The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1901-12-06

lie discovered a boat in a small house
which stood by the river and used to
pull laboriously a half-milc up the
stream Of evenings, then float lazily
down. The heart. which was in the
right place, began to show some dis
position to stay steady when sudden
noises came.
In two weeks. however. he realized
that a cultivated mind needs some
thing more than itself. lie was bored.
Furthermore, his conscience OPP
pressed him. lie told himself that
he was ungenerous in Withholding
himself from these two lonely women,
who knew nothing Of books, society.
cities or the great world without. lie
was not conscious Of a desire to al
leviate the Loneliness of Mrs. Lou
doun. but he thought the girl would
improve nightly by V with .
man Of his cultivated abilities and ex-
pcriences. She was plump, and her
weight in the boat made the rowing
more difficult. but he endured the cx-
ira labor for the pleasure Of watching
her intellect expand like flower. He
noticed that in the half.light Of the
Nirginian evenings she was a singu-
larry pretty girl. nor could he SCI that
she lost any Of her attractiyeness in
the full light Of day. She listened
TO his talk of books with every APP
pcarance Of interest. lie found all
her comments apt, and some Of them
shrcwd. lie felt the unconscious
charm of her innocence.
One evening, three weeks after the
beginning Of their friendship. she as
sumcd guidance Of the conversation.
II wa. done in a spirit Of mischief. but
the eye. Of G. lleming Magnu, did
not see it. He lacked the %porccptive
faculty. She astouishcd him much
by a sound. IL not brilliant. mono
loguc upon the Elizabethan poets as
compared with those Of the earlier
era and. in a mild discussion Of the
reputed authorship Of the Shake
spearcan plays, worsted him badly.
She .aid they we're the work Of Sir
Walter Raleigh during his Is years
Of confinement in the Tower Of Lon
don. Next day she invited him into
a part Of the house he had not visited,
introduced him to a sitting-room,
furnished plainly but in perfect taste,
seated herself at an old but tuncful
piano and played for him. with feel
ing and force, selections from Bee
thovon. Mozart, Mcndcls,ohn. Chopin.
Verdi. Donizctti. Wagner. DE kovcn,
Willard. sullivan and Dave Bra.
ham.
The Philadelphia dimly recog-
nized that he might possibly have
been guilty Of Understanding the
simple farming family. \ little later
he began to hold her in his thought,
and to speak Of her, when on his ram
blcs. a. a "Potomac rose" Thi. was q
bad sign. In all his 30 year. he had
seen no one like her. so simple. so un.
affected. 20 sympathetic. 50 beautiful
This vas a worst sign. lie measured
mentally the height Of his bank &C,
count and found il sufficient. Thii
was the wort sign Of all.
lie laid his approachc. with whal
he conceived TO b. consummOtc art
In Hi. story, "lltartto Heart at Even.
tide" published in the "Sale,ladics
Beacon Light" there was a scene il
which Lord Ranald dc Chdlomonde
ley had said 10 Lady Blanche d,
Courtnoy: IL love YOU wildly, mad
~. passionately. Your being has en-
tered into my being. Asthc dcwdroI
tremblcs in the ilo~wcr-chalicc. 5,
tremblc. my soul in your bcautcou
presence. BE minc-bc mincLan,
there shall be no .un. no stars, nor tn.
apal-,inicd hoighis Of heaven. no
the crimsoned aby..e. ofhcH. Their
shall be in the wide universe onl.
YOU" He thought this rather fin
and wondered how it would sound
softly. yet intensely. spoken aimd til
murmur Of Potomac waters, down
rolling to the sea.
II was late in the September o
1898, There was a slight chill in tn
air, The girl, wrapped in some hecc
| light stuff, sat, as was her custom, i
the stern of the little boat, whic.
made no sound Us it drifted. In tn
4: moonlight her brown eyes looked lik
jewels. Below them shonc the wiz
! dows of the farm house. Not a wor
| had been spoken for hdH-hour {