Mower County transcript., 1895-01-02

this beantilul work Il art Il quite sl7or-
got myself, and II ear / have tired Won.
With your permissio lon I will ri Is.
20, no, you must not. I assure Syou
your criticism Of the picture grestlys
interests me, and your praises of 5its
beauty crafty me more than I con tell
you. Please ben seated, for / love TO-
hear you discuss art and artists.
She motioned him to a chair, and for
an hour they sat in interested CONVEX
sation. Mrs. Colby was unknown; "a
him, sounding the young soldier to the
depths, and with womanly tact she
drew from him bit BY bit little touches
Of coloring from his early life, and by
her ease of manner and gracious de.
meanor SO impressed him that he again
lost sight of his humble rank and con.
versed with her, as he would with a
lady in the parlors Of society in the
east. She was a woman OF finished
education, one who had seen much Of
the world, and as she led him on and
on from topic to topic, her wonder
grew at his intelligence and fine con-
versational powers.
:.. >@. CHAPTER TX. ss
Brown walked to his quarters With .
light heart. With the one exception
OF Alice Sanford this had been his first
conversation with q woman since his
enlistment, and to him it seemed as q
slight raising of the veil to afford him
a glimpse of the social life which would
again be his when his term of service
should have expired. The food of sun
shine his acquaintance with Alice had
cast into his distasteful soldier life was
multiplied and intensified by the atten-
tions shown him by Mrs. Colby, and it
all came to him as the first rift in the
cloud of servitude which must one day
melt into the horizon and disappear
from the sky of his life. The lady's
kind parting words: II hope to meet
you often, Mr.. Brown" were yet ring
ing in his ears when the first sergeant
OF his troop grasped his hand and
warmly welcomed him back to duty.
But an hour after Brown left the
Colby quarters Alice Sanford entered,
and was met by Mrs. Colby with
radiant face.
II have met your hero. my dear
girl, she said. II not only met him,
but had long conversation with him
in this very room.''
20, did you, Mrs. Colby? And may
ask what you think of him?'' ~
He is a very fine appearing young
man, and looks to be q model soldier"
she quietly answered.
20, bother the soldier! Leaving Pri-
vate Brown clear out of the question,
how did Mr.. Edward Thornton impress
you? Isn't he nice?" ..7
II will tell you, my dear, frankly
what / think Of him. He came here to
report to Capt. Colby for duty, and
asked him in to give rue an artists
view Of my Bierdstadt picture which
you so much admire. From the dis
cussion of art 4 led him into other fields,
and Iwas really astonished ut the wide
range of his information. Putting Pri-
vate Brown out of the question, as you
suggested, dear, I found Mr. Thornton
a perfect gentleman, courteous and
polished in demeanor, highly educated,
. fascinating conversationalist,a, i
brainy man Of refined tastes in abort,
were he to be to-day raised to his
proper sphere in life know of nothing
that should prevent me from welcom-
ing him to my home and presenting
him to my friends as q gentleman well
worthy their acquaintance and esteem"
20, thank you, Mrs. Colby. I am 50
glad you met and like him, for your
friendship will greatly tighten the load
the poor boy has to bear. And you
think he is entirely worthy of my
friendship"
"Mr. Thornton would be, yes. But,
Alice, dear, indeed you must not allow
your sympathies for him to blind your
eyes to his rank in our military world.
You should look upon Private Brown az
Private Brown, and not what Private
Brown should be or might be-"
"Oh, I hate that barrier of rank!"
cried Alice, impulsively. Mrs. Colby,
we are as God made us, and rank or
dress cannot change our natures. Is
not Mr.. Thornton as much an honor
able man in the garb of private SOL
dier as he would be in the elegant dress
Of 2 society gentlemanq Is not his soul
rs pure while serving as soldier rs it
would be had he never strayed from
the path of life in which he belongs?
Have his refined instincts and noble
traits Of character been stunted or de-
stroYed by his enllstmentF:
ITO be Continued.