Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1903-04-22
A CLERICAL ERROR
Bv FRANCIS LYNDB.
rcopyright, 1899, by the Author.l

copyright. 1899. by the Author.l
By way of prologue let me say
that have never been quite able to un-
d.rstand wny my colleagues in this tar
western diocese call me "tae padre,
coupling the innuendo with an intima-
ton that I-should have been priest OF
the older faith rather than a poor cler-
eyman of our own. In my own looking
elass-and which Of US is ever vouch-
safed peep into that Of anotherf-1 find
nothing to justify the inference The
quicksilver images the figure of a mid
die aged person, whose sedentary hnbit
has sicklied face never ruddy. whose
yigils with the students lamp have be-
gun to accentuate the stoop in rather
ungainly pair Of shoulders, whose attire
Ia not and has never been. l trust,
more than decently ecclesiastical in cut
and ensemble.
None the less, sincerity compels the
admission that in travelling I am not
infrequently taken for a Romish priest.
and that even here in my own little
parish of Carbonoro the coal miners call
me Father Penburton. 1t was this abb
surd misconception. heightened. possi-
bly,, by the fact that l was reading a
small black bound book which may have
been mistaken for breviary. that led
to my ENHANCEMENT in romantic affair
on the railway-an entanglepent which
has since cost me many disquieting mo-
ments Not that I hold myself in any
way accountable or blameworthy. be it
understood. but merely because it has
given my clerical associates fresh oc.
casion for other Of their i'll chosen and
meaningless gibea
The beginning Of it was in this wise
I had been ON visit to the bishop and
had boarded the train to return to my
parish Having taken a seat in the
Pullman. I was reading the small black
bound book-which. l beg to protest.
was not breviary-when two young
persons entered the car and established
themselves in the section next to my
own. At their incoming I fancied they
were the inevitable newly married cou-
pie whose presence seems nowadays to
be necessary complement to the pas
senger list Of any public conveyance
The young man was clerk OF some
sort, one would say. and his face was
vaguely familiar It was clean cut.
smooth shaven and Of the alert type
which marks the younger men Of busi-
ness in this progress ridden region. The
young woman was petite and distinc-
lively handsome. Her face was most
agreeable study in youthful beauty.
and her. flashing brown eyes, alight
with repressed excitement. had a look
in them which carried me swiftly back
to my-but pardon me. this is not the
story of my own youthful follies
perceived at once that the two were
laboring under some stress Of emotion
which took to be very natural embar-
rassment, and as they sat facing me
thought to relieve them in some measure
by taking the opposite seat with my
back toward them. desire to empha-
size this point because one Of my col
leagues is uncharitable enough to insin-
uate that the change was made in order
that their conversation might be the
better overheard. a charge which wish
to repel with proper scorn. That their
talk wac overheard is a matter Of NO
moment Every right minded person
will agree with me that motives and
not incidents are the cosmic principles
underlying any code of ethics
"Great Jehoash! You say he did
come home to dinner. after allf"
The speaker was the young man, and
there was a very emphatic note Of un-
easiness in his voice
eyes. he did," answered the young
woman. And that isn't all I'm al
most sure he suspected something.
"You area Whyf What makes you
think soH''
"The way he acted He was as short
as pie crust all through dinner, and
when / left the table he asked if you
had called; said he had seen you in the
carriage driving down Alameda street. "
The young man groaned quite audi
bly, "Of course he did, That idiotic
driver turned out for a furniture van
Just rs we were meeting him and drove
up to the very curb. | made myself as
small as | could. but he couldn't help
seeing me- What did you tell hims"
II said: Why. poppa-Mr Roderickl
After you've forbidden him the
houseP'
The young man chuckled as il the
sinful equivocation were applausive
rather than a thing to be sorrowfully
deprecated.
"Goodl What did he say to thatf'
He was angry-as he always Is
when your name is mentioned. He said
you were unscrupulous enough to do
anything Then he asked me if could
be ready to start for Aunt Josephine's
tomorrow
"And you told him you couldS'
II did just that. but l didn't tell him
| would. Oh. why doesn't the train
start3'
heard the click Of the young man q
watch case.
Chiefly because it isn't time We
have five minutes yet.
"OhI" The exclamation was aln,oet q
sob IF he catches the o'clock car
down town. he can overtake us here,
can't heP''
The watch case clicked again
"He might, but it's unlikely The
car is due at the corner just at our leav-
ing time. and he would have block to
walk-or run. But was thinking OF
something else. If he has his wits with
him we shan't be safe till we pass the
yard limits