The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-10-10

or future. l don't believe the devil would give half as much for the services of a sinner as for the services of one of those folks who always are doing vir- tuous acts in way to make them un- pleasant That girl wants tender na-
 ture to cherish her and give her a chance
 to put out her 1eaves-sunshine and not
 east winds"
 He was silent and sat looking at his handsome left hand with the red stone
 ring upon it. So it was the Little Gen tleman after all, 1t seemed. The pro-
 lessor thought of all the sound judg-
 ment he had wasted in picking out the
 young man from Maryland and felt re-
 bellious. He almost wished it had been
 the young man called John. And just
 then the young man called John came along and invited him to come up to his
 room-"Forty-'leven sky parlor," he called it-and sample some "old bour-
 bon" which he declared was Al"
 John produced some bologna sausage, some 'crackers'' as Boston people call a certain kind of biscuit, and the whisky described as Al" Under the influence of the bologna and crackers John became
 communicative and revealed his state of
 mind concerning Iris. "F1rst-rate little
 lilly" he said. "Nicest little chap I've
 seen since the schoolmarm left. It's no
 use though; can't marry a girl these
 days until you get so deaf you have to
 turn your head like parrot to hear what
 she says and so far-sighted you can't see
 her nearer than at arms length" It
 might have been the crackers and bo-
 logna or it might have zeen love which
 brought the tears to the young mans eyes as he continued mournfully: T look at
 them girls and feel as the fellah did who
 missed catching the trout-tw oo'd a cost
 more butter to cook him than he's worth, says the fellah. Whats the use? Clerks
 and counter-jumpe ain't anything. Spar ragrass and green pease aint for them
 except once a year-on Fast Day. And
 marvin ain't for them. And some
 times a fellah feels lonely and would like to have nice young woman to tell her how lonely he feels-and sometimes
 fellah would like to have one of them
 small young ones to trot on his knee and ] push about in little wagon-a kind of l little Johnny, you know"
 | The professor stghed-the Little Gentle
 man seemed to have the field all to him
 self. There was a mystery about the | Little Gentleman-no one except Biddy, l the chambermaid ever was allowed to 1 enter his room, and she only once day, when he was absent. She had been seen l coming out of the room rather pale and | crossing herself devoutly. There were | double doors to the room, which never l were open at the same time, so that
 although everyone of the boarders had tried and tried again to peep inside they
 always had been foiled. Biddy's refusal
 to tell what she had seen inside the room
 only added to the curiosity of the board-
 CTS. What do you suppose is up in that | den of his?" asked the professor one day 1 of the young man called John. John | winked portentiously and the professor 1 waited patiently for the thought of the 1 youth to bear fruit in words Finally | John said: q don't believe in witches" :" Nor IT. replied the professor, and then | they both remained silent for a while. probably dazed at the lucid briliancy of I their own remarks.
 l The professor was of metaphysical, psychological turn of mind and used to | love to sit and look at Iris-fit to be a sea kings bride, he pronounced her He | fancied that the Great Secret" every now and then flashed from her eyes. | Tn the hearts of men and women, and | let me add children" the learned man | used to say, "there is a Great Secret waiting for them, perhaps oftener in | earlier than in later years
 These hints come sometimes in dreams, sometimes in sudden, startling flashes | d waking out of waking as it were. I have many times stopped short and held my breath and felt the blood leaving my cheeks in one of these clairvoyant