Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-27
molly Randolph to Her Father.
HOTEL DE RI-SSIE ROME
RUME,
January >.


Darling Dad: JANUARY -
Forgive me for that Inadequate little note
i''eh yesterday to wish you a hapDy
->e"- ear out short as it was there was
e'o'sh ioFe IN 1t to make the letter double
poS'"se' we nave been working SO hard at
pte"s"'e since that L haven't had time for
any 'ii'hS except the various cables which
ioiii oay 10 day l have flung to you from
"" eiitilot OF hre as We sped half way
Wv" the !ohs leg of Italy-that's pink on
my SCHOOL room map at home. Somehow
We Always thought of Italy as being pink.
SINCE l Hrst hunted it out on the map;
-'o II Is sun sloriously couleur de rose to
the eyes of my body and mind
HOW splendid it is not to be disannoi,toa
~ something that you've looked forward
~ an your lie, isn't it? But | don't tbin l.
- an 'ne KIND of girl who is disappointed
Pao audi tsnilss-hatures real things, / mean,
Ieople nave often said to me. 'O, vo,, Vii
We disappointed in Europe, if YOU look for
" aro 10 1t so much But 7 halia,,o
S sI: creatures have no imasinatioo
" III - IMAGINATION you have the glamour
oi the past and all the wonderfuI thinas
that have happened in a pIaca &C wei, o.
'lie mere beauty of the present Rut thew
"itHout imagination one must lust eynac1
=. " nave ones poor little soul go bare. and
TO live on all the "coId pieces, Of iifa -.
to taste the nectar and ambrosia 81 nc tst
soos; never to know the thrill of symnat hv
or any other thrill that isn't purely nhWs.
ical. putty phys
I'm intoxicated with all I have seen ann
tih1 seelns-Which must excuse the ha.
rangue And I'm intoxicated with the low
OF driving the car Lately I have heen
rivaling the Lightning Conductor, for nv
"rist IS quite well again. The microbe OF
automobiiism has entered into my blood
YES, m speaking literally; I'm sure there's
Such mlcrobe, and that he's a brave beast
should like to see him in your big micro
scope. Perhaps I'll bring him home for
the purpose. 40
1t has become the greatest joy I have
ever known to get all l possibly can out OF
noble Balzac; to urge Balzac uphill as fast
as l can; to drive Balzac down hill as fast
OF traffic with all my skill and nerve. Rut
you mustn't be a bit uneasy about me.
BroWn Is always at my elbow to warn, to
comfort, to command" and 1 know that
he won't let me do anything l ouehtn't or
let any harm come of ii If l did
The worst of driving an automobile your
self. when you've really got that m1crobe in
your blood is that you don't see quite as
much of the country as you would other
wise. and that you hate to stop, even when
there are wonderful things to see But then
1t used tC be almost the same in both ways
when one lived, breathed and moved for
bicycles DO you remember how l would
talk of nothing else and make bike slang
answer for all human natures daily needs ?
You were annoyed one night when L took
your arm we were walking together, and
told you you were "geared too high for
me-"
If my life depended now on giving accu-
rate details of the country through which
We've been driving. l should have to resign
myself to die. l only know that I've never
been so happy, or seen half so much that
was beautiful and (as that Mrs. Bennett
who wanted to marry you so badly was al
ways SAYING "soul-satisfying."
Well, we left Bordighera the day after
Christmas. Brown called it Boxing day.
but l didn't understand what he meant till
Riviera di Ponente. towards Genoa La Su-
Perhaps-just perhaps-at true critic OF
beauty, whose blood had cooled with much
experience, would say that the Italian
Riviera road wasn't quite equal to the
French between Cannes and Mentone But
it's Italy, Italy! And there's the difference
of charm between the two (aS l said to
Brown that there IS between a magnificent
young French duchesse, confident of her
own charms, with generations of breeding
and wealth behind her, and lovely, peach
tinted, simple-hearted Italian peasant girl.
How rich the color Is everywhere
and yet 1t never seems to dazzle
the eye. 1 suppose it's the wonder
full atmosphere that harmonizes everything.
And then the lovely. softening effect of the
years; the moss, the 1hchen: the endearing
dila pida ton! So many things appeal to
your heart as you pass through Italy. oh.
don't know how to describe it; but luckily