The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1871-11-04
MAKING AN OMELETTE.
From the French by Gustave Droz.

The rain had been falling all day, |
and, tired out, had turned into the sort
of mist that rises from the meadow at
evening. We had just dined; baby,
who had fallen to sleep at dessert, had
gone TO bed, and we two, Louise and |,
were standing at the open window,
looking out at the sky and humming to
ourselves.
Suppose We leave the ark, Father
Noah ~ sad my wife to me.
Il see no rainbow, my dear.
$50 much the more reason for going
out to look for 1t. >
She left me, and came back hooded,
booted, and gloved She took my arm
with good firm hold, leaning close up
to me, as if we had just met after
long separation. . Oh, how glad | am
to get out! Don't you feel how good
the air is [ should like to 90 ON walk
ing, walking. Let us go ever so far;
1t is broad daylight still" And she
merrily urged me on, making great
strides to keep pace with me.
We skirted the hedge, and turning to
the left entered the wood. How we
loved that dear wood At that hour it
was silent, damp, and dripping, like
the beard of a sea-god. The wet moss
welded to the foot like a saturated
sponge, and clear raindrcr trembled
70 its fall on every leaf of dropping
branches.
You will be very wet, dearest" l
said to Louise, stopping as l spoke.
ooh, no matter, | have on my thick
boots Do let us go on.
So we went on | thanked my wife
| for her courage that evening, for no
! thing on earth is more beautiful than
the forest after a rain, especially at
sunset, when all is silence and peace.
/ The wind has gone down, the weary
rlin has kept back to its clouds, the
| birds are falling asleep and dreaming
| of dryness. To me there Is a we'll
/ loved charm III feeling really alone,
| when there are only two Of us, and
we are arm in arm, IN walking under
/ the great green arches; in breathing
! the keen scent of the moist wood; II
striking my stick against the massive
oaks and hearing the long, sonorous
echo from the neighbOring trees; III
stopping short at the cry Of a break
ing twig; at the sound of the drops
pattering from leaf to leaf; IN drawing
in long breaths of the fresh, RAIN
washed air: in listening with my eyes
Of / may use the EXPRESSION to the cX.
quisite harmony of all these shy and
subtle tones. The metaphor is 50 true
that it has become trita, but [ DO not
use it for the sake of stringing words
together.
On a fine day, when the sun is mean
setting, everything grows rosy and high
cOlOred, like the face of a handsome
. girl spinning over the fire. There is {
warmth and a vividness Of tone, boOr
nature is thrilled and touched, and we
feel that through the day she has haC
her share of love, and pleasure, an6
work The forest is warm; the foliage
: sparkles with diamonds, and rubies
and emeralds, and every now and thcI
on the messy trunks you catch a sudden
startling CLEAN Of gold. Then yor
have an orchestra, rich, and with all it
, effects in brilliant harmony, like Thu
unexpected sight of a royal treasur,
chest; like a cathedral where the lout
! trumpets burst out and a whole nation
. shout Alleluia
But on a gray day it is quite anoth
er thing; no brightness then, ne trUm
q pets AMI drums. Nature goes t.
+ her bed that night with fearful eye
and a marked desire to yawn. Tn
viOlins. deadened that she may sleep
are at their lowest and slowest you ca
hardly hear their music. 1t is like
dream, but SO sweet is its voice, so eX
quisite its harmony, that it IS not 81
easy thing for the lettering lover of TIN
, music of the eye to decide which phas
he prefers-the forest yelled in the ora
; mantle of twilight, or the forest daz
: cling in its golden CLEANS Of splendor
We were going along under Il clum1
: of birches when a gentle little wine
: passed over us, stirring the treetops
and they, with a sudden shake hike
bird from It's bath, sent down on us
shower of liquid diamonds.
. Oh, heavens'n cried Louise, stop
ping dead short, "the horrid wind.
c am soaked
: Her skirt futtered in the wind, and
caught sight of two tiny boots frml
G planted close together in the grass.
j. "Perfectly soaked she repeated
: ''my hood was pushed back, and
have a deluge down my neck-a Who'll
q river :
y where, poor dear! where"
" Where: Just III the middle of IN
throat | say-in the little place
| She looked ut me and we laughed
d 1t was where ! always kissed her. Hal
4 its are easily formed, even IN youth.
: / brushed off the rain, readjuste
her hood, and when she was comforts
t BILE again, she said with a smile. ''Yo
n are very nice.
q l rather think l kissed her And i
1 high good humor we danced over tn
e fern, she leaning on my arms then, a
g we came into the sonorous silence O
! the high growth, she suddenly brok
out to the tune of the Marseillaise,
! into foolish little song of her own in
' vention about a wicked husband VIII
did not love his wife at all. Sh
: looked so m schievous as we hurried o
. singing and smiling, aud showing he
4 pretty white teeth. that [ began to sin
c with her. We behaved like children
; we knew it, and we liked tit is
good thing.
D All at once we came TO place whlc
r might have been quagmlre, Dire
. mp marsh, or worked out quarry
don't know which but the ground wa
: upturned, the trees were destroyed
! and gnarled roots looked angrily OIL
from the briers.