Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.) -- Fiction; Western stories
I was praying about that, too.
Now, your noble generosity will enable me to donate what they owe on my
salary, and get the window too!”
“Take my advice,” said Harry, “donate nothing. Say nothing about this
gift; I will take care of the warden, and I can answer for the dean.”
“Yes,” said the dean, “on the whole, Gilling, you would better say
nothing, I think; Mr. Lossing is more afraid of a reputation for
generosity than of the small-pox.”
The older man looked at Harry with glistening eyes of admiration; with
what Christian virtues of humility he was endowing that embarrassed
young man, it is painful to imagine.
The dean's eyes twinkled above his handkerchief, which hid his mouth, as
he rose to make his farewells. He shook hands, warmly. “God bless you,
Harry,” said he. Gilling, too, wrung Harry's hands; he was seeking some
parting word of gratitude, but he could only choke out, “I hope you will
get MARRIED some time, Mr. Lossing, then you'll understand.”
“Well,” said Harry, as the door closed, and he flung out his arms and
his chest in a huge sigh, “I do believe it was better than the puppies!”
HARRY LOSSING
THE note-book of Mr. Horatio Armorer, president of our street railways,
contained a page of interest to some people in our town, on the occasion
of his last visit.
He wrote it while the train creaked over the river, and the porter of
his Pullman car was brushing all the dust that had been distributed on
the passengers' clothing, into the main aisle.
If you had seen him writing it (with a stubby little pencil that he
occasionally brightened with the tip of his tongue), you would not have
dreamed him to be more profoundly disturbed than he had been in years.
Nor would the page itself have much enlightened you.
“_See abt road M-- D-- See L
See E & M tea-set
See abt L_.”
Translated into long-hand, this reads: “See about the street-car road,
Marston (the superintendent) and Dane (the lawyer). See Lossing, see
Esther and Maggie, and remember about tea-set. See about Lossing.”
His memoranda written, he slipped the book in his pocket, reflecting
cynically, “There's habit! I've no need of writing that. It's not
pleasant enough to forget!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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