The Washington critic., 1890-04-21
MANAorn nA1v Ar wonsnrp.
How u Reporter Fared who Attempted
to Disturb His DevOttons.

How u RPDurter EhfeO VINO Attcmpte0 ]
to Disturb His DevOtions.
From ms Sunday Herald.
August Augustin DAILY
Yes II was he. That square. crowned,
rare old hat, those baggy trousers,
those expansive feet-above all, that
impressive pose of deep abstraction,
that mystic, eeric, awful air Of self
convicted genius-it could be none else.
Solitary as became his illustriousness
ness he stood in an attitude deotreverential
almost prayerful contemplation, re-
posing his crooked and eminent elbows
on the breast-high guard rail which
runs round behind the ultimate row of
seats on the orchestra floor OF the Ma
lional Theatre. His Jovian jaw was
firmly yet softly set; the westerly ele.
vation of his face was eloquent with
all the surface symptoms of gentle rev.
erie and two days neglect of his razor;
and from beneath his arching brows
shot siageward those beams of beauh-
ful iDc6ndescent luminosity which even
in states of partial intellectual coma
still CLEAN In the eyes OF transcendent
genius. A moment--two moments
passed, and still the great man stood
there silent. moveless, far withdrawn
into the innermost penetralia Of his own
sublimely concentrated consciousness.
Then change came DER the contour
of his countenance. The set of his
Jovisn jaw almost imperceptibly soft
ened, his classic chin dropped down
sixteenth of an inch nearer his neglige
necktie, and faint wave of mild emo
tion undulated backward among the
roots of the two days stubble on his
cheek and broke against the outer reef
let's of bis ear. AS ii passed, this wave
of emotion swept before 1t all the rough
sand ridges of expression and left be.
hind only the subdued serenity of wor-
ship and of prayer. Mr.. DAILY was
deeply moved. The contemplation of
the splendor of his own work, the con
erection of his own genius in the abso-
lutte artistic perfection of the perform
ance then going forward on the stage
had overcome him as he gaZed, and he
| worshipped humbly at his own shrine.
| II was a beautiful and touching sight,
and the Sunday Herald reporter who
| saw IL felt that life was indeed worth
| living; that whether he drew an approx
| imation prize this month or nothe had
| not lived in vain.
But as the reporter gazed he was
| filed with nameless terror lie had
come to interview Mr.. DAILY, and his
sensitive soul recoiled in panic from
the thought of breaking in upon those
impromp'u religious exercises which
he was Witnessing at respectful dis
tannp Hnyu pntrl1 ha 10
draw nearer that august Augustin
| layan heights of worship or haul up
from its abysmal abysses of contempla.
| ton that transcendent spirit? The re-
porter had talked familiarly with Sena-
tors, judges, statesmen, great and small
| he had shaken hands with General
| Grant; he had travelled in the same
Pullman car with Russell Harrison; he
had mingled cigarette smoke with
| Charlie HOyt, and he had drunk over
| the same bar with The author Of
Listen 10 My Tale of Woe" butuever
| before had he felt that sense of gone
ness aboutt the regions of the diaphragm,
thai utter collapse Of courage which
now assailed him. But he remembered
the stern mandate of his editor, and he
resolved at least to attempt the dis
charge of his duty, even If he per-
ished.
Respectfully he approached and in
soft, tlattering accents whispered in the
nigh ear of Mr.. Daily the object Of his
mission. The great head slowly
turned; the luminous eyes gazed with
mild reproach into the reporters; then
the great head turned away again
! Once more the reporter broke the
awful silence. The great head slowly
shook, and from the depths of some
enchanted cave these sounds welled up:
"Ah, no, it cannot be. You know
not what you ask. have never, at
home, or abroad, consented to talk to
an interviewer. In my wisdom have
not deemed it best"
| Then with sound like the noise of
Waterbury watch that has bust its
handspring, the reporter could hear Mr..
DAILY withdraw into himself, and there
after silence fell about him like q
mountain dew, so thick and chill that
the reporter hastily took two five-grain
quinine capsules TO ward Off cold. He
essayed to speak again in the dulcet
! accents of persuasion, but he saw that
Mr.. DAILY was so lost in contemplation
Of the glories of his own handiwork
upon the stage that 1t would be an
easier task to find Silcott than to find
| him