Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-11-04

For many years he had held his trust with
conscious rectitude, and slight depreciation
of other forms of merit; and for as many
years had been as regularly returned to his
seat by his constituency with equally con-
scious rectitude in themselves and an equal
skepticism regarding others. Removed by
his nature beyond the reach of certain tenn
tations, and by circumstances beyond even
the knowledge Of others, his social and politi-
cal integrity was spotless. An orator and
practical debater, his refined tastes kept him
from personality, and the public recognition
of the complete unselfishness of his motives
and the magnitude Of his dogmas protected
him from scurrility. His principles had
never been appealed to by a bride; he had
rarely been approached by an emotion.
A man of polished taste in art and litera-
ture, and possessing the means to crafty it,
his luxurious home was filled with treasures
he had himself collected and further enhanced
by the stamp of his appreciation. His library
had not only the elegance of adornment that
his wealth could bring and his taste approve,
but certain refined negligence of habitual
use and the easy disorder of the artists work
shop. All this was quickly noted by a young
girl who stood on its threshold at the close of
a dull January day.
The card that had been brought to the GEN.
| ator bore the name of Carmen Dc Haro;"
and modestly in the right hand corner, in al
most microscopic script, the further descrip-
ton of herself as ARTIST" Perhaps the pic
turesqueness of the name and its historic sug-
gestion caught the scholars taste, for when
to his request, through his servant, that she
would be kind enough to state her business,
she replied as frankly that her business was
personal to himself he directed that she should
be admitted. Then intrenching himself be-
hind his library table, overlooking q bastion
of books and glacis of pamphlets and papers,
and throwing into his forehead and eyes an
expression of utter disqualification for any
thing but the business before him, he calmly
awaited the intruder.
She came, and for an instant Stood hesitat-
ingly, framing herself as picture in the door,
Mrs. Hopkinson was right-she had "no STYLE"
unless an original and half foreign quaintness
could be called so. There was desperate at
tempt visible to combine an American shawl
with the habits of a mantilla, and it was al
ways slipping from one shoulder, that was so
supple and vivacious as to betray the deficien-
cies of an education in stays. There was a
cluster of black curls around her low fore
head, fitting her so closely as to seem to be
part of the sealskin cap she wore. Once, from
the force of habit, she attempted to put her
shawl over her head and talk through the
folds gathered under her chin, but an aston
| ished look from the senator checked her.
Nevertheless he felt relieved, and, rising, mo-
toned her to chair with heartiness he
would have scarcely shown to Partisan toll
leta And when, with two or three quick,
long steps she reached his side and showed
frank, innocent but strong and determined
little face, feminine only in its flash of eye
and beauty of lip and chin curves, he put
down the pamphlet he had taken up some
what ostentatiously and gently begged to
know her business.
l think / have once before spoken of her
fair countrywomen for singing than for
speaking, which, considering that much of
our practical relations with the sex
are carried on without the aid Of
an opera score, seems mistaken no
ton of theirs-and of its sweetness,
gentle infiexion, and musical emphasis She
had the advantage of having been trained In
O musical language, and came of race with
whom catarrhs and sore threats were rare.
So that in few brief phrases she sang the
senator into acquiescence as she impaired
the plain libretto of her business-namely, q
desire to see some of his rare engravingsn
Now the engravings In question were GER
tain etchings of the early Great Apprentices
of the art and were, am happy to believe,
extremely rare From my unprofessional
view they were exceedingly bad-showing
the nero genesis of something since perfected,
but dear, Of course, to the true collectors
soul; don't believe that Carmen really adj
mired them either. But the mink knew that
the senator prided himself on having the
only pot hooks of the great a. or the first ar
tistic efforts of b. leave the real names to
be filled in by the connoisseur, and the
senator became interested For the last
year, two or three of these denominations had
been hanging in his study, utterly ignored by
the casual visitor. But here was apprecia-
toni "She was she added, "only poor
young artist, unable to purchase such treas
ures, but equally unable to resist the oppor-
tunity afforded her, even at the risk of seeming
bold, or Of obtruding upon great mans
privacy" etc, etc.
This fiattery, which, if offered in the usual
legal tender of the country, would have been
looked upon as counterfeit, delivered here in
a foreign accent, with a slightly tropical
warmth, was accepted by the senator as
genuine. These children of the sun are so
impulsivel We, of course, feel little pity
for the person who thus transcends our stand
ard of good taste and violates our conven-
tional canon--but they are always sincere.
The cold New Highlander saw nothing wrong
in one or two direct and extravagant compli-
ments, that would have insured his visitors
early dismissal if rendered in the clipped me-
tallic phrases Of the commonwealth he rep.