Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-08-05
LOVE AND LEARNING.
STORY WITH A MORAL CONCEALED ON
f. THE PREMISES.
[Longman's Magazine.
EPISODE III.-sHE LOVES HIM.

the table beside beside him.
81 wonder what is in those bottles" he
thought.
4 By an effort he reached one and conveyed
/ it to his nose.
sit smells like-I don't know what kind
of drug. Oh. should like to know so
lmuchl' Ss4
4 In short lime the physician came. He
smiled when he saw that his patient was
CONSCIOUS.
''Have been ill long?'' inquired Cottle.
eyes, but you're going to be we'll soon."
''Doctor, what is in that bottle?"
Nitrate of silver"
''Is that compound chemical?''
eyes, but you must not ask any ques-
tlons now; you must rest.
''Only one more; who is the authority on
chemistry here?"
"Profe sor Nitrogenes Pennyweight, of
the High School,
Cottle lapsed into thoughtful silence
Day by day he improved, and was soon con-
valescent. His landlady was kindness it.
self, and he owed his speedy advancement
to her attentions. One day when he was
sitting by the window she entered the room
and said:
''Mr. Cottle, you must be lonely. Shall
I read something to you?"
eyes, it you like" he answered, smil-
ing.
She went to his bookshelf and took down
a volume. Then seating herself on the side
of the bed she began to read:
"There lived singer in France of old,
| By the tideless, dOlOrOus, midland STA;
| In a land of sand and ruin and gold
There shone one woman, and none but she''-
'Stop! !stopr,exclaimed Swinburne; what
on earth are you reading?"
sThat's poetry"
'sIt's rubbish he said, emphatically-
"Put away that book; don't want to hear
any more such nonsense as that"
"Why, Mr.. Cottle," calculated the good
woman, '.you love poetry. You're poet
yourself. Here's some of your own poet
ry."
And seizing another volume, she read as
follows:
"Oh. take me to thy crystal breast,
| And bear me hence myriad miles.
Till this year dieth in the west,
And next year in the Orient smiles
"Who wrote that stuff" he asked.
'You did, SIR"
''Oh, nonsense! I never knew any one
with "a crystal breast"
''Why, it means the ocean,"
sEPshaw! The ocean is water, not crys-
tai; and it hasn' t any breast at all If there's
any more such stuff there, l want you to
take it down to the kitchen, apply light
ed match to it, and convert it into oxide of
poetry"
ssYou mean to burn it?'' gasped the land
lady.
81 do,' was the reply.
In utter astonishment the good woman
gathered together his once-loved volumes
of poetry and bore them away. The brain
fever had done its fatal work. Poetry was
dead in Alfred Swinburne Cottle, and in it's
: stead there was a great hunger and thirst
after chemistry. Day by day the appetite
grew upon him. He watched the simplest
chemical processes of nature with intense
interest, and yearned to understand them.
He cared naught for poetry. He hated the
very sound of rhyme. His first move
ment, when he was able to leave the house,
was to 60 straight to Professor Nitrogenes
Pennyweight.
"sir," said he, 81 am oxidizing with a
desire to know chemistry. 1 have an affin-
ity for it. l am not boy, but know how
to be student. Will you accept me as a
pupil?"
"Will I?' was the reply; ''should SO no.
BILE an ambition as yours remain unsatisfied?
No; from this moment consider yourself my
special care"
And so Alfred Swinburne Cottle, once a
poet and dreamer, was plunged headlong
into seething vortex of NCI and co. For
year he was hardly ever heard of in Noe
sis. Few persons saw him as he rapidly
passed between his lodgings and Professor
Pennyweights private laboratory, with pale
face, unkempt hair, and stained hands
Several times he met Hypatia, but he bow.
ed and passed on, and she, perceiving his
strange appearance and demeanor. shook
her head and marvelled greatly as to what
| ho1 coroo ouar him, Raiaota1 vOuy. o man
in Noesis never acted strangely; they al
ways acted reasonably; and if one could not
get the girl who was his first choice, he
tried to get her who was his secand. AS for
Cottle, he looked upon Hypatia with utter
Indifference. iie could not even realize that
he had once felt a sentiment toward her
More than that, so great was the change In
him, he could not remember what senti-
ment was. Love was to him myth, and
Hypatia simplya woman. People told him
that she was the greatest cook of her age.
He was glad to hear it. He, too, intended
to do something which should make him
great, but it would be. chemical great
ness.
At the end of his year of hard study he
was perfect master of the science of chem
istry. Nothing appeared too difficult for
him to master at glance. Professor Pen
nyweight declared that such powers of ac-
QUESTION had never been seen before. He
vowed that Alfred Swlnburne Cottle now
knew more about chemistry than any mar
in Noesis. Upon the heels of this remark
able statement followed the announcement
that he had discovered a method of making
a beautiful emerald coloring for wallpaper
out of the chlorophyl of plants, thus doing
away with the dangerous colOrs manufact
ured on metallic base. The discovery was
| 1a6 -, haao 41oN
that green was healthful color for the
eyes to rest upon, and had been deferred
from using wallpaper of that tint only by
the knowledge that poisonous particles ex-
listed in it. Cottle sprang into fame at a
single bound. By the advice of Professor
Pennyweight he announced that he would
lecture in the Town Hall on the uses of the
coloring matter of plants. An immense au-
dience greeted him His lecture was list
ened to with breathless interest, and his
experiments were applauded. He drew
, mathematical diagrams on tho blackboard
to please the faculty of the High School,
and he produced beautiful green light
from chlorophane to amuse the children.
Hypatia was there, of course. In the
midst of his discourse a great idea came to
her. This man had once asked her to be
his wife. and she had refused. But how he
had changed! Was it too late now? She
/ would make the attempt. She felt that
they would be mated now for he was wor-
thy Of the hand of the best woman in Noe
sis. After the lecture she persuaded her
aunt and uncle, with whom she lived, to
wait for the lecturer. She met him as he
left the building and addressed him:
care you in a great hurry, Mr.. Cottle?''
'tNot very great, Miss Green"
"Will you walk home with us and drink
cup of my best tea?"
"Your tea, l believe, is made on purely
scientific principles, is it not?"
''Oh, certainly
"rhen I will partake of it.'
Alfred Swinburne Cottle had fallen into
the trap; from that day forward he was
haunted by Hypatia Green. Did he go to
lecture in the hall, she was wait ng for him
when he was through; if he detected the
presence of ozone in the atmosphere and
went forth to inhale it, she was by his side.