The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-25

cavalier Topped off one of my antennae In
one book the whistling bullet from an
eighteenth century rifle in a seventeenth
century romance SCARED my poor back
as 1 passed through the may periods of
another, and as for my stomach twas
sadly disordered by the fearful French
wines was compelled to quaff in the
wayside inns of a Gallo romance writ
ten by young school girl in Oklahoma.
whose knowledge of La Belle France was
gained from text book called How to-
Learn French in Ten Lessons
In spite Of all of which you survived
said 1.
Yes" he answered, but 1 took the rest
: cure When, after many perplexities I
escaped from the tolls of the swashbuckIer
4 entered the literary sanitariun1 of the
brotherhood of Modern Realfsts. I dweJt
Lor TWO months in books that like Tenny-
son babbling brook, run on forever HIT
where nothing happens; an. endless vista
OF quiet farm houses filled with uuieter
farm hands, their wives, mothers and
SWeetheartS, surrounded by infinitely de-
iiiheated gardens, keenly analysed door
KNOBS and pin cushions; clever but acid
uIated old maids, where and to whom
nothlng happened. There and among these
again sought restoration to health and
round it. There was much to admire
i i!en 10 enjoy and nothing to excite in the
NE led with these good persons but as
a permanence it was not for me For
those who consider ApoIinaris a good sub
S 81 Tor champagne it is the literature
OF enduring value; but to one constituted
as am IL is no more satisfactory as a
steady diet than hunting old mahogany
Redsteads would be to the huntsman who
. thrasheS the jungle in search of the BEN
gal tiger So 1 left 1t and took a plunge
that finished me-
The title of it was?'' 1 asked.
snail IL, not tell you" said the Book
worm. Suffice it to say that it was a
Baizackian effort to depict the life Of vour
cd Will
gram that Rabelais would have hesitated
10 put upon paper; it palpitated with COM
pncatlons that would have given Smollett
pause II painted scenes that the drama OF
the seventeenth century would have fled
from, and it babbled and gossiped frivo-
lousy and profanely of the most sacred
tnnSS or l1fe-teH me- sir, is it true that
there Is new game in America called
progressive matrimony. and do husbands
play ping-pong with their wives instead OF
Well" 1 demurred you are asking
leadinS questions. l know nothing about
Such a game as progressive matTimony
put II Is a fact that, like our railways and
trusts and other large corporate enter
prlseS, several conspicuous families have
stood in need of reorganization. 1t Is
considered more satisfactory nowadays to
receiver"
Il see" said he. you apply CONNER
clal ideas to social conditions"
precisely said l. IF a husband or a
wife in latter days finds it impossible to
carry out the matrimonial contract, we
simply reorganize the concern, putting it
into the hands of some one else who can
manage it successfully
Then this book was realism, after all
SAID the BookwOrm. for it told that awful
tale or woman who had climbed high
over the successive bodies of her divorced
husbands. The aggregate alimOny of her
seven lords and masters had provided her
with sufficient income to shine reSDlend-
ent in the highest circles and in the last
chapter she engages herself to three other
mllllonaires simultaneously in order to
OBTAIN the money necessary for the
achievement of her highest ambitions"
| laughed. Il should like to read that
tale said 1. ut is the nearest approach
In construction to a true picture that I
have heard Of. You cannot tell me it's
name?'
Il can't" he replied. ''for 1t isn't pub
l1shed yet AS a matter of fact IL was
only in the manuscript OF a school girl
that read it. and from it 1 fled as Lot
from the doomed city of Sodom. l jumped
into newspaper in my lady's waste has
DIoWn hlther and yon by the chance
winds, landed in a stationer's shop and.
fearful of what might happen if l tried
any more modern literature, hid away in
this blank book which you purchased, and
here l am"
There was a brief pause.
Your story interests me hugely" said
gladly restore you to your home in the
third volume of the Abbotsford Scott in
the British museum as soon as 1 arrive
IN London. Meanwhile" 1 added here
Is something more to your taste than any
of the foods you have had latterly% and
placed him gently in my pocket copy OF
Omar. where l left him munching hap
oily and COQteQte0lV aWaV