Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-01


mans, as we know, are a transcendentaI
people, and there was at last vague fas-
clnation for Vogelstein in this quick,
bright, silent girl, who could smile
and turn vocal in an instant, who
impaired a sort of originality to the
tilial character, and whose profile was
delicate as she bent it over volume
which she cut as she read, or presentedlt 1t,
In absent-minded attitudes, at the side OF
the ship, to the horizon they had left be-
hind. But he felt 1t to be pity, as re-
CARDS possible acquaintance with her,
that her parents should be heavy little
burghers, that her brother should not cor
respond to Vogelstein's conception of a
young man of the upper class, and that
her sister should be a Daisy Miller en-
her6e. Repeatedly warned by Mrs. Dan
gerheld, the young dIplOmatistw was doubly
careful as to the relations he might form
at the beginning of his sojourn in the Uni
ted States. Mrs. Dangerield reminded
him, and he had made the observation
himself in other capitals, that the first
year, and even the second, is the time
for prudence. One is ignorant of proper
lions and values; one is exposed and
thankful for attention, and one may
give ones self away to people
cumbrance. Mrs. Dangerfeld struck a
note. which resounded in VOgelstein's
imagination; she assured him that if he
didn't ''lOok OUT he would be falling in
love with some American girl with an i'm
possible family. In America, when one
fell in love with a girl, there was nothing
to be done but to marry her, and what
should he say, for instance, to finding him.
self near relation of Mr.. and Mrs. 2. w.
Day? (These were the initials inscribed
on the back of the two chairs of that
cOuple.) Vogelstein felt the peril, for he
could Immediately think Of a dozen men
he knew who had married American girls.
There appeared now to be constant dam
ger of marrying the American girl; it was
something one had to reckon with; like
the railway, the telegraph, the discovery
of dynamite. the ChassepOt rife, the So
cialistic spirit; it was one of the COM
plicatiOns of modern life. 1t would
doubtless be too much to say that
Vogelstein was afraid of falling in
love with Pandora Day; a young woman
who was not strikingly beautiful, and
with whom ne had talked, in all, but ten
minutes. But, as | say, he went so far
as to wish that the human belongings of
a girl whose independence appeared to
have no faint either of fastness, as they
said in England, or of subversive opinion,
and whose nose was so very well bred,
should not be little more distinguished.
There was something almost cOmical in
her attitude toward these belongings; she
appeared TO regard them as a care, but
not as an interest; it was as if they had
been intrusted to her honor and she had
engaged to convey them safe to a certain
point; she was detached and inadvert-
ent; then, suddenly, she remembered, re-
pented, and came back to tuck
the position of her mothers UNI
brella, to tell them something
about the run Of the ship. These little
offices were usually performed deity,
rapidly, with the minimum of words, and
when their daughter came near them,
Mr.. and Mrs. Day closed their eyes
placidly, like a PAIR of household dogs
that expect to be scratched. One MORN
ing she brought up the Captain to present
to them. She appeared to have private
and independent acquaintance with this
officer, and the introduction to her parents
had the air of a sudden inspiration. 1t
was not so much an introduction as an eX-
hibitiOn as if she were saying to him: "This
is what they look like, see how comfortable
l make them. Aren't they rather
queer little people? But they leave me
perfectly free. Oh, | can assure you of
that. Besides, you must see it for your
self" Mr.. and Mrs. Day looked up at the
Captain with very little change of coun-
tenance then looked at each other
in the same way. He saluted and
bent toward them a moment; but Pandora
shook her head; she seemed to be answer
ing for them; she made little gestures as
if she were explaining to the Captain
some of their peculiarities, as, for in
stance, that they wouldn't speak. They
closed their eyes at last, she appeared to
have a kind OF mesmeric influence ON
them, and Miss Day walked away with
the commander of the ship, who treated
her with evident consideration, bowling
very low in spite of his supreme position,
when, presently after, they sepagSS$ed.
VOgelstein could see that she was capable
of making an impression; and the moral
of our episode is that in spite of Mrs. Dan
gerfeld, in spite of the resolutions Of mis-
prudence, in spite of the meagreness of
the conversation that had passed be-
tween them, in spite of Mr.. and Mrs. Day
and the young man in the smoking room,
she had fixed his attention. 1t was the
evening after the scene with the Captain
that he Joined her, awkwardly, abruptly,
irresistibIy, on the deck, where she was
pacing to and fro alone, the evening being
mild and brilliant and the stars re-
markably fine. There were scattered
takers and smokers and couples, I'M
recognizable, that moved quickly through
the gloom. The vessel dipped with long,
regular pulsations; vague and spectral,
under the stars, with its swaying pima
cles spotted here and there with lights, it
seemed to rush through the darkness
faster than by day. VOgelstein had come
up to walk, and as the girl brushed
past HIM he distinguished Pandora's face
with Mrs. Dangerfeld he always
spoke of her as Pandora) under the
veil that seemed intended to protect it
from the sea damp. He stopped, turned,
hurried after her, threw away his cigar,
and asked her if she would do him the
honor to accept his arm. She declined his
arm, but accepted his company, and he
walked with her for an hour. They had
great deal of talk, and he remembered
afterward some of the things she said.
There was now a certainty of the ship
getting into dock the next morning but
one, and this preteXt afforded an obvious
topic. Some of Miss Days expressions
struck him as singular, but of course, as
he knew, his knowledge of English was
not nice enough to give him perfect
measure.
81 am not in a hurry to arrive; am
very happy here" she said. ''Fm afraid
l shall have such time putting my people
through"
putting them through?'
Through the Custom House. We have
made so many purchases. Well, / have
written to a friend to come down, and
perhaps he can help us. He's very we'll
acquainted with the head. Once Pm
chaIked, don't care. l feel like a kind
of blackboard by this time any way. We
found them awful in Germany"
Vogelstein wondered whether the friend
she had written to were her lover, and if
she were engaged to him, especially when
she alluded to him again as 'that gentle
man that is coming down." He asked
her about her travels, her impressions,
whether she had been long in Europe, and
what she liked best, and she told him that
they had gone abroad, she and her family,
for a little fresh experience. Though he
found her very intelligent, he suspected
she gave this as a reason because he was
a German and she had heard that Ger
mans were fond of culture. He wondered
what form of culture Mr.. and Mrs. Day
had brought back from Italy, Greece and
Palestine they had Travelled for two years
and been everywhere), especially when
their daughter said: Il wanted father
and mother to see the best things. / kept
them three hours on the Acropols-I
guess they won't forget that!" Perhaps
it was of Phidias and !. Pericles they were
thinking, Vogelstein reflected, as they
sat eliminating in their rugs. Pandora
remarked also that she wanted to show
her little sister everything while she was
young; remarkable sights made so much
more impression when the mind was
fresh; she had read something Of that sort
in Goethe, somewhere. She had wanted
to come herself when she was her sisters
age; but her father was in business