Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1898-02-03

|
love as long as possible, and he has
wise, instructive dread of becoming
ot erfamiliar; well knowing that moth
| ing kills romance 80 swiftly and
curely as the bare blunt prose OF close
| ard constant proximity. And |, like
other gentlemen of my rank and class.
gave my twice welded wife her lib
| erty-the last hours of liberty she
would ever know. | left her to busy
| herself with the trifies she best loved
trifles of dress and personal adorn-
nsont, for which many women barter
away their souls peace and honor, and
| diyest themselves OF the last shred of
right ard honest principle merely to
outshine others Of their own sex, and
SOW broadcast heaTt-burnings, petty
enyies. mean hatreds and contemplate
| spites, where, If they did but choose,
there might be widely different har-
/ vest.
! II is easy to understand the feelings
| o. Marie Stuart when she arrayed her
self in her best garments for her exc
cution it was simply the herosm of
supreme vanity, the desire to fascinate
! If possible the very headsman. One
can understand any beautiful woman
being as brave as she Harder than
death itself would it have seemed TO
her had she been compelled to appear
on the scalfold looking hideous. She
was resolved TO make the most of her
charms so long as life lasted.
thought of that sweet-lipped, luscious
smiling queen as | parted from my
wife for a few brief hours royal and
deeply injured lady though she was,
she merited her fate, for she was
reacherous-there can be no doubt
Of that. Yet most people reading her
history pity her---i know not why. 1t
is strange that so much Of the worlds
sympathy Is wasted on false women!
| strolled into one Of the broad log
gle of the hotel, from whence | could
see a portion Of the Piazza del PO-
polo, and lighting a cigar, | leisurely
watched the frolics or the crowds. The
customary focling proper to the DAY
was going on and no detail of 1t
seemed to pail on the good natured,
easily amused folks who must have
seen it all 80 often before. Much
laughter was being excited by the re-
marks of vender OF quack medicines,
who was talking with extreme volu
biity to number Of gayly-dressed
girls and fishermen. ] could not dis
his words, but judged he vas
selling the elixir OF love" from his
absurd amatory gestures-an elixir
compounded, no doubt of little
harmless eau sucre.
Flags tossed on the breeze, trumpets
Drayed, drums beat improVlsators
twanged their guitars and mandolins
loudly to attract attention, and failing
ia their efforts, swore at each other
with the utmost joyiality and hearth
ness, flower girls and lemonade-sellers
made the air ring with their conflict
ing cries, now and then a shower OF
chalky confetti flew out from adjacent
windows, busting with white powder |
the coats OF the passers-by; clusters
OF flowers tied with fayors OF gay-col- !
ored ribbon were layishly flung at the |
feet of bright-eyed peasant girls, who !
rejected or accepted them at pleasure |
with light words of badinage or play |
fu. repartee, clowns danced and tum-
bled. dogs barked, church bells
Glanced, and through all the waving
width of color and movement crept the
shrinking forms OF diseased
and loathy beggars whining Tor q
soldo and clad in rags that barely
covered their hating, withered limbs.
1t was a scene to bewilder the brain
and dazzle the eyes, and was just
urning away from it out OF sheer
.atigue when sudden cessation oil /
in the swaying, whirilng
rowd ard a slight hush, caused me
% look out once more. | perceived
he cause OF the momentary stiffness
/ funeral con tege appeared, moving at
, slow and solemn pace, as 1t passed
,cross the square, heads we're uncoV-
,red and women crossed themselves
ieyouuy. Like black shadoWy
snake it cooled through the mass of
shifting color and brilliauce-anothe
and it was gone The de-
pressing effect of its appearance was
soon e0aced the merry crowds re-
,umed their thousand-and-one fl axis
lg folly. their shriekiug. laughir1 nj \
dancing and all was as before Why
not?
The dead are soon forgotten, none /,
knew that better than /. Leaning my !
arms laztly on the edge of the balcony
finished smoking my cigar That +
glimpse OF death in The midst of life /,
bad filled me with a certain satistacy !
ton. Strangely enough, my thoughts
began to busy themselves with the oA |
modes of torture that used TO be legal /
and that, after all, were not so unjust
when ur8CtiCrd upon persons profess,