The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-06-14

4 GEOM Ill
Alabama" said be, was a Growth. The seed
was au Old gateway saw some Six years ago
near Taiiadega II was an old Stone gateway
from which the gate had gone, aDd but oHe post
Of which was standing lie other post was ID
ruins, and on either side a BIT OF cTumbling wall
marked the limit Of the estate 10 which The gate
Way had once been The entrance. Both posts
and tie bis OF wall that nanked them were
beautifully covered with cTeepers. at the time
u impressed me particularly because IL was Ike
q stone mari King tie grave Of some lOfnler pride
and plenty.
THE SUGGESTIVE BALLAD.
] don't know that l thought OF The old gate
again until last January. one night while lying
Ia my room al the Lambs Club, New York
Downstairs Ned Holland was playing The piano,
and my IDEAS were largely following his tunes.
AT last he began with great iSeiiDg tie ballad
Down on The Farm" so popular al that time
ia an IN slant could see Ia the darkness OF my
room lbat old gateway which l had seen in Ala
hama. Ned stopped playing and went home;
tie clubhouse closed for the night but could
not sleep; that gateway was before me Ike
jm-ian> patients rat II vanished only when l
would light the gas but it returned the moment
the room again was dark.
BRAIN PICTURES.
I thought It nothing strange, because al periods
through my life i have always had such inStstent
visions. sometimes face, sometimes field. All
O. you have al times iune sing IA your head
Though every pastime and duty Of TWO or three
cays. II Is The same with me. except that my
visitor Is picture, not a tune, and on that night
there was The picture OF the old gateway, pre-
c~elg ~ we sci II now IN the tliTQ act Of Ia
hama" As looked at It after a while ! saw
WlHe-haired old man come through the gate
way and pause, dreamily looking OIL. A moment
later "a title girl Of 16 or II years came after
Inn aud slipped her arm through the old mars
with caresslng tenderness. Up TO this time l
lFG invented nothing, had invited nothlngs /
simply saw that picture. / lighted the gas; the
picture disappeared. IN The Dark, however, the
gateway came again. the old man walked
through u anG stood SIM; the little lady joined
him. Tie next day The picture Of the night
seemed realty To me. 4 felt had been with
TWO people who had a history. ! Telt there was
about them romance. And so fell to think
ing. BY eYeDtime ] knew them. ! knew their
Story, their poverty, the memories that made the
old man sad, tie IecollectiOns that made that
little girl dear TO him. 1 knew the hope that
gave the radiance 10 her face; ! knew her lover
] wtOle tie story as a one-act piece, but Il was
MOI complete. Each day ] as ked Ned Holland 10
drum hat tune on the piano. Ii invoked that
picture as certainly as a magician's wand calls
boiled eggs from plug hat, and every time l
gOl 20 thinking Of Il a new complication arose
aud a new charact'r joined my little group.
GROUPING TIE DRAMATIs PERSONE.
After a week OF Wakefulness aud Wretched-
ness / had my story. There were dozen people
IA il. and al nice fellows. ! told it to Mr
Palmer, and be said IL was bully or rather the
MadisOn-squ3re correlation for bully" and told
he 10 90 ahead on it. From The start my Old
man al The gate looked like Old man StOddart
and with very little e09xlng he looked exactly
AXE hlm. Tie other rs 10 my story had, In