Year: 1867

TIE opposite side OF the street. He looked
at the BARRIERS pole he paused; he passed
his hand over his chin; he was dirty
faced man. | could see, even from tha
distance. that he had not been shaved fol
a week surely, surely he would come and
[ should &c rescued. lie crossed to oui
side Of the street, and stood outside the
window. He was coming. he paused
again He put his hand into his pocket
took out some pence, and looked at them


lie shook his head. Ho recrossed the
street, and went into the public house. /
suppose he spent his money in beer. Oh.
that horrid vice Of intcmpcrance


Still the barber lathcred sway, as though
he would never cease, using TIE brush now
with the right hand, now wi.h tie LEFT.


Another man stopped in the street and
looked At the BARRIERS pclc he too passed
his hand over lis chin. He was a decent
and respectable looking man had on a
clean shirt and an average hat. My heart
bounded with hope. Surely such Il re-
spectabe man would be particular about
his appearance. Surely such an c.cm-
plary man would bo sure to come and be
shaved lie TOO put his hand to his pocket
and instead of pence, he took OFT 4 watch.
He looked at his watch and seemed starr
tied. lie shool. his head and passed on.


And so the dog still lay basking in Tie
sun. and tie horse kept going to sleep out
side Tic inr doo-, and = few people passed
by, and nobody came to be shaved


And still the barber kept latkoIing
away at re felt as if TIE lather must
be an inch thick upou my face, and of the
consistency Of clay. | became sick and
faint, and there was buzzing in my ears,
as If had been under water.


Another man. He did not pause az q
he did not pass bis hand over his chin
He did not feel in his pocket He walked
very fast he tried to open the door of the
shop. The barber ceased lathering; the
shaving brush was stilled. [ would have
screamed for help, only the barber jabbcd
the suds fercely into my mouth. While ]
was spluttering them out, the man tried
the door again; he ratified the latch. I
was about to risk all, when, with an oath,
the man moved away and ! heard his
departing footsteps die away along the
street.


! The barber did not resume the use of
the shaving brush-both he and his suds
were nearly exhausted- he took the
razor and passed it once or twice over the
strap, and then pulled handful Of hairs
from my head, tried the edge Of the blade
upon ere of them The hair was split
and the barber seemed satisfied He ras-
Cd his left hand took hold of my nose he
held my nose much more tightly than the
exigencies Of the case required he twisted
my nose about in every direction, lie elon
gated and compressed ily nose as II it had
been made of gutta percha. The pastime
seemed to afford him grim satisfaction. [
forced myself to grin, as though it were q
capital Joke At length he ceased and ad-
vanced the razor. II was a terrible mo-
ment. The barber stared at me, and then
again seated himself in the chair, and said
in more conversational and easy tone
than he had before used


"Perhaps-pcrhaps You think | an
mad ,"


This, if any. was time in which little
white fbbing was venial, and | replied:
"Oh, dear no, my dear sir, quite the
contrary-a little eccentric, perhaps"
and | forced & smile, ''but nothing more.


"Oh, if you did" said he lightly, and
airily, you would not be the only one
Navy ha7ed shared the delusion. Many
persons. themselves insane, have formed
that erroneous opinion. But woe to him, !"
and he hrandished the razOr-''woe to him
who does not instantly expei it from his
mind You, you Go not consider me mad
eh?"


"liy dear sir, said Glow can you sus-
pect me of such thing for moment ,
On the contrary consider you tie most
perfect sane man | ever me-"


Good. and my conversation is both
instructive and agreeable TO YOU? ?"


.sHighly SO; | should like above al
things to come back and spend the after
noon with you. But at present. am
very sorry, but II fear | must be going
In fact that engagement [ spoke Of"


The comparative mildness Of his mans
,.er had emboldened me TO make this fur
thcr attempt at escape, but it did not
succeed


He gave me a look which again made
me shrink into myself, and said:


GAS it is we'll known and fully under
stood, both hy une and yourself, that will
and must shave you, it Is right ard proper
that should, before commencing that DIFF
fcult and delicate operation, explain to you
the precise position in which we stand
| perceive that, unfortunately you tremhle
a good deal and moreover, that you hare
a considerable mole on your cheek, and
one or two dangerous pimples on the ether
| fcar--he shook his head gravoly-l fear
that those protuberances may cause more
serious, if not fatal, difficulties. 1t APP
pears to me then, that, before commencing
my arduous task, it will be advisable tor
me to relate to you portion of my history
SO that you may understand the perllous
position in which we arc placed.


He hemmed and cleared his voice in 4
most respectable and orthodox manner
| really began to hope he was working his
way round to his right mind.


At this time | saw Z girl pass through
the street, carrying piece of roast meat
from the bake house. It was II o'clock,
and all chance of my being at the church
in time was at an end. But | scarcely
cared. All [ cared for now was escape.


The barber resumed:


"Kuow, then" said he. "that at former
period of my existence / had a shop of a
similar kind to this. 1t was Saturday
evening: business was immcnsc-over-
whclming. AS the customers stood waiting