The Bellefontaine Republican. [volume] (Bellefontaine, Logan County, Ohio) 1855-1905, 1900-02-23


ures dropped down the road together |
and were out of. sight. Sereta among |
the roses pricked her fingers more than
common. Samuel, L should think the
admiral would like a change" she said
fiercely when she had cut all the pink
buds and walked carefully around the
curved beds to begin OIL the red.
Samuel stared as if he had been chal-
lenged from the burning bush. The
admiral? Miss Sweeta, the admraPs
a py'reDnial. Most of the men that
come here is just blown away seed,
half sown or wind sown-come up first
in one garden, then in another. The
admiral's rooted like a red lalOc. He
don't need transplantin now. More
likely strange soil would kill him out
right"
1t was Disappointing that the conver-
sation at dinner that night should have
taken a strictly technical turn. 1t ran
nay, it fairly flew-on naval equip
ment, tactics and maneuvers till the
sleepy hostess withdrew unnoticed.
Left all to themselves, it burned out
with big guns toward morning, when
on the old subject of the admirafs iso-
lation, urging the necessity of renewed
contact with men, the familiar charm
of old scenes. while the admiral listen
ed as if to faroff music unmoved: Il
am like that dear fellow Stevenson,
Roger, my boy. l, too, have lived and
loved and closed the door,"
But surely the WeIt-geist is not dead
in you, admiral. Gray hairs do not
make moss grown wits. There's not a
man in the service to match you.'
Thanks" interrupted the older man
| briefly. "Welt-lust ist vorbei If can
avoid Welt-schmertz here in the over
| grown corner of my pasture fastness,
don't let envy of my peace poison your
happiness. | am too old, and Sereta"-
1 '.Ah, yes, Sereta," broke in the
| younger "She is at the other end Of
the path. You and she are like the two
| last petals of the daisy rhyme we used
to say our fate by-'passionement-p
| de toutr You live in your library and
| your thoughts. She lives in your shad-
ow and the companionship of that hy-
| percriticai old gardener"
{ VOICE
er," said the admiral blandly. Sam
uel did not forget himself, hopeT
] "No-that is, l tried to talk with him
| a bit about slips this morning. l was
| admiring his yellow lilies, but he took
no interest in my botanical researches.
| That is neither here nor there, how
ever. Your ward has eyes that no rose
| bugs can appreciate and nature that
| would whiten up some of the dark
| places OF earth considerably If proper
| ly applied. She ought to see less of
| herself and more off, He began to
| say people of her own age, but ended
worse by adding, "The things her
mother would have given her, fun and
| dancing, and''-
| ''Stopp' cried the admiral God for
! bid such a fate as her mothers was
for her! Thus far her feet have trod
| in angel innocence. She is happy as a
! boy, high minded as a saint. She has
never tampered with her emotions nor
felt the wasting reaction from pleas
ure. She doesn't know her heart ex-
cept as she knows her lungs-by name.
She is youth, graceful and unspoiled
classic as Greek. You cannot make
a folly of her. The marble is already
cut on straighter lines"
For time things went on In the old
routine. Except that the admiral
smoked more and talked less no one
would have guessed anything had hap
pened. No one saw the battle fought
or took account of self indulgence slain
or carried drink to the dying convic
tions or softened the going of well low
ed preferences, but after many days
and nights the campaign ended as sud
denly as it began, and the admiral was
every inch a commander still as he
went to find Sereta with surrender or
his brow. It was bedtime, and he
found her on the terrace bidding the
stars good night, one of her many
! quaint Observances of childhood.
There was a touch of pagan wonder
on her upturned face as she stood
there. He stood beside her and breath
ed a last long breath of complete con-
tent. They look down on many a
heart and country tonight" he began
Think of the Alps-they must love
such tall peaks best because they are
nearest-and then the sea that tosses
their image back to them in a million
shifting alterations, and the forest full
of sleeping and waking beasts, and the
daring flowers of the tropics, the suller
desert and the hearts of men. You
too little friend, would you like to be a
! star and have all the beauty and mis-
! cry of the whole world spread before
your
i Was he in earnest? There was some
, | thing new in his manner. Oh, was he
q in earnest? She did not speak, only
dropped her eyes to his face, and hel
upper lip quivered slightly. Did he
o mean it? Strange desires pressed upoI
I her; the world beyond the garder
\ seemed calling as the norman called
his wife in a poem of Arnold that wa.
O still ringing in her ears. She was
I outside the behavior of custom now
= troubled, yet glad.
+ 1T is time" he continued simply
yes, 1t is time. | did not realize tha
n you had outgrown the lilies"
B.. She could not keep the delight from
4, her face. but she did not speak, ant
Il the admiral waited as if for a signal
q then spoke on in the summer night.
o 'Your mother was Julia Ravignon.
! loved her. but she married a diplomat
c and | took up my career in the navy
Il Everything came to me-everythin:
h except forgetfulness. When met he
Up again years after in Paris. she wa