Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-08

5 A COnvd|eSCent COurtShip s
u ------- 81
81 BY MARJORIE BENTON COOKE. 81
BY MARJORIE BENTON COOKE.

denly singled out by Monsieur Typhus |
and Rugged to his breast. He put out !
to sea with a calm Indifference as to |
harbor or port, with scarce a thought of |
return. Safely hauled to anchor again |
by dsinterested Samaritan named |
Freeman. and almost tempted ashore |
by an unknown lady. So much for the |
past which counts for nallght. For pur-
poses of exact description, which you
heartlessy demand, | have again called
for "a nd-glass. Alas, dear lady, hol-
lowcheeked cadaver with forehead
enough to make a new face of-two holes
where eyes once may have been, and
a mouth that suggests late pain. The
whole effect heightened by a poor, shay
ed pol--in short a Savonarola minus
spirituality. Truth compels me to adj
nit that / am not at my best.
And now for you. my dear lady. What
return do I get for this absolute real
ism? l had forgot-you are woman
therefore a fictionist. ] await your part
of the introduction with Impotence.
Yours eXDectantly.
II. r. ~
Dear Mr.. Nichols:
l am very glad to meet you. and find
your introduction most interesting. l
think you are sa ling under false fla
Realism, ind aed-you suggest much and
tell nothing. l should have found you
out even without your self-attached la
bel--a teller of tales for like other of
your labor Sinking set you give me the
bare bones of a personality and leave me
struggling to cover it with flesh and
blood. In my present mental vacuty 1
must needs give it up
| have been aimlessy turning the mat
ter over in my mind since you intro
dlced yourself. Possibly you can decide
for me. The fact is. l am sorely tempt
ed to live up to your 'fctionSt,' and
construct for you a self which shall in
all points surpass this weary, thread
bare personality that is mine. A bril-
liant, earnest, aspiring creature. rising
above the ills which her particular flesh
seems heir to. in short. Fascinating,
convalescing martyr I say am Tempt
ed. but the dread possibility of the de-
lection tina. would follow upon our ac-
tual meeting restraints me. You see I've
demolished my ideal self in a stroke. IT'S
the detection, not the deception, that
alarms me. Then. too. your Savonarcla
touch inspires honest confession. l Dor
row your boat smile for lack of better:
d
leisurely pleasure craft. enjoying the
beauty of the banks and every breeze
that blows. The people who come aboard
l enjoy but don't moor long in one bay:
my crew is a crew of dreams. L might
be scheduled "A pleasure ship. sailing
from Nowhere, bound for Nowhere, and
ready for any weather.
Curiosity as to my looks prompts my
first demand for mirror. I've lost
most of my vices in this long refining
siege, but vanity is still strong enough
to protest. You must give me a face of
your own for awhile. Sometime, per-
haps-our graybeard Mercury has arr1v-
ed, and this must go. I am. Mr. Nichols
A shadow. sometimes called.
i. HARRIET LANE.
have just had your letter. which the
blessed doctor brought l had to pos
sess my soul with endurance while he
/ pottered over my condition with that
| Heavenly Being who nurses me. Poor
Woman!-a life of symptoms and pa
TENTS, one shudders at the mere thought
OF it
wonder, oh lady of my dreams. if
you know what these letters of yours
have come to mean to me- 1t seems as
| ing for them. gladder enjoying of them.
and I grudge myself returning health. I
keep them all beside me, from that first
dear. tantalizing scrawl to the latest full
revealment Of yourself and invent err
rands for the Heavenly Being so that I
may read them all again. To-day's-yes,
| to-day's is quite the best I dread, yet
| grow impatient for the day when I
may come to you. The H. e. is here
again, with broth; I am but tank into
which she pours vile liquids.
Yours, quite yours, H.
. What should you say, I wonder, if
asked you not to come at all? 1 think
L dread the meeting more than I desire
it. Why run the risk of disappointment,
when this letter-companionship is so sat-
isfying? anticipation is SO much the
best of hings-the climaX-realization
once past, what then? Life seems SO
calm and beautiful now, with health
coming back and the earth-n interests
slipping in again. the mere human sat
isfato con of food and rest, the unques-
| tioning acceptance of child. and naught
to mark the days but your letters. No.
no, don't come. I'd rather dream than
know. Yours in a new world. H.
The doctor aga n, and blessed word
that frees me. tomorrow, I may go out
into the world again. I should be slad,
so unreasonably glad, but for your let
ter. Dear, strange woman! Do you
mean it really-that am never to come?
That all this slow fight back to life is to
mean nothing after all? That I'd better
have gone on out into the darkness?
Oh, you cannot mean that, you cannot!
You talk of anticipation; why, I've been
on the rack for weeks waiting.
You never knew a man who gazed with
such wistful eye,
Upon that little tent of blue, which pris-
oners call the sky"
Observation-Disclosures can be none
unless Christianlike you have had Cy-