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1、A. V. Laider1A. V. LaiderBy MAX BEERBOHMA. V. Laider2I UNPACKED my things and went down to await luncheon. It was good to be here again in this little old sleepy hostel by the sea. Hostel I say, though it spelt itself without an “s“ and even placed a circumflex above the “o.“ It made no other preten
2、sion. It was very cozy indeed. I had been here just a year before, in mid-February, after an attack of influenza. And now I had returned, after an attack of influenza. Nothing was changed. It had been raining when I left, and the waiter- there was but a single, a very old waiter-had told me it was o
3、nly a shower. That waiter was still here, not a day older. And the shower had not ceased. Steadfastly it fell on to the sands, steadfastly into the iron-gray sea. I stood looking out at it from the windows of the hall, admiring it very much. There seemed to be little else to do. What little there wa
4、s I did. I mastered the contents of a blue hand-bill which, pinned to the wall just beneath the framed engraving of Queen Victorias Coronation, gave token of a concert that was to be held-or, rather, was to have been held some weeks ago-in the town hall for the benefit of the Life-Boat Fund. I looke
5、d at the barometer, tapped it, was not the wiser. I wandered to the letter- board. These letter-boards always fascinate me. Usually some two or three of the envelops stuck into the cross-garterings have a certain newness and freshness. They seem sure they will yet be claimed. Why not? Why SHOULDNT J
6、ohn Doe, Esq., or Mrs. Richard Roe turn up at any moment? I do not know. I can only say that nothing in the world seems to me more unlikely. Thus it is that these young bright envelops touch my heart even more than do their dusty and sallowed seniors. Sour resignation is less touching than impatienc
7、e for what will not be, than the eagerness that has to wane and wither. Soured beyond measure these old envelops are. They are not nearly so nice as they should be to the young ones. They lose no chance of sneering and discouraging. Such dialogues as this are only too frequent: A Very Young Envelop:
8、 Something in me whispers that he will comeA. V. Laider3to-day! A Very Old Envelop: He? Well, thats good! Ha, ha, ha! Why didnt he come last week, when YOU came? What reason have you for supposing hell ever come now? It isnt as if he were a frequenter of the place. Hes never been here. His name is u
9、tterly unknown here. You dont suppose hes coming on the chance of finding YOU? A. V. Y. E.: It may seem silly, but-something in me whispers- A. V. O. E.: Something in YOU? One has only to look at you to see theres nothing in you but a note scribbled to him by a cousin. Look at ME! There are three sh
10、eets, closely written, in ME. The lady to whom I am addressed- A. V. Y. E.: Yes, sir, yes; you told me all about her yesterday. A. V. O. E.: And I shall do so to-day and to-morrow and every day and all day long. That young lady was a widow. She stayed here many times. She was delicate, and the air s
11、uited her. She was poor, and the tariff was just within her means. She was lonely, and had need of love. I have in me for her a passionate avowal and strictly honorable proposal, written to her, after many rough copies, by a gentleman who had made her acquaintance under this very roof. He was rich,
12、he was charming, he was in the prime of life. He had asked if he might write to her. She had flutteringly granted his request. He posted me to her the day after his return to London. I looked forward to being torn open by her. I was very sure she would wear me and my contents next to her bosom. She
13、was gone. She had left no address. She never returned. This I tell you, and shall continue to tell you, not because I want any of your callow sympathy,-no, THANK you!-but that you may judge how much less than slight are the probabilities that you yourself- But my reader has overheard these dialogues
14、 as often as I. He wants to know what was odd about this particular letter-board before which I was standing. At first glance I saw nothing odd about it. But presently I distinguished a handwriting that was vaguely familiar. It was mine. I stared, I wondered. There is always a slight shock in seeing
15、 an envelop of ones own after it has gone through the post. It looks as if it had gone through so much. But this was the first time I had ever seen an envelop ofA. V. Laider4mine eating its heart out in bondage on a letter-board. This was outrageous. This was hardly to be believed. Sheer kindness ha
16、d impelled me to write to “A. V. Laider, Esq.,“ and this was the result! I hadnt minded receiving no answer. Only now, indeed, did I remember that I hadnt received one. In multitudinous London the memory of A. V. Laider and his trouble had soon passed from my mind. But-well, what a lesson not to go out of ones way to write to casual acquaintances! My envelop seemed not to recognize me as its writer. Its gaze was the more piteous for being blank. Even so had I once been g
