A WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 2041, 22 September 1874, Page 3

A WELL-KNOWN CHARACTER.

(American Paper.) Mr Luce was, among the first on the circus grounds, Saturday. With, him were four young Luces, hand in hand, and Mrs Luce, carrying the latest arrived Luce. The family immediately attracted my attention. It is representative, and faithfully so. I cannot now remember of once-missing the Luces at any circus I may have attended anywhere in the country. They were old friends to me, people who had quietly but irresistibly become familiar, and I involuntarily nodded — a recognition of Mr Luce acknowledged with a smile of moderate hilarity. Mr Luce's head and body are inclined slightly forward. This position, taken in connection with his steps, gives Mr Luce the appearance of making a determined effort with his feet to keep up with his head, and prevent the entire superstructure from toppling over. The observer is also im" pressed, and quite painfully, with the conviction that if by any miscalculation the feet should fail in the undertaking and the head go down, Mr Luce might possibly walk into his own mouth, and a considerable ways down his own throat, before recovering himself. There is nothing unpleasant about Mr Luce's features, without it may be found in the creaaes. His smile is soft and bland, while the canvas itself does not glisten more than the eye he casts hopefully upon it. There is a buoyancy and an uprightness accompanying it in his mien, which cheer %v^ strengthen the beholder. Mr Luce jr&xa his hair so> long that it would hardjr PP a 7 t® attempt any action upon it wj^> a comb. His whiskers are many, a»<* * n Places cemented together with a^octure of plug. His clothes exhibit a--*»etter acquaintance with the cares and vcxationß of business than with tlie recuperative influences of the laundry. His very boots partake of the general dilapidation. Witb his hair they impartially share immunity from the brush, Mr Luce reasoning, and with unanswerable logic, that if that whici he is to wear until the daisies blossom above him needs 120 brushing, why show'd he brush that which is but transitory, co be pnt off and on at pleasure. Mr Luce!* long experience with the world in all its phases but its very best has given him aa appearance of easy familiarity. There is nothing very bad about the man. Hid nature is sympathetic, and kindly to an extreme. He hears the faintest appeal— if not from a creditor—and he gives his opinion en a multitude of subjects with the utmost freedom and good nature. If you should ever sustain an accident within his province, Mr Luce would take you in his own arms and carry you to your home. He would be the last to leave your bedside ; and when he did withdraw, his ministrations, homely, but tender and loving as those of a sister, he would go away with tears in his eyes and something you might value far more than tears — in his pocket. The immense good nature of the man keeps him from thinking wrong, whatever he may do. He brings his whole family with him today. All of bis bankable property amounts to two dollars, and he turns it over to the man in the waggon without the faintest semblance to regret in his face. He even says something moderately witty to the ticket collector at the door, and as Mrs Luce, laughing slyly, crowds by with the five eager Luces, the head of the family nods complacently to the grocer he despairs of ever paying, and remarks feelingly, but without ostentation — " Here we ar' again I" And thus he disappears from the excitable outside to the impressive inside of the canvas. And here, on the upper seat, amid the glittering humanity, the Luces are poised, patiently and hopefully waiting. Mr Luce invariably takes the top seat on these occasions. It is a convenient place to expectorate from, besides giving him an opportunity to look out doors and exchange a few friendly words out there. Between his friends outside and family inside, with a choice few alongside

whose dress and general appearance may have won his favourable opinion, Mr Luce manages to pass the time in a genial and profitable manner. Occasionally the boy who in very warm weather peddles candy, and in very chilly weather, fans, comes round, and invariably attracts Mr Luce's attention. It is pure sympathy th*t induces that gentleman to notice the pedlar at all, and the lively interest he manifests in the articles and their prices is certuinly remarkable in view of the fact that he hasn't a penny to his name— a fact that, in Mr Luce's estimation, should not prevent him from encouraging the young merchant by showing him that he is appreciated and understood. And thus his benevolent soul makes glad and is made glad in return, while the exhausted grocer sits on the lowest seat and exercises his faculties in a magnificent but impotent tussle with tha credit system.