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Show Uhe Knocker. By Alan Lovey. Oh, thou disseminator of truths that hurt, it is written that in the time to come there will happen an event, and thou who know all things will wot not of it. Yea, verily, there shall be a happening, and thou, oh luminous one, shall be elsewhere. And when it shall come to pass that thou hast discovered that this mysterious thing has occurred, and that thine all-hearing eye had been glued unto other and resultless keyholes, and thine all-seeing ear been close attached unto soundless cracks, then, even then, shalt thou, in thy meager mind, realize the "futility of human endeavor." And in thy puny breast shall rise such unseemly unseem-ly storms of passion such unholy tempests of unrequited un-requited inquisitiveness as will seem to rend thy quivering frame, and tear into a thousand fluttering flutter-ing shreds thy shirt and chest protector. And when it striketh thee with force both full and strong that this eventful happening (which persons per-sons other than thyself would deign hold sacred), shall have gotten by thee, then shalt thou hie thee, to the stillness and solitude of thy chamber, and thou shalt beat thyself rudely, and with penitential harshness, and thou shalt tear thy beauteous hair from out thine head, and in many ways shalt thou punish thyself for this most unusual lapse of watchfulness and care in this, thy self-appointed duty. And when, exhausted, thou shalt cease to flay thyself, thou shalt sit thee down, and in the gathering gath-ering gloom shalt thou cogitate. And thou shalt then and there resolve in thy small soul, to ferret out, after the manner of the silent and resourceful sleuth, this bit of private information, which oth- j m i M H ers, In the hardness of their hearts, would keep f f -1H from thee, the wise one. I 1 ;I jH And thenceforward, thou shalt be doubly watch- I JL. k 48 f ul. But, in the language of the unbelieving pa- j $ ; jH gan, shall thy rubbering be in vain. Useless shall j Ws, IfS be thy stretcn, and to hinge shall avail thee not. IhIH And thine eye shall lose its luster. And from thy If' &M'H cheek the bloom of youth shall take Its flight, and I f '' ' H thine alabaster neck shall become awry and rival j jJ$ifril that of the meek swan, who peeketh not, and mind- T - m flfl eth only the business of her mate and of the plan- h,t ft Jfl ning pot-hunter, and who slngeth as she dloth. l lj ikil And again shalt thou sit thee down In silence, ,i! 1.& ! $ and In company with thyself shalt thou bo alone, I i I rfH and thou shalt ruminate. And thy weak thoughts E f If jfl shall wander back to that period of time when thy ' si I' k!9 record was as new-washed linen, and naught did j! fh(B happen that thou didst not note and mark down W'y B in uncertain and scrawling legend within the spaci- f m H ous vaults of thy hollow ad accommodating skull, 1 1 jVJ B to be brought forth at later date and scattered j j 1 1j H piecemeal to a waiting and over-anxious world. $ f H And then, oh thou earnest carrier of the un- i f jw2I I sought for, wilt thy hallow brain burn with the - i!$"vgB consuming fires of remorse for a duty left undone, 1 I jfilJH and thou shalt rave, and rant, and even shalt thou I i pfn! wfl eat of hay in the field. And again and again shalt it ( r&ifB thou go forth In strenuous endeavor, searching ever J jJTIfjB for that fleeting thing which seemeth foredoomed wt 3B to escape thee. And thou shall delve and delve, even 1 J $ ilfl into the remotest privacy of the remotest human V M'-ftiM soul, but thy delving shall be in vain, it is written J. BpjpifiB that In this dim and distant future, shalt thou y (8 jjjH realize that thy course has run that for thee there ' fffotLlllB is naught doing and in this knowledge shalt thou ll llfeHH be broken. 1. tCMjnH And no more athwart the heavens shalt thou li m SHH fly on the wings of the lightning's flash, throwing iff IH far and wide the seeds of thy insidious gathering, f J Ifj9 to take root in welcome ground and bear unpleas- f 'f ,h'f!8 ant weeds and tares. Thou wilt have fallen in thy I i IS chosen path, and on thy tottering limbs shalt thou f 1 i crawl slowly and painfully to the dark and dismal Sm lljH rear and assume a reclining posture befitting both 9 K1H thyself and thy undone duty. 3!! ffwffl |