Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1904-03-30
THE PHILOSOPHER.

aid not play the fool and vex his teach
ers. He was kind to cats. He did not
even annoy his papa and mamma. When
other boys We're playing at tournaments,
damaging. their clothes, and sometimes
losing their telnpers, ne never joined
them. He sat patiently at home study
ing the signs of the zodiac and the viz
tues OF herbs and simples. He was de
voted to study. His brain developed
rapidly. At the age of II he had a fore
head like the Albert Hail. This made
other boy so jealous that they threw
things at him, but he did not care, be.
cause ne knew he was doing right lie
had great ideas. On the white washed
wall of his little bedroom he wrote in
large Observation-Disclosures"
may observe in passing that in the dark
ages spelling was more q matter of in
5ividual taste than it is now His father
saw what his little son had done and
| took the necessary steps, but he coull
not help feeling he was spanking IL 10y
with q, future.
The father was but q poor arrnorer,
and suffering severely from the competi
had Just started III the same street. But
he managed TO scrape together enough
money to apprentice his son to an
astrologer and general aichenist.
Inc astrooger said frequently and
emphatically that he had never had a
better or more studious apprentice
Time passed and our young friend was
no longer a boy. He was a youth and,
moreover, he was Il youth whose roomy
craniunl and established character Tor
steadiness attracted the attention of the
maidens of the district. Girls then were
very much as they are now They would
have nothing to say to youths with a
certain amount of devil in them, how
ever handsome CT however wealthy they
might be. What they liked was moral
worth and plenty OF forehead. So they
threw shy glances at our young philoso-
pher and they asked him to tea. Like
wise, they suggested that he should take
part in some amateur theatricals. Fur
ther, they said papa would be 50 glad If
he would come over and smoke a pipe
With him one night. But the young man
would have none of It,
Other apprentices suggested that ne
should take part in games where, al
though skill may nave been present,
chance largely preponderated- But he
remained firm. He would not make love:
ne would rot play cards, he would not
come out and have q drink; he was
wholly devoted TO his work He man
aged To scrape up enough money (serap
ing ran a good deal III the family to
take twelve lessons in the art OF trans
muting the baser metals into GOLD 1t
was true that the teacher had not yet
discovered the secret himself, but there
WAS always possibility OF some useful
hints. NOWADAYS the guides to success
in journalism, finance and matrimony are
almost invariably written by the people
who have lot attained 1T. The world has
really changed very little.
1t must not be supposed that the
young mans devotion TO the study of the
great secret prevented MIN from close
attention TO his ordinary business. Dur.
! ing the whole time of his apprenticeship
be made only one mistake. At the end
Of his apprenticeship his master offered
him, and he accepted. the post of head
Of the horoscope department, and still
every moment of leisure was given to
study. He heard the naTtsic, he heard the
dance GO on, but for him there was to be
no rest and no amusement until he had
found the secret which would transmute
! the baser metals to gold. His brain de-
velopment had TOW progressed to such
an extent that his hats had to be spe
| cially built for i'm.
Years passed away and his master
died. On his deathbed he called the
tstudious head OF the horoscope depart
1nent to him and impaired the great
secret. Our philosopher, NOW very mid
AZ Z LII.
to test it and found that it did not
work. He conntermanded the order for
a wreath of everlastings with @Mizpail"
on it and refused to attend tine funeral.
After he had been middle aged for a
long period lie became old (ReaTy in
some respects the world has not changed
one little bit.) He had never had amy
love- he had never had any fun, and he
had not got tine secret. 1t was very dull,
but one must admire his strength of psr
pose. He went on.
The secret came at last when he was
a toothless dodderer, and it came by ae-
cident He sat before his furnace with
biscuit tin which he had just converted
into 22-carat gold. With great care he
wrote out the long and elaborate formula.
Then he thought about it. If he had
never discovered the secret it would al
ways have been worth discovering. But
now what could it do for him! Pleasure
was d closed book, and he had no wants
that he had not ample means to satisfy.
The discovery had merely stopped his
work and spoiled his life. He flung the
formula into the furnace and his secret
died with him.
If this simple story leads any reader
to the conviction that the only things
worth having are the things we have not
got it will not have been written in vain
Barry Pain in the Sphere.