The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-03-27
HIS ONE GLORIOUS NIGHT

lures, except at prices which nobody
would pay, and compelled him to make
etchings and sketches in the small hours
of the night to keep soul and body to-
gether. Such severe application and the
slcep!essness which it induced had de-
prived Mr.. Block of his capillary adorn-
ments. No lotions or magical compounds
would restore to him the crown of beauty
which he had lost. This was a severe
trial to Mr.. Block, not because he was
vain, but because he was engaged. He
had been engaged to Miss Apollonia
Schwinger for nearly twenty years, and
what is still more remarkable, Apollonia
had been engaged to him for nearly twice
that period. For she ~devoutedly believed
that she had been expressly made for Mr..
Block, and that Mr.. Block, from the
shining hour of his birth, had been ex-
pressly destined for her. Mr.. Block de-
clared himself in perfect accord with this
arrangement, although at times, when
he saw how gray Apollonia was getting,
he had doubts. But he was a loyal man,
Mr.. Block was, and moreover he
had cotton so accustomed to being
engaged to Apollonia that he could not
imagine how he should feel if he were
not. Beside, Apollonia had her points;
she had been decidedly handsome in
her day, and at home in Switzerland
she had been considered quite a catch.
After the death Of both her parents she
had come to Rome, and after a few mod
est exploits in art had opened a board
ing-house. 1t was generally understood
that an Italian prince had proposed to
her, but then there are few tlourishing
clearinghouse keepers in Rome who
have not had the chance of becoming
princesses; that is, of course. on condi-
ton of boarding the prince free. APP
ollonia could not afford to do this. and
therefore she declined. Her first consid-
Grafton, however, was her tenderness for
Mr.. Block, from whose genius she ex-
pected a greater distinction han that of
worldly rank.
1t will be observed that Apollon;a was
a trife romantic. Art was to her a
sacred thing, in the presence of which
she would have taken off her hat, if her
hat had been detachable. When she
visited Mr.. Blocks studio, rs she often
did, in the company of Il chapcron, she
walked on tiptoe and talked in whispers.
She believed firmly that the world would
some day recognize Mr.. Blocks great
ness, and then she would be rewarded
for her long and weary waiting. In the
meanwhile she could only pity the world
for its purblind stupidity in not
recognizing Mr.. Block. Only think
of the splendid gallery Mr.. Block
had collected of his own works-gam-
bling peasants, shepherds from the Cam
pagna playing mora, etc.-think of all
these radiant works of genius, which
might be had for the paltry sum of fifty
or sixty thousand dollars OF course
Mr.. Block was perfectly right in refusing
to sell such gems for five hundred or a
thousand francs. She would rather wait
until the moment of recognition came,
when he would be able, perhaps, to sell
them all together, to his native city of
Berne, to be preserved forever in a sepa-
rate building, to be called the Block
museum. Apollonia wept for very Joy
when she thought of distant generations
deriving inspiration and enjoyment from
this museum, and blessing her name be-
cause she had upheld and strengthened
Mr.. Block in his defiance of the worlds
miserable disregard.
am very sure that the reader will now
expect me to tell him that Mr.. Block was
a poor artist. No, my dear sir; there
you are wide of the mark. Mr.. Block
was, on the whole, more than a
fair artist. He was not a great
and shining light, perhaps; but he
was far from being a ch~arlatan.
He was a little old bachelor, who with
conscientious and painstaking industry
and respectable talent had devoted his
life TO art. If, however, you had ex-
pressed such an estimate of him in his
bearing, he would promptly have
knocked you down. He might be too
poor to get his dinner, but he was never
poor enough to pocket a profitable snub,
or 10 descend from the lofty pedestal on
his artistic dignity. lie never let Apol-
lonia know that he sometimes suffered
want; and he never condescended to
visit her in time for dinner. Moreover,
in the matter of dress he was extremely
particular; when he pawncd his waist
coat, he only brushed his coat the more
carefully, buttoned it close, and allowed
a fragmentary tie of a bright silk hand
kerchief to protrude slightly from the
outer breast pocket. as fashion prescribed.
He had bought this many-colored hand
kerchlef twelve years ago, and had cut
it up into as many tips as its size
would allow, using only one at a time,
managing by an artful division of the
pattern to give to each tip the
effect of a different handkerchief. In
spite of all these precautions, however,
the m gradually spread in the arts
tic colony that Block was miserably poor.
Some discreetly offered to help him, end
were told, with polite circumlocutions,
to mind their own business. Others,
who had perhaps seen MIN make a din.
ner OF a dish Of broccoli and a slice oil
dry bread, tried in all sorts of under,
hand ways TO make him their beneficiary
but his sensitive pride always detected
disguised charities, and promptly re
PEELED them. In fact, he suffered SC
keenly from these we'll meant attempts
to succor him that his friends would
have done better if they had permitted
d m to slarve IN peace and self-respect
Apoilonia. as | have intimated. ha(
no idea that Mr., Block was having
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