New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-04-02

iuvoluntarily of the prologue to the tsbleau; HIS
face was set rather sternly. put ne sni'eo' '0o'
1t is not my last Carnival yet" he said 70
himself as ne drew on great dryng,cos at, wnl @
1t is very hard to say whether he was senti.
mental man or not. Men who write sccond.rate
verses when they are alone generally are GH' on
have allowed that ne possessed word Q,
rather fictitious emotions with the intention Of
believing ones self to be passionate by nature, ana
in that sense the weakness could not Justly ne
night he did thing which many people would
undoubtedly have called sentimental. lie turned
aside from the highway when ne left the great
himself to wander aimlessly on Though the older
rart OF the city, until he stopped opposite to the
door Of "a church which stood in e broad street
The night was dark and gloomy and the stiffness
was only broken now and then by distant snatch
Of song burst Of laugter Or te car TSss9
Indeed. IL was by no means the first time that ne
walked home in the small hours of Ash Wednes-
day morning after night Of gaycty and emSuGna, a
accidentally come was the one known as the Shurch
Of Prayer and Death. II stands in the Via Ginia.
at once. and it seemed like bad omen He stood
still a long time looking at the gloomy door WIN
steady eyes.
just such place as this he said, in low
tone. Just such a church as that, just such
man as am. Is this the comedy and was o this
evening the reality? Or is it the other way?,
He called up before his eyes the scene in which
readily enough He could fancy how the monk
and the nun would look and the train OF jewellers,
and their movements and gestures Bus inc nun
face not that Of the Contcssa. Another
shone out wildly in its place.
Just God. y ejacnlated the lonely man: Am
He turned upon his heel as though to escape the
vision, and walked quickly away, hating himself:
But he was mistaken. He cared-as he expressed
perhaps. in his own sef-contradictory, irregular
fashion. than the woman Of whom he was THINKING.
People talked for some time of the shrove IN ipes.
talking about other things Lent passed in the
usual way. and there was not much change In the
lives Of the persons most concerned in this history.
Ghiser saw much less of Arden than formerly,
Of course, as the latter was wholly absorbed ~
his passion for his future wife, As for til" world.
cal evenings and private theatricals il had for
mcrly been with dancing. The time sped quickly.
The past season had left behind it an enormous
Corpus Scandaorum Romancr'm which made con.
versation both easy anG delightful. How many
Of tho unpleasant stories concerning Lord Herbert
Arden. Laura Carlyon, Pictro Ghisleri anil Middle.
lena dell Arm conld have been distinctly traced
TO Adele Savelli il is not easy to say As matter
Of fact. very few persons excepting GhisleTi him
the average worldly taste il is a. unpleasant -
follow up the origin Of delightfully."- savory lie as
It Is to think while eating; OF the true history o.
of the slau ghter-hou-e and the cooks fngers.
Holy week came. and the mulied bells, and tho
silence in houses At other times full ana noisy,
and the general air Of depression which results
most probably from n certain amount Of genuine
repentance and devotion which is felt In place
where by no means all are bad ut heart and many
are sincerely good The gay set felt uncpmfort-
able and q certain number experienced for the
their mislectls. as they ought to do at least once
a year. As far as they We're concerned, Ghisleri's
verses expressed more truth than they had ex.
rectcd To lind in them. Ghisleri himself was
rarely troubled by any return Of the qualm which
had seized him before the door of the Church Of
PRAYER and Death, and never again in the same
at all events proceeded without pmorse, and was
wicked enough and selfish enough to congratulate
himself upon the fact.
Arden and Laura were perfectly happy. They,
at least. had little cause to reproach themselves
with any evil done in the world since they had
congratulating himself. II would indeed have been
hard TO find happier man tiian he, and mis- happi-
ness was perfectly legitimate and well.founled.
Whether IL would prove durable was another mat
ter not so easy of decision But the facts Of the
present were strong enough to crush all appre
hension for the future. IL was not strange that
it should I've so.
lie could not b. said to have led lonely life.
His family were deeply attached 10 him, AMI from
earliest boyhood everything had been done TO ale
vate the moral suffering inevitable in his case,
and TO make his material existence rs bearable as
possible, in spite of his terrible infirmtiss But
for THO unvarying sympathy Of many loving hearts
and the unrrlaxing care Of Those who were sim
cerey devoted TO him, Arden could hardly have
hopI 10 attain to manhood AT all, much less the
healthy moral growth which made him very un-
like most in his condition. or the comparative
health OF body whereby he was abb 70 enjoy with.
ont danger much OF what came in his way. lilo
man than his friend Ghiseri, though hc did not
possess the same elements of Success In society.
lie was indeed sensitive as has been said IN spite
Of his denial of the fact, but he was not bitter
NnOut MS great misfortune Hitherto only
Very painful thought had been connected with his
aeformity, beyond the constant sense OF physical
without reason. that he must cnoInce the love Of
woman and the hope of welded happiness Us be-
ing utterly beyond the bounds Of all human pos
compensate him to the full for tho suffering in
fic,ed and patiently borne he Lad won, almost
woman for whom he had seriously cared. IL was
almost too good.
Love had taken him and had clothed him in a
the feeble limbs. strengthening the poor, III.
matched shoulders, broadening and deepening the
sunken. chest that never held breath enough 81.
sionate happiness. Love had dawned upon the
dusk Of his dark morning as the dawn OF day upon
ale ,eadsn sea scattering unearthly blossoms IN the
Of living JOY upon the fiat waters Of Improbable
discomfort.
To those who watched the changing world with
Its manifold scenes and its innuinerable sctorA
whose merest farce is ever and only tho prologue
to the tragedy which awaits all. there IL nothing
more wonderful nothing more beautiful. nothing
more NOR, touchlng-perhaps few things more sacred
than the awakening Of u noble heart al loves
.irst magic touch The greater miracle of sprins
Is done before our eyes each year. the sun shines
and the grass grows. 10 rains and ali things are
refreshed. and. the dead seeds heart breaks with
the Joy of coming life, bursts and shoots up to
meet the warmth OF the sunshine and be kissed
oy the west wind But we do not sse, or seeing,
care for none OF these things in the same measure
N which we care for ourselves and perhaps for
oshers we turn from the budding flower wearily
enough at last; and we own that though IL speak
una its meaning wholly u mystery. Nature tells
us little except by association with hearts that
nave oeaten for ours and then sometimes abe tells
us an. But the heart itself Is the thing, the
NJ all thnu. Al.