San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-12-21
DOLE.
BY ERNEST G. PRATT.

cited the attention of placid Director
Blatz, as he appeared at the door of the
| latter's studio IN the C. opera house,
that bright Christmas morning. His
personality did not alone consist in his
| bowed back or face furrowed with the
! tell-tale lines of trouble and sorrow.
Old men are common everywhere, but
eccentric old men, who dress in Il man
ner bordering on the grotesque, and
whose faces reflect the complex emo
lions of love and happiness, constrained
by deep sorrow, are somewhat out of the
ordinary.
| Dole belonged to this latter class. The
| fantastic nature of his costume was
more accumulated than ever as he stood
in the doorway leading into the di-
rector's room, where all of the furnish
ings were as harmonious as the most
esthetic mind could plan. The man was
attired according to circumstances,
which reasoning in the same cycle were
not of the best. On his head he wore a
beayerskin cap, placed grenadier fash
ion, and which stood erect with all of the
majesty and pomp of a drum majors
| bonnet. 1t served to add full foot to
| the height of the wearer. His shirt
was as immaculate as soap, water and
starch could make it, with two lines of
ruffles from collar to waistband, that
stood out like parallel rows of hedge
fence on q moonlight night. A saffron
hued waistcoat, with yellowish, worn
buttons, came next. Over ii, green with
age, yet showing by its texture 4 once
large cost mark, was uniform dress
coat, something after the pattern of
the conventional dress coat of to-day.
Instead of being cut square off in front,
the two parts, where they joined,
rounded in a symmetrical curve, giving
to the vision wide area of the underly-
ing garment. The tails were much too
long. and when Dole stood upright, they
came down almost to the bottom of his
trousers, which were also remarkable
in their way-remarkable in their ten
dency to remain up in the world-for
the bottom of each separate leg could
| not be induced to come nearer than six
or eight inches to the ground. At times
|
Dole had not an unpleasant face. His
forehead was retreating, and it was
| hard to tell where it commenced or
where it left off. The lower portion was
a continuation of the nasal organ, and
the upper part continued into the
crown. The eyebrows assisted to de-
fine rather vaguely the lower limits, but
the ravages of time had created lack
of hair, and this in turn caused the di-
lemma of finding exact boundaries for
crown and forehead. His eyes were
blue, and at times their color intensified
to almost blackness, then again they
would be as mild as the sky on June
day. Under the chin there was a tuft
Of wirey, black hair, threaded with but
few sprays of silver, sprouting am
bitiously, but not vigorously. The
lines of the mouth were softened to a
thin, wavering line by the absence Of
| teeth.
Place under his arm an old violin,
with the keys broken and the bridge
cracked. so that the break can be seen
half across the room, and you have a,
picture of Dole. as he appeared for an
instant in the doorway. At the sight
of the director, the cap came down from
its grenader height, and the form be-
| came even more bent, as it assumed
servile attitude. Advancing half way to
the desk of Director Blatz, looking
around all the while with an air of min
gled fright and hesitancy, Dole blurted
out, not in strong Teutonic accents, as
we half expected, but in a peculiarly
tripping, penetrating tone:
81 see, mister director, Their papers
hev it yer want er secunt fiddler. Do
yer?" the last words with an appealing
| air.
My friend, the director, is blunt in his
speech, il occasion demands it, and
expected that he would reply with an
emphatic and decided no" The pleas
ures Of the day, thoughts of his own
home, perhaps, and the happiness that
comes after good dinner, had all soft
ened his nature, and the director only
replied evasively, though somewhat
pointedly: .r
81 want good one"
"Well, mister, I'm your man, I'm your
man." mumbled Dole almost unintel-
lightly. 81 were reckoned the best fid-
dler agoin' when were young. lwere.
And | can fiddle secunt, fust rate. Gin
me er trial. mister. Gimme er trial"
Director BIatz did not laugh despite
any inclination he may have had. He
merely looked at his visitor in that COM
placent way which men affect when
they consider themselves the superior
being. ' ....
"Oh, you won't do" was his careless
remark as he turned to busy himself at
his desk.
"Say. mister; mister, let me try er
once right here fore your eyes, just fore
your eyes?" was the plaintive plea of
Dole, as he commenced Tightening up
the strings. He was weak. that was APP
parent. for he almost staggered under
such light work as twisting the stubs.