Year: 1872

WHAT MADE HIM SHINE?
| We met him on the Waverley road, two 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
same knotted staff, which was too long for q cane
| and too slender for support. He seldom looked
up, but, when he did, his eyes, set far back in
his head were smnll, and sharp, and gray, and
searching. and they fell again almost instantly to
the ground. We had seen him in town, wan
dering IN 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
! had noticed him in the Courtroom, moving rest
less1y about, 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
ing no heed Of US; but that day re met him on
| the Wayerly road. two miles out Of town.


We had been on q ride-partly Of pleasure,
partly Of business-and were driving back to
town. It was beautiful morning in June, the
brilliance Of the sun unlocked by q eingle cloud
in the deep-blue sky. There was no moisture in
the air, nor on the waving leaves; and in the
dry and pleasant fields the grasshoppers were
| holding jubilee. We put the top OF the buggy
up to shield US from the heat, and allowed tho
horse to choose his own pace, which had slack
ened to a walk, while we leaned comfortably
back in our seats, enjoying the situation. NY
friend watched the old man good wh.le, and
said:


"What q singular creature! I have often
| wondered who be can be, for believe lie haunts
every nook and corner Of the town and country.
How terribly stopped he isl But he does not
| appear to be feeble, because I meyer aaw him
| quiet; and, though he takes no notice OF any
thing about him, ho has strange, eager man
ner, as il he might be upon some business Of
pressing importance"


Ircpled that had often noticed it, and could
| never understand, either, why he carried TINT
crooked stick, for certainly it was Of possible
use. As We had passed him, turned round,
when George said, suddenly:
'sWhy. Joe, see herei What's the matter
with his clothes They shine as If they were
anS d,t With e, sp1ngfSs Sa d 3ns look at


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


George and I, scarcely crediting our ears,
| looked at each other in blank amazement-
! We looked at each other. md looked at him
| What could it mean? We drew in the reins,
called again, and louder, but the old man, with
his eyes fixed upon the ground, persisted in
utter silence, and sent up such thick 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-ga and we were obliged
! to content ourselves simply with astonlshed
calculations.


That night, about IL 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
the singular noise We heard for an instant, like
the rasping wings Of an insect? And, when
| held up my left arm that coat-aleeve Was torn
| in small three-cornered snags. I looked at
| George in mute inquiry, and We both gazed be-
hiud us into the darkness; but there came no
! answer from any place.


It must have been more than a week after this
| that, one bright afternoon, was taking stroll
by myself in the upper part Of the town, when
I met the old man again: This time he came
upon me so unexpectedly that did not see him
! until lie was just opposite, when he suddenly
bent on one knee, stopped to the ground an in
stant then jumped up and shouted, in metal-
| lie voice!


"rwenty-four thousand two hundred and
aeventy-eight!"


turned round to look at him, but at the
first glance covered my eyes with my hands,
almost blinded for he flashed like quicksilver





down some alley or street, and had disap-
| poared, and I found nyself more completely be-
wildered than ever before. I related the Incl
dent to George, but he could come no nearer
solving the mystery-for mystery it certainly
now had become. Neither OF us could even sug-
| gest possible explanation. It undoubtedly had
not been an optical illusion, for, when We met
him in the country, George had witnessed the
same luminous phenomenon, though perhaps


But I had made another discovery in the
glance that caught Of him this time, for,
! quick as it was, noticed q popularity about
him that had never seen before. His finger
nails were almost an inch in length, and trim
tell George Of this--why, cannot say, unless
/ because the remembrance Of their claw-Gke look
| invariably made me ahiver, and, hardly knowing
| what to think OF the old man. did not mention
it !; then besides, it was really but trivial cir
| cumstance.


! The following day business at the bank proved
remarkably heavy, at least my particular share.
It seemed to hive taken sudden freak of re-
morse for the easy time it had been allowing me,
and Immediately concluded to make full atone
ment. worked steadily through all the morn
ing and half the afternoon, allowing myself only
O few moments for dinner. About 8 o'clock.
tired and cram,ped in position, 7 leaned back in
my chair to take good stretch, and had just
closed my mouth after most refreshing yawn,
that came near imperil1ing the desk, when
heard the teller say to some one:


:" He thinks when he gets twenty-five Thousand
that something grand viii happen to him, and
he'll ba among the highest IN the land. He
works hard enough for it, poor soul! and is as
honest about it as if the whole world was looking
on. OF course, the very fact Of his trying to get
twenty-five Thousand shows that he il badly
cracked. utterly crazy It ia queer idea of his,
but nobody can reason with him about the mat
teri


I had not heard who he was talking about, nor
did inquire, but thought to myself asI
trimmed my pen: swell, twenty-five thou
amount, and did not come by it very easily
either, but nobody thinks you are cracked
or utterly crazy and it is hardly queer that
q person should want money in this age Of the
world, and, il he is honest, it is more than can
be said Of"


NY quill had a most beautiful point! In
deed, I quite prided mYseH On the art Of pen