The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-12-22
MARGARITA'S VICTORY
BY c. E. M.

Faust" With passiOnateness gen.
lie in it's simplicity Siebel was
In the language of love, o gentle
flowers,
Say to her I adore her!
Say she's my love and treasure,
Say that she of my heart, of my life
is the joy"
Robert Mason started. His friend,
Walter Russell, seized him by the arm.
and he leaned back, somewhat Gained.
.And assure her my love is strong |
and pure,
Tell her my hopes and fears,
That her presence endears each bright
hour for me-
was waited towards them in quiet
plaintiveness.
Come, let us hence. l cannot, l
shall not, endure this mockery!" ex-
claimed Mason, with an emphasis that
none ever dared to oppose. AS he
turned to leave he caught the strain:
.Tell her, sweet flowers, I love her,
Bright is the earth for me-
With a scowl on his handsome fea-
lures he was about to leave, when MS
eye fell on the Warehouses Pletrlnl,
and before he had finished absorbing
all the recent court gossip which that
worthy lady vouchsafed to pour into
his troubled mind, the scene was al
most at an end, and as he crossed the
threshold of the opera house he dis
tinctly caught the diabolical laugh OF
Mephistopheles:
"Margarita! There! Ha! ha! ha!
ha! hal"
With an oath of Impotence he
stepped out into the crisp air and
drew one long sigh of relief. To
gether he and his friend, Russell, were
driven to the fashionable ManzOni
Club, the rendezvous for all the
artists and litterati of Florence. On
entering the club he was greeted with
a joyous "Buona sera, Signor Mason!'
! by the few Bohemians in the first
parlor. Passing on with a friendly
wave intended for all, he betook him
self to a coZy corner, where with
Russell he chose small table,
awaited the cameriere who was to
bring generous quantity of Tuscany s
most sparkling Spumante, and uttered
the single, "Margarita! Ha! ha! ha!
BAH"
He has gone to the opera tonight
not from any desire to appreciate the
artistic and the beautiful in music
and poetry, but Simply to escape from
the intolerable ennui that like some
avenging Nemesis pursued him con
stantly during his waking hours and
filled his nights with the most appal
ling phantasmagoria. He had entered
the place with his inseparable and
faithful friend, Russell, and was
scarcely seated in his box when he al
once became the central point of at
traction from every side. Many g
|lorgnette and opera glass in it's SWEEP
of the boxes stopped naturally ant
was focused on his handsome counte
nance. And well they might. Fol
nowhere in Florence, even among the
nobility, was there to be found SO fine
a specimen of physical manhood a:
was Robert Mason. university gradu
ate, former football and polo cham
j pion, tall, 1.-THE, muscular, graceful
broad of shoulder, with a noble
classic cast of feature, set off by bril-
liant black eyes and bounteou:
abundance of wavy, black hair. Wei
might the maidens of Florence sigl
: for look, smile from the haught.
American. For naughty he was, no
, by nature, but by acquisition, after ;
, series of troubles that would hav,
made many man of lesser fiber hole
his head low forever.
1t was Christmas eve. Of all tn,
: days in the year, this had proved o
: late the most unendurable Hi
Nemesis seemed to have poured upol
him all the pent-up fury from the via
: of wrath reserved by the gods TO
those whom they seek to torment be
fore they utterly destroy. This even
!, ing it would seem the end had beef
! reached; he could endure no more.
''Well!" Russell exclaimed, afte
they had partaken of the sparkling
how do you feel, old man, after light
ing up your interior with a few
sparkles?"
"Margarita! Ha! la! hat cam
: the irrelevant answer. Then on a sud
den he Strengthened up, started fol-
ward, peered into space, as if behold
ing the terrible Mephisto, drew bacl
as if to strike the invader, and the
allowed his arm to drop listlessly b.
his side. Russell, accustomed to thes
apparently unaccountable antics of hi
friend, and knowing their cause, re
manned silent for moment. The
) with CHEEKY, Come out Of it, oil
Fellow, and listen to the latest" h
proceeded to narrate an occurrenc
! witnessed that day in the famou
Pitt palace, wherein German Baro
figured as the centerpiece of pract
cal joke that almost cost him
months Imprisonment While he i
L 4 +,,x,s CT .sl1 .