Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-01-06
THE OLD MAN
OF THE SEA
[Original.1

ments," book that has delighted mil
lions of people both old and young. is
story Of how Sindbad the Sailor was
requested to take an old man on his
shoulders and carry him across a
stream. When the old man was secure
ly fixed in his position he refused to
get down, and Sindbad was obliged to
bear the burden indefinitely. | am re-
minded of this story of the "Old Man
Of the Sea-" in something similar that
happened to me when | was young.
Before settling down to my profess
sion, having put aside enough money
to spend few months in Europe. /
went abroad. The sum was only $780,
and | was obliged to piece it out by
doing good deal of walking. One day
| was trudging along through the En-
gadine when | overlook a man who for
some reason was having a hard time to
get on. When l came up with him
bid him good morning and asked him
if could be of any assistance to him.
'HYou might help me along to the next
hotel" he said. cts only about a
MILE
took his arm, and as we walked
slowly on he told me that he was
Enoch Crane, an American. He had
long been ailing, and his doctor had
sent him abroad. He, like myself, was
walking because he couldn't afford to
ride. When we got to the inn 1 took
him to a room and helped him to bed
bed from which he was destined
never to arise. He was very i'll in the
night, and l sat with him till near
morning
Having my time laid out and none
to lose, l proposed after breakfast to
proceed on my journey, but Mr.. Crane
begged me so pitifully not to desert a
fellow cOuntryman among strangers
that l agreed to remain with him an
other day. At the end of that day l
was constrained to remain another and
another till l found the time allotted
for my travels slipping away from
me and | taking care of sick man
in a little Swiss inn.
In this way the whole time 1 had
laid out for my trip passed and the
time for me to go home arrived. The
old man was sinking rapidly, and the
village doctor told him that he had bet
ter prepare his affairs for a journey to
another world. Then Mr.. Crane called
me to his bedside and said to me:
''You tell me you are going home.
beg of you not to leave my body in this
faraway land, but to take it with
you. have expected to die over here
and have made every provision, hav-
ing inquired the cost Of removal in
every particular. You will find exact
ly the amount in my wallet under my
pillow. Take my body to B., in Z.
county, in Massachusetts,, and about
mile north of the village on the v.
turnpike is a lot forty feet square in
closed with stones taken off the ground
In the center is a space marked by
four posts, where the grave is to be
located. This is not all. l want you
to be custodian Of my grave. Send for
notary and l will draw UP a paper
transferring the lot to you with every
thing it contains, which, of course, is
my body"
What a situation-my trip spoiled,
obliged to go home in company and in
care of the corpse of the man who had
spoiled it, and my pay was a plot of
ground not worth $50, which, after all,
must hold for grave. Nevertheless
1 consented. cannot claim that 1 did
it solely from kindly motives. Enoch
Crane possessed a singular influence
over me. Often during my attendance
upon him I wondered if l were really
myself, if l were not under some spell.
At such times l invariably thought Of
Sindbad the Sailor.
When Mr.. Crane died l possessed
myself of his wallet, which, in addition
to money, contained an account for eX-
penses figured down to the closest pos
sible amount, it struck me that he must
have been afraid l would reap a few
dollars out of the transaction. 1t paid
the way exactly, and expended the
last dollar in having the body trans
| ferred to the grave. l had promised
Mr.. Crane that l would see the grave
dug. the body lowered and the earth
put back, all under my own superin-
| tendence. To do this l must pay for
my own carriage. Glad of the prospect
of getting the disagreeable matter off
nv hands, secured two men with the
necessary implements and was soon
standing beside them as they dug the
grave between the posts Crane had de-
scribed They had gone down about
| four feet when one of them threw up
a tin box. l took charge Of it, but
since it was locked 1 was obliged to
wait my return to the village before
examining it. l presumed it to be an
other whim Of the man who was being
| buried.
Having kept my promise to the let
fer. | drove back to the village and,
calling for a room in the little hotel.
proceeded to open the box. 1t contain
! ed a number of envelopes. From the
topmost l drew a paper. 1t recounted
the wrongs heaped upon EnOch Crane
| bv his relatives-he had no wife or
/