Wallowa County chieftain. [volume] (Enterprise, Or.) 1909-1911, 1909-01-14
CHAPTER 1.

CHATTER L.
Romance, in books, is associated al
ways with the beautiful, generally with
uhe best. We go backward into the past
for a theme, since "'tis distauca lends
enchantment TO the view" We fancy that
the heart beats more warmly-certainly
more gracefully-beneath satin and lace
than beneath calico and fustian; that the
love that quotes poetry is purer and more
admirable than that which through hard
necessity expresses itself ungrammatical-
ly: that diamond-buckled shoes, capering
nimbly upon a carpet to the pleasing OF
a Lutte" carry a man whose ideals must
inevitably transcend those Of his lowly
brother who is upborne by the sabot or
the brogan.
1t is a dictum that there is no romance
among the common people. The hero and
the heroine, in the novel, must be disso-
ciated from real life by unusual qualities
and characteristics, else no one will care
for their story-so, at least, it is imag-
ined. Yet as the saddest tragedies are
those Of the commonplace. 50 the finest
romances are those of the common people.
To pick up at random any of the cur
rent stories of the day is to find one evil
dence of a concession to the supposed
popular yearning for the beautiful and
the unusual in the descriptions exc,
the names-of the puppets who give title
to the story and strut through their brief
hours upon the written stage. With rare
exceptions the heroines are beautiful in
person, cultivated in mind, ancient in
famhy-Lady Clara We're de Veres, in
short; while the hero is no longer beau
tiful, but he is strong. tall, brave, noble,
generous; and if dissipated, will ultimate
ly reform. The names, as have suggest
ed above, Of these godlike persons corre-
spond, so far as names may-and they
may to a great degree. notwithstanding
Shakspeare-to these attributes. They
fall trippingly from the tongue and linger
musically in the memory. Invention which
might better be devoted TO the story is
wasted on name that. like Wordsworth's
famous light, never was on sea or land"
I have invented several myself. therefore
know!
The heroine Of the ensuing story Is
named Jones, the hero, Smith. These
names have been selected deliberately.
That sets this romance at once apart from
all other stories that have ever been writ
ten. That it may live up to its uniquity
Is the prayer Of the writer. There must
of necessity be thousands of romances in
the Smith and Jones families, there are
so many of them-and they are not dying,
but, on the contrary, are increasing at a
rapid rate Cannot Smith love as well
as a Montmorenci? Is not the blood Of
Jones filled with the same passionate
ichor as that of Howard?
Miss Jones-her first and only other
name was Ellen-was a young woman of
no particular ancestry which need be
dwelt upon. While 1t must be frankly ad-
mitted that she was not strikingly beauti-
full, 1t may be affirmed with equal truth
that neither was she painfully hofnely.
She was just a tall, well-formed, healthy
American girl, such as you meet with in
plenty in any community in the land. Her
hair was brown, her eyes were blue, her
cheeks were red, and her teeth were white
these are the usual colors, / believe.
Her temper was quick. her disposition
cheerful, her soul honest-nor are these
qualities at all uncommon. She had been
reasonably well educated for the period
IN which she lived, and in addition to
what she had learned at the Female
Academy" she could sing a song. make a
dress or cook a dinner-happily, ability
OF this sort is not rare. There was moth
Ing extraordinary about her from any
point OF view. Thousands of women like
that-Smiths, Joneses, Browns, etc.-are
being loved, wooed and married every
day; and the future Of the country de-
pends upon the steady continuance Of q
supply adequate to meet the demand.
As for Smith, the hero of this vera
cious tale, his first name was Thomas,
intimately abbreviated to Tom II hs