The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1883-12-01
An Ideal.

Harriet Prescott Spofford in The Continent.l
Age comes to some people only like the
wider opening OF tho rose, the gentle droop-
ing of the creamy outer petal, and ono must
needs think of this In looking at Mrs Fer
nalde. 81 have had my threescore and ten"
she used to say. az have had all that nature
has to give, and now / am living on grace"
II was a sunny spirit that informed her, a
lightsomeneSs that never let the substance of
a teal penetrate beneath the surface that
could endure nothing but happiness. Her
unfailing good nature was like a fairy wind
that smoothed every trouble out of her way
and out OF the way OF every one about her.
II her hair was white, no great sorrow had
made 1t 80: and its contrast with the soft
brillIancy OF tho black eye and the velvet
flush of a cheek unwritten by many lines,
made her perhaps as lovely as one standing
In all the full radiance OF youth. As for Mr..
Fernalds-tall, dark, spare-he was by no
means u~nattractive, and his courtly manners
had n unique elegance. He loved his ease;
and annoyapces, when they CHANGED to break
through the magic circle his wife drew about
him, ve1ed him, as they usually do a nervous
person. For the rest, he was one OF those
men who, having led a singularly fortunate
life, maintain to themselves a fancy that
they have Just missed the last stroke to make
the crystal complete, who have a vanishing
ideal always Just beyond the sight and
reach.
The Fernaldes were ~neighbors OF ours.
Wealth required no exertion of them, and
advancing age secluded them in some
measure from general society; their home
was always cheerful; they were always In 1t;
and II there had been no such person as
grabbed old Ms. Talliafero. who had spent
the last six month with them, 1t would have
k-ou hard 80 aoo hAxy 10 a ttoaIf a.onId ha
much improvement on 1t. However, she was
going at once, and then where would be the
crumple in the rose-leafl
They loved young people. The new
generation lends us a part of its freshness,
they used to say. They always welcomed
any of us, and indeed made me 80 p%articu-
larry conscious OF thoir fiattering favor that
l spent a good portion Of my time with
| them, threaded the sweet little lady's needles,
read and wrote more or less for Mr..
Fernalde, and was gradually taken into
their confidence In a way l did not desire,
sir-a ! am about to violate 1t
Gould / imagine a happier old age than
this. my child, with my wife, my health, my
flowers, our birds and pets and friendsf' he
said once, repeating my question. why,
yes, my dear, IL was much happier before my
wife brought Mrs. Talliafero to stay with
us. Some old schoolmate or girl friend Of
hers, / don't quite know whom, for the fact
is she nettled me SO the first day she came
that | wouldn't ask Rosalle a word about
her, for fear / should show my displeasure
at her having brought her home when she
turned up. II Is astounding how an ~invisibly
small thorn will destroy your equanimity.
And then this woman has a quality that
would turn honey into vinegar, l do believe.
She has changed our quiet, peaceful, sun
| shiny life, that seemed like one long day in
June, into a sharp, raw day in November.
There Is something very rasping about her.
] don't see why my wife invited her to spend
such a season with US for. / wonder II she
thought that at the end of the time / should
press for a continuance My dear, I have
counted the days-it sound sadly against
all hospitable rites-I have counted the
| days till l should soc her consult a railway
Timetable, Ms she did yesterday, about going
home to-day. l believe she Is not in afiuent
circumstances now. | would be glad to
meet the expense of boarding her awayi l
am speaking strongly. Yes, Rosalie," look
ing at his laughing wife, ~ know You say
too strongly. But IL Is argument, assertion,
contradiction, differing, pickering, finding
fault with the servants who have suited us
half a lifetime, questioning the expenditure,
disordering the arrangements from one day
| to the next Think OF 1t, when she comes
Il mt III SNbAI hhu t1AhAt Nhoh III "AAo
has the patience Of the play to endure such Il
den OF disorder in her house. She wonders
that l do not wear n scratch. She warns me
Of indigestions, she threatens me with night
mares, she reminds me of my age, sho inter
feres with my pipel And then she wants so
much fresh Rirl Thank heaveni her time is
up to-day, and my wife will not invite
another guest for a half year with
out giving me time to arrange a residence
slsewherel And such a voice, tool When one
hears IL, one longs for tho proper intirmities
Of age that dull the hearing-sharp as u file,
piercing as a locust's whirri What are you
laughing at, RosalieTr
"Ah, you are not quite just. my love" said
the sweet little lady. "Mrs. Talliatero has a
fine mind. She is really waking Us up. She
\ prevents our sinking down into n jelly-liku
existence, rs so many at our age do. She
keeps us bubbling."
There. there, there, my dearl Don't say
another word about your Mrs. Talliaferol Go
and spend a season with her at Saratoga, II
| you ever want to zee her any more, III 60
TO Richteld. Bubblel She'd make sulphuric
acid bubble out of the sands OF the desert
I've no doubt she worried Talliafero, poor
man, into the gravel But there, I've said too
much" he added directly. ~ beg your par
don, my sweet, II l hurt your feelings about
an old friend, but really Now. Rosalie,
my love, II you don't care To go over
these accounts, our young friend will.
And then Mn. Fernalde tripped OIL
with as light a foot as n girl of II,
md l drew up the great fo~lding-scr-en
around our chairs, stirred the fire a little,
and took pencil and paper to add up the
figures Mr.. Fernalde was to read out to me.
But Mr., Fernalde was In a brown study for
a little, qnd l let him stay.
at was strange you should have asked me
that question, child, y he said at length. 81
used, at your time of life, to imagine a very
different old ago from this, IL 1 may 50 call
that Imagination, for, in fact, old age never
entered into my calculations 1 imagined
nothing about the passage OF time, only OF
the continuance of q. condition. And that
condition was the perpetual paradise OF
Aliciais smiles"
'Rosalie. you mean,h said 1.
81 beg your pardon" said Mr.. Ferualde
shortly. II mean Alicia"
"AliciafH
alicia, who, when l was twenty, was the
light Of my eyes and the loadstar OF my life. y
81 don't know what you mean, sir"
o course you don't, OF course you don't.
Eve half the mind to tell you, though. It.
a long time goa long time-and no harm
said Mr.. Fernalde presently again. 'Tm
not quite 81. One Is certainly a fool al
20. l was, at any rate, but I didn't
know Il, and 1 walked in a fools paradise
And to be a fool and not know i'll Is there
on the whole, any farther paradisei Pretty
pretty as a peachin he began again, after an