Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1896-08-22

wv 20 is Shef"
Her name is Sibyl vane."
"Never heard Of her"
mo one has. People will some day, how.
sver. She is a genius"
my dear boy. no woman is a genius;
women are a decorative sex. They never
have anything 10 say, but they say il charm
lngly. They represent the triumph Of
matter over mind, Just rs we men represent
the triumph OF mind over morals. There
are only two kinds OF women, the plain and
the colored. The plain women are very
useful. IL you want 70 gain a reputation
for responsibility, you have merely 10 take
them down 20 supper. The other women
.rc -e-y charming. They commit one mis-
take, however. They paint in order 20 try
10 look young. Our grandmothers painted
IN order ~ try 20 talk brilliantly. Rou0c
and esprit used 10 20 together. That has all
gone out now. As long as a woman can
look ten years younger than her own
daughter. she IS perfectly satisfied. As for
conversation, there are only five women in
London worth talking 70, and two Of these
ant be admitted into decent society. How
ever, tell me about your genius. How long
haTe YOU known herr"
"About three weeks. Not so much. About
two weeks and two days"
SHOW did YOU come across herr"
al will tell yOu, Harry; but YOU mustn't
De unsympathetic about il. After all il
never would nave happened IL I had not
net you. You filed me with a wild desire
% know everything about life. For DAYS
after ] met you, something seemed To
;hrob ia my veins. As ] lounged IN the
o..l, - s-.Nf. 49,, 49, Is.~-IAN- -
% looy q, every one who passed me and
wonder with "A mad curiosity what sort OF
ives tsey led. Some OF them fascinated
ne. Others filled me with terror. There
vas an exquisite poison in the air. I had q
passion for sensations.
"One evening about seven o'clock J de-
termincd 10 40 ont in search Of some adj
venture. ! felt that this gay. monstrous
London Of ours, with its myriads Of people,
Is splendid sinners, and it's sordid sins. as
you once said, must have something in store
FOR me. / fancied "A thousand things. The
mere danger gave me a sense Of delight. |
remembered what YOU had said 10 me on
hat wonderful night when we first dined
iOgether, about the search for beauty being
he poisonous secret Of life. | don't know
what | expected, but / went out and wan
Tered eastward, soon losing my way in q
labyrinth Of grimy streets and black, grass
ess'squares. About half past eight 1 passed
by little third rate theater, with great
iiaring gas jets and gaudy play-bills. A
hidcOus Jew, in the most amazing waistcoat
| ever beheld in my life, was standing at
the eatrance, smoking a vile cigar. He had
greasy ringlets, and an enormous diamond
blazei in the center Of a soiled shirt. AVE
q box. my lor1F he said, when he saw me-,
and ne took of his hat with an act OF gor.
gcous c~ivllitv. There was something about
him that amused me. He was such "A monster.
You will laugh at me, ! know, but ! went in
and paid a whole guinea for a stage. box.
To the present day | can't make out why l
did so, and yet il | hadn't,-my dear
Harry, IL / hadn't. I would ave missed the
greatest romance OF my life, see you are
laughing. II is horrid Of you"
81 am not laughing, Dorian; a. least | am
not laughing at you. But you should not
say the greatest romance Of your life.
You should say the first romance OF your
life. You will always be loved, and you
will always be in love with love. There are
exquisite things in store for you. This Is
merely the beginning"
do you think my nature so shallow
cried Dorian, angrily.
mo | think our nature so deep
"How do you mean!"
"My dear boy, people who only owe once
In their lives are really halo people:
what they call their fidelisE ! call either the
lethargy OF custom~rcb~4Ss s-es-se<r' rrs
sia~-@k reselRn Itellectual life
, simply nan reg .sire. But | dom
want tok." 10 Go on with you
Well / ound myself seated in a horrit
little private box, with a vulgar ~drop-scen.
staring me in the face. looked out behind
the curtain, and viewed the house. L: :.as
a tawdry affair, all cupids and cornucopias,
like a third-ratc we~dding-cake. The gallery
and pit were fairly full, but the two rows of
dingy stalls were quite empty, and there
was hardly a person in what ! suppose they
called the dress-circle. Women went about
with oranges and ginger-beer, and there
was a terrible consumption Of nuts going
on"
1T mus, have been like the palmy days
Of British drama"
Just ike. | should fancy. and very
horrid. began TO wonder what on earth
should DO. when | caught sight of the play
bill. What do you think the play was,
Harry"
Il should think The Idiot Boy; or. Dumb
but Innocent Our fathers used TO like
that sort Of piece, | believe. The longer ]
live, Dorian, The more keenly l feel that
whatever was good enough for our fathers
is not good enough for US. In art, as in
politics, les grlndpsres ont tou5ogs tort"
''This play was good enough for US.
II was Romeo and Juliet | must admit !
was rather annoyed at the idea Of seeing
Shakespeare done in such a wretched hole Of
\ place. Still, | felt interested in u sort OF a
way. At any rate ] determined to wait for
the first act. There was a dreadful orches-
ira, presided over by a young Jew who sat at
A cracked piano and nearly drove me away,
but at last the drop-sceue was drawn up,
and the Jay began. Romeo was a stout
elderly gentleman. with corked eyebrows, a
husky voice, and "A figure like a beer-barrel
Mercutio was almost as bad. He was play
ed by the low-comedian, who had intro
iuced gags Of his own and was on most
familiar terms with the pit They were as
grotesque as the scenery, and looked as IL il
nad eome out of a pantomime Of fifty years
ago. But Juliet! Harry, imagine the girl.
hardly seventeen years of age, with a little
hower-like face, a small Greek head with
plated coils Of dark brown hair, eyes that
were violet wells of passion, lips that were
ike the petals Of a rose. She was the love-
hest thing | had ever seen in my life. You
said 10 me once that pathos left YOU I'M
moved, but that beauty, mere beauty, could
dIl your eyes with tears. l tell you, Harry,
[ could hardly see this girl for the mist OF
tears that came across rue. And her voice
i never heard such a voice. 1t was very
low az first, with deep mellow notes, that
seemed to fall singly upon ones ear. Then
il became a little louder. and sounded like q
dute or distant hautboy. In the garden
scene IL had all the tremulous ecstasy that
,ne hears just before dswn when nightin-
gales are singing. There are moments,
later on, when IL had the wild passion Of
yiolins. You know how a voice can stir one.
Your voice and the voice Of Sibyl Vane are
two things that l shall never forget. When
close my eyes, I hear them, and each OF
them says something different ! don't
know which to follow. Why should l not
love heri Harry, i do love her. She is
everything TO me in life. Night after night
I go TO see her play. One evening she Is
Rosalind, and the next evening she Is