The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1893-11-03
GOethe.'

/ 81 haze cTecuted yOLT commission. 1
haze 0bcyed Jotr behcSt."
sis that the book Margaret has been
telling me Of, written by some one
in the mountains-R. Buds book? [
thought the author of that was an old
man, and that you fancied he would
prove to be your-what shall I say?
What his maha5ma is to a theosophist?"
SIT proved to be a young woman"
said Gregory.
''You see, we have superior minds, aft
er ALL said Cornelia in the slightly sar-
castle tone in which she often spoke
"You thought it was too good to be wo-
mans work But why did she offer this
as her portrait? No doubt it did resem-
BILE her in her schooldays, but full
fiedged authoresses are generally stout
and aggressive and quite mature,
81 fancy, not meek and modest and juve-
nile, like this. Oh, she has given you a
portrait of her little parlor maid by mis-
take"
81 assure you this is good likeness
of R. Bud at present, and she does not
keep a parlor maid, but lives in such
simple style that, for all know, she does
the family washing"
''Quite a self made woman said Cor
nelia. well, you can call her the
child genius in the preface. People
like to believe that the writers of very
old, experienced novels have remained
young and innocent. Only this one
4goes beyond all the others, especially
in the Morleena Kenwigs style of Golf
fure.''~
Then Margaret and Madeline came to
look.
"What is she really, Gregg" Margaret
asked. Give and forty, golden dye and
rouge, or 80 and black wig?"
''She is what you see,' said Gregory.
folding his arms and leaning against the
mantel. II
Gregory said Madeline, ''you your
self must be younger than 1 Supposed
''That girl is marvel" Gregory said.
al was wonder stricken. I am still as
one in dream
at is some sort of glamour She hyp-
Noticed him to believe her very young
and very fair" said Margaret. sit is
wonder that he ever escaped her snare.
Poor Gregg The girls had begun to be
I witty, and they went on. Gregory short
ly repossessed himself of the tintype and
took up arms on the other side; was very
grandiloquent; insisted that the original
of the tintype was lovely as an angel.
He protested that Venus could not
compare with her; that she had all tho
virtues and all the graces as well as
genius. He declared that Madeline and
Margaret were jealous, and that their
prophetic souls foresaw the future, in
which all their admirers should kneel at
the shrine of the mysterious maiden of
the mountains. And all the while he
pretended that he was doing what Cor
nelia's knight should do, as he had dis
covered this new authoress at her bid
ding. 1t was quite her cause that he
espoused. All the while he was not near
iY as merry as he seemed. He kept say
ing to himself that it was very easy to
sheer: that a girl who could write that
book was not fitting object for the
jests and laughter of women who could
not appreciate her; that Cornelia and
his sisters were handsomer and more
stylish than any other three girls in
their set-bright girls, too-but that not
one OF them could have written one SEN
tence of simple Rose Buds glorious
novel.
He thought of this young genius so
handicapped both by heredity and en-
vironment, yet who had, In his opinion,
gained goal most writers failed to
reach with curious mixture of admira-
ton and sympathy, and he felt that he
desired her friendship. But he very
wisely kept all that TO himself Shortly
his mother and father appeared upon the
scene. Mr.. Blanchard roared over the
tintype and received his sons statement
that Rose Bud really looked no older
with undisguised derision.
''E've known so many Of 'em. Greg,