[Tenth Prize.] I-G LASSES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2387, 30 November 1899, Page 46 (Supplement)

[Tenth Prize.] I-G LASSES.

[BY CLARE NYSMI.]

(Otago Daily Times and Witness Christmas Annual

had got into many scrapes that I was on the verge of disinheritance when it was completed. The bitterest part of the business, in my father's eyes, was that I would be into mischief again the next opportunity, and his money failed even to buy me experience.

It was finally determined in family conclave that I should be packed off to the office of a merchant whom my father knew in New Zealand. I was nothing loth, thinking the probable adventures would compensate for the loss of fatherly admonitions, and made preparations for the voyage. One seemingly unimportant addition was made, unexpectedly, to my outfit thcit meant more than I could ever have realised.

The summer before, while doing the Swiss Alps, I had been means of saving an eccentric old German professor. I found him on a ledge, where he ;had fallen in scrambling about alone, arid he was so badly bruised and stiffened with his night out that I picked him up and learned him over the slippery descent on my back, thinking if we were both killed my hither would have one anxiety laid to rest. The old fellow was very grateful, and even offered me/ money, but. when I rejected everything Tie wound up by saying: "Well, young man, when I die, you shall have my spectacles." I said I would be very pleased — that they would be a memento of the adventure — adding to myself, " If I am still alive," for fossils are 1 proverbially long-lived, once properly fossilised.

Now came the result of that adventure. Just before sailing, I received a lawyer's letter, informing me that my scientific friend had died very suddenly, and had left me his spectacles. With the spectacles came special instructions from the professor that I was to wear them at least one day, after which I would never go without them. Actuated by a slight curiosity, I decided to take them with me to add to my dignity, and, after stowing them away in my valise, forirot them in the bustle.

The voyage was uneventful, and we landed safely in Wellington. I got a few days to settle in my new surroundings and rambled about sight-seeing. Before goinar out one day I stumbled on the professorial glasses again, and, finding I could see tlirough them, put them on. The first person I met was j\ir Gresham, my new master. Imagine my astonishment when, under my glasses, the big, alert man of business dwindled into a thick ledger, on one side of which was embossed a large "I." It was very hard to talk to Mr Gresham in this new guise, as all his kindly remarks anent my supposed loneliness were so incongruous, and inclined me to laugh aloud. I got rid of him as soon as possible, and wended my way onwards, having promised to go to Gresham's and meet some of their friends. That was the strangest walk of my life.

1 saw the corporeal embodiment of the passers-by as an enclosing film, through which appeared such diverse things that 1 could make neither head nor tail of them. The one point in common was the invariable presence of an "I." The "I varied considerably, being very large and thick, a very determined' Roman in one case ; while in another it would curve fantastically and spread in all directions ; while in yet another it was so slight and small I would have missed it had it not been for its dot. The fact gradually dawned on me that I saw the real person, and I dubbed my spectacles I-glasses. The old professor's gift was worth something after all.

" I went to Mr Gresham's that evening, and it was the most entertaining dinner party I had ever attended. I must say it ratner disagreeably surprised me to find how many men were represented by meat dishes. The ladies were naturally more interesting, and g;ive me plenty of variety. In the drawing room I had the best opportunity of focussing my specimens, and wonderful Avere the results. One dainty maiden, in the creamiest of muslin and lace, dissolved into a downy cushion. Now, cushions are delicious to a tired head, but not exactly the weapon to help one to win fclie battle of life, so very thankfully I stored up my information, and many pleasant hours did the cushion yield, for I knew when to avoid her.

A matron of particularly gentle manner, with no aggressive new-woman airs, promised a good specimen, so judge my horror when she was metamorphosed into one of those vicious-looking hat pins that ladies delight in. The thought of a prick from such a weapon made me shiver. I have been pricked since, and let me assure the curious it was a vexy nasty, jagged scratch that took a long time to heal. One young lady, however, interested me most that evening. She was very small and quite irresistibly pretty, and I was con-

25.9.9 Prize Tide Competition.)

STEPHEN GLADBROOK, air.

an Englishman, just 23, young, strong and handsome as adyone could wish, my fond mother used to say — and as soft as a baby, my father invariably added. I had had a college

education, ami during its course

tent to enjoy her at a distance, lest a nearer view might dispel my illusions. Presently a good chance for conversation and inspection occurred, and seizing it, I found my own face smiling back at me. This v was decidedly puzzling, so I zealously cultivated Miss May's acquaintance, and became quite' a friend of the family. I always found her very pleasant; indeed, she was the most popular girl of my acquaintance, with men and women alike, and I was pleased when she granted me a fair share of her favour.

