The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-14
re was shabby little middle aged
i man--one Of that innumerable
host whose dull, irresolute faces


and lax, lethargic bodies pa
thetically publish them as failures. And
the unkemptness Of his rusty gray hair,
the dinginess OF his coarse SKIN. the
uncleanness OF his blunt finger tips, the
stains on his threadbare coat lapels and
the grimy glaze on his linen all were
symptoms expressing poignantly his
apathetic acquiescence in that destiny.
In that struggle for which fate haG
prepared him in mind and spirit so in
efficiently he had been long since well
beaten into pattern for submission
and drudgery. Now. Mt last, he was
irrevocably poor machine, none too
accurate even for small performances,
doing whatever task was set for him
hy those who, because they were every
thing that he was not, controlled his
mean and trifing fortunes.
All day long he worked in big room
full of desks and active younS iren,
where the clerical business Of Il great
factory was done. His tasks were cal
cllated to require lit;lo II the spirit OF
enterprise and alertness which charac-
rerized this place. In an atmosphere Ct
eagerncss and sharpness he moved
about his petty employment quite unaf-
fccted by il. Sometimes, upon undis-
eliminating strangers, his dulness i'm
posed as calmness. his lethargy as de-
liberation, his bulging brow-the pecu-
LARRY salient. deceptive brow Of so many
futile souls-as an evidence Of capa-
bility suppressed. To such casual, my
opic observers he seemed to he man
to whom had not been given proper
chance--a man inappropriately en-
ploycd. For he ruled forms, filed unim-
portant papers, distributed or stamped
letters. kept the desks in order. did
whatever the time of the keen young
clerks was too valuable to he wasted on.
4 boy could have done nearly all that
he did, and by the deadly accuracy of
his employers judgment he received
nearly as little as a boys wages.
In the evening. when all the clerks
had gone and he had put the big office
to rights. he would begin inevitably to
think of his own home going and con-
sequently of his wife.
His wife, How often he had ex-
pressed to himself in incoherent terms
at such moments as that what trav-
esty on proper reward for all his long
DAYS effort were those home comngS
Of his to her.
It was part OF his little tragedy that
as though at his making he had been
half intended for better uses, he should
be able vaguely to appreciate the values
of what other people had and he was
missing. What should be, even among
the people of whose especial class he
was, the legitimate expectation at such
an hour, with home in view? Simple
warm coziness, without doubt;
soothing sense Of snugness enGendere0
OF pleasant, tranquil companionship in
cheerful setting But what, in place of
that. had he to anticipate?
He always knew exactly how he
would find his wife; at the stove In the
kitchen Of their gloomy little Nat, her
face blotched and shining from the heat
OF frying food. her thin hair stringlng
down around her coarse, creased neck
her shapeless figure wrapped in faded
and stained working dress.
And he always anticipated even the
oxpression with which she would re-
ceive him at his home coming an eN-
pression OF recognition without well
come, slgnlfying an almost su!len ac-
ceptance of his presence-as though, IN
her opinion, there was in him some con-
slant, subtle cause for resentment and
hostility.
What could he the solution OF this
furtively hostile riddle which was so
apt to appear In his wife's eyes as soon
as she turned them on him?
He had too little intuition or capacity
for seeing even himself clearly TO hnd
the answer. But he could understand
that something intangible was, nova
DAYS, always between them-somethins
that she, who had so evidently raised
II ND herself. seemed always with Curl
Gus, wicked injustice to be blaming him
for.
Whatever, unconsciously or not, she
meant by this how blighting an effect
II had on him, coming home with
timorous aspirations toward peace and
Tranquility always to be so greeted
That maddening look OF hers--some-
times ne almost fixed It as sort OF tired
contemot-wou,d III him with weak
bew!ldCr.ng rage.
The strange inequity of IT. lie would
get swiftly a desire to retaliate for II
upon the one person in the world on
whom he could feel perfectly safe In re-
taliating. Then, castins ABOUT for means
OF retaliation, he would most easily find
them Just in seeing her as she was,
with clear, spiteful eyes.
He would see her as she was after all
the years they had lived together IN alb
solute. gross intimacy, without any APP
probation Of the saving quality Of care
fully preserved ideals, having destroyed
i,,,,nio. 1,bnra xunulI he NO little