James Pethel

Excerpt from Book:I was shocked this morning when I saw in my newspaper a paragraphannouncing his sudden death. I do not say that the shock was verydisagreeable. One reads a newspaper for the sake of news. Had I never metJames Pethel, belike I should never have heard of him: and my knowledgeof his death, coincident with my knowledge that he had existed, wouldhave meant nothing at all to me. If you learn suddenly that one of your friends is dead, you are wholly distressed. If the death is that of a mereacquaintance whom you have recently seen, you are disconcerted, prickedis your sense of mortality; but you do find great solace in telling otherpeople that you met "the poor fellow" only the other day, and that he was"so full of life and spirits," and that you remember he said—whatever youmay remember of his sayings. If the death is that of a mere acquaintancewhom you have not seen for years, you are touched so lightly as to findsolace enough in even such faded reminiscence as is yours to offer. Sevenyears have passed since the day when last I saw James Pethel, and that daywas the morrow of my first meeting with him.