The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1901-11-22

ana made dangerous undertow
when the wild waves sought hur-
ricdly tn retreat, astonished, from
the shore to the depths which had
borne them; prosperous because he
was well paid, and twice or thrice
had been given Substantial rewards
by different relatives whose children
he had brought ashore from grave
danger in the treacherous surf; sun
1T. because Elmer was in love.
When youth not yet Of 20 years
falls In love with an earth-born god
dess OF IS, and when his passion
seems to find response and the jaun-
diced fangs OF doubt and jealousy
find no Judgment in his buoyant
breast. then to be in love is to have
all places temples, all seasons sum
mer. Sleeping. he dreams of songs.
Waking, his unconscious conscious
ness basks in perpetual glory whose
beams cngulf one central shrine
wherein She Is the hallowed saint.
Then to live, to be, to feel, to know
that one loves, to believe one is be-
loved, to endure heart-piercing rap
lures. to laugh at pains, to WOO. to
part, to meet again-a daily tempest,
a mighty prayer. Oh, laughing little
god, whom kingly poets and poet
kings have crowned, well did those
who knew thee first perceive that
thou vert blind.
| Why il was Celeste the one only
girl in all the world for the young
life guardian is hardly clear to those
who saw the bourge the bud,
the blossom, of this waterside ro-
nance. True enough, she was suffi
ciently fair. Her lips were red, her
black eyes very bright, her white lit
tie teeth quite regular. Her supple
young body was ravishing in its
maiden glories of rounded elasticity
and glowing tints, not even the en-
vious screen Of her modest bathing
dress could conceal this fact-but,
well, one shouldn't be captious where
SO much else was charming altogeth-
err. Her girl friends said Celeste was
vain, for one thing. For another,
they whispered among themselves
that she was spiteful little she cat
who cared only for Celeste and none
other.
There, you bore. Go TO ones neigh
bors 10 find out the truth. For my
part, / merely have concluded that
Celeste has no soul. But that is the
veriest speculation. One should be ra-
tioual. and even fair, regarding ones
dislikes.
However IL may be, when he had met
Celeste Elmer fell SO deep into the
well Of love that he would like to have
drowned there. Nor is this any meta
phor of speech.
She came almost every day. after the
first The young guardian of the beach,
a giant with blue eyes and yellow hair,
an Antinous in naked calves and arms,
taught the fairest of all his visitors the
gentle art of floating. the strenuous
rush and swirl of the overland stroke,
the restful. evenhanded, tireless pro-
erosion of the breast stroke. She took
to the water like duck. After month
the pupil bid fair to overtake the mas
ter's skill.
She came first with her parents, and
a younger brother or two, graceless
brats. canal bred, who had known how
to swim at birth, and who took deep
ioy in splashing cold lake water upon
the timid and shivering Celeste at her
first venture. After a time the elder
people came no more. They made FL
mer's acquaintance and had confidence
in him. They saw at one keen glance
the strength in his great frame, the
honor in his clear blue eyes. To such $
he il is good to commit children, even
young girls. After a time. too, the
brats also stayed away when they
thought it was the hour for Celeste.
You see, when she had learned no long
er 10 fear the water, and had become
mistress of bold stroke or two, she
rcvenged herself most thoroughly for
the early splashing the brats had given
her, and ducked them in deep water
most numerically, until they were
half strang.ed. Which fable teaches
much. There's meaty kernel in most
ia bles, If one can crack the shell
Celeste and Elmer used TO swim to-
gether a great deal. when the crowds
were gone, or had not come, for often
she sought the shore al sunrise. after