Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1885-04-18
you decided yet Two months ago

ayes, Lucy. How can you pre-
tend to misunderstood mep
ias.I must take time to think over
it,n replied Lucy, evasively.
5And this was all the answer lie
conld get from her.
$50 she departed, leaving her loy.
Rim as great doubt and anxiety
regarding her and his own future
assever; for the two, as he thought.
we're now indIssolubly connected
After she had gone, he could not
help thinking that her manner ap
peared colder and more reserved
tfan usual, and he puzzled himself
with thinking why.
| Next day brought solution OF
the difficulty in the form Of a small
nSte;ln which Lucy desired that
her engagement should be at an
ea twas mother; wish, she said
bu1 her fathers. Her love, she de.
clSred, was unalterable; but she
dare not disobey her parent; and
positively declined seeing or hear
ing from him in future.
Claude knew her father, and
could easily divine his reason for
this sudden and unexpected decis-
ion. The rising merchant would
not place his. daughters comfort
and happiness in the hands of a
poor struggling artist. His faith
er's death had lowered him in
the social scale. There was no de
nying it, and he had to look the
fact in the face. He thought he
would not have discarded Lucy on
such slight grounds; but love for
babe him to criticize her conduct
too severely, or think too hs+ssthag
of her.
In more ways than one the fu-
ture was now a blank before him;
and the world not quite so sunny
and joyous. Fora time he thought
that life was scarcely worth the
care We bestow upon it, and that
the sun of his happiness had fo::
I ever set. But, though heartlessly
Tilted, he never once thought Of dy
ing Of despair, or OF committing
suicide. In spite of all his faults,
he had a fair share of good practi-
cal common sense. At length his
innate self-esteem and hope-those
twin blessings, without which thou
sands would 60 to the wall-came
to the rescue; made him take
healthier and more manly view Of
things, and nerved him for the
real battle of life before him. With
Gods help aud his own right arm,
he saw no reason why he should
not do what others have done and
attain equal success. So, his moth
er being comfortably settled, be
determined 10 forget Lucy and love
if he could, and make Art his mis-
t.r"a. And bidding New York fare
well, though with a still heavy
heart, he sailed for Europe.
Before reaching Rome, his final
destination, Claude visited all the
great galleries and famous pictures
in the various capitals and church
es of the continent.
The eternal City was at length
reached, and there he settled
down to steady work; his magma
ton and soul fired with a praise
worthy ambition to become, like
his father, leader in the artistic
world. Throwing the unhappy
past as much as possible behind
his back he looked forward to a.
brighter future.
The heart must have a shrine,
and Claude now knelt before that
of his noble profession. And in
the end, his love cross, instead o.
breaking, was the means OF max
ing him. But for that he would
never have scared above the ranks
of mediocrity. AS it was, his latent
talent, famed by healthy compe-
tition, and aided by application
soop made him conspicuous, and
in few years waited his name tn
America as one efthe most prom
Using artists in Rome, thereby
bringing him valuable commissions
and ultimately pressing invita-
ton to settle in his native country.
and make his birth place his home.
This lie finally accepted.
! In New York his success was
/ great. Work and wealth poured
in on him. His society was courted
his opinion valued, his advice much
sought after and his position ap-
pearently an enviable one. Bnt al
this time he hadn't forgotten Lucy.
He had tried to Danish her image
from his heart, but found it impos-
sihIe, He could not bring himself
to believe that she was to u,a".,.
for discarding him. And now that
misfortune had oyeItaken her, he
felt more drawn to her than ever,
and longed to discover her where
about, and cheer or aid her if nee
essary; for her father, after suffering
a crushing reverse in business, which
ruined him, had died, leaving his
daughter in poverty. She had since
then left the city, and no one that
he knew could inform him whittier
she had gone.
One day we'll known publisher
consulted him regarding illustra--
tons for volume of poems, and
left the manuscript for perusal.
"What do you think of 'Musins.