The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1875-10-14


where FlSrenee was spending morn
I ing with her friend Theresa, she was
4 presented casually tD Mr.. B, . rich
[ bachelor, of New YORK, famous for
I his sffiueuee, and famous, aimast
against his modest will, for his beney-
olent munficenee.
Florence, at Fheresa's side, couid
! Bot avoid bearing a conversation that
y interested her slightly in comparison
with the pictures. Her indiff renee
undivided attention became fixed up
on the conversation, aud the p paintings
vanished into the obsenrity OF dead
walls.
"I am just now deeply interested"
/ Mr.. B said. sin young country
man of yours AMI mine, Miss Theresa,
NhO has fallen, as / believe innocent
Iy, into the tolls Of an uupfinefpied
enemy. The young man Is emp.0yel
as designer in the Immense carpet
factories OF B., and he had INST
with such success that fame aud for
tune seemed secured. Que design Of
his, csiled the fOrget-m.- not pattern,
met with such 3 remarkable favor
that it was purchased Dy Fr0ncb
artIsties, and found its way ia Aubus-
son into the boddeif OF the EaprssS.
For this vsFy pattern, which had
proved the corn er-stone OF his good
fortule, the poor fellow Is now In
trouble, aud has been arraigned on =
charge of plagiarism, or, to speak
more accurately, OF downright theft
His adversary las produced success
sige designs from the crude thought
t5 The artistic lash, aud the atf1ir Is
going hard WITH my poor country.
man, Horace King. Tomorrow 1
am To have II hearing in his Case, t.
present testimonials which have b sen
sent to me from America from vari-
Ous friends aud from the fact Jrits of
n -, certifying his we'll KIN JRn IT,
ent and his excellent character"
At the word "fOrget-me-notn the
attention of Flora was arrested. At
the name OF. Horace King her whole
soul became interested. Associated
in memory with her summer at
LiudengrOve, with her last SUNNI Of
suH-Iit youth and of young life's
inefable sweet promise. had been the
'sssudent'' of her Imagination /; and
the workman. in tbs factory Of
M had, as time gave new insish
into the worlds ways, became glOri-
fled. She had seen 40 Ons who SEEM
Ell to her SO manly, so thoughtful, and
so trustworthy as her guide Of the
woods. q rr
The New York girl rather astoHish-
ed her august eOnntryman by her i'm
pu;sIve start and her earnest plea
"Mr. b. will You not take me
with you to the trial tomorrow 1
believe 1 can help you. Iknow some
thing Of u focget-me-nOt carpet pat
tern. At lezst-I meanI know some
thing Of fOrget-me-nOtc carpetBaaI ~
Her face, lighted by self-forgetful
enthusiasm, became SD radiant that
Mr.. b, who had a chivalrie fond
ness for 'lOvely woman" and a quick
appreciation of feminine beauty, ac-
cused himself of cuI psble blindness in
not having before perceived the at
traction of Thersa's friend.
Ofcourse he willingly cJn3entei to
take her with him to the trial. He
even found time among his numer-
Gus afternoon engagements to bring
tO her lodgings copy OF the disputed
pattern, aud explain to her the tech
nicalities at is-ue. His explanations
fortified Florence in her persuasion,
that she could be "a help" She at
tended the trial on the morrow vita
Mr.. B., accompanied by rneresa
and Theresa's mother.
The case had been some time con"
when the American party entered the
dim and well-filled chamber, whose
audience was CON sed of ths most
part of manufacturers and decorative
artists, who felt In the case n peculiar
interest As Mr.. B had said it
was "going hard" with his young
countryman, Horace King. But the
testimonials Of ability and character
contributed by substantial meR, and
their presentation by the well-known
and widely houored Mr.. b, pro-
duced beneficial condensation.
Then Florence Grey became wit
ness. Before giving her volunteer
ed statement ste had seen the face
OF the defendant. Mr.. B point
him out to her, and il needed but u
glance to assure Florence that he was
the veritable ideal of whom her in
most soul declared, truthful and
trustworthy.
He, too, had seen her, and for an
alt TIE lCalAIlCc aAOAa0
melted into the uncertain atmosphere
of dream. His blithe "beauty" of
the wildwood, his mimic shepherdess
OF sylvan fairy land, the little star
that had dawned upon his loves first
dream-he knew her image well. And
now, folded in her dark r1bes of
mourning, mantled in blsckness like
his fate, she came to him as pTies-
tess OF the night.
The aim of her statement was to
give the scenic story of the pattern
to show clearly to others, as she her.
self clearly saw, the inherent proof
of authenticity in the individuslizing
history of the design. The carpet
was the map of the moment, and the
moment was the possession of Horace
King. She described in her simple,
impulsive, and cOnUinced, aud eonse-
quently convincing, language, the
meeting and parting in the glen of the
forgeJ-me-nOts, whose memorial the
artist bad committed IN picturesque
fragments to the Interviewing loom.
She traced in tue pattern beneath the
forget-me-nOts of turquois and zenith
blue shadOwy strewIng in meZZotint
of the precise wool leaves she had
held in her hand, and of which he
had said to her the nanes-wOOdbine,
sumach, wild rose. In the border,
edged by conventional fretWOrk of
black and gold, was rendered as well
as tinted woods might the "sunset"
trellis of cSrmine cloud. "And here"
said Florence, kindling with excite
ment, Sin the fretwork of the border,
is my tur quois ring. oh, perhaps he
wears it still ~
"My turquois ring !" How her
clear voice swept with these words
the heart OF Horace King He did
not hear the added sentence-it was
said in lowered tone /; but he csught
its reflection in an impression of
friendly interest aroused in the lIsten-
ing crowd-a murmur, perhaps, or
sympathetic smile.
He wore it still. And in the b1r-
der OF the carpet its likeness at inter-
walls more or less revealed, nov clearly
appeared. Nor was this all. Florence
Grey's testimony, corroborsted un-
expeetedly in cIrcumstantial points
by Theresa and her mother, and sus-
tanned in dignity by the Introductory
support of the renOw Mr.. b,
achieved its crOwning triumph in the
announcement that her initials, the
engraved initials of the ring, were
introduced into the fretwork of the
carpets border. Horace Kings Oppo-
nent failed to find- them but they
were discovered presently by experts;
and with this seal of the scenic story,
Horace Kings acquittal was COM
/ plete.
A year in Itsiy devoted to the cub
tivation of her voice was made de-
] lightful to Florence Grey by u cor res
pOndence with a dear friend in Eng-
iand-a correspondence which brought
her into intimate knowledge of the
noble heart and gifted mind of Hor-
ace King.
And her singing was never publicly
hesrd, for eFss the year of s .hOOiing
ended, the Ilans of her life were
ehaaged.s ~
Fate Kept, in tbs disposal Of Flor
ence, true to its fond antiphonals.
In the very manor place near N,
not far from LindengroRe, and with
4 Ia rambling distances OF the forget-me
not glen, Horace King, in exact sim
ilitude of an absurd fancy of o roman
tie girl may be often seen now