San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-02-06
THE ADVENTURE OF ADAY.

lHE Adv EN- NE VI "A DAl.
Two friends who wander by the shore
Look not upon the self same seas,
Hearing two voices in the roar,
Because of different memories.
For him whose love the sea hath drowned
1t means the music Of his wrong;
For him whose life with love is crowned
It breaks upon the beach In song.
j. D. s.
To many of us life Is not unlike the alpha
bet game of anagrams We are given few
letters, and out of them we spell what we can.
Sometimes we fail entirely, fate gives us
all consonants: or, If we have novels also,
we are stupid and do not see combinations,
and it is confusion to the end Sometimes
we get the wrong word, and find 'evil" where
we should have spelled live" Such mis-
takes give a false keynote, and our days never
come into tune as they should; but, good or
bad, life allows us to do our own spelling.
When John Elliot was Internationally
an uncle died and left him $500. In itself
$500 is not to be despised, but it Is always too
much or too little for a working basis. For
year John reflected on the question what
he should do with it, and then he decided to
go TO Europe. The matter seemed simple
CROUCH to him AS a capital for business the
legacy was meager, and it was too much to
fritter away in fractions. If he kept 1t for
rainy day, how was he to know that he
should not have the luck Of the old woman
who saved her supper for her breakfast and
died before morningi But if a man is TO live
in the world, surely he should see it, and what
is easier to do when one is four-aud-twenty,
untrammeled, and full Of good health and
spirits, and with a purse in the pocketi
So John took years holiday from his law
studies and sailed to Havre and he staid
away twelve months and sixteen days, and in
that time he saw much and had many adj
ventures. But as his fortune was small and
Europe Is large he had to make his own legs
carry him over great deal Of ground.
One day in the fall Of the year, when the
chestnuts were ripening, John was walking
along a narrow defile in the mountains Of the
Sierra Nevada. Far above him rose the
rocks, bare and stony; but his own path was
shaded by trees, and he walked over grassy
ways Quite early in the day he sat down by
brook which ran down a stony and precip-
itous bed, and let the peace and rest Of the
silence bring him dreams II he had but
known it, upon this very stone there once had
sat Moorish knight wounded in the fight in
the defile. Here his squire had unbuckled his
visor and watched the death shadow-which
is always gray-steal over his face. But Of
this John knew nothing, and he contentedly
whistled as he sat there; and if he thought of
Christian and Saracen it was only in refer
ence to Granada, to which he was going. He
thought of robbers but be was as ignorant of
them as Of Moors, and feared them as little;
and indeed in all his walking he never met
bandit. After time he arose, and to the
tune Of Annie Laurie" took up his march
again; and if there Is a better test for a
whistler than is this tune do not know it
Suddenly be heard shout from the rocks
above, and looking up he saw Spanish sailor
waving his hand.
John had gone to Europe knowing no Ian,
guage but his own, but he had picked up
few phIEses in Spanish, and SO he called back
and said he thanked the gentleman very
much. 1t was not, perhaps a very apt reply,
but John had not understood what the sailor
had said and the phrase sounded well, and
had the advantage Of being in the language
of the country. The sailor was, however,
not satisfied, and again he called, and this
time John assured him that all he, John,
owned was at the distinguished gentlemans
StINlCc Dub CNGl GiIlS NIl uOI plGefoO lIc
stranger, who then thought it wise to run
down and join John, and thus try the effect
of nearer intercourse. He was handsome
young man, a little older than John, and his
clothes were SO beautiful in color and so well
suited to show off his vigorous figure and fine
face that John wished himself an artist, so
that he might make a study Of so clean and
picturesque subject Yet it would have
been more to the purpose had he been a lin
guist, because then he could have answered
the sailor, who seemed to be in doubt about
the road. 1t would, however, have been
of no use to have understood Spanish, the
sailors command Of that language being
even more limited than Johns was. But the
sailor stammered along until John betook
himself to his own language and said he was
an American, and spoke only English. A:
this the sailor smiled seeming well pleased
but he replied in German Their Icy looked
at each other and laughed, and began to
walk on side by side. OF course they talked,
and were very polite TO each other, and
seemed amused md pleased to be together, 50
it matte"ed little that they did not under
stand each Other But this will happen
when takers speak the same language and
even if we use the best English there are
times when our nearest friends do not COM
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