The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-12-21
CHAPTER XIII.

That was the moon of delight. The
days passed through the hazy forest
like stately figures from an old masque.
In the pine grove on the knoll the man
and the woman had erected a temple of
love, and love showed them one to the
other
In Hilda Farrand was no guile. no
coquetry, no deceit. So perfect was her
naturalism that often by those who
knew her least she was considered af-
fected. Her trust in whomever she
found herself with attained so directly
ITS reward; her inconsistencies of pose
was so rhythmically graceful; her ig-
norance and innocence so triumphantly
effective. that the mind with difficulty
rid itself Of the belief that it was all
carefully studied. This was not true.
She honestly did not know that she
was beautiful; was unaware of her
grace; did not realize the potency of
her wealth.
This absolute lack of self-conscious-
ness was most potent in overcoming
Thorpes natural reticence. He ex-
banded TO her. She came to idolize him
In manner at once inspiring and
touching in so beautiful a creature. In
him she saw reflected all the lofty at
fractions Of character which she her
self possessed, but of which she was
entirely unaware. Through his words
she saw to an ideal. His most trivial
actions were ascribed TO motives of a
dignity which would have been ridic-
ulous. if it had not been a little pa
thetic- The woods-life, the striving of
the pioneer kindled her imagination.
She seized upon the great facts of them
and fitted those facts with reasons of
her own. Her insight perceived
the adventurous spirit, the battle
courage, the indomitabIe steadfastness
nh oil IN
these men of the frontier to urge them
into the life; and of them constructed
conscious motives of conduct. To her
fancy the lumbermen, of whom Thorpe
was one, were self conscious agents of
advance. They chose hardship, lone
illness, the strenuous life, because they
wished to clear the way for a higher
civilization. To her it seemed a great
and noble sacrifice She did not per-
ceive that while all this is true, it is
under the surface, the real spur is a
desire 20 get on, and hope of max
ing money. For. strangely enough. she
differentiated sharply the life and the
reasons for it. An existence in subdu-
ing the forest was TO her ideal: the
making of q fortune through a lumber
ing firm she did not consider in the
least important. That this distinction
was most potent, the sequel will show
In all of IL she was absolutely sin
cere. and not at all stupid. She had
always had all she could spend. with
out question. Money meant nothing.
TO her, one way or the other If need
was, she might have experienced. some
difficulty in learning how to economic.
but none at all in adjusting herself to
the necessity of it. The material had
become. in all sincerity, a basis for
the spiritual. She recognized but two
sorts Of motives OF which the ideal. |
comprising the poetic, the daring, the
beautiful were good; and the mate
rial, meaning the sordid and selfish.
were bad With her the mere money !
getting would have to be allied with ]
some great and poetic excuse.
That is the only sort Of aristoc- |
racy, in the popular sense of the word, |
which is real; the only scorn of money
which can be respected.
There are some faces which symbol |
ize to the beholder many subtletfes of I
soul beauty which by no other meth |
Cd could gain expression. Those sub !
tleties may not. probably do not ex- |
ist in the possessOr of the face The |
power of such a countenance lies not /
SO much in what it actually repre- !
sents as in the suggestion it holds out /
10 another So often it is with a beau /
tiful character. Analyze it carefully, |
and you viii reduce it generally TO alb /
rVAulE ApAAIAl1 anu absolute purity
two elements common enough in adul- /
teration; but place it face to face with /
nAse complex personality, and mir
ror-llsSe il will take on a hundred deli
cate shades of ethical beauty. while at
the same time preserving its own lofty
spirituality.
Thus Hilda Farrand reflected Thorpe.
IN the clear nsirror of her heart his
image rested TRANSPORTED. It was as
though the glass were magic, so that
the gross and material was absorbed
and lost, while the more spiritual quail
tiles reflected back. So the image was
retained in its entirety. but ethereal-
lied, refined. It is necessary to at
tempt, even thus family and made
quately, sketch of Hi1da's love. for
a partial understanding Of il is neces-
sary to the comprehension OF what
followed the moon Of delight.