Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1902-09-25
Observation-Disclosures
THE OLD
BOOKKEEPER

y L
TO whom | SO rarely write and
Whom | more rarely see, that my
lonely life has not been without
love for woman, you will perhaps
laugh or doubt.
"What!, you will say. ':That
gaunt old specter in his attic, with
his books, his tobacco and his three
f1owerpots2 He would not know
that there is such a word as love
did he not encounter it now and
then IN his reading.'
True, have divided my DAYS be-
tween the books in a rich mans
counting room and those in my at
TIC. True, again, have never been
more than merely passable to look
at even in my best days.
Yet | have loved woman.
During the five years when my
cider brother lay in the hospital
across the river, where he died, it
was my custom to visit him every
Sunday. [ enjoyed the afternoon
walk to the suburbs, where the air
has more Of nature in it, especially
that portion Of the walk which lay
upon the bridge More life than
was usual upon the bridge moved
there on Sunday. Then the cars
we're crowded with people seeking
the parks. Many crossed on foot,
stopping to look idly down at the
dark and sluggish water
One afternoon as [ stood thus
Leaning over the parapet the sound
Of a woman's gentle laugh caused
me to turn and ocularly inquire it's
source. The woman and a man
we're approaching. At the side of
the woman walked soberly a hand
some dog, a collie. There was that
N their appearance and manner
which plainly told me that here
were husband and wife of the mid
die class, intelligent, but poor, out
for stroll. That they were quite
devoted to each other was easily dis
coverable.
The man looked about thirty
Years of age, was tall, slender and
with neither strong nor handsome,
but amiable, face. He was doubt
less a clerk fit to be something bet
ter.
The woman was perhaps twenty
Jour. She was not quite beautiful,
vet she was more than pretty. She
was Of good size and figure, and the
short plush coat that she wore and
the manner in which she kept her
hands thrust in the pockets thereof
gave to her dauntless air which
the quiet and affectionate express
sion Of her face softened.
She was d brunette, her eyes be-
ing large and distinctly dark brown,
her face having that peculiar COM
plexion which is most quickly af-
fected by any change in health.
The color of her cheeks, the dark
rim under her eyes and other indie
Unable signs indicated some radical
.ailment. In the quick glance that
I had of that pair while the woman
was smiling a feeling of pity came
over me. | have never detected the
exact cause of that emotion. Per
maps in the woman's face | read the
trace of past bodily and mental suf-
fering, perhaps a subtle mark that
death had already set there.
Neither the woman nor her hus-
band noticed me as they passed.
The dog regarded me cautiously
with the corner Of his eye. [ prob
ably would never have thought of
the three again had | not seen them
upon the bridge under exactly the
same circumstances on the next
Sunday.
So these young and then happy
people walked here every Sunday, I
thought. This perhaps was an event
looked forward to throughout the
week. The husband doubtless was
kept prisoner and slave at his desk
from Monday morning until Satur-
day night, with respite only for eat
ing and sleeping. Such cases are
common even with people who can
think and who have some taste for
luxury and who are not devoid of
love for the beautiful.
The sight of happiness which ex-
lists despite the cruelty of fate and
man and which is temporarily un-
conscious of its own liability to in
terruption and extinction invaria-
bly, fills me with sadness. And the
sadness which arose at the contem-
plation of these two beings begot N
me a strange sympathy for and in
terest In them.
On Sundays thereafter I would go