Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1902-02-01
THE FIREFLIES' WEDDING.
BY cATrLLE MENDEs.

I
tree in the roadway, alongside of a
miniature cathedral in plaster. l have
often wondered who buys these hideous
| productions Of ecclesiastical architecture,
with such square, ungraceful outlines,
surmounted by tall steeple and illu-
minated with a candle end placed on the
| altar. y sensation of pity seized me
when l gazed upon the poor little mer-
chant. who must have spent the entire
| evening trying to sell his church. and,
finding no purchaser, had fallen asleep to
dream, perhaps, of the beating which
awaited him at home.
Ragged, dusty and tanned, lie was as
picturesque as he was dirty. / awakened
the lad. gave him some money, and 10
avoid the semblance of almsSiYing, | ac-
ceptcd tho plaster cathedral.
| 1T bothered me Il good deal as / car.
ried it off under my arm. l walked
| faster, being anxious to relieve myself
Of the burden, which | intended to leave
in corner of the garden where it would
! serve as scarecrOW for the sparroWS
which were already beginning TO steal
my cherries.
| must have looked like one of those
| personages you see in religious paintings
! bearing the resemblance in miniature of
! the chapel which they have dedicated to
| st. Iimoleon or st. Ildevert in explation
| Of their sins.
Midnight sounded; / was still awake
| in my bed, with eyes half closed But it
was an insomnia without fever, vague
and delicious, refreshed by the soft moon
| night entering through the wide-open win
dow, close by, which also bathed the
| winding paths Of the garden below, the
beds of flowers and the velvety grass in
the pale enchantment Of fairyland.
Perfectly happy in my semi-cOnsciOus
state, without the sensation of existence
yet enraptured with the JOY Of living, |
was rather thing ecstatic than a man.
And the vast silence, the absolute calm,
so suggestive of solitary wastes, drowsy
hooks, of leaves unStirred by any breeze
were deepened by the almost arrested
throbblngs of my heart by the dispersion
IN drcamless peace of all my dead de-
sires.
Suddenly a slight noise startled me.
One might have called it the contact
scarcely sensible of some delicate object
with = feebly resisting surface. The
sound was rythmical too. at equal inter
walls, suggesting the idea of bell inf
nltely distant among the clouds
The noise continued hardly audible vet
seemingly to gently importme me.
arose and looked out of the window.
Fancy my surprised
The cathedral which on entering I had
placed near the door in a narrow path,
like church at the end OF an avenue
the cathedral whose candle end inside
had long been extinguished--now radiat-
ed illumination through all its tiny red
windows, and as | leaned forward to OK
anime more closely | perceived that the
inclination Of an adjacent woodbine
caused the steeple TO he capped by an os-
Chatting bell Hover in which a bee per
formed the office of clapper or ringer.
what was going on then in any garden
beneath the mystic light of the moon?
| softly stepped over the window sill
and knclt in the shade of an acacia. In
the wall of the little church. just behind
the choir, was a Crevice, through which
now peeped. More than hundred FIRE
flies attached either TO the shafts of the
columns or perched before the altar in
lieu of candles filled the cuifcc with
light. and in the ton Of the steeple the
industrious bee tolled his bell in the
woodbine, as if calling the deyout to
some important ceremony.
y constantly Increasing and innumcra-
bic throng of Insects was entering the
portals. Crickets and grasShoppers from
the heds loStled each other eagerly in
the van; a iady-b to avoid being
| pushed in the crowd, was posed ON the
wing of dragon-fly; tiny insects vested
| IN black and white, presumably the cler-
gy, followed gorgeous cochineal ir pur-
| pie. The whole seemed Il strange con
itleS~
Crcepln" things of every color.
| When, mt lcagth. the entire company
had taken their places in proper order,
| a large fly flew up TO the organ loft owl
! presently hnmming sort Of music. low
| Gus yet religious, fairly filed the little
basilica, so brightly illuminated by the
| treHeS.
\ ceremony. indeed, of some sort was
on the point of commencing.
When | beheld two minute creatures
! proceed toward the choir, the one with
confident air, beating its wings victori-
ouSly. the other hestitatiug and timid
| supposed there was a wedding afoot.
| And of this | was sure when | saw at
! the high altar a magnificent hettle with
| green ana gold chasuhle. assisted by two
| lesser bugs as aColytes. approach the
! bridal party With gesture seemingly of
! bCnedlCtion.
My eyes glued To the crevice. | lost not
single detail of the august ceremony
With eager curiosity | watched the
crowd as it gradually dispersed. while
the hretleS eNtiuguiShed their lights ono
hy one. Then uoiSeieSSly | turned To
trace on III" moonlit path the course of
the newly welded couple after oNtricat-
| throng.
Where would they 90? Would they
ny away for their honeymoon toward
some distant nupni flower. under a
| warmer azure. beneath more ardent
IstaIsf Or would they content themselves
with the first convenient corolla Inviting,
y open under the discreet curtain OF \
leaf?
Wherever fancy leads YOU. oh. gentle
bride and bridegroom. may the God of
insects cphemeral ana flowers quickly
fading, 10 you he kind May You have
much happiness i'll the few hours of your
| brief Springtime
Never may the sabot of a peasant al
the slipper Of a woman who perChanre
seeks repoSe under tree cause YOU fear
as YOU wing your flight so close one Il
the other over moss-clad bank, from
bush 10 bush, May the dewdrops that
you sip together be ever perfumed tc
Your taste' May the chalice preferred
never, refuse an odorous lodging. And il
yon should fall into the clutches Of some
cruel child, may it be the same little hand
that seizes You both, so that YOU may
| suffer and die together"
| While l was breathing these heartfelt
wishes for their happiness the two in,
scots had not flown away; they had
climbed mp the length az a Bengal rosc
bush. the topmost rose of which sur
mounted the ledge of my window. ana !