The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1911-01-12

I'D become dominated purely by
k~-97 the idea OF wealth there was
C&tAJ no more delightful, easy go
ing yesse! for the person with Gallo
taste than old La Champagne. Today
it is an ~antiquated hulk. plying some
where bet ween Havre and South Amer
lean ports, carrying only those pasSen,
gers that the American with his su
perb snObbiShnrSs would describe as
second class"
There really was AT II time a first,
second and third class traffic, but the
American, with the absurd indiffer
ence as TO how he spends his money
and as to where he belongs, has made
everything, in his estimation, first
class by buying unnecessary things
snd demanding ~unbecoming comforts.
1t was almost the last voyage Of La
Champagne. The night before the ship
arrived Captain Didot had asked all
the passengers TO do hin the honor to
dine with him. an invitation that
meant a great deal more on board this
old French ship than the captains
Niiii'' AS'h' WI ~ ~
liner. There were souvenirs, there
was champagne, there was a little bit
Of Gallo gayety, and there was delight
full Gallo informality. There were no
loud tOasts and no long speeches. nor
did any one pull the lions tail or wave
the stars and stripes.
Graham Winthrop had been over In
Paris for q month. He cursed his luck
that he had been obliged to take this
slow going vessel instead Of one Of the
faster steamers, as his natural Amer
lean appetite and income suggested.
The first few days had been days Of
intolerable boredom. There was hard
ly a soul on board the ship who
amounted to anything, as far as he was
able to find out. but himself. There
were silk merchants from Lyons, n
French consul or two, a couple of
American travellers from the middle
west and a lot Of other people that
lone doesn't see at one club"
His fair knowledge of French and
his prcclivity for bridge led him TO
spend most Of his evenings in the
smoking room with three Frenchmen
who admired his bridge and cursed his
French intermittently. The attitude
that two of the card players took to-
ward the third. NJ. Vavin. impressed
him little until one day. walking on
deck, he did a memorable thing in his
athletic life-a two mile turn with the
same NJ. Vavin.
You have written plays" he sug
gested in the course of the brisk walk
NJ. Vavin smiled and said, II should
rather say, monsieur. that | have tried
to write plays"
And yet Alexandra says you are
one Of the greatest dramatists in
France"
Vavin laughed pleasantly and raised
his hand deprecatingly. II have done
my best in recent years 10 write plays
for France that would do France good
That Is not always the right attitude
of the dramatist. for sometimes the
dramatist Is justified in doing the
thing that he thinks will help his
country. even though II does not help
his country, even though 1t does not
help his art, monsieur
I'VE have never had any of your
plays in America" said Winthrop. For
him the deeper and subtler side of
Vavin's answer had no meaning.
America" said NJ. Vavin. with a
smile, 'is a wonderful nation. won
derful in that she is growing more
wonderful every day She wants
things that pertain absolutely to her
self. and there she is absolutely right
The great art Is never produced by
any nation unless it pertains absolute
ly to that nation. My plays pertain
10 France. four American dramatists
sometimes have, | think. less finish
than we Of the older nation. You will
pardon me II | say that sometimes
your dramatists are, from our point OF
view. rather crude, but that is not the
question. The plays Of your best dram
atists would not succeed In Franco
and the best plays of my confreres In
France do not succeed In America fol
the same reason"
1t was all a trife too technical fol
Winthrop, but before they had fin
ished their walk the consideration and
the great courtesy hat be had beer
shown In this conversation. the defer
nee that had been paid to his fal
from acute understanding, had fasci
mated him. and for the rest of the voy
age he and NJ. Vavin were walking
companions.
When they sat down to the captain.
dinner on the last night out he hat
begun to feel that there was In hin
an undeveloped intellectual power-th'
inevitable and sometimes unfortunate
result of association with intellectual
men. In addition. he had In the cours'
Of his conversation during the voyage
referred. to the fact that he knew ant
had been engaged to Dora Fullerton
and vavin. with surprise well conceal
ed. had after that hunted him up OF