The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-10-25
-ather of a starveling ssowaway thar

-ather of @ starvelfng stowaway than hat of bookworm of cuiture?'
 Tt is the same old story,' he sighed.
 Discomfort with the heaven in which
 welt, ran away from home. and SC began the adventures which have left me as you see me-. a melancholy wreck broken in spirit, wasted in form and com pelled to throw myself upon the tender mercies of q chance acquaintance. This good. sturdy life used to lead. feeding upon the noblest pieces des resistance of letters the mind of man has conceived. l thoughtlessly deserted in a mad moment. For the flesh pots of modern poetry and fiction abandoned the homeIy shelves whereon I was fres to roam through the effiorescent fields of the classic. Delib- erately have I deserted Homer for Mae terlinck. Horace for Lang, Dickins for Davis. Shakespeare for Bernard Shaw and Pinero, Thackeray for Marie Coreili, Scott for Caine and Sophocles for Andrew Carnegie"
 Poor. poor chap" said I, how you must have suffered."
 Tt was all the result of quarrel with my father" my little guest sighed. .He wished me t6spend three weeks on vol- tune of Montaigne; I. on the other hand preferred old Isaaz Walton and refused to obey my parents request. He threatened, rebelled, and when night came on fled from my dear Abbotsford home and next day took refuge in the Baedeker of an American tourist. Ere I realized my po- sition I was on board an ocean liner bound to the New World. and on my ar rival in the United States found myself no longer an inmate of library of classi- cal proportions, but in the book collection of New York society woman. Alas! My sufferings began at that moment Finding Baedeker poor eating, l started forth one morning in search of more substantial food. One cannot live wholly on dates and dried meat. Gazing across the table l espied something that had an attractive look, and I entered upon its consump- tion.'
 Tt was"-I began to inquire.
 "The 'Gloomster, by Hall Caine.'' groaned the Bookworm.
 Good Lord' I cried sympathetically, for I, too. have gnawed my way through that fearful work
 Starved upon a diet of Baedeker, it seemed good and substantial" said the Boolxworm. and devoured it; but O. the consequences! Gorged to the full upon it's periods, lay me down to sleep and rest, but what rest what sleep. what dreams. From toe to crown was l infested with gloom, misery hypocrisy and crime. For weeks there was no sun, no smiles, none of the saving grace of humor in my life and was like to die of it. If YOU wish to approximate my condition eat dozen Welsh rabbits. a broiled lobster and a quart of ice cream some night and the effect will be the same"
 ''But you recovered" suggested
 Only to fall into the miseries of Mel chizidek,' by Marie Corelli." sighed the Bookworn. 'the which, when l had fin ished 1t. left me prostrate for days, feel ing as to my inner worm much as Mark tY1te, hot Iol F,nx when. not knowing he was loaden, he tried to win the jumping championship of Calaveras county
 It was a difficult beginning" said L One might as well feed Camembert to children as start you in right off on Caine and Corelli You should have worked up to it by degrees. Those two distinguished authors are proper food only for those who arr tired of everything else."
 How was to know?" sighed the Book worm. You forget that this was my first plunge into the modern. We'll, fortunate ly, l fell into the hands of an experienced physician in the shape of a literary mag azine, which next attracted my attention by whom I was advised to spend week with certain Mrs. Wiggs of the Cab bage Patch,' and her sister, Love Mary An, my friend. that was change. and to 1t think I owe my life The sweet. simple refreshment of their daily lives, the sincerity and truth of those two lovely women who nursed me back to health and strength again. their lack of rretense or affectation of any kind whatsoever. the quaintness of their fun, the homeliness yet homeIikeness of their enVironment-surely there is more of the truth of life and soul refreshment in the few pages of the history of those two ladies than one finds in a ton of the pom derous forebodings of the other two I have named"
 You are a worm of discrimination,