The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-07-09

II REMEMBER YOU VERY WE'LL, NIB. BON
NYCAsTLE.'*
with a couple Of strings of imitation
pearls. was especially charming. The
natural expression of her lips was a
smile, and it seemed that any change
in them was from the usual to the un-
usual. Her neck and shoulders were
curves of beauty.
The first thing for an artist to do tc
bring out his genius is to fall In love
At least that's the way Dante and Pc
trarch and a lot of others did Bonny
castle proceeded in his own mind to
give Evelyn a character suitable to heI
physical makeup. For this he had the
ground all prepared for him-that is
there were no traits for him to tear
away, because there we're no traits al
all. Evelyn may be best described as
a composite girl. If a man is going to
idealize woman or a woman Is going
to idealize a man it is far better that
this should be SO, just as it Is easier to
draw a picture from the beginning
than to alter one already made.
Bonnycastle conf1ded his love to his
friend Thriftleigh, waxing eloquent on
the girls physical and moral beauties
One reason for the friendship between
the men was that Thriftleigh never op
posed his friends vagaries except when
harm might come Of them. He could
see no more harm In Bonnycastle's ere
ating an angel out of Miss Forbes than
sculptor doing the same thing out Of
clay. So he listened to Bonnycastle's
description of what he conceived the
girl to be with apparent profound In
terest. This suited Bonnycastle exact
ly. He neither wished his friend to
agree or disagree with him.
Bonnycastle's next step was to write
love letters to Evelyn. A critic would
have pronounced them literary master.
pieces. There was feeling in them
brought out by genius. What that gen
ius is no one has yet been able to de
fine, though many have tried. In this
case it was the difference between
maudlin and that which appeals direct
" to the heart The literary instinct
was so strong In Bonnycastle that it is
quite probable the chief interest he
took In these letters was very much
like what he would feel at portrayine
love scenes in a novel But this he did
not suspect. He regarded them as gen
uine expressions of his worship of his
angel.
Evelyn saw nothing In the letters ex
cept evidence that the writer was IN
love with her. She had several other
admirers, who said the same thing IL
commonplace way, the method max
ing no difference as to the fact 1t was
sufficient that she was admired. Bon
expressing his love in such charming
fashion. Another of Evelyn's admir-
ers who sat still and said nothing pro
duced even a greater effect
Several Of the worlds literary masters
began their careers by drawing pic
lures with a pencil or a brush instead
of words, notable instance being the
great Thackeray. Bonnycastle was
one Of these. He lacked the skill thai
comes Of education and practice on
else he had not that subtle something
which evolves the artist in paint OF
clay. He wrote a story and sold II
without much trouble. Then he tried
novel.
And here his alteration for Evelyr
Forbes came in handy. He made hel
the heroine Of his novels and himself
the hero. The consequence was that
when the hero talked to the heroine the
words were impressive. The audience
that reads novels is more easily touch
ed through the Imagination than real
ity. Though Evelyn had not appre
ciated Bonnycastle's love letters, sh'
would doubtless have done so had sh'
read them as the enunciations Of al
imaginary man to an imaginary wo
man.
When Bonnycastle finished his move
he was more in love with his heroine
than ever and more in love with hi
novel-for a brief season-than will
the real Evelyn. This is not surpris
ing. He was not in love with the fiesl
and blood except as a thing Of beauty
but with the product Of his magma
tion Therefore it was natural tina
after the full development Of his imag
mary heroine, whom he was man.
months In building, he should be NOR
in love with her than with the original
But the original had the great advan
tage, while the imaginary development
would begin to fade from the autho
as soon as finished. Evelyn, with he
golden hair, smiling lips and roun'
neck and shoulders. remained the same
Bonnycastle's novel was work 0
genius. At any rate, there was enougl
feeling in It for half dozen novels
He asked Thriftleigh to read the manu-
script. He did so, pronounced 1t 'ver
fine" but predicted that ROnuycastl