richards'
mouth grew harder than they had at
Gaynor's words. AS he entered the Of.
fee the two or three who had been
lounging in the street returned. They
were all there, waiting to witness his
humiliation. Steele turned away from
his desk as his foreman entered.
"You want to see me?" said Rich
ards, quietly.
"Yes. The fact is, Richards. we have
been considering your case lately.
Perhaps the boys have mentioned it
to you."
NO, SIR" said Richards, doggedly.
He knew what was coming and was
determined to die game. mo. they
never mentioned it. The boys don't
get much chance to talk in there, Mr..
Steele"
"Well, they have been talking to me.
and it has set me to thinking that
something must be done. We have all
thought whole lot about you the past
year, but it is easier to let matters
slide along than it is to take action.
and then you know most of us have
troubles of our own. You're lonesome
here, Richards. You're not one OF Us
at all. You're morose, and bitter. and
think we're all against you, when the
fact II we're only careless and don't
know very well how to approach you.
We've let you alone in your troubles,
and we're all heartily ashamed of it.
There. there, never mind what you
thought. We're only going to have .
little family party for the printers
and you and your boys are
to be with us. It will make you feel |
better to get out among people again.
and you'll find we were not as heart.ess
IS you thought"
"It's going to be = lovely day." re-
sumed the editor, while Richards stood
ike a bashful boy. unable to frame a
-eply. Perhaps we ought to go to
church. But there's Neck we
.ouldn't take him along. could we?
And want this to be an outing for the
whole force. He arose and looked
lround the little circle of faces. and
perceived that two awkward situations
we're impending: Richards was in dam
,er of utterly breaking down. and
Mrs. Jillson was about to break into
he conversation. He seized his hat and
tarted for the door.
''Of course you'll come, Richards.
That's all settled" Steele was an en-.
erprising man who had begun life as
section hand and afterward very
abjured that calling as too
umble for one of his ta.ents. Among
ther accomplishments pertaining to
lis new station he had laboriously ac-
uired a fashionable accent. which he
vas generally at great pains to ex-
lott in his conversation. In moments
t excitement, however. he was prone
0 return to the idioms OF the section
,oss, and in his haste to get away from
lrs. Jillson he voiced a very excellent
eminent in very bad English. +,
There's ways and ways of celebrat-
,g New Years. don't quarrel with
o other mans way, but right here in
his Office don't see how we could do
better job of celebrating than by help.
a feller out Of the blues"
An Old TeaeAer.
Among the many epitaphs to be read
n Rurial hill in the historic town of