The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-03-22
Bah Enthuses Over the New British Author-His ''Ques
of the Golden Girl"

1t is a good thing to be endowed at
ones birth with enthusiasm. Ter
haps those people who are Stofid and
do not allow their fancicS to get the
advantage of them 90 through hfc III
a more even manner, but | doubt if they
get ono-half of the pleasure out of
everything that comes to them as does
the enthusiastic woman. l say enthu-
Siastic woman" because enthusiasm III
u man is apt to degenerate into Stiffness
unless it grows into hearty likes and dis-
likes about the time he is tWtnty-one.
But that is another story.
When | first fcalu the Prose Eancles
of Richard lie Galienne. l said to my
self, Here is a man who knows how
to find beauty III everything, and here
is n man who isn't ashamed to have
intense likes and deeply strong dislikes
and here is a man who controls the best
English l have met since L was intro
duced to the essays of Stevenson"
Then from here and there would come
a poem with the somewhat romantic
signature of Richard lie Gallennc, and
after awhile the newspapers began to
tell, not of his great gcnius-'t!at isn't
the way of newspapers-but of his pc
clllilrities and distinctive likings. OF
course nobody amounts to anything who
as we are all so fond of saying this
world is free and people can do as they
please in it, ! fail to see why. If Il man
prefers wearing a lace tic or HRS hair
a little longer than ordinary or inclines
to knee breecheS or finds a loose jacket
more comfortable he should not follow
his fancy
QUEST OF THE GOLDEN GIRL.
4 I MT
hands that most strange book, THE
Quest of the Golden Girl ] say most
strange A great many other people
put a different adjective TO it, but there
must be something else III this world ex-
cept milk for bal bies. and as 1T is already
in its ninth edition there must be other
people who, like me, found in it much
that was interesting. Perhaps, indeed.
certainly. l did not approve of every
thing. Perhaps, indeed. most certainly,
| disagree With the author about some
things, and not perhaps and very GER
tanly there are some of the most deli
cate touches. some of the most eXQui-
site poetry, in this book that were ever
written Therefore. when | saw q
small announcement in one corner OF
the paper that Mr.. Richard lie Galliennc
would read at a certain time. at Il GER
tain place, | presented myself at the
box office of that theatre and bought
the first ticket that was sold, since when
/ hear people read | like to be near
them.
There came the day and The hour
later on the man. The curtains parted
and showed a stage set after the fashion
Of simple English interior. There were
Il few books on the table in the center.
and beside them 4 big bunch Of violcts.
In i second Il slender young man. dressed
in the most conventional afternoon dress.
and wearing Il pcrfectlN-httlng frOck
coat made Il polite bow to his audience.
The face was classic to u degree. 1t
WAS the face THAT Maclisc drew so
many years ago, when Charles Dickens
WAS his sitter. when Charles Dickens
was just about the age this man is. His
eyes are peculiarly clear. and the hair.
which oddly enough, YOU would first
think WAS long, is in reality tremendously V
thick. inclined TO wave. very black, and
though worn longer than the average
man wears his locks. still its thickness
lnrpresscs one much more than lis
length There were !; word or two Of
Introduction and Il simple speech to the
effect that American people, like Eng
liSh l~ople. were probably interested
In simple things. and liked to hear about
everyday affairs. as sprngtimc. the
moon, the heart beats OF the world, and
the world itself.
HIS PERSONAL PECULIARITIES
The greatest pcculiarty Of Mr.. lie
| Gallienne to me is bis SuperSensitiyc
mouth. If | were stone deaf | could
tell what he said from the motion of
| his lips. He absolutely carcsses his
| words, although he is entirely free
from gestures. and has no tricks of
| clocutlon. He is yet II pleasant reader,
butt OH, what Il writer. Truly, he can
| make a. silk purse out of sOw's ear
| since one of his most charming des-
| criptions of spring makes poetical the
antics of d matronly pig, followed by
her ten little piglets.
| 1t is easy to understand his great nd
miration for golden-haired women, for
| he is a perfect brunette. and yet the
| lady pointed out as his wife was dark
| haired. In "The Quest of the Golden
Girl'' he finds that the woman whom he
| loves and whose hair is golden has
gained this golden tinge through the
| agency of a little vial marked "Pero1-
| ide of Hydrogen" so he asks her to let
| her hair go back to IT'S natural color, and
| she promises to do it. saying at the
| same time. with that wonderful fore
! sight THAT comes only to women. "All
| right, dear, but something tells me that
| when my locks are all brown again our
| happiness will be at an end
| He asks her how long it will take for
this wonderful hair, which reaches al
most to her feet. to lose its artificial col
or. and she tells him about two years. He
| speaks of cutting a lock of it--that IS.
One-half golden and One-half brown
and he says it seems to him to represent
her life, only the dark part is the golden
and the golden days are the dark time.
| The two years go by, and for you who
| have not read this book l am going TO
quote just the end of it.
A TOUCHING CHAPTER.
"TwO years did Elizabeth and | know
| the love that passeth all understanding