Time went on, and my glasses became a priceless possession, invaluable alike in business and pleasure, which I never lent to any friend to try his sight with. They brought me great praise as a reader of character, and many a shock did I give Gresham, when new men came to do business, by the unlikely specimens I passed and the respect-able-looking ones I rejected ; but events always proved me right. My employer profited thereby, so at the end of two years he proposed' to take me into partnership, because of my shrewd business head, forsooth. My father was greatly delighted, his expedient had proved successful, and 1 took the credit meekly enough, also the partnership. I was to be the travelling member of the firm, and glad was I of the chance to stretch my legs a bit and see the country. With my partnership grew my list of acquaintances, for it you want to know how much people think of you, get on without them, and they will soon tell you. Thuswise I became quite a society man, able apparently to enjoy all its chit chat and fritter. Its members little knew how I gloated over my secret fund of information, enabling me to estimate their worth, despite all the froth on top. I became acquainted with the match-mak-ing mamma who pitied my solitude, and artlessly invited me to call at any time, and feel as if I were at home. Moreover, 1 have accepted smilingly and watched the trap within set itself so delicately on the spring. That dear motherly lady has wondered, and readjusted the trap, and set it for all comers. Aye, and she has got them, too ; I even warned off one young fellow who must have had a real good mother, for he believed in every woman he came into contact with, as well as in the class, a much harder thing to do. He told me for my pains it was like mv conceit, and went on trapwards, rejoicing. He married one of the trappers, and they were happy up to their capacity, and he was always able to look down on me from the height of his greater nobility of character. All of which went to show me my glasses were slightly previous, and not a 'blessing the multitude should enjoy. Miss May and I still kept friendly, ana in many quarters I got sly pokes which I took good-naturedly, thinking they might not be altogether wrong. I was about this time seized with a great liking for a young fellow I met. Staunton was the owner of a 'station about a hundred miles up-country, a big, bronzed fellow, the admiration of all the ladies for his looks and of the men for his wonderful powers as a shot. Rumour had it that he never missed his aim. At all events he looked it. His station was in the best of order — everybody and everything trim and up-to-date, and going like clockwork. He was a strong man, and when my glasses showed me a pair of strong sinewy hands, I henceforth knew why he took such a grip of things, and why even the loafer on that station did his work well. Hands, however, can be too strong sometimes. I did a very foolish thing in bringing them into contact with fragile material. Had I really known Miss May I might have been wiser, but she had so far baffled my glasses ; so, unsuspectingly, I took my friend' to May's home for a holiday, and the two were soon fast friends. I felt a bit sore, naturally, and even thought my heart was broken ; but strangely enough my glasses again came to the rescue. As I stood talking to May one afternoon, George Staunton came up, and I distinctly saw mv own face, which had as usual been in evidence, fade off and George's come in its place. Then I knew Miss May was but a mirror — and why break one's heart for that? Nobody else, of course, was any the wiser, and George and May drifted into an engagement, and the course of true love ran smoothly enough. Gossips could not understand how I could still visit the house and be friendly, but one does not hate a soulless thing. I did not warn George, as my former experience had proved how useless warning was, and he would have the additional plea of jealousy to urge. Hands like possession, and the wedding was announced for Christmas, and I was pledged to be best man. When the time came every arrangement was perfect — weather, wedding, and wishes, and all started propitiously as I said goodbye to the mistress of Springbank Station. I saw nothing more of the couple for a considerable time, as mv business took me to Australia. Three years later I returned to Wellington, and was horrified to learn that May had just died. There was much head-shaking and sighing, but I gradually found out that after a while the two had not agreed well, and May had gently faded and drooped, till she was gone beyond recovery. One candid friend hinted that May had really cared for me, while others tuoupht it was George's want of sympathy. I guessed that George's image had grown blurred on the glass, and so May bad lost her attraction for him, and clenched hands were such awkward things to come into proximity with anything so frail as that | dainty mirror. No wonder May lost her pretty looks and people pitied her for her uncongenial surroundings. Then as George's image faded altogether the hands in scorn of its uselessness grasped it. The outside draperies of the glass grew crushed and limp, and at the end of three years my pretty little friend was dead — as all her most confidential friends said sadly, of a broken heart. How, said they, could anyone have imagined such a splendid marriage turning out so badly.

