The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-06-19
A POETS AFFINITY.

a Byron collar or flowing neckscarf,
nor were his locks left TO How In lux
urlous lofuslon about bis shoulders.
In point u fact. he had no luxurious
frofusion Of hair To How. being consid-
crably bald. Ia consequence Of a bad
habit he had contracted % wearing his
hat In his counting room.
Being country bred man, be sang
mostly ~ rural Scenes. Of songs OF
birds. the changing seasons. the Wild
flowers beauty aud kindred subjects.
aEd coming direct from the heart as
hls verses did. with their charming
Wild flavor aud the brecziness OF hiil
and ED breathing through every line'
no wonder they appealed 10 the heart
and touched Il as more studied and
artificial poetry, be- Il ever 10 ine' can
never do.
AT the age ~ e.. having amasscd a
comfortable fortune In the banking
business. be- retired and gave himself
Nd 10 the true enjoyment Of life with
his wife aud family. the latter consist
Ing Of two young SONS aud q daughter
Of 10. About this time be began a
small volume. which he called Rural
Treasury" which he finished IN SIX
mcnihs' time. working only. as has
been snld. wien the muse Inspired
The little volume attained an instant
popularity. which surprised Us publish
en-. who could not understand how Il
had caught the puhllc's favor
put many q city man who had been
born aud raised IN the country knew
ard understood the charm u the book.
nnd wiped away the tears which star.
ted unhdden az the memories awaken
ga 10y sued simple verses as "Nading
In the stream" "ihe old School
house" aud The Early Violet
After lis publication. Elliot Browns
mail became 50 heavy. between auto
graph letters. flaticFing friends ana
begging oplstlcs, he laughingly de-
clared he must hire an amanncnsl1.
To earn money Tor a pet charity. his
daughter Emily eagerly begged fog
the position. and spent the early morn
ing hours attending TO k.s correspond
cnce IN her fathers handsome library.
During a temporary absence Of biz
young amanrensls. Afr. Brown again
attended % bis mall. ard one day
found n letter which particularly
pleased him. lie was above plain, un'
nduliefatcd nattery, but this letter
while flatterine. praised hls book IN
a sublc. dellOai,ly yelisd manner N
language a. choice aud elegant as I
boTrowcd-as perclancc II was-froH
the RACES Of an Cd manual " pollt,
corTespo ndencc.
A. the writer. Mlss AnIabei Leigh
gave her address Ia Boston and beg
ged foF an autograph letter from him
the poet wrcie a short note ihankin;
her Tor her Kind praise. In n few day
be received another letter from her Il
which she confessed that she. too. ha,
been sCorChed by the flames Of th
divine fire Of poetry. and beggeg HIN
20 pass judgment upon some Tires en-
cloEcd The lines were. "a say th
least. excellent. ard while they had
/ familiar ring IN Mr.. Browns mcnia
ear. as n be had read something llf
them la some long forgotten volume
he could not bc.lcyc the gentle write
guilty n PIN ar.sa, aud wrote cen
Eerding the verses.
This tal'od forth 10 Immediate ~
~ fNer. With more poems 10 be crit.
c.crd. that Nr. l,ruwn was startled
and YET. having fallen into the cui
rcspondence. scarcely knew how q
cxtr,cate himself. 80 az the end " IN
north. the limit sci for his daughter
visit. be had quite a packet u letter
from Miss Annahcl.
Slugularly enough. be- had ucglpctc
telling his wife OF the AMIR. hut dcicl
mlrcd a. take Emily into his conf
deuce. especially a. be- knew sli
would discover the matter Tor hcrscl
This ccirrmlla;iDu was sirgugthcrc
ly the rcr'pt Il q lclgthy missly
flom Miss Anuahrl. Ia which. al,
declaring that her heart told her TIA
he was rot only young aud handsom
bat unmarried. ard waiting ycarning 4
Tor his affinity. she huldly declared he
SELF that affinity, ard babe him fly
her arms.
Mr. Brown had not expected au
such complication 10 arise aud VI
truly alarmed. II WAS therefore wit
strong feeling OF relief that BE- shit
cd his burden on 10 Miss Emily
slup cly shoulders. She. being hlcsst
with a keen sense ~ humor. saw onl
the ludicrous side ~ the affair. blam,
her father Just ~ little. rs h. Il
served cot falling Into the net sprea
Tor his unwary feet aud promised
hc,p hlm cut
Deal gently with her dear" he he
ccd "She IL evidently young aud g
mantle. aud has given too free reii
% her fancy"
Trust mc not Ia be- rude. my dc.
! father" replied Emily and hctook hc
fclf To her pleasant task, while NJ
brown. with lirhtcned heart. wei
down TO Tidany's Ia buy an appr
pirate reward for her Kind services
This Is what SHE wrute:
Ms Dear Miss Leigh My faith
, has asked me to answer YOUR last !,
ter as he Is ON the point of depariln
uulrst medical advice. Tor the count
90 witness the marriage OF his favorl
cmrdchlld Bclng quite feeble m
suffering with distressing form
F. govt. he will therefore be unable no
b or nc any future time 10 Accept yo
4. klud Invitation to fly To your arm
/ Trusting you viii succeed IN nndlng
more available affinity IN the ne
future, | am sincerely.
Emily Brown
4 few weeks later Mr. and Nj
va made visit to Boston. aud
'p,loSle poet was lnlroduc