Rock Island Argus., 1905-12-18
DAILY SHORT STORY
"THE OLD YEAR LIES A-DYING."
rOriginal-1

year out A Bachelor Of thirty five. he
had been well brought up/ by a good
mother, and his sisters were pure, well
behaved girls ,of the olden type. He
had long been4a clubman/and a MEM
Der Of the smart set. His companions
spent q great ,deal of raoney. living a
fast life, the men not, pretending to
lave any purity in item, the women
sf6 lowing the latter day custom of
dr1 mixing cocktails. AT the Country
club. of which he was6a member. there
was\a separate cafe where the ladies
were&served with beverages without it
being known how much they drank
Hes knew that any -of the PARTIES TO
which he had been invited would be
drinking bouts. TheI influences under
viii ch he had been brought'up had as
serted themselves. and a sudden dis
taste Nfor the company Of his set had
kept him in his rooms when others
were I,oistering.
He was surroundedtby luxuries, and
a chez rful wood fire., blazed on the
hearth but there was one comfort
lacking There was nO-friend to bear
him coma pany. He thought Of a chum
who was far away and wished that he
might su ddenly be dropped down be-
side HIM Then he fell 10 thinking how
nice wou id be a woman's companion
ship. Why not marry? He thought OF
the wome u who were his usual associ-
ates and1repeated the words.O an old
song:
..What.s Marry old Msrjory? oh, no.
no.
Then heS thought of a family of girls
who had been brought aIp under the
same Influences as hAs sisters. They
were not rich and never had been rich,
but their mother before them and their
ancestors had had enough to enable
them TO live:a ladies and gentlemen.
The Brirsleyigirls were fall very pretty
and very attractive. He liked them i'm
mensely, but he never met them in so
ciety. They were too refined and too
poor tD move in his set. They had at
times invited him TO simple dinners,
and he had always come away feeling
refreshed. In return heihad taken them
out, but if he met any of his own set
while doing so he knew he would be
twitted with. Who's your beauty. old
man? Where did you find herr spoken
in toneshe did not relish.
Then it. occurred TO him tslat he had
only returned the Brinsleys' invitations.
He had never'done them afavy. Had
he ever done any one favor! He
tried to think,o one unseltish act and
failed They had all been returns"
Among his regular companions it was
hardly possible to do favOrs. They did
not need favors. Like him, they had
a-plenty and, like him, spent il all ON
themselves 1t occurred to him that
he would like to 90 one disiuterested
act. What could he do? There was
the youngest Miss Brinsley, scarcely
twenty. who would he delighted to re
ceive any trifAe he would give. her that
it would be proper for her to accept.
Presents were usually given Oh Christ
mas, but why not on New Years? He
resolved i'll the morning to go and buy
some pretty thing and take it to Lucy
Brinsley just to'see how it would make
him feel to give something'to which no
return would he expected.
His meditations were interrupted by
shot in the street without. In an in
stant there were the ringing of bells
and the footing of horns. He thought
OF the scenes transpiring in the houses
to which he.had been invited. Men and
women with flushed cheeks,were stand
ing around tables, drinking to- the new
year, laughing and shouting boisterous-
| ly. The antics OF the men he wouldn't
mind. but both his instincts and his
education rendered holden women dis
tasteful TO him.
The old year was dead. The new
year had entered, and one by one the
sounds without dropped away. and
soon there was quiet He looked about
him, and the room seemed lOnelier than
before Again the problem of a wife
came up to- interest him. If he married
il would be expected that he would
marry in his set. IL he married out OF
his set his friends would gradually
drop him. Suppose they did. What
benefit would he derive from them
now that he was tired Of their ways?
| Then a picture that he had seen in one
OF the illustrated papers came up be-
! fore him. 1t was the new year repre-
sented by a little child tottering with
outstretched arms toward him. This
| tiny being represented for him a new
| life. for il kindled in his heart a new
desire, and that desire led to a new de-
| termination.
The next morning he wrote a note to
Mrs. Brinsley asking il he might spend
/ his New Years evening with her fami-
| ly. and a response came asking him to
come in time for dinner. Lucy came
down TO welcome him, her cheeks like
roses. He took a box from under his
arm and gave IT 10 her. Opening IL.
she took out a fan of exquisite work
manship. When she turned her eyes up
10 him with surprise, delight, graft
tude all cleaning in them, he knew
the first keen pleasure from doing a
/ kindness. Then the others came In.
each admiring the girls present. and
| all looked surprised at this sudden
mark of unusual interest on the part