If, as I surmised, those strong hands had shattered the glass at last, I thought I would satisfy myself at least, and I hastened away to the house of mourning. I carried my wreath like everyone else ; but

when it came to the point and I put on my glasses, I could not see through them. There I learned, what had before escaped my notice : that an ache somewhere internal and a dimness of my* eyes 1 for the pity of it had spoiled their effefct. But as the flower-covered casket was lifted gently I heard the chink of broken glass, and turned away with a shudder from the burial of what was not.

After that glimpse into the depths of what my glasses could reveal, I rather lost my love of the pursuit, and would fain have left them off. But needs must ; my business character would have been ruined, for without them my intuitions failed, and a man must live up to what he is supposed to be, even if it keeps Mm on tipr toes in tight boots all the time, and I was not so badly off after all. So I kept my glasses and I lost my love. For I met one who caused me more anxiety than May could even have done. Thi» maiden, too, utterly mocked my investigations, but we became friends for all that. Very bright and winning she was, nevertheless sometimes more outspoken than was pleasant, as I found to my cost. My glasses were turned on her time and again without avail, and at last I gave in and concluded that for once the focus was wrong. My feelings, too, as I said before, always affected my vision, and I confessed to myself that my feelings were getting more and more deeply involved. One day I resolved to risk everything, and I began to inquire of the lady as to her ideal. To my disappointment she told me pretty plainly" I was not her ideal. " What have you against me? " said I. " Your conceit, she answered. " You are always dissecting people and finding out the flaws in them. You would drive me mad. Why can't you take people as they offer themselves? If they are worse you only become poorer by finding it out, and if you accept them as good, they will probably be good to you." " I'm quite willing to take you as good," I interjected, neatly, as I thought. "I daresay you are," she retorted, scornfully, because you have classified and labelled me for future use; but what will you do when the label has to be changed, and the new label does not suit you? I could not marry you, there is nothing of you but an eye."

Then I left, and I thought bitterly, this girl has solved me as I have been solving others, and she is right. I have used these glasses constantly, seeking the ego of every individual, and 'what so likely as that 1 should grow into a morally critical- eye. But how came it that she only of all 'my acquaintances knew this. Either my feelings made me show myself, or she needed no glass to tell her — her truth could detect all artificiality, and so no glass could show her to be other than she seemed, for her bodily presence was but the outward visible expression of her spirit. Which is true, I leave you to decide. I only know that in my frenzy I refrained from blessing the professor, and was on the point of throwing his glasses into the harbour, when a business friend accosted me and I put them on my nose and so accepted my character.

It is years since I wrote all that. I am now old and wrinkled. lam married to a woman that I need no glasses to tell me is like a tap for ever dripping; but what is a man to do? I returned to England to enjoy my money, taking my glasses with me, but I do not lend them to my wife, seeing she can make me squirm without them. One of my chief pleasures nowadays is to drop into a woman's tea party or a man's brotherhood meeting. Not that I recommend my glasses to the general public; indeed, if some of the specimens I have focussed were able to reach the real beings about them, they would use their power like the Apache Indian, to flay the victim and prod the bare, quivering flesh.

So the professor's discovery is safe with me, though doubtless the X rays, that revealing so uncannily our bodily organisms, are a faint glimmer of what he already knew. Mayhap my great grandchildren may exhibit my heirloom I-glasses, as an example of what the ancients could do, when his discovery shall have been re-dis-covered.