Roundabout Papers - Penn State University

ThackerayTwoshoes’s meagre bolster, and whisper, “Will the gentlemanand those ladies ask me again? No, no; they willforget poor old Twoshoes.” Goody! For shame of yourself!Do not be cynical. Do not mistrust your fellowcreatures.What? Has the Christmas morning dawnedupon thee ninety times? For four-score and ten yearshas it been thy lot to totter on this earth, hungry andobscure? Peace and good-will to thee, let us say at thisChristmas season. Come, drink, eat, rest awhile at ourhearth, thou poor old pilgrim! And of the bread whichGod’s bounty gives us, I pray, brother reader, we maynot forget to set aside a part for those noble and silentpoor, from whose innocent hands war has torn the meansof labor. Enough! As I hope for beef at Christmas, I vowa note shall be sent to Saint Lazarus Union House, inwhich Mr. Roundabout requests the honor of Mrs.Twoshoes’s company on Friday, 26th December.AUTOUR DE MON CHAPEAUNever have I seen a more noble tragic face. In the centreof the forehead there was a great furrow of care,towards which the brows rose piteously. What a deepsolemn grief in the eyes! They looked blankly at theobject before them, but through it, as it were, and intothe grief beyond. In moments of pain, have you notlooked at some indifferent object so? It mingles dumblywith your grief, and remains afterwards connected withit in your mind. It may be some indifferent thing—abook which you were reading at the time when youreceived her farewell letter (how well you rememberthe paragraph afterwards—the shape of the words, andtheir position on the page); the words you were writingwhen your mother came in, and said it was all over—she was married—Emily married—to that insignificantlittle rival at whom you have laughed a hundred timesin her company. Well, well; my friend and reader, whoe’er279