The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1890-01-24

strong sympathy with all my
thoughts and opinions, and | an
convinced that as | understand
you, SO will he.
III.
Mr.. Benoni looked at me earn
esily, and then bowed his head
meditatlvely. Looking suddenly
up again and to a lily which rose
maJesIically yet gracefully above
a bed of flowers, he said: "That
lily brings wildly before me a
form Of grace and a face of beauty
the form and face of my dead
wife. | hold the doctor dear above
all other men, because he knew
her and remembers her beauty. l
love nature, because IN all that is
beautiful in nature | can see her.
Hence | love solitude, because IN
solitude | can best commune with
what is most beautiful in nature.
mo one who never knew my
wife can appreciate the shadow
which her death has cast over my
life, or form an idea of The grief
and despair which since then has
entered my heart. We had known
each other since childhood, for we
had grown up together. Our par
enls' houses were adjoining We
romped together with the children
of the neighborhOod. In those
childhood games | assumed a kind
of protectorate over her, and those
disputes in which children's sports
mol infrequentIy end l took care
that she was never wIonged. | re-
especially one occasion
when | was her champion. As a
child, already Alice had pr5fu-
sion Of black hair In the days
when we played those romping
games it was bound by a single
ribbon, from which il fell over her
shoulders and back. When she
ran her motions were grace itself.
Her cheeks glowed with excite.
ment, and her hair streamed in the
breeze. One day a boy who was
running after her in one of our
games, III eagerness to catch her,
Instead of waiting till he gained on
her sufficiently to grasp her arm,
caught her streaming hair. The
heck was so sudden and so rude
hat she fell with a sharp cry of
pain. What followed cannot tell |
If my own knowledge. lockers
IN told me that threw myself |
ipOn the boy, and that a short but |
evere fight ensued-short because |
ny blood was up-and | soon fell |
ID him. That incident drew Alice
md myself closer 10 one another,
md our friendship soon became
,roverbial ameng our companions.
And so our childhood passed, and
he entered upon lovely maiden
loOd and | upon youth. The prom
Sc of her beauty as a child was
nore than fulfilled the loveliness
# her face harmonized with the
grace Of her. form. In
Ter childhood | had been her pro
ectOr, but now 1t seemed as
hnugh relied more upon her than
he upon me; for ! laid all my
Iopes and ambitions before her,
nd sought guidance of her. She
you'd listen to me with tender in
crest and advise me gently yet
rmly.
"Soon another bond of sympathy
prang up between us. We had in
ommon a love for beautiful music.
he parents of both of US were
lu>ical, and as children, already
ie had received lessons on the
iano. But IN those days we were
lore interested i'm our childish
ames. As we grew older howev-
+, and more serious, and our emo
ions deeper, music gained a strong
old upon us. Not only did we
ear The compositions OF the great
masters performed at concerts but
re played arrangements of them
S duets on the piano. Thus we
rev more and more familiar with
hem until We knew them note by
ole. When we could play them
echnically correctly, we tried to
eDetrate into their deeper mean
~. 1t was then / began TO dis
over the poetry of Alice's nature.
which would have re-
lained hidden from me she discoY-
red, and for the Interpretation of
very composition she had numer-
us poetic suggestions. And so
e often reveled in a wealth of I,
sound. Yet we we're
ute unconscious of the bond OF
which united US, until !
lere came a time when we thought +,
e should be obliged TO part-for I,
le first time since early childhood.
.lice's parents had decided 10 take !
er 10 Europe to complete her ed
Gallon. / remember as II it we're
ul Yesterday, the afternoon when ;
he told me OF our approaching :
sparatiOn. She spoke Of Il with
lournful tenderness. l could say /,
othing. But | had a language
etler than speech in which 70 ex-
ress the emotions which welled [
D as she spoke. There IS an i'm I
romptu by Schubert, which has 8
zen aptiv entitled the 'Elecy.' IL 9
a mournful melody, floating over ]
softly flowing accompaniment !
ke The voice Of a lonely spirit {
yer the water. Gently | drew