Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-19
HTAUPERS DEATH MAY HAVE SOL
III COLT MYSTERY $:$=:==:=$=:

= clock was tolling the hour of five and the
gIancing rays of the morning sun were tipping
the distant hill tops, the soul of an old, old man
passed over the threshold of life into the great
beyond 1t was whispered that he nearly, If not
quite one hundred years Old and the and wasted
figure the humble almshouse cot did not belle this
popular estimate of his age For more than twenty
years he had rubbed elbows with the paupers of the
little upstate village in New York, and that he
was gone they missed him than ever day by day.
His name Clark, and his antecedents were un-
known. He had drifted into town at the time of Gar
fields death with little stock of mourning badges and
black bordered souvenirs of that lamentable event and
he had remained. Perhaps he failed to dispose Of a
sufficient number of these emblems of national to
provide the Of retreat perhaps ne liked the
place and remained from choice.
Even then, in 1881 he a feeble decrepit old
man, with white hair and beard, uncertain
STEP bowed head and a sweetly sad expression of
eyes and mouth which, with his soft gentle voice and
courteous mien, made every one his friend.
There was little he could do at first beyond such
odd jobs about town raking lawn or beating a
few rugs and the like for of physical power he had
none, and few would have looked for clerical ability
in such woebegone old wreck of humanity.
One day, however, stroke of luck befell him. He
halted in the street by of the foremost law
yers in the village and told to call at his residence
for some carpets to be cleaned. Clark took little
memorandum DOOk from his pocket anu JOUteu uOWl
the address in a hand perfect that it resembled
copper plate engraving.
"Why, Clark, where did you learn to write like
that? exclaimed the lawyer in amazement.
Clark muttered some unintelgible reply and
turned the little book to his pocket in haste and obvi
GUS confusion But the fact remained that Clark
was by far the best penman in town, and for the
next five years he had all he could do copying legal
documents in the Judges Office and in the court
house.
Then the typewriter and the carbon copies
and Otheo's occupation gone About this time
too he sustained slight stroke of paralysis from
which he never fully recovered, for it left his right
arm helpless and his speech permanently impaired
In a few months his small savings gone, and
then there was nothing to do but send the poor,
helpless old to the county house, where he
mained to the day of his death
The Superintendent of the County Farm made the
usual perfunctory effort get his record for the
Bureau of Vital Statistics. Everybody knew that
his patronymc was Clark, and many affirmed that his
Clark.
Age? Probably about eighty.
Civil condition? Probably WidOwer.
Birthplace? Probably North South Carolina.
The repeated use of the word probably" John
Cars history sheet, as it was filed out at the time
of his admission to the poorhouse, was due partly to
his thickened and almost unintelligble Speech-the
result of his paralytic strickland partly to pro-
gressively increasing imbecility-the result of his
age.
ing most in keeping with the law of probabilities;
peated questions from the old mans stupid but in
variable repetition of the word Caroline
Just Caroline"
AS the years went by this single word Caroline
grew more and more prominent in the poor old crea-
ture's senile mumblngs until at last his fellow pau
pers devised a scheme of pampering their own crav'
ing for amusement by asking him, in tantazing fash
ion:-
"Where did you come from, PopT
Then he would sway back and forth in his chair
and drone From Caroline, Caroline, Caroline and
I'm goin back to Caroline, too' much to their edlh
cation and delight. If a woman came within his
field of vision his face would brighten up with an
expression of sweet pathetic joy that afforded untold
merriment to all beholders and he would Groom
"Caroline, Caroline SOFTLY under his breath, unth
she passed out of sight.
One day in summer when all the paupers were
summing themselves in front of the house, magnih
cent coal black horse sped furously down the road
while Clark was mumbling Caroline" as his share
in contributing to the general entertainment.
EFF We want teh git teh Car'line," grinned one of
the bysanders, "ye ought teh hev a colt like that
teh TEX ye."
"Coltw cried the old hoarsey, as, with ashen
face he tried to pull himself up in his chair under
the trees Colt Colt No! My God. No! No!
No! Not Colt"
He laughed Historically and waved his good arm
his head
Then he fell back unconscious and his companions
carried him. breathing heavily, to his bed.
He did not die although everybody thought he
would But when at last he grew strong enough to
be out again it evident to all that he had practi
cally lost what little remnant of mind he had pos
sessed. All day he would sit in his chair muterng
Caroline Caroline" unless Of the highly ntelli-
gent and cruelty facetous paupers suggested his get
ting n colt to take him to "CarOlne,' Then lie
would rave and sputter and mo! no! no?' in
impotent rage until attendant dispersed his tor
mentors and soothed his wrath.
So he lived on from year to year, gentle, help
less pathetic wreck of a man. until at last on that
beautiful spring )rning, just the chrpinG twit-
tering birds greeting the glorious rising Of the
sun, his poor battered old soul waited to eter
nifty. The old pauper who was with him at the end
said that with the first sunbeam that touched the
whtewashed wall opposite mis- bed he slowly raised
the only that he could move and, pointing TO the
light, said family but distinctly, 'I-comng-Caro-
line-Colt"
Then, with happy, restful smile on his wrinkled