The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1913-01-17

eron say, and turned from the mirro
to the table. where he had found his
s~ought-for treasure beneath a Pile Of
heavier, grosser works.
You know something of book,
binding" he went on with enthusi.
asm. Now examine that carefully,
and tell me II you ever saw anything
more exquisite, | had 1t done in Lon
don, last year. It's a copy OF one OF
lie Gascon's."
AT first sight 1t seemed all glitter
ing gold. but on closer inspection I
found that the groundwork was bright
red morocco. inlaId with buff, olive,
and marble leather, the spaces close
~ hlied with very delicate and beau.
tiful pointille ~traceries. II was a yer,
table gem In its way, and | could not
blame Cameron for his raptures.
When had applauded and be
praised TO his content. be took the lit
tie volume from my hand and open
ing 1t. with a sort OF slow reverence.
observed with something like patron,
ism:
I'm afraid you don't quito under
stand Baudelaire.'
Does anybody" | flung back.
He Is not so obscure as his critics
would have us believe" Cameron as
serted. Sit down In that lounging
chair a moment. and I'll read you
something And as | obeyed. he
drew up a chair for himself, speaking
all the while in denunciation OF Tol
stos and the injustice Of his criticism.
One poem after another he read,
while ! lay back listening, TO his
credit he read them well, though he
paused often in mid.verse to explain
what he thought | might regard aa an
affectation or. as Tolstoi has put II,
an intentional obscurity."
There was one verse which i'm
pressed me particularly as he read
1t, and remained with me for a long
while afterward, for, In view of every.
thing, It seemed to have a special ap.
p"ositiveness. The lines to which !
refer have been translated In this
way:
From Heavens high balconies
See! In their thrcadbare robes the dead
years cast their eyes,
And from the depths below regrets wan
smile appears,
Cameron sat with his back to the
door leading to the passageway. and
facing, ~diagonally, across the table,
the Nell Gwynne mirror, My own
was on him as he read.
As he finished the verse, a portion
Of which | have quoted, he lifted his
eyes, | thought to meet mine, but his
look rose over my head, and chung
while his lids widened, and into every
line Of his face there came a rigid
half horror. And In that instant oil
tense silence the "Fleurs du Nal"
from his n~erveless fingers,
the table edge, and dropped
with unseemly echo to the floor.
In a breath | was IN my feet and
where his vision had focused.
/ hardly know what | expected to see.
/ am sure nothing would have Rur.
Drised me. And yet | was scarcely
prepared for the incxplicable ruin
which my sight encountered. The
glass of the Nell Gwynne mirror was
n atoms.
Cameron rose, a little u~nsteadily I
bought, and coming around the table,
.olned me in closer inspection OF his
wrecked heredltament I can find no
word adequate to the description of
what we experienced. Amusement
md all it's synonyms are far too
eeble for the task. We were certain
Y more than appalled, What we saw
suggested to me spontaneous disin-
egration. II such a thing were pos.
,ible, which | believe 1t is not, 1t
night have explained the condition Of
he mirror. No other ascrIptlon
,eemcd admissible; for, though the
lass remained in Its frame not so
nuch as a splinter having been
.ropped, It was fractured into a
thousand tiny pieces, resembling a
rystal mosaic, incapable of any but
he most minute reflections. And the
hange to this condition from a fair.
nmarred panel had been wrought
,lthout sound and seemingly without
unan agency.
CTO BE CONTTNUED)