The morning times., 1896-01-12
Mr.. Brown s HffjnitlI

JUDGING from anpearan,..
would never have though, ~, Joo
| III Elliot Brown was the noe. NJ
wrote the exquisite verse ,o sno
appeared occasionally in the perioa'ilen
He did not wear Byron collar n, ,'.'s
neckscarf, nor were his locks left to s%wine Ewing
Luxurious profusion about his sbonias'N' 10
point or fact, lie had no luxurious nroSna..in 10
of hair 10 flow, being eonsiderabtv son ha.t
In consequence or bad habit he had CO. r1,,',
room. unung
Short and decidedly stout wt,bo,. =.
slightest tiDge OF melancholy in bis er,'i uhe
sion, he did not have one outward sI.,' :.
being poet, yet proved he was A trns III VI
by writing only when bis muse fairlv ,h,,..e r.e
the pencil between bis fingers, and yyhs, ~
then produced was well worth rss,,s.' ue
Being country -ored man, tesune n,os,s.
of rural scenes, of songs OF birds. the cha,
ing seasons, the wild flowers beaatv az
kindred subjects, and. coming direct finn.
the heart as his verses did, with tbeI,
charming, wild flavor and the breeziBesso, a,
hill and field breathing through eyerv In
no wonder they appealed to the hear , sr6
touched II as more stucied and artificial
poetry, be IL ever 20 fine. can never do
AT the age of forty-fiye, having a1nassad
comfortable fortune in the banking bnsi
ness, he retired and gave himself np To- tho
true enjoyment of life with his wife and
family, the latter Consisting OF tvo
young sons and Il daughter Of nineteen
About this time lie began a small volume
which he called Rural Urea sures y
which he finished In six mouths time
working only, as has been said. when muse
inspired. Thes little volume attained an
instant popularity. which surprised lis
publishers, who curld not understand how
1T had caught the public's favor.
But many a City man who had been bonn
and raised in The country, knew and un
derstood the charm OF the book, and wiped
away the tears which started unbidden al
the memories awakened by such sluple
verses as "wading in the stream.'
THE Old School House." and THE Early
Violet"
After its publication Mr.. Elliot Browns
nan became So heavy, between autograph
letters, flattering friends and begging
epistles, he lauehingly declared that he must
hire an amanuensis- To earn money for
a pet charity his daughter Emily eagerly
begged for the position aud spent the early
morning hours attending TO his CORES!
pondence in ter fathers handsome library.
During a temporary absence OF his Young
Mr.. Brown again attended 10
his mail. and one day found letter which
pleased him. He was above
plain. unadulterated fIaftery, but this let.
Ter, while fiattering. praised his book in a
subtle. delicately veiIed manner in Ian
glage as choice and elegant as If bor-
-owed-as perchanee it was-from the
pa ges OF an old manual of polite CORE
,pondence.
As the writer. Miss Annabel Lehigh, gave
Ter address in Boston and begged for an
letter from him, the poet wrote
/ short note thanking her for her kind
,raise. In few days he received another
etter from her in which she confessed that
he. too. had been scorched by the flames
L the divine fire of poetry and begged him
o pass judgment upon some lines inclosed.
The lines were. to say the least. excellent,
nd. while they had a familiar ring in M
Browns mental ear, as II be had read some
hing very Ike them in some long forgotten
oluIne. he could not believe the gentle
writer guilty OF pla agiarisin, and wrote COM
nending her verses
This called forth so immediate an an
'wer, with more poems to be criticised,
hat Mr. Brown was startled. and vet, hav-
Dg fallen into the correspondence, scarce
NEW how 10 extricate himself. so at the
nd of the month, the limit set for his
daughters visit, he had quite a packet
4 letters from Miss Annabel.
SiDgularly enough, he had neglected tell
ne his wife of the affair. but determined
o take Emily into his confidence, es-
ecially as he knew she would discover the
natter for herself. This determination was
by the receipt OF a lengthy
lissive from Miss Annabel, in which, after
ecIarirg that her heart told her that
e was not only young and handsome, but
and waiting yearningly for his
ffinity, she boldly declared herself that
ffinity and bade him fly to her arms.
Mr.. Brown had not expected any such
omplication t@ariseand was truly alarmed.
t was therefore with a strong feeling of
eiief that he shifted his burden onto
liss EInily's shapely shoulders. She, be
lg blessed with 4 keen sense Of humor,
aw only the ludicFous side of the affair.
lamed her father just as little as be
eseTved for falling into the net spread
or lis unwary feet and promised to help
i'm out.
Deal gently with her. dear" he begged.
She Is evidently young and romantic and
- given too free reins to her fancy
Trust me not o be rude my dear ather."
piled Emily. and hetCok herself to her
easant task. while NJ Brown, with d
,htened heart went down to Tiffany's to
ly an appropriate reward for her kind ser
ices.
This is what she wrote:
My Dear Miss Lehigh. MY father has
'ked me to answer your last letter. as he's
i the point OF departing. against medical
lvice, for the country TO witness the mar
.age of his favoTite grandchiid- Being quite
eblc and suffering with distressing form
gout. he will therefore, be unable now
at any future time to accept your kind
vitation to fly to your arms.
Trusting you will succeed in finding a
ore available affinity in the near future,
am. sincerely, EMILY L. BROWN
a few weeks later Mr. and Mrs. Brown
ade visit TO Boston and at q reception
e poet was introduced To Miss AHhabel
shigh, in whom he discovered q maiden
ho. while not yet in the sere and yellow
tell us, may be regarded as
acute possibility. They were mutually
ocked, but Miss Annahel, recovering first,
as about to address some cutting remarks
the poet, when Mrs. Brown appeared IN
e scene, and fearing from his expression
at her husband was about To have an at
OK of faintness, to which he was subject,
FRIED him into the open air.
Miss Lehigh was LEFT 10 gaze with scorD
the retreatiDg form of him whom she
ndly hoped might be her affinity.
ste ever found the right one Mr.
-own never learned. But one thing he did
trn, and that was that Miss Annabvl had
He'd her poeticg gems. Dakinga few changes
words, from an early volume of TennF
D's poems
Seif-Ev ident.