The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-04-25
SonETHIN1 bRoH
WITHIN Hln.~H
WAS His Wild
ynRlT.

Jared better So. at last. he reached
Italy.
In Rome there was rage for beauti-
full manuscripts rage that seemed all
the greater for the menace that had
come to the art of the writer ami the
illumination through that new and dire
invention. the printing press.
Gerard got 800 crowns for copying
Aristotie's treatise on rhetoric A car
dinal caressed him and boosted of his
find. Princes and mobiles patronized
him, vying with each other to possess
a work OF art from this new pet At
last Gerard was engaged by the Pope
himself.
He was the happiest young man In
all Rome. He foresaw that in year
or two he should return to Holland
with a good store of money and end
his days with Margaret. In all his
success. his heart never strayed a
moment from her. 81 -
One afteKnoon fine lackeyS came
and demanded his attendance at the
Palace Cesarini. There he was usher
ed into the presence of a superb beauty,
the Princess Cesarfni.
He made sketch Of her. Then she
demanded a larger portrait. When he
had finished this, she ordered a full
length figure. 1t was a new and fruit
full source of income. Margaret seemed
nearer and nearer.
Poor Gerard was in the den of vel
vet tigress. Little by little she drew
nearer to him. Little by little she
yielded to her desire for him. At last
she tired of waiting for the coy artist
and boldly did the wooing herself.
When Gerard told her that his heart
belonged to humble girl in Holland
she turned white with fury. He re-
treated, with his mind made up to
leave the city, for he had learned how
MANY daggers and swords were at the
disposal of the great ones of Rome.
He was prudent enough to change
his lodgings and lie quiet for a few
days. waiting for ship. The leisure
that came to him thus he employed to
read the parchment. forgotten till then,
that he had carried away from the
tower in Tergou.
He mastered 1t and saw at once what
1t meant. Now he was all afire to take
ship to Holland.
That afternoon his old .landlady
brought him a letter which. she said.
had been left for him by Dutch paint
er with an outlaDdish name-Hans
Memling. '.t
Gerard opened It with his heart beat
ing high. Ten minutes afterward he
was roaming through the streets, cry
ing: There is no Godr Like a mad.
man he hunted for Hans Memling with
the blind purpose of examining the
| words he had brought down his throat.
1t was night before he returned.
white and shaken. He had not found
Hans but his poor mind had time to
realize that Margaret was dead. He
crept to his room like an old man, NUT
tering at Intervals; Hell is master
of the world" ....
For many weeks thereafter he lay in
delirium When he returned to life he
cursed It. A dark cloud fell on his
| noble mind. He plunged into the vices
and designations of Rome as men tired
of life have rushed among the enemy's
bullets.
The great sums that he had saved
for his Margaret gave him ample
means. He became the leader in the
wild revels of the artists and roues of
the city. The man was not born to 10
things by halves. Therefore he was
not vicious by halves.
One day when he had undermined his
health, and taken the bloom off his
beauty he floated on the Tiber In a
gorgeous galley with a gay company
of men and beautiful women. A galley
with the Princess Cesarini met theirs
One of his companions pointed at her
and laughed. She thought. wildly, that
Gerard had betrayed her.
The next night bravo hired by her
was on the artists track with a dagger.
That same night Gerard. whom the
sight of the Princess had brought back.
as in a whitening lightning flash, to the
realization of all he had done, sought
| Oblivion in the black flood of the
river.
But his penance was not to be ac-
complished so easily. He was pIucked
back from death by ready hands and
taken to a convent, where a fierce,
jealous monk, Fra Jerome, who had
| known him long. determined to save
his soul.
That soul was ready for the flaming
words of the passionate priest Gerard
turned with terror and aversion from
the world. He turned with an eager
spirit to self modification and prayer.
Convent-bred as he was. it was like
turning TO home.
On shorter probation than usual he
was admitted to priests orders. Soon
he took the monastlc vows and became
a frier OF St Dominic
Gerard Fl!assoen ended and Brother
Clement began.
About the time that he put or the
cowl the Princess confessed to Brother
Jerome that she had caused the as