People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1899-08-10
I Y
A VANISHING POINT OF VIEW.

n NANlShlNO fOlNl OE VIEW
When Ringbrand left the hospitable
mansion on the mountain and began his
swo-mile walk to Tregarthen, he was
distracted by more different kinds OF
perplexity than usually fall to the lot
of man of his temperament. The
friendly footing upon which he was
established at "The Laurels" gave HIM
opportunities for constant association
with Hester which had swept away all
Ais earlier doubts as to the depth andre
atty of his attachment for the girl; but,
assuming that he could win her-and he
was by no means sure that ii was SC
written in the book of possibilities-she
was different enough from his ideal to
demand very disconcerting readjust.
ment of the lines upon which he had
4ormed his somewhat indefinite plans
for domestic future. Like most other
men, he had painted for his life pos.
sible matrimonial background, but ir
this picture the colors harmonized
artistically with the neutral tints of hi,
own studious habits. There was to be
a quiet home, with books and works OF
art, and an atmosphere of thoughtful
refinement whose peaceful calm should
be ruffled by no rude blasts of passion; a
dome which should be small city OF
refuge from the din and turmoil of the
strenuous battle for existence. The
central figure in this ideal retreat had
never been quite clearly defined, but
she was to be intellectual and endowed
with quick sympathy, and she was to
embody the artists ideal of the other
half of himself which should divine
With sensitive intuition the subtitle
thread of genius in his work. A hasty
review of the results of his acquaint-
ance with Hester Latimer brought out
with alarming distinctness the fact
that she possessed none of theattributes
OF this ideal, save that, perhaps, her
charming individuality made it i'm
possible to say thst she was not intel
lectual. She was positive and inno-
Gently self-assertive; and she had al
ready given him IA shock by avery frank
and ingenious criticism of one of his
stories which had appeared in a recent
number OF one of the magazines. She
was essentially of her own day and gem
eration;. and she apparently knew little
and cared less about the subtler dis
tlnctions of motives and of character
which so torment and perplex the
student of his kind. Without in the
least Suspecting it, and being, on the
contrary, quite fully resolved to keep
IN touch with bristling activity Of
modern life, Hugh Ringbrand was
already beginning to acquire the intro
spective habit of a closet-student; peace
and quletness, and a well-selected Ii.
hrary, seemed to comprehend the con-
ditions most necessary to his well-be.
ing; and such an environment with the
breezy personality of Hester Latimer
Tor the central figure appeared almost
aughably homogeneous.
To do him full justice, Ringbrand
tried very earnestly to reason his way
out of the emotional tangle in which he
found himself-the NOR. insistently,
perhaps, because he felt his powers Of
resistance slipping away from him in a
closer acquaintance with Hester. The
experience of those few weeks was en-
trely without precedent in his we'll
ordered life. He had said to himself,
IN certain self-congratulatory moods,
that he had successfully passed the age
when passion usurps the place of in.
partial judgment; that an artist must
Be so far removed from the emotional
side of life in his own experience as to
be able to look upon it with the cool and
dispassionate eye of critical student;
and up to that unlucky moment when
ne hat seen Hester Latimer trip across
the platform at Chilwanee Junction lie
5ound little difficulty in conforming to
The artistic requirement. Now, how,
ever, the point Of view seemed to have
Veered so suddenly that it left him crop.
ing in mist of uncertainties, in which
de was sure of nothing but an over.
whelming desire to possess Hester; 3
.seSire which contemptuously pushed
ASIDE the arguments of reason as of nc
weight and quite unworthy Of tn,
smallest consideration.
And then the incident of the evenin;
the, ihdistinct shadow in the bushes