The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-22

ct Aagrant kind) which daily and hour
,.oved the soul of Felix Green more
IN another, it was that Providence,
led M by his parents and his sponsors,
mid have afflicted him with so absurd
l., inapproprlate a name. Felix indeed!-a
rrsrtv sort of designation to have affixed
him who had ever been the child of
isfortnne, whom Melancholy had marked
Cor her own, and in whose eyes life itself
nod long ceased to appear possession
nth retaining. Strictly speaking, he
,,la not feel much ill-will towards Provi-
80 since he no longer believed in the
9,tstence of such a force; but he d-d think
nat he had a legitimate grievance against
~ father and mother who, not content
-ritb having perpetrated the above-men-
.,.,ed ironical misnomer, had added to
t,,oir other iniquities by dying within few
- Of one another and leaving him with
,s1,- a penny OF income beyond that
n.,,b he derived from his distasteful la
rors as a clerk in the establishment Oh
,f.ssrs. Bailey & Co, wholesale tooaccon-
,r4ncing Lane, E. C. That they were
aot n blame for having bequeathed their
,,ronvmic to him he-being himself a
,,o,,ns man, as well as a gifted one
hound TO admit; still, it is rather vex-
-. n he called Green when you are
60 IONS of being perhaps the very last
norson in the city of London to whom tnat
aaioctive. in it's slang acceptation' could
he made to apply
.os NOT always that Felix Green had
80, animated by feelings of such intense
hittarness against the round world ana al
au,au therein as he was at the time
~ he was destined to become the hero
hriof but spirited episode. In the early
dovs of his connection with the hrm u
1aiev e. CO. Che was but two ana TWEEN
=. oven now) he had been able to survey
u,,ind with a less jaundiced eye out
-,,ooosefve disappointments and dlslliu-
.;ors had sadly soured nature Wnlch'
,,ndar happier auspices, might nave pee4i
bilanthorpic and generous. II was nv
~, mat he took no interest IN lopacco
md loathed bookkeeping; un1ort uiidle as
mis- was for one who helped 10 Keep tle
lbs of a tobacconst, it might nave peeh
poo 9S IN view of the necessity of earn
49, brsad and butter somehow or other'
I1. 1rbat disposf1ion, however, sweet, can
fou n deteriorate in the long rum Wheh
aIiI1ed nv continual, sickening experience
IF the stupidity and pre1uolce Wnlcn l0
fuse 10 recognize genius? NOW, MI. dleelr
poems were works or genus, ne W ~ -
p,,ira anyone to tell him that talthoush, 70
ta srre Sonhia Bailey had frequently sdlu
so,. etin less did he require anybody 10 ten
tino mot thew were nothing or the SORT
Wei that was what publishers ana maso1-
zine editors had had the impuoehce " a9
SORT again and again-some Oh tHeAi ~ -
many words, others by the even coai sei
method of leaving his comm ~ ~
noticed 1t almost looked as II Grass t .e
ronce would preva.l-as if Felix Green
,,ould have to live out his appointed days
ga Youth to Fortune and 10 aihe III
l,nown"-as if his passionate melodles anu
harmonies would perish with him- Il surn
a thought as that is not enough 70 MAXI
conscious genius grind Its TEEN anu 'e'i
its hair what is - o,,,,a
rience-or. at all events, one quite as oaq-
in store for this luckless rhymster. h's
emnIover. a shrewd, burly, good-humoreo
Philistine who neither knew nor careo
anything about poetry, but VINO was Sa e.
able of being moved with compassion Loi
solitary orphans, had repeatedly taken + e
Iiv ont win him. after business hours, to
the snug little house at Hammersmlth'
where he dwelt with an only daughter
and had given him supper there AS MI
Bailey was prone to fall asleep after ms
meals, and as Miss Sophia was young
rather pretty, very sentimental, anu Ia
more appreciative of original nterary .di
ent than certain purblind editors hau
shown themselves to be, the natural con-
sequences ensued. Felix, who connded
his woes, his wrongs, his aspirations, eV-
erything except his love (and that was
so obvious that she could not have been
ignorant of it, to this enhancing maid
en- lived for many weeks in what, alas!
proved to be a FOOLS paradise. When one
fine morning, he was abruptly and cruelty
informed that Sophia was about to es-
pouse a licensed victualler, and that the
match was one of affection on both sides,
the iron entered into his soul. That, at
least, was the phrase that he used IN
subsequently relating what had happened
to his friend Dempster; and Dempster
said he didn't wonder.
Pallid shock-headed, out-at-elbows
Dempster was a parsonage whom Felix
Green esteemed almost as highly as ne
did himself-which was saying great
deal. Not that Dempster was poet, nor,
for the matter of that, had he ever adj
vanced so far toward earning the esteem
OF dun and practical generation as to
accomplish a single hard days work; but
his ideas upon political, social and relig-
ious subjects conceded with, If, indeed,
they had not created, those of his young
friend, and he was beautifully fluent
lalker. Why was Dempster poor, hungry,
thirsty Especially thirsty, and unemploy-
ed? Obviously because the existing condi-
tlon of society was rotten to the core.
II had demonstrated this TO Felix hum
dred tines and so plausible were his meth
obs of argument that he had little diff
Guilty in tracing the perfdy of Sophia Bal
Iey to the self-same cause.
what's a girl brought up like VIII 1t
sheve been to do?" he asked. "Ain't
ehe been taught from her cradle to wor-
snip money and sell herself to the highest
Didder whenever he comes forward?
Lame her?-Gawd bless your soul. l don't
Dlame her! She's the victim of a pernl-
cious system of eddication, that's what
she is, and there's thousands upon thou
sands like her. Talk of the haristocracy!
Wen, they amt no better than they
should be, that's certain; but you may
axe my word for it that the real curse
ol this country-ah! and of other coun-
Hles, Tools the middle class. It's your
capitalist, big and small, who wants i'm
proving off the fact of the earth"
, mad hoped" remarked Felix, gloom
Hy' that Sophia had a soul above her