Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-02-15

we felt quite well acquainted. / had
chosen a delightful spot to transfer to
! canvas. It was on q deciivity. An
/ opening In the trees below revealed a
patch of landscape, while at my feet
gurgled a stream, az this sea son well
supplied vi.h water from SHOWS re-
Gently melted at higher attitudes The
air was balmy and laden with per
! fumes.
One has but to mention this outline
picture TO indicate the result. Given
an opening spring in wood. buds. wild
| flowers. twittering birds, a vista, a
brook, a dog and lastly a young man
and q young woman. both in the first
| freshness Of youth. what follows?
Why. exactly what the poet says-the
| young mans (and the young woman's)
| fancy turns to thoughts of love.
The result Of this meeting was an
! other meeting and another and another.
I didn't count them; l was too preoc-
cupied to do so. | painted so long on
| my picture that before I finished IL the
| delicate shade had come to the coun-
try for had grown into q dark green
and the full grown leaves had blotted
/ out the vista which gave the work
more than half its beauty. But while
this beauty was disappearing the bud
! Of love was oDeniag.
/ So much for the natural features Of
| this story. Now come the artificial
| viz. q girls confession to her father
| that she had met her fate, but had not
! met with any knowledge of that fate's
| antecedents: then a command from
| the father tears from the girl and a
! triangular condition between the ia
| Their, the girl and the artist such as
! has taken place ever since the first
! primeval girl planned to give her IA
/ Their the slip and climb a tree with the
/ first primeyal youth, the tree being too
/ high for the old gentleman to follow.
/ Bessie's father was really as reason
/ able as we considered him unreason-
! able. He merely wished to know who
I was. Since I had lived In South
/ America from the time I was two until
! twenty-five years of age I must send
! there for my credentials, involving a
delay Of month or more. What cruel
| ty to force a pair of lovers to wait all
| that time in a state of suspense!
Sweetheart" said to her one day.
suppose the reply should come that
am an escaped defaulter. jailbird, muir
derer"
81 would not believe the story"
But your father would" 1 added
sententiOusly.
One day, after having painted alone
in the wood, on leaving It l saw some
thing half covered with shriveled
branches and dead leaves. l exam
ined it and found the dead body Of a
man. Horri1ed lest I might be i'm
what I had removed and was about
to hurry away when 1 saw two men
coming for me. Within FIVE minutes
I was on my way to the nearest po-
lice station.
My antecedents were now not so
much needed to enable me to possess
my love as to preserve my neck. The
status had changed a second time.
The case was not now one of father.
a girl and an unknown man. but q
father girl and an unknown man ac-
cused of murder. I sent at once Il
note to Bessie, informing her of my
trouble, encouraging her to keep up a
good heart and assuring her of my In
nocence. Receiving no reply, con-
cluded that her father would not per-
NIT her to send a reply.
Brooding in my cell, 1 could not but
revert to the good old primeval times
1 have cited before when a sutton
might kill as many of his fellow be-
ings as he pleased without being OBJ
jected TO on that score for son-in- !
law. had killed no one. 1 was mere |
ly suspected of killing a man. And |
If Bessie's father did not kill men he |
killed the next grade of animal below !
men-or other men did the work for |
him, which is just as criminal-and |
devoured the flesh. 1t seemed to me |
that the only logical beings are the |
beasts and the birds. They kill and
eat each other without inquiring |
whether or no they are eating the |
same species, while maxwell, this is !
what man does.
He kills and eats every animal be- |
low himself. To kill even one Of his /
own kind he considers the greatest of |
crimes unless he kills them In battle, /
where the more men he kills the big !
ger man he is, which is exactly what
made the chiefs among his savage an
cestors.
was so impressed with this reason
ing that 1 asked my jaIler for writing |
materials and wrote It down, or, rather,
elaborated the bare skeleton / had
thought out. When it was finished 1
asked to have It delivered to Bessie's
father.
In due time a reply came as follows:
I have always desired my daughter to
marry a man distinguished for some
thing. Artists and poets are usually dis
t!nzlIshed for their ideality. You, being
one of the kind. share that distinction.
You may further lay claim to being tho
most impracticable numslxuu that. to
my knowledge, the world has yet pro-
duced. You have interested me in your