The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1874-12-31
TOLD Ar NIGiTfALL.
From Peterson's Journal OF Popular Liter
ature

From Petersons Journal of Popular Liter
ature.
1t was a stormy September evening.
Guy Urquehart and my respected self
Charles livingstone, painter-were sit
ting in the studio window of his delight
full little villa at Frascati, near Rome,
high over the rounded tops Of woods
now lurid in the red setting sun. Be-
meath a leaden sky the gloomy Cam
pagna stretched like dead sea,..and
with its far rim cut the disc, porteA-
tous blood.red ball, slowly, slowly sink
ing.
Guy and l had been old friends and
school-fellows in England. He was two
or three years Older than myself, but
that had made his friendship for me all
the tenderer, and mine for him rever-
entail. Besides, i had looked Oh Guy
as kind of genial young saint. | had
always felt rather wicked in his COM
pany, because nc really seemed, quite
naturally, never to do anything wrong,
! or to have so much as wrong thought.
He would have chosen art as his pro-
fession, | knew, had he been allowed a
voice in the arrangement of his own
future: but the bilious old father who
ruled his destiny made civil engineer
of him, without the slightest reference
to any possible fancy or protest of the
lads. Naturally, he did not take kind
ly to his work. though he buckled to il
conscientiously.
When came to Italy to study art,
Guy and kept up pretty brisk cor
respondence for about a twelyemOnth.
But in my second Italian summer his
letters suddenly ceased to arrive.
wrote to him IN vain hope of answer
for six menths, AID then let the cores
pondence go with a sigh
! easily ascertained that he was
alive and we'll, but could find out moth !
ing else about him that was more reli-
able than the gossip retailcd out by
certain English military men. who had
tapped their lazy flight across the sea
one winter ana pcrched in Rome. SCOT
into scrape about woman, and didn't
behave well to her, or something oil
that SOFT" drawled out one of these
smiab,e gentlemen. And this was all
4 Coutu tISSoNcJ pun
But at last heard from Guy him
self once mere. Lol re had inherited
a small fortune from a distant relation:
he had thrown civil engineering over
board /; he was coming to Rome forth
with % study art in earnest at last,
and We must spend the ensuing sum
mcr in Villegiatura together, eating
figs At ruscuium. At the time nv
story begins he had been about six
weeks IN Rome. and had already paint
ed one or two capital lutte pictures.
No village in the world drives such
roaring trad IN scandal as grand old |
Rome. You awe seen how Urauehart |
character wen before him, as Sir Peter |
Teazle's stayeo behind. for the comfort |
of the community. and what mercy it |
met with. Now. when circumstances
are served up in this mixed way. there
are generally certain facts which one
may trace Ike pebbles through disturb
ing waves. | felt convinced that |,
should do so in Urqushart's case, if il
ever pleased him to give me his conf
dence.
But l could not try to thrust into any
chamber Of MS past not freely opened
to me. could not help guessing that
there WAS shut and locked ioor, be-
hind which lurked the solution Of
mystery. This mystery was the great
and gr'evoas change in nv frind, noti
to be accounted for BY the NEE lapse
of two or three years. And tn schange
was al. the more remarks h,a +lst IL vas
not always obvious No two mn could
De more unlike than Urquhart to
orquehsrt IN different mods. 1t
seemed to me - if much evil hfflowedl
'srso ms neaft oy Some rent VIII re much
good had run oat. but tina, tn. poison
had never mined with the healhy juice
Of his Life. j