The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1893-10-18
JEaH De TH0nWEBaY.

1t was in the country, near the forest
net far from the Seine, in the modest
villa whcro hoped to spend nv old
age, that / saw Jean dc Thommcray for
the first time. lie was scarcely twenty.
two. Some .ranS signed with my name
had won his -,IS to me, and he pre-.
scntcd himsNSSNwith TO other recon-
mend"tion than his good appearnn' and
his desire to know me. i'hc sympatbv
OF the young has an irresistible attrac-
tion. 1t is very sweet TO be able TO
draw them when one is approaching the
autumn OF life. | was tho more willing
TO give him welcome that could do so
without any effort, for. he was really
charming. 4 see him now as nc stood at
my gate, n slender, noble. looking fellow.
his face shadowcd with tho. down Of
youth; straight nose, blue cyas. fair
forehead; his hair, fire aud OF a,u ashy
blonde, waved above the temples! His
ease of NANCY and language, the e.le
CANT simplinpeItat showed in his dress,
everything, reflected credit on the fire
side by which he had grown up.
Ii was 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, ali the
happy and ardent feelings of mis- age. He
believed in the good. he admired the
beautiful. he dreamed of love and glory.
Wnere uiu lie come from. In what Iati-
tude was he bornl Wha' star had shono
over his cradlel Who and what was this
Jean de Thorumeray, 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
III Paris in the days when patriotism and
liberty ranked as high rs 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. lie loved, with n
pure, delicate, iomaulics lore, a poor.
young girl OF good family, of Irish de-
scent, and married her. When his studies
ended, he Ment back TO Brittany. The
hereditary domain tint sheltcred theft
tenderness was in one Of the wild and
quict valleys OF Old Amorica. 1t con.
sisted OF n farm and manor. of a castle
which was protected by an old grove
from the winds that swept across tho
valley from the mountains. Here Mon.
sicur dc Thommcray lived, like his fore
fathers, the life of n country gentle
man, hunting, riding horseback, visiting
nniuhhnES ipNnVnuin.r h;s A
his wife ''la belle lrlandaisc," MS they
called her, gave herself up to domestic
affairs and governed her household with
grace and authority. Though he had
taken .oot in this primitive life, he was
faithful to the tastes and inclinations of
his youthful days. lie never went beyond
the circle of his remembrances, aud for
him nothing beyond them seemed TO
exist. Time, which never stops, seemed
to have forgotten him on the way. IL
was happy family--he, his wife, and
three sons. The elder aud the second
son showed no taste for study or litcra-
ture, but Jean, the little one, more deli
cate than his brothers, grew up under
his mothers gentle wing with a strong
sense OF the beauties and harmon.eo Of
creation and love of books. While his
brothers walked and rode over the farm
and led a hardy aud rustic life, Jean,
read, dreamed, or composed little Breton
poems that his mother proudly compared
to "Moore's Irish Melodies" aud 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
posea that he must have left Paris, aud
that ne was living peacefully in his
fathers home. lie had evidently for
gotten me. / was not surprised at that.
As for me, I thought OF him from time TO
time. A journey made into Brittany
revived in my heart tho memory of nay
young friend, when | learned one day
that | was only few leagues from the
Manor OF ThommeTay. | arrived at
nightfall at the house | loved to think OF
rs the asylum Of happiness. found
the family assembled. and, not seeing
Jean. naturally asked for him M. de
Tbommcray answered me briefly. Mon
sicur, he said, 1--WE have only two sons
now-these whom you sec. We never
speak OF the Que we have lost
kyaa Iaass AaaAa NJ, AL atfituI. ~