The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-03-30
eastern design opened, and TheOcrItus

eastern design opened, and Theocritus
appeared.
If the room had served to dazzle Jack,
the appearance of its master Yves even
more dazzling. The lower portion of his
frame was clad in the ordinary hablli-
ments Of man, but above the waist he
had given full play to his artistic fancy, |
and the result was indeed magnificent.
He had on velvet coat of an olive
green hue, which was gracefully adorned
with border fashioned from the tops OF
peacocks' feathers. A neck-tie OF a
tawny orange color was carelessly wound
round his neck, and held in its place by
a silver image OF the garden god-the
Lampsacene, as Theocritus was wont to
style him. On his head he wore quaint
little blue cap of Florentine style, from
under which his hair escaped in wild
confusion over his forehead down to his
eyebrows, and hung behind a consider
able way below his neck. In his right
hand he held vellum-bound volume OF
his own poems, and his left brandished
peacock-feather fan. He apologized
blandly to Jack tor keeping him
waiting.
"You see, my dear FRIEND" he said,
throwing himself sleepily back on sofa,
1--WE souls of fire, and children OF the
night, con not get up early. We must
be wandering with the moon and watch
ing the courses of the stars; we have but
little in common with the coarser light
and the coarser pleasures Of the day.
| You will see this yet"
Here Theocritus rang bell for break
fast, and Jack mentally wondered whether
he, Jack Harris, had been a child of the
night and soul of fire all along with
out knowing it. He was not left long
to ponder over the question, however;
for as soon as Theocritus had recovered
from the fatigue of ringing the bell, he
began again.
"My dear friend, I am glad to see you
here, for you should be one of us, OF us
who are the regenerators of art in these
old-world days of chill commerce"
(thoughts of the brewer and the cloth
merchant fitted across Jacks mind, but
he said nothing); Gin these days when,
as said, all is commerce and common
place, you should be one of us. All
young men should be, all who have a
soul for the nobler emotions and love
for that higher culture which alone can
confer the highest qualification to the
aesthetic senses as distinguished from the
baser and more Philistine feelings which
it is at once our duty and pride to con-
quer." ..
Here Theocritus was interrupted by
the arrival of breakfast, borne in by q
picturesque little waiting-maid who might
very we'll have played temporary Cy-
passis to the Ovid of Theocritus, and
who looked with surprise at Harris as a
very different being from the aesthetic
| youths who were in the habit OF fre-
quenting those rooms. All through
breakfast Theocritus kept up an inces-
SAINT fire of talk about poetry and paint
ing, about music and sculpture, about
love and the beautiful, and pointed out
to his bewildered guest all the glories of
the higher culture. When breakfast
was done, Theocritus produced some
slender cigarettes daintily scented with
otto of roses, offered one to Jack, and lit
one himself. Jack, who did not smoke,
but did not like to say SO, followed his
example; and while he was gasping and
swallowing the smoke, and feeling very
uncomfortable, his friend dropped int(
rocking-chair, and began to propouuo
the eternal theory of Part pour Part te
his new disciple. If any incredulous
, reader observe that it is very unlikely
that high-cultured aesthetic would un.
state his happiness and be staged to the
show with Philistine. can only re.
mind that incredulous reader that the
desire to proselytise is one of the strong.
est passions of the many that stir up ouI
quiet machinery and make the wheels
60 round too fast, and that among the
aesthetics of the year Of grace 1879 the
desire for making pupils and followers
was quite as strong as, if not stronger
than, with the schoolmen who hung upon
the lips Of Abelard and Rugged their Ar
istotles. / might also add that The
ocritus was especially addicted to thu
mania for spreading the gospel of higher
! culture, and was at the present time very
anxious indeed for new disciple to tro
, at his heels and retail his maxims, nj
i true aesthetic being complete withou
some such companion playing to him tn
, part of Hylas to Hercules.
!, ITo RE CoNTINuED