Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1904-03-02
lilac
BLOOMS
by Kcffb Gordon
Copyright, 1898, IN 20. Mcclure

after the manner of civil engineers
came down the steps that led from his
club to the street. with his broad shoul.
ders we'll back and the zest of living
alive ia his heart.
Something of the wholesomeness of
natures solitudes chung to him. show
ing in the clearness of his eyes and the
breadth of his chest Here was a
man, one saw mt glance. accustomed
10 wide horizons and great drafts of
uutainted air.
May, that tender mixture of spring
and summer, was casting its glamour
over the city, and NDanbury's blood
whirled through his veins with an in
toXicatlng, boyish eagerness Ii was q
good thing TO he alive. to have come
from that vast, still land beyond the
Rockies. where man seems so small. to
the more intimate If less lofty attrac-
tons of New York. He felt IL keenly
through every inch of his healthy. Wig
-orous body. Then, too. he was on Il
holiday. the more sweet that ii had
been long delayed and hardly earned.
Tile crisp patter of hoofs upon the
asphalt. the whiz2ing of the automo-
biles. even the distant onrush of the
elevated trains-all of 1t was delightful
to him. He was in love with the ur-
ban idea Then at the corner faint.
sweet, vaguely familiar scent drifted
across his consciousness. and as at
magic touch Fifth avenue and its
sights and sounds faded into the back
ground and an old fashioned garden
rose as suddenly before his minds eye.
There was "A rambling white house
which looked as comfortable as an old
shoe and wide driveway guarded on
both sides by poplars as straight and
tall as grenadiers At the back of TIE
lawn was a shadowy mass of shrub
berry where the spikes of lilac bloom
stood eut richly against the green.
What could have made me think of
the aold place just now?" was the silent
Interrogation that he put to himself
But before he had time to analyze his
train Of thought his eye fell upon
pushcart Mt the edge of the sidewalk.
upon which stood tub crammed full
of lilac blossoms. 1t was the scent OF
the lilacs that had transported him in
spirit to the old scenes and the lilacs
that as a boy he remembered he scorn-
ed because they were flowers and
therefore only worthy the attention of
women and girls
The alert Italian. with his parch-
snent skin and bilious looking eyes
who saw in lilacs only another way OF
getting money. held out bunch insinu-
atingly. Danbury tossed him a dime
and selecting one of the soft. purplish
spikes of bloom. held it TO his face and
shifted at II reminiscently.
Though he walked mechanically on
ward, in thought he was far back in
the years. He felt the soft, springy
sod under his bare feet once more,
heard the big black and yellow humble
bees buzzing heavily over the sweet
ness of the flowers, tasted the wild
Strawberries that grew ON the south
slope of certain hill that he knew
well. These and many other things
that had made life wonderful he
thought Of. remembering a bit sadly
that the world could never seem just
like that again. Being a boy-that was
the greatest thing!
Guided by that sixth sense that comes
to those who dwell much in cities, he
paused at u crossing to allow vehicle
10 pass. 1t was victoria, and leaning
laZily against the cushions was a girl
of nineteen or twenty years, the sight
of whom brought his thoughts quickly
back to the present.
Sven in that irresponsible moment
he realized that she could lay no es-
pecial claim to beauty. But the fresh,
girlish face was very young and clear,
and by strange coincidence il looked
out at him from a mass of lilac as pale
and soft in color as the flower he held
in his hand. Her light cloth gown, her
large hat, the parasol at her side, Were
all of that color. Danbury had be-
wildered feeling that she was sort
of human flower, and he stared like IL
man in trance. noting the delicate
pallor of her skin and the clear dark
ness of her hair.
Their eyes met and passed. Hers
were a blue so deep that they verged
upon purple, and Danbury. who was
but the more a poet that he never at
tempted to write verses, drew a sigh
of delight. In some ipeXpllcable way
she epitomized all the Charm of life
to him-the scent of flowers-the ten
derness of womanhood. She seemed
the lilacs transmitted into femininity,
and his glance involnntarily Travelled
from her to the blossom III his hand,
while hers followed with little, quick,
unconscious flicker of appreciation.
The carriage rolled on. and he went
his way, with thoughts that We're but
a blissful blur of lilac maidens and
lilac bloom. Under the thick foliage
of the trees in Madison square he sat
down to pull himself together.
"Ridiculousi' he argued sagely. a
man of thirty-eight to lose his head
over the glimpse of an ordinary girl in
q pale tinted GOWN Then the won.