Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1902-03-08

+ I: + + + fsf F.
Percy Haddock sat 1olled back In a
rocking chair, the blue smoke softly
putting and curling from the half con-
stunned cigarette, which he held in his
hand. $500
A look of 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
love of a woman.
Ever since he could remember he
had purposed to become 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 of impartiality the artist must
feel to depict life perfectly. OF course,
so consecrated, he must not allow him
self to become entangled in the
meshes of love and matrimony.
But things. as they have 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, swerved from this per-
feet calm essential to literary exacti-
tude by Miss Kate Murchison. He felt
Inundated at the thought that so
slight thing as a mere girl could
swerve a man like himself from the
plans of 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 alasi 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 that he 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 lapse from his higher
nature, but he either could not or
would not help it.
And yet he had been warned.
Charlie Rawlins, his best friend, had
said to him, Look here, Perse, you
are putting in 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.
smile of the fatuous and complacent
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 cut 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 if ignoble
joy from the worry this course of
study seemed to give one Howard
Griggsby. Howard was a practical
Woodworking 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
1oveiier the world seemed to him when
Miss Murchison was with him. There
was something. he thought. hypnotic
about her presence. The sunlight was
never quite so golden as when flashed
back from her hair Once he had given
her a rose. earelessly observing and
enjoying its red crumpled petals, and
11--lI .