Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-02-07

~
~ shall drink thst champagne no mora
"In heaven, uncle, I" Mrs Cronan suggested,
piously, ''there is finer champagne
The old man shook his bead doubtfully, "a
il he thought that could not be.
And i,early every night uncle, wasn't itFT
"Nearly every night Maria Always in
evening dress and wearing the magnificent
jewels Of the order Always the mysterious
ceremonies Of the lodge, and the benque;
after the work was dona The banquet-ahr' r.
again he groaned, with the champagne
Nearly every day Of my life, for more thar
thirty years-except Sunday-the banque;
and the champagne In summer the country
lodges; in winter London What q life,
Mariai What . careerl And now it il
over"
Uncle yossph, In fact, had been for some
thing like thirty yesrs the secretary Of q
very exalted institution in Masonry, much
grander than grand lodge In this capacity
for which he was fitted by a very extraordi-
nary memory and as great a genius for cere-
he was constantly occupied in visiting
iodges and conducting the mysterious func-
tions Of the higher degrees, those Of which
the humble wearer of the blue apron have
no knowledge, and tine outer world no ap-
probation He spent, as be prou ily told his
niece, nearly every night Of his life in this
work, and as the. function in every right
minded lodge is always followed by ban
qust, there was certainly no other man in
the whole world, outside of royal circles,
who had consumed such an enormous
quantity of champagne and was possessed Of
o finer palate But TO all things there
cometh an end The secretary grew old.
he begin 10 find travelling " ar;some; his
memory began to fail hint was whispered
that be had once impaired the secrets of 4
higher instead OF lower degree by mistake,
q truly dreadful thing to do, and believed to
have caused the earthquake in Java; things
began to be said about slipshod conduct Of
the work; and finally, the council resolved
that the time was come when he must resign.
They gave him. however, pension Of flo0
wear, which he brought to the Cronan
household where be came to lodge and 70
grumble.
His champagne was cut off-it was gone
for good He would never again-alasi-
taste of that divine drink. No wonder that
the old man wept heavily and was always
discontented For he craved continually af
ter champagne He found some consolation
in putting on his dress clothes every night,
and in talking over the once splendid past he
had sympathetic listener In his niece, and
he found gin and water substitute for
champagne Il Is true, but bet
ter than nothing
s.It has been brilliant career, Maria" he
said. Few men-it has often been said In
nobler banquets ] doubt il any man ex-
cept prince, and he must be prince Of
seventy at least. has drunk more champagne
than your poor uncle Yet such life has
its drawbacks; you can't save money by eat
ing and drinking; the more brilliant 1t Is, the
more champagne You drink; the less chance
you've'got Of saving. You can't save cham
payne, and now, you see, nothing but the
memory rmaina"
"indeed. Uncle Joseph, we are all proud Of
you"
"And now I'm come down to q pension
Of hundred year and to 'gin-and-water
Give me another glass, Maria Ginand-
waterp
4You must think Of the banquets, uncle.
and the great company you kept, uncle'
1.-The highest In the land he replied. sol
emnly. II have initiated and raised to the
most sublime degrees royal princes and the
noblest Of the nobility. young and old As
for dukes marques eark and barons they
have been ui.der my haniis, meek and obedi-
ent, by the hundred I've lost count of
baronets. and knights value not at all
Yes, Maria, 1t gives q man some satisfaction
in his old age to feel he's done SO much good
and bean so greatly honored No doubt such
a life bestows an air of distinction lput it
on with my evening dress. The jewels are
up stairs Il would not he proper TO adorn
my breast with those splendid regalis out
side lodge. l can leave my jewels to
your children, Maria. but not the air Of dis
tinction. Tha: can't be left to anybody"
at cannot, Uncle Joseph, no more than a
smile"
"I've often thought, Maria" the old man
continued, '''thst should have liked one Of
your boys to take up the same line But Of
course Il Is too much to expect of them. II
is gift Such q man as myself can't be
made He is born. as they say Of poet
Either q young man has the genius or he has
not. Lordi most masters, whether In the
chair or past it, have got no more real
knowledge Of the ritual whatever the de-
gree, than they have of the Roman mass"
''Of course don't know what 1t is, said
Mrs Cronan; but I've always under
stood
you can't understand, Maria No wo-
man can. It's beyond their intellects to
understand such sublimity and such nitric
acy. More than a dozen different rituals
think Of thatl Every one complete and diff
ferent, and all to be worked exact and word
for word All those rituals at my fingers
ends, without flaw or hitch, and me the man
deputed to work them for instruction, for
raising and advancing; and separate dress
for each, with its own jewelsl The aprons
and the scarfs are up stairs, with the jewelz
But the rituals-they mustn't be written, and
there's no one anywhere who knows them
like me- They've got young man In my
place. / trained him But a. for comparing
him with Newell, pity the young mani
They will make comparisons, and"
"Oh, good Lordr
Thin unseemiy interruption was due 10 the