The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-04
THIS WAS A MAN


ing despair itself. She was meditating
how she might know if he had ever
dared to think of her as other than
his masters daughter. and If he had,
how she might break that fine self
command Of his. There were ways
we did not have our one more little
good time after all, did We Paul?"
There was pathetic half-tenderness
in her tone as she fingered over his
name
Why don't you ask me to sing for
you now, here-one last song, one wee
new song with such a ripple crinkly
waltz air and such rare, wicked words.
am going away for year, Paul-for
a whole year She moved slowly to-
ward him, into the range of his vision
Then her voice, with all its wi:Ahing
sweetness, the compelling power of an
undertone he had never heard in it
THE warm wind kisses the rose of
May.
SO daring.
She turns not away, nor saws him nav.
Who's caring?
For buds will blow and winds must go.
If he comes not back, who'll know.
who'll know
That she lay caressed on the winds
warm breast?
If he dares, who cares?
The bold wind kisses the IiIy's mouth,
SO daring.
Though she knows he's affecting away
to the south,
Who's caring?
For buds will blow and streams must
flow,
He will ne'er come back. Who'll know,
who'll know
That she lay so fair on his bosom bare?
If he dares, who cares?
MY love he kisses me while he may,
So daring.
turn not away nor say him nay,
Who's caring?
For lips will glow and my love must
AS the wind and the wave. Who'll
know, who'll know
That I reeled with bliss meath my
loves warm kiss?
If he dares, who cares?"
"Obedient to some power. both
turned at the same instant and looked
breathlessly into each others eyes
She was temptation incarnate; as fair
and-'yOunS
AS Eve with natures daybreak on her
face.
There was not a yards saving
space between them. Something told
aim that the space must be kept-a
dull something, akin to self-preserva-
ton
The beauty of this ideal lies in that
Paul is not controlled by a self-love
nor fear, but his love impels him to so
guard himself and guide her that her
innocent, hardly comprehended pas
sion may be enjoyed without fear and
leave nothing to regret in its remem-
br9nce.
AS a foil to this there is running
through the romance the love story of
Richard Eldreth and Nina Howard
with his love seIf-seeking and self
serving, and only controlled because
his pure-minded fiance represses and
cOnceals the depth and wealth of her
love for him, intuitiveiy erecting that
barrier of defense.
From beginning to end there is be-
fore you true ideal of what is manly
and what is gentlemanly. There is no
double standard of morals, and the
romance calls to mind the dialogue of
that old play;
who, then, is this thy gentleman?
He is one who fears God. loves dogs
and never speaks slightingly of wo-
man."
The work has a rare presentation of
western social atmosphere. Nearly all
writers put the manners and language
of a cross between a tar heel mountain
eer and a Canuck as a fit portrayal of
a westerner, with Mark Twain and Ar
temus Ward as samplers, forgetting
that they both took the extraordinary
of an early day to make a holiday for
western men to delight in. The social
atmosphere of the west is less pro-
vincial than that of any part Of the
United States, and there are compare
,~-1.F-
and shiftles pauper class here than can
be found in any community east of the
Mississippi river. The story is real
istic, but fortunately its realism does
not depend upon the tricks of faulty
diction or dialect to establish your i'm
presSiOns. A study of the type of man
which in this story is called Paul gives
a new Interpretation to
His life was gentle. and the elements
So mix'd in him, that nature might |
stand up
And say to all the world. This was |
man
If I'VE became like what we con-
template then a careful contempla- |
ton of this type of man by fathers and
mothers, and sons and daughters is
most essential to its incarnation in us !
OF the several volumes which have
come from the pen of Mrs. Louthan
this is the most pretentiOus and has
occupied a very long time in the max
ing. In every way the effort is most
creditable.
Mrs. Louthan is now engaged as
editor of the Western World, an illus
trated monthly magazine devoted to |
western fact and fiction, published at
Denver, and installments of This Was
a Man" are appearing in each issue of
that paper by permission of the c. NJ
Clark Publishing company of Boston,
by whom all rights are reserved.
n. w. SONNEDECKER.