The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-20
FIND of a ,Tourmey.


He said this himself, and as he had had
ample opportunity for studying his own
personality during something like forty
years. his judgment may possibly have
been correct. His culture found express
sion now and then in dainty little vol
umes of verses in Vellum- and-gilt covers.
wherein the thickness of the leaves and
the Wilderness of the snow white margins
bore the same relation to the slender
trickle OF song between that the moor,
land does to the streamIet His sensi-
tiVeness Of soul may have inspired him
with dread Of the neglect and cruelty
Of the world, and prompted the marked
insistence with which he impressed his
personality on the conversation when
ever he was present. His delicacy-well,
everything is relative. and there was
certainly no man in the society which
Theodore adorned who could more fully
describe the legal and medical details Of
queer experiences to feminine ears with
out offending them by the use of crude
and inartistic expressions
Art is but the handmade of life," said
Theodore with his ecstatic expression,
which has been likened by some to the
rapture of an overfed saint. and by
others to the qualms of the feline animal
when suffering from the effects Of over
feeding.
81 live only for art" he said, pressing
the tips of his white deshy fingers to-
gether.
That IS rather as if a man neglected
the mistress to make love to the maid, >"
growled Sir Maxwell Raynor, more than
half surprised at the aprness of his own
retort, which was solely prompted by in
tense dislike Of the other man, whom he
was sent to describe in moments of
frankness sometimes as that disgusting
beast or again more tersely as the
worm"
You think that very smart" inter-
posed Lady Laura Trinover, severely
But 1t only shows how little you know
about the subject Art is the one thing
that makes life endurabe"
1T beauties and adorns," said LIE Yer
sana, to whom it was irksome to remain
silent for long. without art, Nature
would present herself il all her crudi-
ties; life would be hideous-horrihIe."
THAT l deny" replied Sir Maxwell,
with feeling. There are many things in
nature that art cannot beautlfy, other
things that art can only initiate in an in
feriOr manner"
What sort of things are those?" in
quired Lady Laura. half in disdain and
half surprised. Sir Maxwell did not
usually excel in discussion.
He was too apt to agree slavishly with
whatever view she might have happened
to enunclate. Now he appeared to be
coming out Really the influence of his
obvious hatred for Mr. LIE Versana was
excellent for the formation of his char
acter and development of his brain More
over. his daring even to disapproVe of
any one whom she favored was the gros-
sest treason and rebellion, which requir-
ed to be stamped on decidedly. There
fore she determined that it would be good
for him to see a great deal more of the
gifted poet-in her society.
well, for instance. a beautiful Wom-
an" replied RaynOr doggedly. Art can
not make her more beautiful or less
beautiful" His eyes met hers full as he
spoke, and she knew that his mental IL
lustration was herself
She would have been more pleased with
the implied compliment had she been less
certain of her own attractions, or more
in doubt of his worship of them. Being
perfectly secure on both these points, she
proceeded to jump on him without mercy.
How little you know! Do you not know
that dress is everything to a woman?
That a badly dressed woman becomes
positively plain; that a beautiful wom-
an"
81 don't believe anything of the kind"
interposed Raynor hotly. "A really beau
tiful woman"-here his eyes again pointed
the observations always beautiful. If
she were dressed in black bombazine and
rusty Grape, she would still be beautiful.
The moon is not less beautiful on a
cloudy night than on a clear one"
Now no woman objects to the COMPARE
son of herself to the moon. even If the
thought be not exactly original
But on a cloudy night you could not
see her at all" struck in Mr.. lie Versana
with hasty triumph.
THAT would not make her less beauti-
full, even if 1t were exact, which it is
not"
Now in this reply Sir Maxwell decidedly
scored He had caught the eminent bard
tripping and given him a fall. Lady Laura
perceived this with surprise, and the poet
recognized 1t with anger. 1t Is probable
that that gifted man might have betrayed
his feelings III words, but the lady inter-
posed. She knew the nature of both men
the one quick to quarrel on the merest
pin-prick the other suffering to the
nth where his heart was involved. She
sacrificed the latter unhesitatingly to the
vanity of the former
This was what always happened. After
one of these snubbings Sir Maxwell w0ul1
go away sick and sore at heart, and VOW
ing that he would never see her again. If
she had the bad taste to prefer the sickiy
attentions of a worm like Lie Versana,
who was a sham from beginning to eml--
so said Sir Maxwell in his wrath-beSIn-
ming with hts ridiculous name, and end
ing with his detestable affectation-well,
let her-he did not care. To prove that
he did not care, he invariably called again
as soon as possible on the fiimsiest pre-
text and usually found his bette noire
comfortably ensconced before him with
out any excuse at all.
Lady Laura Trinover was widow--as
may possibly have been surmised. The
daughter of q peer of limited possessions,
she mad been married al an early age
mainly through the firmness Of her clear
headed parents-to old Sir John jacob
Trinover, M P John Jacob was square
in build, with mutton-chOp whisl1ers, phe
nornenalIy rich, not very refined. and sur
prisingly energetic. Finding that at sixty
he wanted q third wife, and that Lady
Laura was for sale, he bought her by pri-
vate treaty for large jointure and pos
sibilities. Having the grace to die soon
after, he left her a considerable fortune
absolutely, and more on a life interest.
Every one said that he had behaved eN-
ceedingIy we'll. 1t Is possible that in Lady
Laura's eyes not the least of his claims
to her gratitude was the fact of his rel
atiVely early deceaSe.
Then, after a decent interval. she Eouud
herself free independent, rich, run after.
The social ball lay az her feet. She could
play with IL as she willed. Sir Maxwell
speedily appeared on the scene. and his
ensIavement became more apparent every
day If he had not proposed as yet, 1t
was because she had sedulously prodded
him off whenever he seemed leading Up
TO the question Yet he was highly eiSi-
bile. and what Is known as q good fellow
Moreover, she undoubtedly liked him.
The fact was that Lady Laura was
passing through a phase not uncommon
with ladies with a history like hers She
,.,ns tirnd of the conventional and the or