Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-06-01
THE SECRET IGNORANCE.

HI SECRE | IGNORANCE.
A professor OF Oriental languages lay
dying He was learned man, with a
! long list of initials after his name and a
! long, white beard. His work in philolO-
gy is to this day spoken of with great
respect. His studies in Eliza bethan lit
erature were profound, and his clear and
authoritative essays on the subject have
just been collected from the learned re-
views and republished. The Athenaeum
speaks very well of them.
Doctor he said to his medical attend
ant, lam [ dying"
Nonsense" said the doctor irritab bly,
Iou've got quite q good chance of pull
ing through all right if you do what
! you're told and don't worry. And you've
been Worrying
How do you know that
Never mind. 1t must be so; your
mind is not at ease
No said the professor YEARLY FAR
/ from it; very far from it..
Well said the doctor, cheerfully,
you must get over that. 1t cannot be Il
money natter
No said the professor. my affairs
are in order. | leave enough behind me-
Jane is amply provided for
OF course, If 1t IS in any way con-
nected with religion
The professor smiled with tired SUI
! periority. The few generalities which
serve me for religion-all that my reason
! permits me to accept-are not enough to
| trouble me. And yet l own that it is by
my conscience that / am tortured There
! has been something hidden in my life
Il am not curious said the doctor,
! but if you think it would ease your
mind to speak of it. l should strongly
recommend you TO do so. Could you
not talk TO your wife about it?'
The professor shook his head. mo,
no. he said 1T is one of the things
one of the many, many things-that Jane
could never by any possible chance I'M
! derstand Perhaps, just at the last,
may tell you. You will regard it as a
| secret 2"
''There is no need to put such cues
ton TO doctor You may depend upon
me absolutely
Am I .dying?" he asked again the
next morning.
No, no." said the doctor. as he put
| down his thermometer. But you're not
SO well. OF course, you haven't slept
properly"
No. said the professor; I've slept
very, little. How can | sleep with this
| burden on my mind:"
! The doctor shrugged his shoulders and
! said nothing.
Come" said the professor quickly, Il
will rell YOU The door is locked:" The
doctor turned the key and returned to
| the bedside.
! Once" said the professor, Il knew a
| WOMAN"
It's always Il woman thought the
doctor to himself.
! a woman of the highest character
a good mother, an excellent manager of
household She gave away the prizes
at a girls school. | was there and saw
! her. In conversation something aroused
my suspicious, and I said. DO YOU know
the name of the chancellor of the ex-
chequer? She said she did, but she did
not tell me the name, and she blushed
crimson
"Well WE'LL" said the Doctor i'm
patiently. what has all this got to do
with it,"
Her case is mine, except that mine
is much worse. There are a certain num-
Der of things which everybody is sup
posed to know. / sometimes think that
nobody really knows all of them, and
/ that more time IS spent in trying to hide
the ignorance than would be needed to
acquire the information. But my own
case is black indeed l am esteemed to
be man of learning. A volume writ
ten by me is a great event in the world
OF scholarship. l have been presented
with the honorary degree OF a great
university, and was on that occasion
complimented at considerable length in
a Latin grafton, Dead Sea Fruit"
Come" said the DOCTOR Ignorance of
some little thing which everyone is sup
posed to know cannot be regarded as an
objectionable crime. There is nothing to
worry about
You do not know, how black my case
IS Listen His voice sank to hoarse
| Whisper. Il do not know-I never have
known for more than a moment at Il
| tlm0-nOW To smell tho word 'Soiuo -
But really said the doctor, zone
learns that kind of thing in the nursery
Some do said the professor. Il
never did. l never could. For the last
thirty years | have never even looked
| the word up in a dictionary. 1t is Of no
use. The knowledge will not stop. Two
minutes after L have seen it | have for
gotten it; and /, SIR am a professor Of
languages. AS 1 look back all my life
seems to have been filled with mean
cunning and dlsgraceful subterfuges to
avoid spelling the word seize | have
written other words when seize was the
word that really wanted. My bitterest
experience was with Jane. [ was ex-
planning to her one day that she did not
understand anything about anything and
that it would be good thing if she were
better educated. She was writing a let
ter at the time, and perhaps not paying
ssuf11clent attention to what l was say
ing. At any rate, she looked up from
her letter suddenly and said How do
you spell seized" George?'''
What did you do? Get out of the
room iii a fit of coughing?'
No; she might have suspected. I told
her. [ told her definitely and firmly, and
it is extremely probable that l told her
wrong. knew that the people who re-
ceived the letter would be too delicate to
speak of her mistake But it is not the
! way to treat wife,
His wife was with him when he died q
few days later. He was only partially
conscious. His last words to her were
Its either 's-e-I or size Barry Pain
in The Sphere.