Year: 1872

We met him on the Waverley road,
tw miles out of town. trudging along
with bent form, eagerly poking about
in the dust with long, crooked stick.
Well, that was nothing unusual we
had often seen him before with the
same heavy stoop in his shoulders, and
carrying the same knotted staff, which
was too long for a cane and too slender
for a support. He seldom looked np,
but when he did, his eyes, set far back
in his head, were small and sharp and
gray and searching, and they fell again
almost instantly to the ground. We
bad seen him in town, wandering up
and down the streets, peering into
every crack and Granny of the stone
pavement; we had crossed him in the
lobby of the opera, ever stirring about,
but wrapped wholly within either
himself or the pattern of the carpet :;
We lad noticed him in the court room,
moving restlessly around, always
scanning the floor with the same intent
expression; we had passed him on the
turnpike, still with his keen, sleepless
eyes bent rigidly upon the ground-we
had met him i'm all these places, his
anxious yellow face taking no heed OF
us; but that day we met him on the
Waverley road, two miles ou: of town


We had been on Iide-partly Of
pleasure, partly of business-and were
driving back to town 1t was a beau
tiful morning in June, the brilliance
of the sun unfiecked by a single cloud
i'm tie deep blue sky. There was no
moisture in the air, nor on the waving
les-ves; and in the dry and pleasant
fields the erasshoppers were holding
q jubilee. We put the top of the buggy
up to shield us from the heat, and al
lowed the horse to choose his own
pace, which had Stacked to a walk,
while we leaned comfortably back in
our seats, enjoying the situation. My
friend watched the old man a good
while, and said:


What a singular creature have
often wandered who he can be, for be-
lieve he haunts every nook and corner
of the country. How terribly stopped
he is But he DOES not appear to be
feeble, because | never saw him quiet :;
aud though he takes no notice of any
thing about him, he has strange,
eager manner, as if he might be upon
some business of pressing importance"


| replied that mad often noticed it,
and could never understand either
why he carried that crooked stick, for
certainly it was of no possible use. AS
we hau passed him, | turned round,
when George said, suddenly:


why, Joe, see there! What's the
matter with his clothes? They shine as
ifthey were covered with spangles, Jus,
look at them! And what ON earth is
he doing? ....


Here the old man, who had bent for
an instant on one knee, jumped up, and
shrieked out:


Twenty-three thousand nine hum
dred and ninetv-seven


George and / scarcely crediting our
ears, looked at each other, and looked
at him. What could it mean? We
drew i'm the reips, and called, without
receiving any reply. We called again,
and louder: but the old man, with
his eyes fixed upon the ground, per-
sisted i'm utter silence, and sent up such
cloud of dust by the rapid movement
of his stick that we could hardly see
him. When it cleared, he had nearly
reached the toll-gate, and we were
obliged to content ourselves simply
with astounded calculations.


That night, about twelve o'clock,
the two of us were returning on foot
from the theatre, when whom should
we meet but the strange old man who
had so aroused our curiosity in the
morning?


He turned quickly around the corner,
and came upon us so suddenly that he
brushed against my left side in passing.
The night was dark, and he was out of
sight in a moment. But what was the
singular noise we heard for an instant,
like the rasping wings of an insec; :?
And. when / held up my arm, that
coat-slt eve was torn in small three cor
nered snags. looked at George in mute
inquiry, and we both gazed behind us
into the darkness but there came no
answer from any place.


1t must have been more than q week
after this that, one bright afternoon,
was taking stroll by myself i'm the
upper part of the town, when / met
the old man again. This time he
came upon me so unexpectedly that ]
did not see him. until he was Just op-
posite, when he suddenly bent on one
knee, stopped to the ground one in
slant, then jumped up, and shouted,
i'm metallic voice


Twenty four thousand two hundred
and seventy-eight"


turned round to look at him, but
at the glance Recovered my eyes with
my hands, almost blinded, for he flashed
like quicksilver in the sun and, before
/ recovered, he turned down some
alley or street, and La. ;.sanpeared,
and 1 found myself more completely
.tW ildered than ever before. l related
he incident to George, but he could
come no nearer solving the mystery
for mystery it had certainly now be-
come. Neither of us could even sug-
gest a possible explanation. 1t un-
doubtedly had not been an optical
illusion, for. when we met him i'm the
country, George had witnessed the
same luminous phenomenon, though
perhaps not quite so vividly.


But 1 had made another discovery
i'm the glance had caught of him this
time. for, quick as it was, / noticed 8
popularity about him that had never
seen before. His finger nails were
almost an inch in lengh, and trimmed
cham 10 hloaty toIAnc l;r