The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-06-24
CUPID AT SORRENT0.
81 Z. a. MITeHEL.


ing that you are right, the female Is
not supposed to be the aggressor IA
love. It is the male who makes the
advance and Is rightly represented by
the boy who shoots the arrow.
'srhe young spring together like two
opposite electric currents, though even
IN this case Cupid sends the shaft
shooting at random. II is only when
he fires at older people that It Is es-
sential that he carefully adjust and
fire It with a delicate aim. have a
case In my mind.
"a few years ago I was planning FOR
q trip to Europe. A man going abroad
is not likely to trouble himself as TO
the hostelries at which he win stop,
but woman before sailing writes TO
all her friends who have travelled her
proposed route, inqulring for the most
desirable boarding places and making a
long list OF them from their replies.
Ny wife wrote her cronies. among 9TH
ers Mrs Catherine De Witt. widow OF
an admiral in the United States navy,
and asked me to write my old chum.
General Poindexter, retired army Of
ficer, who had a horror Of ever being
led into what be called a matrimonial
guardhouse' Both recommended very
highly the Hotel G. at Sorrento, Italy.
Nov, we archaeologlsts are accus-
toned to look for relationships among
the remotest buried antiquities. For
instance, when we find a fish painted
on an Italian urn Of the first century
we know that It belonged 10 a Chris
tian. No sooner did I read the rec
concentrations Of the Hotel O. az Sor-
rento written by both the general and
the widow, than / formed an infer
ence.
"Tt Is situated said the widow, 9n
an orange grove. hundreds Of the mel
low fruit on every tree. A few steps
from the house Is q marble terrace on
che edge Of a CHI overlooking the bay
of Naples. Below is the water, a light
blue or pale green; TO the north the
hazy isle Of Capri, TO the west the cone
of vesuvius. emitting faint smoke,
which mingies with the fleecy clouds
hanging over its summit
I was impressed, said the general,
with the strength Of the position from
a military point Of view. From the sum.
NIT of the cliff shells could be dropped
ON the decks Of besieging war feet,
the only part left unprotected. As
stood on the terrace overlooking the
bay I felt that II / were there com
handing the towns defense I could
sink the allied fleets OF the world
''I.o one used to hunting for records |
written IN a bit OF broken pottery. 1
mosaic picture or heather god It was 1
an easy matter 10 trace in the valor 4
excited IN the man and the overflow OF 4
ideality in the woman the fact that
they had sat on that balustrade to-
gether.-not only in the sunlight, but
under the influence Of the queen of
the highland that as she caused the
tides 70 ebb and flow so had she
drawn their hearts to pulsate IN uni
son.
"since neither the general nor the
widow was a fixture my wife invited
the former 10 60 with us on q Mediter-
ranean trip to Naples, and I wrote the
former, who was in Paris, to meet us
at the Hotel @. at Sorrento. The wild.
ow was only too glad to attach her
self to our party, and the general
agreed to be In Sorrento at a specified
GATE.
"We reached Sorrento on one OF
those afternoons when the heavens
and the Mediterranean look down and
up at each other like the blue eyed an
gels. The widow took us out on the
terrace to show us the view. She was
as enthusiastic as she had been in her
written description, but her eye was
sad. In the evening the moon shone,
and the general. arriving as the orb
was chasing the twilight, must needs
take me to HIS imaginary fertilization.
I was not surprised 10 see on his face
look Of disappointment The posi-
tion,' he said, doesn't look as strong
as it did. There is something wanting
IN a defensive point Of view, and l ]
can't tell what it is
eat that moment there were sounds
Of women's voices on the walk from
the hotel, and, turning, we saw my
wife and the widow coming toward
us. II
II win not dwell on the meeting Of {
the two, who had met there before.
In a few moments heard the widow,
pointing rapturously to the sea, Capri, |
yeguyius, while the general. having
suddenly discovered that what be had
considered an element Of military I
weakness was really a tower Of /
strength. declared that a million tribes
men, manned by thaSons OF Hercules,
could not have taken the position from I
Its ancient possessors.
"Ilater we excused ourselves and
left the two together While had dis 7
covered that Cupid had pierced them q
during a previous meeting, It was my Z
wife who had planned to bring them
together. Bat how were they TO dis 4
cover that which was SO plain 70 both {
of us? The little god simply inocu
lates. He is not the physician who
the disease, informs the pa
tent that he or she Is stricken with e
love and suggests the cure. But what ii
Is too delicate a task for him cannot 2
be safely intrusted to far less tender 7
hands. All we could do was to keep {
the two together long enough for them :
to discover what was the matter with
them. This we did, and a fortnight
after our arrival the general came % d