Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1893-10-28
JERu De THOnOlERaY.

IL was in the country, near the forest
not far from the Seine, in the modest
villa where | hoped to spend my old
age, that | saw Jean de Thommcray for
the first 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 willing
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, a slender, noble looking fellow,
his face shadowcd with the down of
youth straight nose, blue eyes, fair
forehead his hair, fine and of au ashy
blonde, waved above the temples. His
ease of manner and language, the cle-
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
versed like two friends. He had gene
rous impulses, holy illusions, all the
happy anG ardent feelings of mis- age He
believed ia the good. he admired the
beautiful. he dreamed of love and glory.
Where did he come from? In what lati-
Tude was he born? What star had shone
over his cradle2 Who and what was this
Jean de Tkonmeray, who at the end of
an hours talk had spoken neither Of wo-
men, nor horses, nor yet Of his friends
incomes?
Thanks to the condolences he gave me
without my asking, soon found out
all about him. His father who came Of
good old Breton family, had studied
in Paris in the days when patriotism and
liberty ranked as high as letters and art,
among the young men Of modern ideas
The Breton gentleman felt the influences
of this awakening in the flood o.
thought, and, without giving up thu
traditions of honor in his family, he SCI
sail with the current He loved, with {
pure, delicate, romantic love, a poor
young girl of good family of Irish de
scent, and married her. VIII, n his studie
ended he went back to Brittany. Thu
hereditary domain that sheltered thei
tenderness was In one of the wild anC
quiet valleys Of Old America. 1t con
sisted OF farm and manor. of castle
which was protected by an old grow
from the winds that swept across tn
valley from the mountains Here Mon
sieur de Thommeray lived, like his fore
fathers, the life of country gentle
man, hunting, riding horseback, visitin
neighbors, improving his land; Will
his wife ''la belle Irlandaise," as the
called her, gave herself up to domest
affairs and governed her household wit
grace and authority. Though he ha
taken root in this primitive life, he W;
faithful to the tastes and inclinatons {
his youthful days. lie never went beyon
the circle of his membranes, and fC
him nothing beyond them seemed
exist. Time, which never stops, SCENE
TO have forgotten him on the way.
was happy fami y-he, his wife, an
4
son showed no taste for study or liter
ture, but Jean, the little one, more del
cate than his brothers, grew up undl
his mothers gentle wing with a stron
sense of the beauties and harmonies
creation and love of books. While h
brothers walked and rode over the far
and led a hardy and rustic life, Jea
read, dreamed, or composed little BretC
poems that his mother proudly compar,
TO Moore's Irish Melodies aud th
excited the admiration of his father. II
brothers, too were proud Of his gifts al
his charming ways, and even Of his wea
ness when little fellow, for that seem
20 claim their protection But one MOI
ing, not long before the time first a
him. Jean embraced then, an and set q
f0r Paris, filled with the same illusi0
that his father had hnd before him
Two or three years passed. din 3
know ahat had become Of Jean I sH
posed that be must hage loft PARIS, d
that h. wa living peacefully iu
i4Jhrfa homie lle bal evidently f
aafteu me 1 aas Hot surprised al th
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