The Tupelo journal., 1903-05-15
A WARD IN
CHANCERY
BY JOHN X. LEYS.

SAT in my bath chair at the cor
L ner of the square alone, for L had
sent my mar to dispatch a telegram
and it was pleasanter for me to wait
in that quiet spot than in the busy
thoroughfare. 1t was a warm day
and the sun shone with soft, mellow
radiance on the yellow leaves that
were clinging to the trees in the gar
den of the square OF fiuttering
quietly to rest on their parent earth.
No passengers were to be seen; but
for the dull sound from the far off
streets the silence was profound.
The melancholy of autumn-that
season of spent endeavor, of slow de-
cay, of rest-was in the air.
Most of the houses in the square
were shut, their owners not yet re-
turned from the country; but one
very large house was evidently in
habited. 1t filled the center of the
block facing the square on my right.
l. was wondering what it could be,
for the building seemed too large for
a private dwelling house, when my
attention was attracted by a young
an youth, 1 ought rather to say,
for he did not seem to be more than
10 or 20-who was slowly pacing
along the pavement close to the rail
ings that inclosed the square gar
den, looking all the time at the large
house l have just mentioned. 1t
seemed almost as if he were expect
ing or hoping to see the face of
some n he knew appear at one of
the tall windows. And what particu-
larly struck me was that as he
walked he touched with his fingers
every fourth one of the iron uprights
that formed the railing.
He came nearer and nearer to me,
still touching as he went, and then
when he had reached the corner,
without noticing me in the least, he
turned round and retraced his steps,,
still touching the ratings. But it
seemed to me that he did not Law his
hand on the same uprights that he
had touched before.
This circumstance stimulated my
idle curiosity. Those who nave
hllONI d. 4 udfC NildU IL Is 10 lie 1OT
many hours too weak to read or
talk, a prey to wandering fancies,
will understand me when I say that 1
became intensely anxious to know
why he was touching those ratings.
There did not seem to be any way of
satisfying myself On this point, and
/ strove-this will explain my state
of mind as well as anything L can
say-I stroye to make sure that he
wa really putting his fingers on
different uprights from those he had
touched when he was walking toward
me. There was a ready way of set
Ting this point. Every twelfth up
right terminated in a spike some
inches higher than the others, and I
observed that he had touched the
high ones as he came toward me.
If he touched one of them now, /
wa wrong; if he touched the next
to one of the high ones, then / was
right.
A few seconds told me that | was
right. The youth laid his fingers on
the upright beyond the tail
every time. And SO he went on till
he reached the further corner of the
square.
I thought he would turn and come
back again. | was sure he would.
He did, touching the ratings as be-
fore. And this time he touched the
uprights on my side of the tall mes.
That meant that he was systematic
ally touching every one of them.
NV curiosity satisfied on this point,
Immediately reverted to the more
important question-what could be
the Young mans reason for behav-
ing in this extraordinary way?
He came slowly nearer, and just as
he was about to turn round, obeying
an impulse, ] called to him.