Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1909-03-17

| Never mind the child He's well
enough here"
Let me come with you, papa; III
be so good-so good, said Gigi. who
little while ago would infallibly
have burst into tears at the prospect
Of this disappointment.
Merlino who really loved his son
was touched by the en.reaty, and
made no further objection; so the odd.
lokiug trio set off together, and Sar.
doni. throwing down his paper. stood
at the window and watched them
down the street with a coinical expires.
sion about the corners of his mouth.
tits as good as a play to see how
that fellow can turn Merlino round his
finger And all the time the old
brute treats him like dog. I'm
hanged If understand how Valen-
tino does it, and how he keeps his
temper, for he's got pretty hot one
for al his sweetness. Jove. I should
like just TO poke the devil up in him
for once and see what he'd DIV He's
none of your milk-and-water saints or
he could never act as he does"
But II to Sardoni, who held the key
to the enigma. Carlos character ard
life were perplexing, to the rest of the
troupe they were altogether incompre-
hensible. Some of them admired him.
others found his unselfshness con
venient, and did not scruple to trade
on it; others were jealous of his sue
cess, and suspected him of trying to
curry favor with Merlino; and though,
before long, all except Gomez had
been so far conquered by the charm
Of his manner as TO treat him with
familiarity, not one of them was cap
able of fathoming the beauty of his
character. He was merely, in their
eyes, pleasant exchange for Come
rio--a youngster who, at present,
seemed unspoiled by his success. a
| good travelling companion, who was al
ways ready to make fun Of petty dis.
comforts, and who seemed quite nat
urally, and with an utter absence OF
ostentation, to take upon himself the
dirty work" of the company.
1t soon came to be considered just
Valentines way" to yield the com.
Portable seat in railway-carriage or
to leave the better Dom at hotel, to
some one else, or with an unconscious
air. which was often mgnly amusing,
to act as safety valve for the impre.
sario's TEMPER. II was a very con
| venient way, there was no doubt about
that; and his help seemed so spon'
taneous, and was so free from all sus.
picion of conceit or superiority, that
it was indeed help worth having.
Nevertheless, like the art of an
actor, all this seemingly natural and
unstudied action was the result OF
sheer effort and often wearisome con
sideration; II was merely that Carlo
succeeded AS very few do succeed. in
yelling the effort, and letting people
perceive the result only. How hard
he found life in Merllno's company
only he himself knew. With Nita his
great love helped him to endure pa
tiently, and Merlino came in for a
share of this too. But with the others
who were not akin TO him, who were,
many of them, positively obnoxious to
him. It was otherwise. Nothing but
hard struggling with his own temper
brought him through each days diff
culties
Bauer would patronize him in a
bland, superior way. pat him on the
shoulder in season and out of season,
embrace him in his fervent German
fashion. and call him "Mein Iunge. "
And then, with his sensitive. artist ma
ture all untuucdf Garlic would won
der TO himself whether It was bride or
a right to selfrespect which made
him inwardly rebel How far was he
bound to submit to the patronizing
familiarity of greedy. conceited, irri-
| tating old German, whose presence
/ Jared on him like a false note ?
Sometimes he tried to throw a sort of
careful GOODNESS into his manner to-
/ ward old Bauer, but that only worked
mischief Then he tried to carry off
all the petty annoyances with laugh.
| This answered better. but. after
all. the weariest thing on earth is
forcei merriment. and his own trou-
bles were making him very heavy
! hearted
Again. there was Fasola the second
baritone with his agg7avating habit of
reading a bitter meaning into the most
innocent remarks, with his contempt
bile jealousy, with his determination TO
| he aggrieved Genuinely sorry for the
man, and feeling that 1t must be hard
10 see a young novice in the place he
coveted yet could by no means FILL
I Carlo went out of hts way 10 help
and please him; but touchy ALI Queru-
/ lous Of mortals, and always coutriyed
to be al cross purposes with the new.
conner, and 30 take offeuse on every
possible occasion
Sardoni was the only one who trou-
hled himself to wonde, about the now
! baritone; he could not have told why
Z. vas tSat he had from the very first
/ been so attracted by him, but the at,
traction only grew more powerful the
more he saw of him and his reckless
/ uonchalance was fast melting away in
the deep interest " his Salf-avowtd
/ friendship. He could have laughed