The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-02-20


| dominated thus far, though you have been
touched by old McClosky's difhdence, tender
| ness and Difference toward his daughter. BUS
row the line Is clearly aud suddenly crossed. A
pathetic impulse has seized the writer His is
| no longer n laughing or hooking, IL is now
! wholly a fearful humor
! Mr. McClnsay's face bcnmc1 "You alters
tci. To- iIprin rcspcciiu Ks "n her iorcfcad But
Jim, ,ans eip !y ING wrist, ana Tor NOM n neg
cyc'wlh me clear steady stance Of her "all the
M er.on 5 had S ns qs Lucy scs ns h5
just iitie wish mother hadn't died Wien Was 50
family p.,des me ! amt lonely with you father
the tine comes for John aud me ="
n.r Soce here ;gdGeny gave ont but net her orsye
S appsreny trscng out pattern on the osd
THAR amt OF them gals ca you've named Jenny
e. could do what you've dgns, with whole Noahs ARK
sacrifice her relation to make the strike that
bSHanT new f5 No H. c ,wS nay ms d2
toward the door. When he reached IT. he turned, and,
jimmy smiled aud Vanished from Tue head do%Hwaid
his canvas slippers asserting themselves resoutely to
he last.
Only when you come to know that Jenny Is
not McClosky's daughter, that che was born out
| OF wedlock Of the woman whom McC1osky after
| ward married, surprising her to be widow,
and with whom, when she left him TO go with
the man who could ride three horses at once, he
agreed to call 1t quits n she would give him the
child, do you perceive all the pathos Of this
scene.
We'll, Jenny went down stairs to help en-
| terrain the stranger. lie was young man,
educated and we'll bred, something Of poet
also. She had never seen his like before I; prob
ably. before then he had never seen her like.
She talked with unconscious frankness and free
| I.f. Fr,r
ardor. when 1t was time for the up stage to
pass she offered 20 60 with him TO the cross
roads, for she felt somehow as II he needed and
were under her protection:
It was a lovely night. The moon swung low and
langulshed sottly on the snowy ridge beyond. There
from the woods perfuned their young blood. and
Sey In ere on the WHITE road hat her ce mb yea
nnwingy me ii,ie PHI where they were TO part ana
Of speech seemed to hay. forsaken them. -,
sy C Or or Haven wai nS sn
| have been the one man and woman Tor whom tins
deepest azure, was created And, SEEING ms. they
their hands met and then their lips IN long Kiss.
And then Jenny went home, and felt very lone
ly Tears gathered In her sweet eyes as she sat
| by the window watching the stars as they paled
away, and the Frightening east as the dawn
came on
The struggling nne OF back picket fence below, that
nad faded away WIN the stars. cane hacs with ting sun
raised her head aud looked intenty. 1t en-.
With es semp sueS she sHa a sTF to ds
a. Il the rosy n1shes Of the dawn had ersoned her
the wall with her hand, casped upon her bosom then,
nyins braids and natteTlng skirt .Frsns down stairs
the fence she Uttered cry the arst She Sad sycnetSs
cry Of mother over her stricken babe. Of tlgres.
eapet the fence aud knet beside RidgeWay, with his
| fainting head upon her breast.
| " MY boy, poor, poor boy who has done this ?"
who indeed als sloihs. were covered Win Gust hi.
with the oood could not staneh. fell from cruel
"Rideeway, ny poor BOY tell me what has hap
Ridseway slowly opened his heavy, bluc.vened nds
came into MS dark eyes, smile stole over his ps as he
invssryo Eis,.did 4, Iepny dear had for
mind jenny he teeby raised her hand to his white
Jengy started TO her feet, and looked Wildly around
@ n nan & enc 9gr r, Eyer
nm u ner arms as 4 be had been child When her
sl. slse9 qP9n ne yeranda II was 70 see godaess
he hsipiess roy or man viD ncro s tns br ~
where man mad never lain befcrca goddess. at whose
before then, when she had laid her unc
% an md nt 5000 before oSe ana
that cried out that she had "kled him. that she
and zen beside her late burden Ana all that Mr. Ne
| fetched him"
| This humor Is a subtle. penetrating permeat-
ing fluid. II moves with electric speed. Is seen
here and there, at times when most unexpected
and in the most improbable places. 1t pierces
the thickest DISCUSSES, sounds invisible depths,
lights with its flashes the darkest spots, reveals
fascinations under the most forbidding forms,
affords glimpses OF beauty beneath the most re-
pusIye exteriors. 1t gives tongue to sorrows
which a dumb animal valnly tries TO express,
| furnishes words for griefs which the speaking
creature vainly strives TO conceal, and the I'M
| successful efforts OF each equally stimulate its
pathetic m GODS. II deals with incident rather
than with character, with situation rather than
| with sequence. II is in some respects antago-
nisic to the logical faculty, and the two, largely
developed, are rarely found together. when
associated, each In strong force they indicate a
great man, who, II he have also an inventive
imagination, may create great things, great
characters, great poems, great dramas. u he be
also humorist, his different moods are mani
Tested for the most part, each In a different
parsonage of his creation. That which the truly
creative genius moulds, as their principal in
gradients, into com plete, consistent, and origi-
nal works, the mere humorist uses as the fresco
painter does his colors, TO set of and adorn
often after a crotesque fashion, the dun interior
or blank walls Of some existing structure, lay
ing on light, dark, or mixed tints as his fancy
|
into a creation at It's conception at its birth ;
he nts them TO a thing In being. something
ready made to his hand, something that is un-
consciously peculiar, or that suggests humorous
peculiarties. Set IN fun play by suggestion,
his whims may take a large range, may go wide
ly from the point Of departure, may even bring
together semblance OF something newly made ;
but # analysed, new substance in the apparition
is found TO be wanting. II has well-knt articu-
lations, no bony system, no solid aesh, no mus
cular action.
That Mr.. Harte Is a humorst has been sum
ciently shown. But he Is something more than
this. That In his different moods, he some
times manifests an exquisite fancy, Is plain TO
any reader OF his works. lie has not yet demon
strated the possession OF creative power Ia any
high degree, but he has given indications that he
holds its germ, and that 1t may be developed.
| He can make a statue, so enlarginR and ideal
izing the original that his work appears TO be his
own invention. But he cannot, at any rate he
has not, composed a group, or given his statue
any obvious relation to any other. or to any