The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-10-16
sToRY's
Its Original Was Alkaline Shepherd,
the Heroine of Marble Faun.


New York Herald.
No statue in the Metropolitan Museum
of Art is more familiar than that of
Cleopatra. by the late sculptor, w. w.
in 1883. In Hawthorne's 'The Marble
Faun" the work is attributed to Sculptor
Kenyon. lover Of the girl Hilda. This
the fountain source of Its characters Hilda
and Kenyon, and explaining the identity
of the statutes hand. is authenticated
from two sources-a favorite pupil of the
original. Hilda and posthumous papers Of
her husband.
that Nathaniel Hawthorne planned his
memorable visit to Rome. He was So
i%icitous to secure a cultivated young woman
erness TO his children. To this end he
wrote to his wife.s sister, Mrs. Horace
husband, over the fortunes Of Antioch Col
lege. in Yellow Springs: Q. -
tative days none shone more brilliantly or
made deeper inroads on the affections of
the founder and his wife than gentle
year when Mrs. Mann proposed that at the
Completion of the course she should ac-
company. the Hawthornes to Rome.
The girl joined the Hawthornes In Rome,
where she continued her studies. drinking
in the art life on every side and perfecting
s esesf had IN an m inSerent la aaIsna sk,h iGP n wni am
artist in execution she had singularly deli
cate artistic perceptions, which doubtless
SuS6cStcu W lie ahtlSt Iliod
in his story OF their courtship.
1t was during Adaline shepherd,s sojorpn
Marble Faun' was written. The Hilda of
the tower. Hawthorne tells us. was a slen-
der, brown haired New England girl, whose
perceptions of form and expression were
wonderfully clear and delicate. An orphan
NTH nro near re sae ! nsdi anu PG Is w;sh1n OF be a
gentle courage had brought her safely over
land and sea-; her mild, u~nf1agging per-
severance had made a place for her in
finds a chink for itself and a little earth
slender roots may fasten."
Alkaline Shepherd, who, not unlike Hilda.
was rich in the faculty of genuine admira-
tion," which Hawthorne says lis one of the
rarest to be found in human nature" won
the tender regard of gifted w. w. Story.
whose lamentabie death has just been ca
bled from Rome, Ii Is variously asserted. sat
in the romancer's eye when he created the
scription of Hilda's lover tallies with that
of the brilliant young American as he APP
peared to his friends in those early stu
dent days:
The sculptor had a face which when time
had done a little more for ii would offer a
worthy subject for as good an artist as
himself; features finely cut as if already
marble; an ideal forehead. deeply set eyes
and a mouth sensitive and delicate.
1t was the model of Alkaline Shepherds
0dIIu IIdl LOoh sO OAk III
the "old-fashioned ivory Golfer" on the oc-
casion of Miriam's visit to the sculptor's
studio-"A small, beautifully shaped hand,
delicately sculptured in marble. Such low
ing care and nice art had been lavished
here that the palm really seemed to have
tenderness in its very substance. Touching
those lovely fi~ngers-had the jealous sculp-
tor allowed you to t~ouch-you could hardly
believe that virgin warmth would not steal
from them into your heart"
This hand. IL Is said. guided Story in the
modelling OF the hand in his famous statue
OF Cleopatra. Repeated visits TO the Metro
politan Museum. in whose vestibule the IA
nous statute of Cleopatra confronts the Wis
itor, fall. however, TO reveal any reScm-
blance between -he delicacy of Hilda's hand
and the majestic symmetry and strength of
the hand Of the last OF the Ptolmies. Did
Hawthorne foresee the fate in store for the
original Hilda when he made Miriam say to
Kenyon, There is certainly a providence or
purpose for Hilda. II for no other human
creature
In time true to her promise. Alkaline re-
turned TO her native land and welded the
lover of her girlhood. Shortly after their
marriage the husband became professor OF
rhetoric, while the wife filled the chair OF
modern languages at Antioch College. Then
a shadow fell. He became subject to cpl
leptic fits. The wife opened a school In Bos-
ton. The combined cares OF a school and
| nursey began to tell on the delicate organ
ization. In her blood was a faint OF in
sanity This thought preyed upon her weak
ened condition. One night she slipped away.
and committed suicide by leaping into the
sound from . Providence line steamer.