The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1904-04-07
| 1||GAuX LEAVES. !
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<oM -SA = BY s. Rhett Roman.
BY S. Rhett Roman.

7IUGH GRANTON walked slowly
| from the mantel of the library,
then back again TO the bay window, his
hands thrust in his pockets, looking
moodily, not at the jumbled colors OF
the rugs under foot, nor at the pol
ished flooring, but at far-away scene,
one vivid and real to- his inner sense
and which stood out distinct on the
background of memory clear and dis
tinct and bathed in sunlight, while the
sound of water rushing over rocks and
the signing of the wind in the forest
kept murmuring in his ears and the
light and shadows of towering noun
tains thrown broadly across a pleasant
village scattered along a smiling pla-
teau were what he was looking at.
Oh, the pleasant days and long sum-
mer evenings, when night, starlit and
calm, descended, slowly, with it's in
effable charm, to take possession OF
the wood and valley, rock and hill,
spreading it's mysterious fascination
ever the majestic Blue Ridge.
Hugh Granton, with the mechanical
precision of absorption, walked slowly
up and down the handsome room, his
footsteps muffled by the thick carpets,
and the gloom Of the afternoon was in
tensified by the silk curtains At the
windows.
The Pickering flames from the logs
in the fireplace threw fitful CLEANS
over the heavy covering of the furni-
ture, the nude bronzes and gliding of
the picture frames, on the oak panels
of the room, and glittered in the
thousand prismatic colors in the crystal
pendants of the chandeliers and the
scenes against the walls.
The satyr heads of an old Flemish
table standing near the fire looked
mockingly at Hugh in the uncertain
light, and smiled sardonically as he
stood motionless before bronze brown
bowl of Galix leaves on its polished
center.
They seemed to say, Young man,
there is nothing surprising or unusual
in your vain regrets and repinings.
We have lived centuries and wit
Iessed human joys and sorrows and
under many conditions, we can assure
you that disappointment and separa-
tions form the common lot of man.
Bear up and forget. Laugh at your pres
ent pain and remember that life for
you is as flashing as it's joys. Laugh as
we do"
But Hugh did not glance at the grim
ming, hooking, handsome satyrs, SO
strangely lifelike, perfect for being the
work of some artist of the middle ages,
but gazed long and sorrowfully at the
Galix leaves, at their purple and blue
sheen and rich beauty, remembering
how he had first seen them.
1t was on the road to Valley Crusis,
near where sawmill, hidden by the
thick growth of mountain cedar and
ash and dark, impenetrable underbrush
to the Blue Ridge was utilizing the
tumbling current of a stream, foaming
over rocks and powders, to fall in a
continuous roar over the ledge of a
weir.
A mass of ancient weather-stained
granite stood out from the side of the
mountain, towering straight upward.
imperiously asserting its right to be
called Rock of Ages" and along the
road bushes of rhododendrons, thick
with their soft pink bloom, grew, while
blue forget-me-nots hiding In the vel
vet MOSES at the foot of the rocks,
smiled, defying fOrgetfulness.
Hugh recalled how he had stood lean
ing against the ancient bowlder, when
q sweet. mellow voice overhead, un-
doubtedly unconscious that there was
a listener, began reciting Lamartine's
exquisite lines, which run like liquid
music.
1t was a young girls voice, and it
was both trained and cultured, and
her rendering of the inimitable verses
was perfect. She went through the
whole exquisite picturing of of Lamar
tines solitary musing and thought Of
herself alone in the solitude of the
mountains.
When her voice died away Hugh
with difficulty restrained violent ap-
plause.
The last rays of the sun had faded
and the light gray mists were gath
ering when some loosened stones fall
ing down. from above, showed that the
owner of the voice was attempting to
climb down from her seat on the sum-
.ait of the rocks.
A shower Of leaves fell over Hugh's
hat and shoulders, and a quick excla-
nation of regret came with them.
Hugh did not see vision, nor a wood
nymph, but something better, a very
handsome young girl gowned in white,
for it was the month of June, who was
trying to find a safe foothold on the
abrupt slope of rocks so as to make a
secure descent. She was holding q
large bunch of flowers in one hand and
her hat, gathered up with her skirt, in
the other. ..A s~~
II was evidently easier to get up than
to come down, for she stood hesitating.
looking perplexedly at the sheer de-
scent Of the rock and the mountain
without making any attempt to move.