Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-08-06
old AT NIaHTFALL.

OLD Al NtAh1fALL
II vas stormy September evening
Gry J4ueharJ and my respected self
Charles livingstone, painter-were
sitting ID the studio window OF his de-
HaHru' Little villa, at FraScati, near
E... .--l over the rounded tops OF
wa..s boss rid in the red setting sun.
Beneath "a .eaGen sky the gloomy Cam
urra stretched ike a dead sea, and
w..a lis far rim cut the disc, porten-
.uls b.0Od-red tall, slowly, slowly sink
mg.
Guy and l had been old friends and
scheo.-iellUws IN England. He was two
OF three years older than myself, but
that had made his friendship for me all
tie ieEieUer. and mine for him rever-
entail Besides, l had looked on Guy
as kind of genial young saint. had
ALWAYS felt rather wicked IN his CON-
u8uy, because he really seemed, quite
naturally. never TO do anything wrong,
Ur 10 have So much as a wrong thought.
BE would have chosen art as his pro-
ies,OI. I knew, had he been allowed a
voice IN the arrangement of his own
future but the bilious old father who
ruled his destiny made a civil engineer
ol L.iG, without the slightest reference
10 any possible fancy or protest of the
l4ds. Naturally, he did not take kindly
10 h., work though he buskled to it
crrs.itu,i5gsly.
When / came TO Italy to study art,
Gly aui l Kept up pretty brisk cor
rrsplGdeuce for about a twelvemOnth.
Ert in NY second Italian summer his
letters suddenly ceased to arrive. !
wrote 10 ham in vain hope of answer
igI SIX months, and then let the CORE
s,nllcuce 20 with sigh.
l,asily aScertained that he was alive
and well, but could find out nothing
else about HIM that was more reliable,
than the gossip retailed out by certain
Eag.ish military men, who had tapped
II-.r lazy tlight across the sea one win
teT, and peIched in Rome. 'GOt into
a sCrape about woman, and didn't
behave well 10 her, or something of the
s0Tt, dTaTled out one of these amiabl,
gentlemen. And this was all | cculd
discover about poor Urquehart.
Blgat last l heard from Guy himself
Tree more. Lo ! lie had inherited a
sl- fortune from distant relation
lie lad thrown civil engineering over
board he was coming to Rome forth
VIII 10 study art in earnest at last and
Ws must spend the ensuing summer III
h.rggiaJuTa together, eating fgS al
Ilse-Igm. At the time my story be-
gins, Die had been about six weeks lii
Rome, and had already painted one oI
Two capital little pictures.
NJ village in the world drives such a
Uarug tTdde in scandal 9s grand old
Rome. You have seen how UTquehart' :,
i Character went before him, as Sir Peter
Tezle's stayed behind, for the comfort
Of the community, and what mercy
NET with. Now. when circumstances
| ele served up IN this mixed WAY, there
alt generally certain facts which one
may trace like pebbles through disturb
ing waves. L felt convinced that ]
should do 50 in Urquehart'S case, If even
It pleased min to give me las conf
tence.
But | could not try to thrust myself
into any chamber of his past not freely
opened to me. could not help gIesS-
ing that there was a shut and locked
GO0T, behind which lurked the solution
Of mystery. This mystery was the
5Teat and grievous change in my friend,
not to be accounted for by the mere
i lapse of two or three years. And this
Change was all the more remarkable
that 1t was not always obvious. No two
men could be more unlike than Urque-
hart to Urquehart In different moods.
II q f.. - r,aVaah nxrii haI
lowed lRtO his heart by some rent where
much good had run out, but that the
poison had never mixed with the healthy
Iuca of his life.
Vi this September evening, as We sat
together, Guy had been muttering some
very tad sentiments, which would have
gIleved me more if | had not attributed
Jlem IN Fart to some unripe peaches and
tne state of his stomach.
Guy" sad | suddenly, "I've found
Key to much that makes people gasp
AID stare at yOU.''
WHAT do you mean ?n returned he
rather roughly.
Most persOns,"I 1 went on, "are
Aaii-angel, half-devil, they say. But
your angel and devil seem to share their
-'ds.ng on the most curious terms OF
mutual forbearance. They seem TO
lahe You turn and turn about, in
watches. as it were. Your angel never
tofments Your devil, or interferes with
LIS Node Of enjoying himself, his Wal
EuIs nights with his man; and your
te'I with equal polireness, never III
uuuts himself on the angellcal prayel
meellnss. They could not possibly
Souie N contac without disturbing the
harmony of the system; but they seem
~ agree to differ, like certain polite
~GIfied couples"
Cfquehart took his pipe from his
oU.'l' and blew out a long smoke
"io''h. Then he leaned head and
Sloui0erS opt of the window, and stared
Ia IN away at the sun, now like a clot OF
o-GOu on the lIvid horizon, till even that
Sf,illSGn speck was absorbed. Then he
ol9hJ himself back to his former
} rosl'loh s IN corner of the rlcketty old
spake.
r ou hooked a fine fat fish there. my
i;o lung Trend, with your moral critical
na.a. @ our sagacity really deserves
Co. roSsiilg Ior having snapped up such a
eon eeyou mead of game. Still, you don't
sbo,S 1io% now the devil got into me how
i your He bad hardly set claw
a., ;'af lrlend when Wa were boys to
r. f,I' and | rather the better boy oi
GU may well say that, old fellowl