Rosebud County news. [volume] (Forsyth, Mont.) 1901-1906, 1901-07-04


before. having been attracted by the
absurd treatment the subject had re-
ceived at the hands of the artist in
spired of Vanloo. The piece seemed
grotesque to our vision, but it was not
without merit and. gazing steadily at 1t
for any length of time. had strange
effect even upon SO prosaic person as
myself. | have fancied more than once
that saw an undulating movement in
the lines of Omphale's beautiful neck
and that the delicate glow Of her cheek
changed to a deeper or paler shade
You may laugh at me If you like, but
no one looking at the tapestry could
shake off the impression that the figure
of wooden and silken shreds was ami
mate. Her languishing glance followed
one about the room, growing intense as
one gazed at her eyes.
Naturally l tried the experiment of
separating my patient from the influ-
cnce of the tapestry, but this, as fear
ed, only had the effect of changing his
habitual melancholy into a violent pas
sion that was much more difficult to
zeal with than melanchOlia. We then
tried hanging the tapestry in much
used room, where some member of the
family was likely to be at all times.
There young Wiltse would sit before it
in sileIce, with an imploring express
sion on his face. Finally he became so
callous in regard to his strange infat-
uation that he took small pains to con-
ceal it. UncOmplimentary remarks
about Omphale would send him into
uncomfortable fits Of passion that bare
| ly stopped short of violence to the per-
son who had made the aspersion. No
one ever heard him address his enchan-
| tress by name, but he would call her
| Warehouses; and that too, is explain
| cd, though at the time we were in the
! dark as to his reason Cor comforting
this particular rank upon Omphale.
perhaps | exaggerated the impress
sion the tapestry made upon whoever
looked at it for any length of time. l.,
you must understand, was to some eX-
tent under the influence | was studying
and trying to counterfeit in my patient.
Suggestion in such cases goes far and
follows strange paths. Every one in
the family came more or less under
Omphales influence"
had followed my uncle's story thus
far with intense interest, but here
objected that if he attributed the pecul-
lar influence of the tapestry upon HIM
self largely or partly to its known in
tluence upon young Wiltse it made it
more difficult to understand how the
patient had in the first instance come
under Omphale's spell, since he did not
have any outside suggestion.
THAT is true" said my uncle, land
can only suppose that young Wiltse
had some time or other read this story
of Gautier's and come to imagine him
self second lover of the beautiful
Warehouses de T., posed, to please her
husband, in the romantic scene with
Hercules"
My uncle's whole story ran counter to
my very strong projudces against be-
lief in all things supernatural. spirit
ISM and the other 'isms'' OF the same
sort. DO you mean to say" | eX'
claimed. that you believe Gautier's
preposterous yarn about the amours Of
the young student and that WOODEN
rag?"
Not so fast; not so fast" he replied
II have not said that | looked upon the
tale as recital of fact. You miss the
point | will refresh your memory OF
the story and then you will under
stand.
The youth of Gautier's story was
deprived of his Omphale by an unfeel
ing guardian who had discovered I'll,
boys infatuation. Years afterward the
man found the tapestry representation
of his goddess in an oddity shop and
trembling with joy. hurried away tt
get the $50 francs demanded for it by
the shopkeeper. Before he returned al
Englishnan why not Wiltse. Sr.:, haG
offered 600 francs for the tapestry. the
dealer had accepted, and the tapestry
had been carried away"
But" broke in again. you are still
supposing that Gautier's tapestry ant
youth actually existed"
Not at all. Whether or not Gautiel
described an actually existing tapestry
l do not know. l am inclined to think
however. that the novelist had seer
this very tapestry. And when youn.
Wiltse found it in his fathers hous
either after or before he read the story
for am confident that he had read it
Omphale's spell grasped him. and h
, was never able to throw it Off He be
came the successor to Gautier's youth
but probably Omphale did not warml
respond a second time to merely hu
| man lovers advances and hence hi