The Van Buren press., 1895-06-01
THE stroke OF RUIN.
N MAURICE raonrsox.

A4AG R40OA1 VG O4ASs
N MAURICE THOMPSON.
Il wss ooonlight and rather late In
~ bslmysevening. with breeze hut-
teEinG aI4ng Royal street and the
sound Of ; guitar coming from an in
Asnnite distance. No street ears were
running dnd but few strolIers-these
mostly Cftoles m high.heeled shoes
tapping lightly on the banqnettea-
went mp s4d down the narrow way.
BoyIe Z Harding leaned back in an
oasy chsirzbn the iron-rsiled balcony,
o. gallery, whiehsoverhung the side
walk. and ssnoked slowly. with half
elosed eyes- HeNatawsfting and ex-
pecting the arrival Of his young friend,
Francois lfspln. who had istely inter.
ssted him TO . singular degree.
Even 1t the moment, up the uncar-
psted stairway came the active creole's
Test, two steps st time, along with .
lively tune iung almost bresthlessls
through stcurving biack mustache. 7
"Ah. but here sm,. he cried, issu-
ing through the doorway and tripping
gsy step slong the floor toward Hard
ing.
"Well; and what Is it?r demanded
Ne New Yorker. What have y0u
found ontyr
bah" He produced . cigarette
nnd asked for light by sn iptptfable
pantomine with head and sh6u1deHE
Maybe she went TO the French opera
Go with me; ! have box; come.r
"But haven't you jet seen her7"
s'kjcen hef-how should l know7
~. Harding forgets the conditions u
He laughed In his strociously frivolous
frsnch way. - ~
II beg pardon, - said Harding, quick.
~, II had indeed forgotten that did
not know hog nsme. her place Of resi-
dence, nor yet even the color Of her
eyes. Yes, IsvilI 60 With yop TO the
Ops1p@ Everybody goes, chr
mot everybody; but every ybody Of
the best. II Is the d istinction, we draw
the line In front Of the boxes"
mot the dead line, hope"
Even that kometimes; yes T. have
known ! glance Of sweet eyes 70 cost q
man his best blood under the 0aKs.
Arc You good fencer?'
Boyle Hsrdipg, sredessp hn@ys; bet
hung his cigar stump over the iron fl
agree down into the street, where II
corssscssed on the cobblestones. and
then he rose and shook himself lightly
~ one docss whos forrss ansiinpcffect
plan or feels vaguely impatient over
delsycd,expectatiops. ~ ysls.Tskr
The Ky 6bcyei New, w,0rlesns lwaS Is
blns ~ sapphire, e,~snA- the irreguasr
old houses along Royal street caught
many . stray CLINT ffom the splendid
moon4 aiasiing was An a mood to feel
Ill the force Of such scene. lie had
come south = fortnight past With let
1ersaf INTRODUCTION to influential peo-
PIE, Ddthe was not seeking society;
quict eRj0prnst stasNev Orleana5g 5gith1 1bial
eyes GA (srs dea piteS AiN ~
lie was Young, however, brim full q
blood and surchaiged with A poet's. In.
ag1nation. ~ *"@ s"%ta
xWhatwes, perhaps, jyet tho thipghe
w6tld sKays ho1t dcs& &SdecaI "a kih
unexpectedly one day. 1t WAS a
ss,na's .,.; street CT 'i'Ss7ss ~ 9.
tiful young woman face TO face at the
door Of Garcin's old book store, dingy
hole where you find the contents Of
Tsench Libraries that have been sold at
successive sales or picked up at auc-
Slan YRywfRyea unchanged an invol-
nntSry look Which seemed TO have
glow Or inquiry struck out Of his
polRthxt HfrdtpG ws slseEiped, and
mi AlslSeI5 lifScd his afe passed
him. with : hslf smile. 1savihG q breath
Of bidh fAhd the rustic Of . gown
quietly elegant In the ar rouad about
x ThA color OF her hair, her height, the
tiht of her eyes, her comprehensive
could mot fix one of these In his mind,
but he knew that she was the loveliest,
the biost enchanting girl that ever
breathcd. The impression entered his
cohsciousness 80 suddenly and set IT,
selfuo deep and with such i thrill OF
romantic pleasure that he stopped short
"a the door, and stood there, hat Ia
hand, snlilingly re,niniscently and
listening 70 the purr Of his own blood
swestly quickening along his veins.
A lover is great fool; but he Is the
only man who knows what song 1t was
that the stars sang; and to him you
must 90 II You would learn the secret
Of heavenly happiness and the value OF
dreams as nutriment for the imagina-
4ion. A lovers soul will treble its
stature by feeding one moment on q
sxnile: 'ie
I In faot, boyle Harding had felt this
sudden growth within: 1t had quick
sned, broadcned and sweetened his
spiritual vision, while affording fine
and richly-mystcrIous increment 10 his
enjoyment Of his new surroundings.
This was midway In the fiftles, when
New Orleans had reached the splendid
sanith OF her wealth, and when the
peculiar color Of her social life was
most dazzling and romantic As nm
American city she stood apart, hot,
almost tropical, heart OF passion. lux
ury, pleasure and abounding hospital
ity. And with II all went the old free
dom Of chivalric personal courage and
the love Of spectacular results In mat
ters Of honor
HiSrding and his young Creole friend
set cut on foot; II was hut short step
70 the opera house, ana as they went
along Rapin was prattiing on the sub
jcct Of fencing, always great vogue
with the jeunesse doree Of New Or
1ssns. He was himself q rich orphan.