The evening times., 1896-01-12
Mr.. Bro WINS HTinitu.

! Mr.. Brown Hffinitu
| JUDGING from appearances, you
LII Wouio never have thought that Mr.
vi Elliot Brown was the poet who
wrote the exquisite verse whici
appeared occasionally In the periodicals
He did not wear a Byron collar or flown,
neckscarf. nor were his locks left to Row IL
iuxrrfous prOfusiOn about his shoulder L
point OF fact, lie had no luxurious profusiop
OF hair 10 flow, being considerably bald
In consequence OF a bad habit he had CON
racted OF wearing his hat in his counting
Short and decidedly stout. without the
slightest tfnge OF melancholy in his express
sioh' he did not have one outward sign of
| oeihe poet, yet proved he was a true one
Dy writiDg only when his muse fairly thrust
lne pencil between his fingers, and what be
| then produced was well worth reading.
Being country -ored man, he sung mostly
oi lurai scenes OF songs OF birds. the chang.
ing seasons the wild flowers beauty and
Kindred subjects, and. coming direct from
the heart as his verses did. with their
charming, wild flavor and the breeziuess of
hill and field breathing through every line,
no wonder they appealed 10 the heart and
touched 1t as more studied and artificial
poetry, be 1t ever go fine, can never do.
AT the age of forty-fiye, having amassed
Comfortable fortu ne in the banking busi-
ness, he retired and gave himself np 10 the
true enjoyment of life with his wife and
FAMILY, the latter consisting OF two
young sons and daughter or nineteen.
About this time lie began a small volume
which he called Rural Treasures,
which he finished in six months time,
working only as has been said, when muse
inspired. Theslft volume attained an
instant popularity, which surprised its
publishers, who csuld not understand how
1t had Caught the public's favor.
But many City man who had been born
and raised In the Country, knew and un-
derstood the charm OF the book and wiped
away the tears which started unbiddeu at
the memories awakened by such simple
verses as .'Wading in the Stream"
The Old School House." and The Early
Violet
Z After its publication Mr.. Elliot Browns
man became So heavy, between autograph
letters, nattering friends and begging,
epistles, be laughingly 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 10 his corresi
pondence in Ter fathers handsome library!
During temporary absence Of his young
ainanuensis Mr.. Brown again attended 10
his mail. and one day found letter which
particularly pleased him. He was above
plain. unadulterated fla,tery. but this let
ter, while flattering. praised his book In a
subtle, delicately veiied manner in Ian
gdage as choice and elegant as If bor-;-
rowed-as perchaDce it was-frotn the
pa ges of an old manual of polite CORE
spondence.
As the writer Miss Annabel Lehigh, gave
her address in Boston and begged for an
letter from him. the poet wrote
4 short note thanking her for her kind
praise. In few days he received another
letter from her In which she confessed that
She too. had been scorched by the flames
Of the divine fire of poetry and begged him
to pass Judgment upon some lines inclosed.
The lines were. TO say the least, excellent,
and. while they had familiar ring In Mr..
Browns mental ear, as If be had read some
thing very Ike them in some long forgotten
be could not believe the gentle
writer guilty Of pla giarisln, and wrote COM
mending her verses.
This called forth so immediate an an
swer, with more poems to be criticised,
that Mr.. Brown was startled, and vet, hav-
ing fallen into the correspondence, scarce
knew how 10 eXtricate himself, so at the
end or the month, the limit set for his
daughters visit, he had quite a packet
OF letters from Miss ADnabel.
Singularly enough, he had neglected tell
ing his wife OF the affair, but determined
TO take Emily into his confidence. es-
pecially as he knew she would discover the
matter for herself. This determination was
strengthened by The receipt OF lengthy
missive from Miss Annabei in which. after
declaring that her heart told her that
he was not only young and handsome, but
and waiting yearniigly for his
affinity, she boldly declared herself that
lfnnity and hade him fly TO her arms.
Mr.. Brown had not expected any such
t0arise and was truly alarmed.
L was therefore with a strong feeling OF
,elief that he shifted his burden onto
Miss Emily's shapely shoulders. She, be
ng blessed with 4 keen sense of humor.
Jaw only the ludicFous side Of the affair,
]lamed her father just as little as he
deserved for failing into the net spread
or lis uBwary feet and promised TO help
lim cut.
Deal gently with her. dear" he begged.
She Is evidently Young and romantic and
rs given too free Teins TO Ter fancy"
Trust me not Q be rude, my dear father"
eplled Emily, and hetcok herself TO her
leasant task. while Mr. Brown. with
Shtened heart went down to Tiffany's 10
ny an appropriate reward for her kind ser
ices.
This is what she wrote:
My Dear Miss Lehigh; Ny father has
sked me TO answer your las; letter as he is
n the point OF departing. against medical
dvice. for the country to witness the mar
iage ofhis favorite grandchiid- Being quite
,cblc and suffering with distressing form
[ gout, he will, therefore, be unable now
r al any future time to accept your kind
ivitation to fly to your arms.
Trusting you will succeed in finding a
Iore available affinity in the near future,
am. sincerely, EMILY L. BROWN"
A few weeks later Mr. and Mrs. Brown
ade a visit TO Boston and at a reception
e poet was introduced To Miss ARnabel
ehigh, in whom he discovered a maiden
Tho. while not yet in the sere and yellow
ar. had passed the age when marriage, as
atisticiaDs tell u.s. may be regarded as
acute possibility. They were mutually
ocked, but Miss Annabel, recovering first.
as about to address some cutting remarks
the poet, when Mrs. Brown appeared on
e scene, and fearing from his expression
at her husband was about to have an at
ok of faintness, to which he was subject,
irried him into the open air.
Miss Lehigh was left to gaze with scorp
the retreating form OF him whom she
ndly hoped might be her affinity.
Whether she ever found the right one Mr..
rown never learned. But one thing he did
arm, and that was that Miss Annabel had
lledher poetic gems, making a few changes
words, from an early volume of TenRY
rs poems.
Q