The Opelousas courier., 1897-01-23

day? Enough to keep the wolf away
Enough to keep body aud soul to
gether. Enough SO hat he would ca
three times a day instead of once il
three days. His spirits arose rs TIL
nonrishing dishes disappeared. II
Lighted q cigar.
"Julie,' he repeated softly. "IIov
her face ONE back! The little coun
tess! Happy days? Yes it is to her
my love, my lost love, I will speak
On, lime, what a reven9tful old fel
low thou art. Who could havo i'm
a3lnel bankruptcy would have RUNE,
a noble house End that | who hu;
plenty in the heyday OF lite, an nov
but o scnryy scribbler III en- attic
chamber, addressing ma:lrigaIs to an
others charmer at SO many sou.
per rhyme! Yes, between the pas;
and the present is q vawnlDg cAnsm,
but [, standing on the brink, may looi
across and see my old love who has
forgotten, who remembers no more
the happy days Of childhood.
"Now, away with such faucies! Let
the poet assert himself; not the loycr.
Yet to this ideal | must ever appeal. "
His pen sputtercl ana the words
ran trippingly across the paper. He
gazed thonghtfully Mt the wall where
the plasteriDg hal fallen AMI again the
pen trippcd across the paper, back
again aud then across once mor He
eyed the broken window pane with u
towel picturesquely tilrust into The
aperture and the pen fairly flew mcr-
rlly to AMI fro. lie glanced Mt the
place in the ceiling where the rain hal
dr;ppel through and then he ga:Iy
punctuatel the verses. H. real them
yer and something like Il tear ~.
pearcl IL his eye. He passed his
hand across his brow. "Ihis is melnn-
choly work playing with the shadows
of tie past" he said, as he blew out
his candle and went to bed.
The next morning his visitor reap
peared and Claude handed him the
poem. He read it carefully.
Every good" he said; at must be
good; | don't understand 1t. That
last turn is especially fine. To-day
will be a day o! surprises for her. |
will send it with flowers by my ser
want. Gool' day. Remember, to,
morning at ten O'Clock I will
call for the goo,is-I mean the poem,
and expect to finl it ready
For several days the poet pursued
this occupation. One morning his
patron called, in high glce, waving q
."Seo what diplomacy may aocon.
plish, Mr.. Poet" he said. Gust read
Am I gong to win her? Well,
| think am. I'll double your salary,
that's what I'll do. There's nothing
email about me, and on the wedding
lay I'll write you ont q check. Bat
Iook at this" And he pointed to o
passage in O letter. "Tour words have
touched me very much. I never gave
you credit for such depth of feeling.
low we are apt to misjudge! Your
words tonch a secret chord in MY ma
:ure, dear friend, shall J. confess it?
When l see you, alas, it is diG4reat!
have g little patience with me-"
There. what do you think Of that?"
'touted the lover. "lsn't she already
vou? Keep right Oh. These roman
lc girls can't fool me. Grind out the
I'll provide the wharewitAal."
But as Claude worked his heart be.
anne dark and clou 'e1. 1t oppressed
lin constantly to be bringing up an
mage from the past. He struggled
nanfully but determined to break his
contract with the lover as 500 as
possible. He had the JOY OF learning
hat his romantic play would soon be
reduced and he trusted it might be
uccessful SO that he could devote
himself solely to his dramatic work.
had been so filed with old mem
rles that he Incorporated them in
he poems, disguised it is true. He {
to such fantastic devices as
oncesling his name and that OF Julie, /
IS old love, in these illusions. Sub. 5
osa there were many tender messages |
, his ideal which his patron
onld not observe. He brought up
Amy n childhood incident in which
le Countess Juhe and he figured. {
nee when LIS patron expressed some
regarding ono Of these vagaries,
laude silcnced him imperiously with
'mething about poetic license. The 7
oems were q perfect cryptogram, y
elling in cEpher the story, or other :
lse, by in:imation or hint, the love
his life, his boyish alteration for /
le young Countess, the downfall +
his fathers fortunes and the ruin Of /
le family name. his struggles in c
arts, his aspirations for fame aud re- C
own. The sad consciousness that hs 7
i'd lost the young girl breathed
trough the lines end resignation of
noble soul to the inevitable, made
e pathos more apparent. But one @
ing that puzzled the poets patron Q
that while his beloved became n
'Ider in her manner toward him she n
emed more anxious than ever for T
The night dM il%>v nea. whenthe poets n
az was to be presgi3ced. Tae author Il
AZ among the specpgsors. CHANGING b
cas-: his eyes at onefqnf the boxes he n
there a face that lenade him turn p'
lie the f stures &c his child love. tt
1ich had b. 81 in%delib]y impressed Q.
ION his heart. And by hes side was q
$ patron, the man for whom he had in
'ltten the poems. The performance es
ssed like 9 dream. CLAUDIO was called la
t and bowed with embarrassment. nt
'nderlng if she REMEMBERED him and be
My conscious that she sat there like th
statue, paying no attention to the to