Iuka reporter., 1893-10-19
JEau De THommERaY.

1t was in the country, near the forest
not far from the Seine. in the modest
villa where hoped to spend nv old
age, that | saw Jean de Thommeray for
the tirst time. He was scarcely twenty
two. Some pages signed with my name
had won his heart to me, and he pre-
sented himself with no other recon-
mendation than his good appearance and
his desire to know me. The sympathy
OF the young has an irresistible attrac-
ton. 1t is very sweet to be able to
Draw them when one is approaching the
autumn of life. | was the more willino
to give him welcome that | could do SO
without any effort, for he was really
charming. | see him now as he stood at
my gate, slender, noble-looking fellow.
his face shadowed with the down OF
youth; straight nose, blue ewes. fair
forehead; his hair, fine and of an ashy
blonde, waved above the temples. His
ease of manner and language, the ele-
giant simplicity that showed in his dress.
everything, reflected credit on the fire
side by which he had grown up.
1t was a clear April day: we walked
together in the woods of Meudon
Though many years divided us, we con
yersed like two friends. He had gene
rous impulses, holy illusions, ali the
happy anG ardent feelings of his age. He
believed in the good, he admired the
beautiful, he dreamed of love and glory.
Where did he come from? In what lati-
tude was he born2 What star had shone
over his cradle2 Who and what was this
Jean de Thoinmeray, who at the end of
an hours talk had spoken neither of wo
men, nor horses, nor yet of his friends
incomesp
Thanks to the condolences he gave me
without my asking, | soon found out
all about him. His father, who came of
q good old Breton family, had studied
In Paris In the days when patriotism and
liberty ranked as high as letters and arts
among the young men of modern ideas.
The Breton gentleman felt the influences
of this awakening in the flood of
thought, and, without giving up the
traditions of honor in his family, he set
sail with the current. He loved, with a
pure, delicate, romantic love, a poor,
young girl of good family, of Irish de-
scent, and married her. When his studies
ended, he went back to Brittany. The
| hereditary domain that sheltered their
tenderness was in one of the wild and
| quiet valleys of Old America. 1t con
| sisted of a farm and manor. of a castle
] which was protected by az old grove
from the winds that swept across the
:, valley from the mountains. Here Mon
sieur de Thommeray lived, like his fore
fathers, the life of country gentle
man, hunting, riding horseback, visiting
neighbors, improving his land; while
his wife ia belle Irlandaise,n as they
called her, gave herself up to domestic
affairs and governed her household with
grace and authority. Though he had
taken root in this primitive life, he was
faithful to the tastes and inclinations of
his youthful days. He never went beyond
the circle Of his remembrances, and for
him nothing beyond them seemed 70
exist. Time, which never stops, seemed
to have forgotten him ON the way. 1t
was happy family-he, his wife, and
three sons. The elder and the second
son showed no taste for study or litera-
ture, but Jean, the little one more deli
cate than his brothers, grew UP under
his mothers gentle wing with strong
sense of the beauties and harmonies Of
creation and love Of books. While his
brothers walked and rode over the farm
and led hardy and rustic life, Jean,
read, dreamed, or composed little Breton
poems that his mother proudly compared
to : Moore's Irish Melodies and that
excited the admiration of his father His
brothers, too, were proud Of his gifts and
his charming ways, and even of his weak
ness when little fellow, for that seemed
to claim their protection. But one morn.
Ing, not long before the time first met
him, Jean embraced them all and set out
for Paris, filed with the same illusions
that his father had had before him.
Two or three years passed. did NOT
know what had become of Jean. sup
posed that he must have left Paris. and
that he was living peacefully in his
fathers home. He had evidently for
gotten me. | was not surprised at that
AS for me, | thought of him from time to
time. A journey made into Brittany
revived in my heart the memory of nv
young friend, when | learned one day
that ! was only few leagues from the
Manor OF Thommeray. / arrived at
nightfall at the house loved to think OF
as the asylum Of happiness. / found
the family assembled, aud, not seeing
lean, naturally asked for him NJ. dc
Thommeray answered me briefly. .AIon
'ieur, = he said, 1--WE have only two sons
low these whom you sec. We never 7
peak OF the one we have lost