The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-08

1.-TWO years ago. when Gibbs Mans
 field was 10 years old, he was at
 x school in Vevey. Well do I remem- Der the slim and himble figure of le pett Mansfield as he scudded down the street to purchase buns at the patisserie shop' How shall I describe the sublimities ana the grotesqueries of that dream haunted boy or the extraordinary episodes or the imaginary world in which he so largely livedi dozen times a day he was sur rounded with spies who would Kill nm
 if they could. The dark entrance 10 the bakeshop was the beginning of a supter- ranean cavern where lurked the enemy think he never passed it without shudder Beneath every stone was buried secret treasure.
 When I first saw Gibbs he was about years old and he spoke me courteous phrases in a rich mature bass. snouio not have believed that such mellow roar of sound could emerge from an ex- istence so like butterfly. My amaze inent was even greater when I discovered how martial was his imagination rms dainty being appeared to spend his days on a perpetual battlefield. By the time he was 4 he was continually describing brilliant and terrific scenes of bloodshed' of which he claimed to be the hero. Ills love of battle was equalled only by ms courtesies Nothing could exceed the grandeur of his behavior when occasion required it. When he was told to apoio- eize for some impish prank he converted it into the stateliest of ceremonies. He did not appear to object to apologizing, as many children do. I fear he enjoyed if.
 At this time he was a wild and exquis- i,e being-the little son of poetry ana TO- nance. He had hallucinated brown eyes, an awe-struck countenance, and seemed almost diaphanous in his physique. l remember his intoxication when I repeat cd poetry to him, his excitement over rhythm and rhyme, and his wild griet when he heard sad music once when repeated part of "The Lady of the Lake" he fell to gigglrg with delight, and at last fell squirming to the floor, inn ,,loring me to continue and behaving very
 
 much like a young kitten when first in troduced to catnip. He himself frequent lv spoke in numbers Never shall l fcr' get the exalted bearing, the impassi?ned countenance with which he would break forth into original sagas, beautiful and wild. At such times he appeared ec- stasied with emotion and his strange eyes aware cnly of his own dreams.
 remember one strange drama com nosed and acted by himself when he was E. in which he was a pilgrim struggling to the promised land. l remember ms ia- mentations and. unchildlike cries to heav- .n The room was dark with winter twl- light. and it was thrilling when, as ne flung himself in prayer before the gate still closed, he cleverly turned on the electric light and bathed himself in what he meant to be redeeming splendor lie had never seen a play acted in his life had been carefully guarded from ali taik of the theatre, and was still under the impression that stage meant stagecofch, and that dada drove 1t.
 Oh, inspired baby! Did ever any other child except Majorie Fleming use such language? Once, while he was still G. we were going upstairs together talking on some quite ordinary subject. Suddenly he raised his face and with that ave- struck expression so familiar to all who know him seemed to gaze moment at something unearthly. Then he sank on the step and lifting up his arms to that invisible spendor which my eyes saw not, he cried, as child Galalld might nave cried before his earliest vision, Beauty betides me-" Pugilistic atom that he then was, how he lcnged to fight! Innocent Of the nursery, he begged to try himself against the gang. Tt would be such fun, one poet against dozen"
 Such was the dreamy, yet warlike child who went to try his mettle among the yeyey schoolboys. Shall I ever forget those. nights when this most fascinating of children regaled us at the supper table with his adventures of the day! In what battles was he engaged! Shall ever for get his whimsicalities, his humors, his angers, his passionate naughtiness, his lovely generosites, his rampant imagi- nation, his extraordinary wit. his gra- cious and curiously mellow repartee which complimented rather than dis countenanced. his boisterous fun, is wild pirits his eager desire to be loved, and lis astonishment resentment and grief when he was occasionally misunderstood Sometimes, to amuse us, he would sing US the Jungle Book songs In his deep, un- :! childlike voice. These songs he set to an eerie music of his own and they were sung with great dramatic fervor. Some- times he extemporized little comedy. dramatizing the events of the day. in which his teachers, himself and his