The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-05-08

The weeping Of the candles and the wind
10 all ! hear.
IL don't know who the lord was nor
what he fOllOwed-perhaps the sev-
smith key. But the weeping candles
and the wind seem 50 romantic-and
80 like Baldpate inn tonight"
III l had Il daughter your age" CON-
mentcd Cargan, not unkindly. shed
he ut home reading Laura Jean Libbey
by the fire, and not chasing after rO-
nance on u mountain
THAT would be best for her, I'm
sure" replied the girl sweetly. "FOr
then she wouldn't be likely to find out
things about her father that would
prove disQuieting"
"Dearie!!" cried Mrs. Norton. No
one else spoke, but all looked at the
mayor. He was busily engaged with
his food. Smiling his amusement. Mr..
Magee sought to direct the conversa-
ton into less personal channels.
I'VE heal so much about romance,
especially since it's widely advertised
DEATH" he said. "And to every man l
ever met it meant something differ
ent. Mr.. Cargan, speaking as a broad
minded man of the wOrld-what does
romance mean to your
The mayor ran his fingers through
his CRAVING hair and considered sc.
riOusly.
Romance" he reflected. "Well, !
amt much OH the talk out of books.
But here's what l see when you say
that word to me: It's the night before
election, and I'm standing in the front
window Of the little on Main
street where the boys car always find
me. Down the street l hear the snarl
and rumble Of bands. and pretty soon
l see the yellow flicker Of torches, like
the flicker Of that candle, and the bob
bling Of banners. And then-the boys
march by-all the boys! Pat DOherty
and Bob Larsen and Matt Sanders
all the boys! And when they get to
my window they wave their hats and
cheer. Just a fat old man In that win
dow, but they'll 90 to the pavement
with any guy that knocks him. They
are loyal. They are for me. And so
they march by. cheering and singing
all the boys-just for me to see and
hear. Well, %that-that's u to
me-"
Power" translated Mr.. Magee.
Eyes, sir" cried the mayor. 81 know
I've got them. All the reformers In
the world can't spoil my thrill then.
They're mine. l guess old Napoleon
knew that thrill. l guess he was the
greatest a the world ever
knew. When he marched over the
mountains with his starving bunch
and looked back and saw them In rags
and suffering for him-well, I reckon
old Nap was as close to romance then
as any man ever gets"
Il wonder" answered Mr.. Magee. 1t
:ame to him suddenly that in each
persons definition Of this Intangible
thing might lie exposed something Of
both character and calling. At the far
end Of the table Mrs. Norton's lined.
tired face met his gaze. To her he
put his question.
WELL" she answered, and her. voice
seemed softer than its wont, 81 amt
thought much Of that word for a good
many years now. But when l do-say.
| seem to see myself sitting on Our
porch back home thirty years ago.
I've got OF a simple little muslin dress,
and I'm slender as Elsie Janis, and the
color in my cheeks is-well, it's the
sort that Norton likes. And my hair
but I'm thinking Of him. of Norton.
He's told me he wants to make me
happy for life. and I've about decided
III let him try. l see him coming up
II front walk, coming to call on me.
Have l mentioned I've got a figure. a
real sweet figure? That's about what
romance means to me-
youth, dear?" asks Miss Norton
gently.
That's it, dearie," answered the
older woman dreamily. Youth"
For a time those about the table sat
in silence, picturing, no doubt, the
slender figure on the steps of that
porch long ago. Not without a hu-
morous sort of pity did they glance
occasionally toward the woman whom
Norton had begged to make happy.
The professor Of comparative litera-
ture was the first to break the silence.
THE dictionary" he remarked AGA
demically. would define romance as q
species of fictitious writing originally
composed in the dialects and
afterward in prose. But the diction-
airy is prOsaic-it has no soul. Shall
l tell you what romance means to me?
l will. l see a man tOiling in a dim
laboratory, where there are strange
fires and strange odors. Night and
day he experiments, the love of his
kind in his eyes, a desire to help in
his heart. And then-the golden mo-
ment-the great moment in that quiet.
dreary cell-the moment Of the. dis
covery. A erum a f~Ormula-what
not. He gives it to the world and a
few of the sick are well again and a
few of the sorrowfui are glad. Ro-
nance means neither youth nor pow
err to me. 1t means-service."