The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1893-03-25
H WITCH Maiden.
| had never loved.

"petticoat interest" as Kenelm Chillina
ly so facetionsly dubs that sneaking re
gard for feminine charms. | took a prid
in my defensive attitude and plumed my
self on every possible occasion with m
stolcal invulnerableness and scornful in
ditferentism toward the blind god of tn
quivers.
And since l had just attained to tn
e%minently sensible age of thirty l fan
cied-aye, felt positive-that l might b
pronounced out of danger" so to speak
and that l need no longer fear the art
fulness Of the weaker sex.
The gay and reckless period of you'll
from eighteen to twenty-eight-I hat
passed quietly and happily, having ex
perienced none of the ''pangs of disprizet
love nor the infinite q bliss of an affec
ton returned"
To insure my safety | had not LIVED
the life Of a recluse and refused all con
course with the adorable fair. On the
contrary, | had first made a study of the
sex, and in order to do this effectually
and successfully | must needs mingle
with them, lavishly fatter them, hypo.
critically worship at the shrines OF
beauty and a meager intelligence, rush
the fashionable functions, talk society
chitchat until | felt a driveling idiocy
creeping on. and live in such ep%icurean
style that | finally fell a sore victim to
indigestion.
Verify, this butterfly life is not what
it's cracked up to be, soliloquized land
so, without further ado OF ceremony, ]
dropped out of the madding crowd and
sought the level of commonplace.
All, these social easiest What hollow
mockeries, what monumental lies!
The social waters glisten with a clean,
sparkling surface; there are beautiful,
clear cut wave that flash a thousand
binding lights; the white pillows roll on
in magnificence of state, and the view to
n standing ON the hot. burning sands
is n of awe and a grandeur unrivaled.
But when one leaps into those tempt
ing deeps, lured into them perhaps by
the siren voice of some false Lorelei-
what Il delusion! -Ach, Hinlmel! 1t is
all mud and weeds beneath. The cur.
rents are cold, and they are the currents
of public opinion and conventionality.
Huge monsters clasp us in the death grip
OF their savage tentacles, and these we
call a~varice, jealousy, hypocrisy. ainbi-
ton and vainglory, each with its thou
sands of fendish allies. All, it is a mis-
cradle specter-this social apparition!
Occasionally n comes upon Il coral
cave, rich in its purity and stainless
beauty, and one wonders how such a
marvel can exist in all this ugly filth and
loathsome decay.
All honor be to him who seeks to drain
away the dregs of social sins and brings
a sweet wholesomeness to unhealthful
life! But, ye gods! what d ~herculean
task. what a chimerical fanaticism. holy
though it be!
Wearied and Disguised with the hor.
rible sham, | quit its Shiny deeps to lay
myself down upon the sun bathed shores
OF simplicity and unworldliness.
Some said ! had been disappointed in
love. |. Il scotfer at the grand passion,
as the eternal enemy Of marriagel But
what cared ! for the senseless babble of
the worll-l was III longer of it. lived
in the quiet of my own thoughts-nature
my only mistress.
AT thirty ! was IL bachelor and-a
cynic. though by no means Il nissan
thrope. | took life luxuriously and COM
%placently. College days had come and
gone. | had wandered aimlessly about
meath blue Italian skies, amused myself
for a time in "A German university and
had now, in response to an unconquer.
able longing. returned to my native
cline, here to suffer the one calamity of
my otherwise TRANQUILITY happy existence.
Had | but known to what fate my steps
were leading me! Could the impenetrable
veil of the future but have been drawn
aside and the vision of that impending
gloom been for a ome visible! All,
what misery spared, what heartache.
what intolerable bitterness
BY II of those strange. inexplicable
impulses so common to us all, was
urged to the scene of early youth. Thus
it was that in the beautifully picturesque
and popular summer resort known as
G.. on the shores of Lake Michigan, |
found myself II glorious day in June
n of those rare. heavenly days in that
dear month of roses.
The old place had undergone ii decid- |
edly revolutionary metamorphosis since |
| had ceased to call it home. The lazy, |
dreamy atmosphere of the village had |
been %quickened into il more vigorous ac-
ton. Old landmarks had disappeared |
with the influx of wealth. Old customs
had been SuDersaded nv nau, A;rht, Of
fashion, and old faces had been crowded |
out by the new.
In Il mood of morbid retrospection ]
had been'winding my way through the
%tortuous paths of H park, musing
upon the had beens and the might have
beens. A haunt in the city of the dead
been a favorite n with me in the
old days, and unconsciously | found my
steps directing me along the familiar
walk. An ideal silent land it is. SOM
Der, yet intensely soothing, it seems al.
ways to speak IA word of good cheer to
the living and bid us fear not the scythe
OF the dread reaper.
Wandering over the %stupendous hills
and down long r~avines, | emerged at last
upon a towering cliff looking out upon
the waters of the great lake. There was
a solemnity, a grandeur u~nspeakable in
the view. ! bowed my head in rever
ence to the creator of such marvellous
beauty. My soul was faint with emo
ton. l sank down upon the earth and
closed my eyes to shut out the dazzling
light. | fell into a half wakeful, half
SleeDful dream-a 6roo,n IF Ir...