The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-05-05
Medea'S Charm.


he had fallen asleep i'm his hanson, and
the drunken fool OF driver had given
him some two hours In an unknown di,
rection, before, Understanding. half
tumbling OFF the box, he had subsidized
into slumber i'm a ditch by the roadside.
Algy was inclined TO think il was Ep-
ping Forest. For one thing II was so
Wild; then some curious association out
or John Dayidson's novels linked ham
SONS and strange adventures and Ep-
ping Forest in his mind Anyhow, il
was beasty sort Of place, with gusts
of odd creepy noises; there was some
thing uncomfortable I'm the cold stare
of the moon il detied your loneliness.
and at the same time set circle of
mist all round you which might be full
of lurking things-indced. there were
patterings OF feet now and again. ana
attenuated cries. AS a last alternative
ne could, OF course get into the ham
som. and walt there until morning; but
the night was abominably cold, and "A
glimmer Of light up one OF the glades
might mean an open inn and a roaring
fire. SO, fun of this hope. he deter
mined 10 venture off the open road into
the unknown and awful dimness of the
moon confused wood
The light proved elusive-and smited
His neat patent leather shoes became
grlmed With mud an aggressive branch
Knocked off his chimney-pot hat, moss
and lichcn stains appeared upon his
spotless shirt front. while his cuffs
grew limp with the damp of drippings
and dew. He came 20 the conclusion
that the light must be one Of those
beastiy will-o' -the-wisps," and that he
had better get back as soon as he could
70 his hanson. But he found himself
hopelessiy entangled in thicket upon
thicket--a maze closer and more puzzl-
ing than that of Hampton Court.
Algy lost his temper and swore His
thin shoes We're quite wet and let I'm
water at every step-there were thorns
in his socks. He had never known such
an extreme physical discomfort He
was OF the class that live leisurely in
duh luXuriance a life within doors as
artificial and bounded as "A stage scene
Thickness of wall and dimness OF cur
tain had always drawn a veil between
himself and actuality, and the outside
world. caught i'm odd glimpses from
club windows and hansoms, was as un-
realized as a city i'm Mars This harsh
and ghostly forest came as "a revelation
to him, and though he swore and shiv-
cred with wet and cold. yet as he went
on his blood began TO course through
his veins with unWonted quickness al ..
ror-the pitiful anxiety about his own
well-being-and crunched through bush
through brier, with growing delight IN
the exertion that soon tore away the
last shreds Of his dandyism. He emerg-
ed at last into an open space sn scare
crow Decentralization corrected by
Mother Nature.
There he came upon a woman in the
moonlight. blurred and filmY. stooplng
-stooping. Algy thought at first that
she must be doing washing. He had
heard that the working lasses rose al
inconceivable hours. and perhaps this
was some ingenious device TO avoid
the "beastly fag" OF "washing day"
But the woman was not washing; she
was not doing anything commonplace
or ordinary. Algy watched her with
quickly rising interest. II was Ike "a
tiptop scene in play. His experience
was entirely bounded by the theatre,
by popular pictures, by sensational
novels, and at first she reminded him
of the witches at the Lyceum; then, as
she came nearer To him, still STOPPING.
her garments resolved themselves into
dim puppies and blues. Ike the colors
of that painter chap, Waterhouse, at
the Academy-purples and blues dulled
and silvered by the moon. Then some
vague Eton reminiscence tloated into
his mind an old Greek Johnny had
NTltltil dDOul IL NpliluD bdtUcilnk
by moonight-to poison-no. to boil
her uncle-in-law. or some one. Medea.
that was the name, who pretended she
could make old people young again.
and. to prove il. changed a ram into
a calf.
The woman passed quite close 20
him. Her face was young and smooth.
''Aw-say-what are YOU doing. you
know" asked Algy. She raised her
eyes. They had the mystery in them of
unutterable age.
Her hands were full OF grasses and
flowers and queer-leaved things. and
she held them up 10 him. II am gather
ing up the potentiality OF youth" she
said
"Aw-what for?" said Algy.
The woman stood loking at him. The
crumpled cuffs, the soiled shirt-front
seemed TO proclaim him OF an alien
species. infinitely far away from the
earth she loved and embodied. II think
YOU are one OF those who do not knew
what youth is" she said. "or you would
not ask"
II never did feel young" repliedAlGy.
II was always bored. and thought L
knew lot. Does IL feel nice. TO he
=XaAng 2,
Can YOU imagine how a star feels
how sunset feels-how II river feels?"
asked the woman: always fresh, al
ways fun of light-changing, change
less? To he young is 20 be immortal.
ana the Oldest things are the youngest.
The oldest thing I'm the world is Nature,
ana she is the youngest, too. To be
truly young. young man. Is to have
abounding vitality-a vitality that
makes every moment live every
thought burn. every word tingle. You
city folk are old even at birth-your
life IL sluggish stream through murky
underground ways. But | know the Sc
cret OF youth. and | come 60 gather
herbs I'm the forest by mOonlighte'
"Do YOU boil pcoplc--like Medea?"
asked Algy. He did not know exactly
what she had been talking about. but
her words fitted in with his vague clas-
steal reminlscence.
THAT is q fable replied the woman.
'but like all fables il has a hidden
meaning. maybe unguesscd even by It's
inventor. The Greeks knew that the
only way 20 regain lost youth Is Co Kill
the old life and 40 battle I'm a bath of
herbs--that is. I'm nature herself. Few
Of us realize the immcnsity OF natures