The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-07-13


business of insanity, or
] wouldn't be running at large here on
the streets of the city
1t was on the morning of St. Pat
rick's day. / had been drifting aim
iessly around the city for hours. tossed
about by the restless tide o. humanity
that ebbed and flowed in true sea RASH
ion at the Washington and Illinois
street crossing. The few friends 1 had
been fortunate enough to fall in with
prior to the parade L had been unfor-
tunate enough to lose in the furry and
excitement attending that event; and,
brought TO a sudden anchorage at the
Bates House landing, / found myself
at the mercy of a boundIess thIong
that held not one familiar face. 1t was
q literal jam at that iuncture, and.
anxious and impatient as 1 was to
break away, 1 was forced into bond
age which, though not exactly agree
able. was at least the source of an ex-
perience that will hnger in my memory
fresh and clear when every other fea-
ture of the day shall have faded.
L had been crowded into a position
on a step of the stairway that gave me
a lean upon the balustrade and placed
me head and shoulders above the
crowd; and although 1 comprehended
the helplesSness of my position, 1 was,
tunity it afforded me to study the I'M
suspecting subjects just below. As my
hungry eyes went foraging about from
face to face they fell upon the features
of an individual so singularly abstract
ed in appearance and so apparently
oblivious to his surroundings. that L
mentally congratulated him upon his
enviable disposition.
He was a slender man, of 80 years,
perhaps; not tall, but something over
medium height; he had dark hair and
70 correspond; was not richly dressed,
but neatly, and in good taste.
Instinctively l wondered who and
what he was; and my speculative fancy
went to work and made a lawyer of
him-then a minister-an artist-a
musician-an actor-and a dancing
master. Suddenly found my stare
returned with equal fervor, and tried
TO look way, but something held me.
He was elbowing his way to where I
stood, and smiling as he came.
Il don't know you" he said, when,
after an almost superhuman effort, he
had gained my side, 10 the discomfit-
ure of a brace of NANCY little boot
blacks that occupied the step below
i don't know you personally, but you
look bored. I'm troubled with the
the poet of the Sierras walls, How all
alone man may be in crowds!'"
Something in the utterance made me
offer him my hand.
He grasped it warmly. TITS
curious he said, 'show friends are
made and where true fellowship be-
gins. Now we've known each other all
our lives and never met before. What
dye say2''
4 smiled approval at the old asser-
ton.
But tell me-" he continued. what
conclusion YOU have arrived at in your
study of me; come, now, be frank
what do you make of me?"
Although I found myself considera-
bly, startled, I feigned composure and
acknowledged that 1 had been specu-
lating as to who and what he was
but found myself unable to define a
special character
Il thought sO,'' he said. mo one
ever reads my characterize one ever
VIII. why, I've had phrenologists
cropping around among my bumps by
the hour to no purpose, and physioe-
nomists driving themselves cross-eyed:
Dut they never found it, and thew
never viii. The very things of which
i am capable they invariably place be-
yond my capacity; and, with like sage
ness, the very things l can't do they
declare me to be a. master hand at
But / like to worry them: it's fun for
me- Why. old Fowler himself. here
the other night, thumbed my head as
mellow as May apple, and never
came within a mile of it, Some char
acters are readable enough. but Won
can't read mine, for I'm neither q
doctor, lawyer, artist. actor. musician
nor anything else you may have in
mind. You might guess your way
all through the dictionary and ther
not get II. It's simply an impossible
ity, that's ALL
laughed uneasily, for although
amused at the quaint humor of hi.
language, a nervous fiuttering of the
eyes and spasmodic twitching of the
corners of his mouth made me thinL
his manner merely an affectation. Blu
l was interested, and as his converse.
ton seemed to invite the interroga.
ton, / fatty asked him to indulg.
my curiosity and tell me what he was
Wait till the crowd Trims. and may,
be | Will. In the meantime here's :
cigar and here's a light-as Mr. Quill
playfully remarks to Tom Scott
Smoke away. you dog you,''
We'll, you're a character" said ]
obviously
Yes" he replied, "but you can't tel
what kind, and can tell you the yer,
trade you work at"