Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1899-04-27
|00]I THE GODS DESTROY.
by }. ID. Daslsnin.

III. zoo much power over the hearts
aI wv sbail not be given to other men,
'. .6nr tho givers are forgotten in the
' arJ the smoke dies away from the
.sr g. So they kill the men who play
W. soils. According, to an ancient
,;rg before they destroy the victim
make him mad. There are, how
modifcations of the process. Oc-
e;onally they make him drunk.
A. came down the board walk that
Dads TO the ocean, ! saw by his stagger--
y, and swaying gait that the man was
II only very drunk indeed, but that
,loried in the fact. This was shown
the brandishing arms and the toss
!, head and the defiant air with which
roonrded the cottages, before one Of
bich he paused, leaned forward, placing
y. hand dramatically at his ear, and
rs.enty executed wild dance OF
bat was apparently derision. A timid
,oman would have reiterated, but | am
ot timid, except when / am alone in
|hs dark. Also ] have what my brother
,aw calls Bohemian tastes. As nearly
have been able to understand that
[brasc. it signifies a great interest in
sonle. especially when they are at all
hi And this solitary, scornful dance
ragged man before tho Averys' cot
ace was odd in the extreme.
So walked quietly along. When l
e.ched the man heard him mutter-
d os rapidly to himself, while he rested
ram the exertion of his late per-
ormance. What did dancing drunken
man talk aboutY | walked slower. My
brother in law says that woman with
mn respect for the proprieties, to say
poihing of the conventions, would nevor
, baye done this. / have observed, how
yer, that his feelings for the pro-
rieties and the conventions, both of
Them, have on occasion suffered relapse,
mere especially ut those times, prior
10 his marriage to my sister, when l,
,lthougn supposed to be walking and
dng and rowing and naphtha. launch
ng with them, was frequently and in
rycusably absent. So ! gather that the
huprieties and the conventions, like
nany other things, are relative. Va
As passed the man he turned and
looked Grossly at me, spoke apparently
10 some one far away behind me, for
he smoke with much force. 'Did you
ever hear such damn foolishness2" he
demanded. Now there was nothing to
hear but Miss Kitty Avery playing
Chopin's Fourth Ballade in i minor.
She played it badly, of course, but
nobody who knew Kitty Avery would
have imagined that she would play
otherwise than badly, and have heard
so much bad playing that / didn t
notice it very much anyway. thought
it hardly probable that the man should
know how unfortunate Kitty's method
and selections were, SO | passed dis
creetly by. Soon l heard his steps and
knew he was coming after me. While
he was vet some dis lance behind mo he
spoke again.
~ suppose that fool Of a woman
thinks she can play" he growled as he
lurched against lamp-post. Then
did the unpardonable deed. turned
and answered him.
How do you know it's woman ~
] asked.
Huh! Take me for fool, don I
your" he said scornfully, scuffling along
uusteadily. I'm drunk as an owl,
but I'm no fool! No, ! know it's u
woman from the PAWN round she
does. Bah Thinks she's playin'. Damn
nonsense!" He sat down carefully or
the sand by the side of the walk and
wagged his head knowingly. | looked
cautiously about. No one was in sight.
] bent down and united my shoe.
"Perhaps you could play it betterf'
! suggested sweetly. His jaw dropped
| with CONSERVATION.
play it better OH! Lord! Sh,
SAYS can play it hetter Can-I- play
. it-better? Well, I'll tell you one thing
/ If couldn't play it better dye know
what I'd do? Do your"
NO." said /, and tied my shoe. III,
didn't talk thickly as they do in books
7 On the contrary he brought out eaci
word with particularly clear ant
final utterance.
We'll, III tell you what I'd do. T.,
90 off and drown my sorrers in drink
Yes | would. Although I'm so DRUM
that | wouldn't know when | wa
getting drunk on principle and whel
was Just plain drunk. Lee me tel
you somethin' I'm drunk now" HI
announced the fact with gravity s.
colossal as to render laughter i'm
possible. l united the other shoe.
Can you really play Chopin"
;aid. He shook his fist at the Aver
cottage.
What I can't play of Chopin yo
never heard played! So that's the en-,
O that" he said. The folly Of tn
situation suddenly became clear to me
] hastily tied my shoe and turned ;
20. He half rose from the sand, bu
sunk helpessly back.
'Luok here" he said, confidentially
I'm tired, and l need m rost. | 60
to have rest. We all need rest. II yo
want to hear me play, you come to tb
old hulk of barn that's got the pian
in il. They call it auditorium--au-di
to-ri-um. tHe pronounced the syllable
as If TO child of three. III be there
You come before supper. I'll be reste
then. I'd like to shoot that woman
thinks she can play damn nonsense.
lwent on to the beach.
ii.
My brother. in law came down on tn
afternoon boat, aud Of course he occr
pied our attention. His theorie!
though often absurd, are certainly we
sustained. For instance, his ideas 9
10 the connection between genius on
insanity. He says--but l don't kno
Why speak of it. i defeated hill
utterly. At length left the room
hate man who won't give up whe
he's beaten. | found the Nice Boy c
the piazza, and we sat and talke'
Really u charming fellow. And not {
very young, either. He told fascinatir
tales of shipwreck he'd experienced
where they sat on the bow as the BOZ
went down and traded sandwiches.
Il gave Hunter two hams for
chicken, and it was a mean swindle
he said, reminiscently. Speaking
sandwiches, / gave chap 10 cents
INV tItl m