, 1902-03-05
Love Is Best.
BY DABNEY

BY DABNEY MARSHALL.
Copyright, 1902, By Daily Story Pub. Coz
Percy HaddoCk sat loiisd hack in :,
rocking chair. the blue smoke softly
pufing and curling from the halr con-
sumed cigarette, which he held in his
hand.
A look or comfort pervaded the room
and the fire threw a delicious crimson
light until the air seemed an ethereal
lied wine-and yet he thought he was
unhappy, desperately and irremediably
unhappy. Two mighty passions, he
said to himself. tugged at his heart,
the love of his art and, of course. the
owe OF a woman.
Ever since he could remember he
mad purposed to become a great writer
He had resolved to devote himself en-
tirely to art, and allow nothing to in
terfere with this conservation. He
must observe and know the passions,
but not feel them. To feel passion
would be to be swayed from the atti-
tude or impartiality the artist must
feel to depict life perfectly. or course,
III u hllpW Hill
SELF to become e%ntanglcd in the
meshes of love and matrimony.
But things. As they have a provok-
ing way OF doing. were about to turn
out differently from what he had pro-
posed. He was about to be. or rather
he had been, swervcd from this per-
iect calm essential TO literary exacti-
| ind lr NIt., H,t. .- ~. 80
humiliated at the thought that so
slight II thing as a mere girl could
swerye a man like himself from the
plans Of a life time. Had it been some
noble ambition. some great opportun-
ity like that of becoming a great
statesman, whose plans could change
the map OF the world and alter the
course of history. the humiliation
would not have been so great, nor the
wound to his vanity So profound.
But alas. He was undeniably in
love, in love. like any other ordinary
mortal who had no dream of literary
greatness and no higher conception Of
life than that of having a good time.
Not only was he. the seeker after
literary immortality. in love. but he
had to acknowledge hat ne actually
enjoyed the sensation and at times
questioned whether he would derive
greater delight from winning 4 kiss
from the girl than he would from
achieving applause from a sonnet. He
knew this was a lapse from his higher
nature, but he either could not or
would not help 1t.
And yet he had been warned.
Charlie Rawlins, his best friend. had
said to him. Look here, Perse, you
are putting in a lot OF time with Kate
Murchison. and the first thing you
know 1t will be love and a cottage and
goodbye to conservation to art and
the ideal.
He replied. smiling the superior
smile of the fatuous and complacent.
Don't concern yourself. l am simply
studying 'das ewige we!bliche,' and
getting material for a masterpiece"
"Ah, see" said Charlie. you have
revised Pope's lines:
" Be woman's ways your study and de-
light.
See her by day and dream Of her by
night,
And then the sale OF books that you
may write
Will simply be, my boy, far out of
sight"
Accordingly he pursued his studies
very ardently and found them more
and more pleasant as the days went
by. He derived an added il ignoble
Joy from the worry this course Of
study seemed to give one Howard
Griggsby. Howard was a practical,
hard-working young lawyer. who had
always scoffed at Percy's literary pre-
tensions, and who when they were
boys at school together had generally
gone ahead and won the prizes while
he was dreaming about them.
1t was amazing to Percy how much
lovelier the world seemed to him when
Miss Nurchison was with him. There
was something. he thought, hypnotic