Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-09-06
LOVE o
BY A BACHELOR.
From Harpsr,s Razsr.

LAoAA - . N--A
You would hardly believe that old
Algernon Ridley, whose palsied form
you see painfully lettering and shutting
along the avenue, was ever an Adonis.
But he was. lie ~captiyated men and
conquered women, and like most heroes
and conquerors he knew his " power,
Ny cousin Mary Latimer and he were
neighbors. They played together, first;
then, as they grew older, they walked,
and rode, and boated, while yet he was
a boy and she q girl. Next came col
lege, and away he went. They said a
blithe good-by and parted, nor did they
meet again until the long vacation.
Home came the handsome A%lgernon, no
more a boy. Frank, familiar, buoyant,
he was even more welcome than before.
The swift years few. Each added a
grace to her, a charm to him. He told
her of his college life, the mad pranks,
the hopes, the triumphs. She told him
of the town gossips, of the books she
read, the journeys she made, the friends
she gained. Ny friend Mary Lati-
mer," said Algernon to his intimate col
lege companions, is n of the noblest
of women we are the best of friends"
/" Ny friend AIgernon Ridley" said
Mary TO her mother, dis the brightest
man in college. l am very fortunate in
having such a friend. Don't you think
so, mamma
1t was curious how much she talked
of A~lgernon, how constantly she con-
graduated herself upon her good for
tune in his friendship, and how very in
innate they were when he came home.
- People seem to think that Algernon
and L cannot be good friends without
being lovers, mamma how foolish peo-
pie arel" Then Mary told her mother
a little Of the heart history of her friend
how he was idolized by the cleverest
girls how they would fall in love with
him how sorry he was, but what could
he do, and what a remarkable young
man he was, needing, evidently, nothing
but a firm and faithful woman for a
friend, with whom there was no danger
of falling in love. Home came Alger-
non a graduate. For a few weeks he
was to enjoy the delights Of idleness be-
fore beginning the study Of his profes-
sion. 1t was summer it was a lovely
country and almost every day and al
most all day Algernon and Mary were
together. She took her work into the
woods. and while she sat fair as a nymph
upon a rock, he smiled and swung him
self into the pine trees with his stalwart
arms, and, hidden in the evergreen To-
liage, his voice rang out in the warm 81
lence of the woods in a tone half gay,
but rich and strong and sweet
$50 now my summer task is ended, Mary,
And 1 return TO thee, my own hearts home.
As to his queen some victor knight OF faery,
Earning bright sPoils for her enchanted
dome"
Then down he bounded, laughing, tt
her feet, and said, Do you know that
1t Is the prelude to Shelley's Prone
theus.' I like Shelley because he de
despises the conventions. He though
the dismal old world a fool and he tolC
it so. And who had a better right Il
tell it so? He was a poet. Hark hea.
that Y~oodthrushl Shenstone wa a poet
too, when he sang:
{" % have found out a gift for my fair,
Lhave found whele The wood-pigeons breed
But let me such plumber forbesr
She will say twas a barbarous deed;
For he meier could be true, she aTerredt
Who would rob y poor bird OF her young;
| And l loved her the more when 1 heard
such tenderness fall from her tongue"
He looked up in her face as he re
peated the lines. Fair as a wood nymph
/ say, Mary Latimer sat upon the rock
and her busy fingers few and her sot
ewes answered his, and her happy hear
was contented with such a friend.
Busy, busy-always busy" he woul,
say. Mary, you country girl, you vii
lage maiden, do you remember thos
lovely lines that gruf old Ursa Majo
used to like to repeat?
"'Nerse sveetens toll, however rude the sound
still at her work The village maiden sings,
And as she turns the busy whesl around,
Resolves the sad vicissitude OF things
Well. | too must urn the busy whee
around. although | am not exactly a vii
lage maiden and, Mary, | shall want
hold in my hand some clue to the dea
old days so you will write to me, an
we Gamble just as good friends as ever.
With the evening they returned an
so the summer days of idleness passe
by-to her all poetry and music, an
manly beauty and fascination. He wen
and Mary told her mother about the col
respondence. Her mother was wise, an
begged her not to consent. VIII
mother, how absurd Algernon and
understand each other perfectly, On
friendship is purely Platonic." The
for an hour she talked of him, descrit
ing everything he did, repeating every
thing he said, until her mother replied
Mary, it is a matter in which my ez
perience must decide. Unless you low
Algernon more than me, you will nc
write to him. When you see him 20
are conscious of some faults, but the
DO not overcome your feeling for hin
When he writes he viii seem faultles'
He has no right to ask you to give hi
all your confidence, except upon n COZ
ditiOn."
Mary looked at her mother, and burs
into tears.
When she told Algernon that he
mother was unwilling that she shoul
correspond with him, he said that it Wa
extraordinary, because they understoo
each other perfectly, and knew that the
were capable of a Platonie friendship
ave know hat it is just that an
nothing more, don't we, Mary?"
Certainly we do said Mary.
He went, and Mary had no life lie
but in remembering the woOd-walks an
the poetry, and his tones and his looI
as he repeated it. But she did NJ
/; write. The next summer he came agail
The walks we're renewed, there was mol
5 Shelley and one day loon after be n
/ turned A~lgernon said to her:
Mary, l am off for a week-for
am engaged to the most beautiful woma
in the world. want you to know eac
: other, for l am sure we shall all thre
r be as good friends as we two have beel
And, now, l don't believe your motht
will object to our corresponding. W
5 at least have shown that a young ma
and woman may hayea PlatOnic frien,
t ship"
Algernon Ridley never brought Il
most beautiful woman in the world
t see his Platonic friend, and Mary Lat