The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1912-01-07

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Ing poems to my sister what do yon
think Of THUR
Upon this the mai With a fierce TEN
per strobe out Of the room Tuning.
Bert IL furious because Mr.. Mrliane
sent me bit of verse the h,st day hs
was here" said Mnrie.
She put into Tennsy'a hands two
half sheets Of his own best note paper
upon which appeared. IN Stephen Me
Lanes quaint lahored hand. about
forty lines az verse which fniriy stag
gered Tnnner. first. by the seemingly
prophetic nature Of the matter ANA.
secondly. ny the extraordinary merit OF
| the piece ns work of art.
| In form K was n pictorial fragment.
the description Of the loss Of II vessel
quite clenrly indicated rs IN" cashnn
| drain Il snowstorm on the open sea.
Are you not awedy'' asked Marie.
DO you not recognize something more
than natural IN thisr He has predict
ed his own dcath.'
This II very remarkable. said he.
1T should certainly be published. I'm.
doubted.y Il IL the very best thing
that McLnne ever did. the only thing
reilly worthy ~ him. DO you suppose
he has ewsr offered It anywhere
"Oh. nos she exclaimed. 1T was
written for Me. He says so In n little
note accomplishing the poem. II was
for me alone
"A little note" quoth he. md the
| ianitor had paid 4 cents postage on II!
Tenney perceived very clenrly that the
ocean had cngulfed u Formidable rivnl,
but he must not show his knowledge.
MY idea" said he. would he to
give this to u newspaper | am an
advocate of wide circulation. II the
thing Is good. let the public have 1t.
There should be II little Introduction
stating the circumstances"
ooh" she cried, In fiutter. with
my name No. no; have 10 right Ia
shine in the light Of his fame.
Il think Fou will h" wlsv to reinniu
anonymous for the present said hr,
This will make u great stir. The re-
pcrters would come running after your
pictures and AL that. We will say sim
ply that the toem was incInsed III n
letter to friend"
A shade Of disappointment was Wis
ible on her face.
In accordance with this decision the
poem was printed In u newspaper AMI
the prophetic element was played up
for all II was worth. Upon the publ.
cation of the poem Lowell came to Ten
ney's rooms and raved like a madman
This explosion, however. was mild
compared with another which occurred
two days later. About \ o'clock In the
morning Lowell came ramping and
roaring into Tenneys apartment and
displayed copy Of that same newspa
per which had printed the poem and
which now announced In bold black
type the name OF the young lady tc
whom McLane's miraculous compost
ton had been addressed. Her portrait
admirably reproduced. adorned the
flrst page. She was indeed a very
beantifuI girl. and her name was Alicis
Holies
4 II appearcd that she was a niece Of
Dave Haliey. u wealthy contractor and
powerful i,oiIticinn In Brooklyn. There
was an. interview with Miss Holiey. In
which she 'bluahingiy denied" that
there had been an engagement Of mar
rage bet ween herself and 1.-THE young
genius now so widely mourned.
HAS Marie seen this?'' demanded
i-renney. "She has? What did she
dor
"She laughed" replied Lowell. chok
ing with wrath. "Girls are idiots. She
doesn't realiza what this will be when
/ Il MI comes out. M II certainly WILL
Intent on consolation Tenncy went to
see Mnric but she laughed ut him also
and protested that sha was sorry only
for Miss Holiey. who seemed to have
taken McI.anr very seriously.
II wish YOU would 20 to see her.
said Marie. "and tell me what kind OF
Il girl she IT,"
From variety Of motives. Tenney
followed this suggestion. In the home
Of the HoIlcys he encountered first the
famous Dave" whom he found TO be
n dynamite bom, of n somewhat DIFF
ferent type from Bert Lowell but
equally dangerous.
N poet" he cried, In infinite scorn.
"without cent 10 his name
/ However. Tenney was permitted to
see Miss Holiey. Of whom he had no
great hopes. after his view Of her
uncle. but who can see an inch be-
yond the veil that shrouds the future?
Tenney heheld Alicia Holley and was
stricken through aud through.
Here was writer of romances
whose books had sold by the hundreds
of thousands. and he had never known
love. He had considered himself pledg.
cd In marriage aud hnd never even
guessed why people wish to marry.
He could have been engaged to Marie
Lovell for an indefinite period without
serious impatience. hut IN the week
| which followed his first meeting with
Alicia Holley he couldn't be out of her
sight for Eve minutes without an arh.
/ ing desire 10 return.