The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1925-06-19

shadows Of the clouds passing over the
grass; New York, of adamant and rec
tangles, was as good for the joy of her
voice as it would have been for that
of wild nightingale. She never spoke
harshly of that "turrible Babylon"
however. without adding, But twas
there met your father, Brena. and I'll
speak no i'll of it."
So, with some of her sparkling self
dimmed, she gave all her expression of
loyalty TO her husband; her flight upon
gauzy, unsubstantial wings was al
ways circle about his head, as if she
were brilliant moth lowering about
the top of grim mountain which al
ways quivered, threatening volcanic
disasters. Something had died within
her when they took her from the moors
and the open places, and that which
was left was an Irish beauty and bot
tomless well of affection for her man
and her Brena.
ut is from her that l have a leg
acy," said Brena. cit is storehouse
of unspent passion and tenderness.
And it is still mine-to do with as /
please"
She did not go on to say that those
to whom it would be opened might
enter to be destroyed
Brena could not recall the details
of her mothers accounts of the part
her father had played in the disturbed
period of Greece. There were vague
impressions of secret organization
under the Council of Twelve" to
which he had sworn devotion, of a
problem Of honor which he had decid-
ed by following a course of conduct
that had brought down upon him the
penalty Of assassination. A sharply
defined portrait Of this young patriot,
member of the Salamis deputation
of 1862 informing King Ohio, the last
Of the Bavarian alien monarchs, that
the throne of Greece was vacant, re-
manned in Brena's mind. She confessed
to thrill of pride that upon an occa-
sion, historic and momentous, her ia
Their, then only twenty-eight. had been
present in a major role. This had
been the top moment of his life; those
whom he had aided turned upon him.
| The strength of powerful secret or
ganization, gradually falling into un-
scrupulous hands after its true func-
lions were over, had been turned
against him. His name became ira
ditional center of oaths of vengeance;
with knife wounds upon his great
arms and thighs and an unremoved
bullet in his shoulder, he came to
America. He was a man who had
lived one life, and expected the world
to recognize him as an important be-
| ing 1t saw in him only a silent,
| learned man, inventing thousand am
billions and from them choosing no
fixed purpose, disregarding money In
land where money, for the time. was
the fetish, careless of poverty but hui
inflated periodically by debt. discourse
ing upon biological chemistry years be-
fore the scientific world had the
| imagination to listen-a giant, with
dark haunting eyes, long Homeric hair
and beard, always brushed back as If
he were eternally facing hurricane,
and voice and presence as mysteri-
ously impressive as that of some Eli
jah Even Brena remembered his af-
lection for her, profound as 1t was, as
being like the affection of some god Of
mythology directed down upon beau
| tiful but mortal child.
| Between the frivolous sunlight Of
Il
her mother and the magnificent sha-
4 dow Of her father, Brena grew, acquir-
| ing from one a whimsical humor and
| from the other calm of high cliffs
and of Parthenon.
According to Brena's own phrase
she 'had no childhood and all child
hood" She had none because her ia
| Their, after a month or two of concen-
trated application of his mind upon
| studies of similarities In the architec-
ture of ancient Mexico and prehistoric
Greece, would find the butcher. land
lord and grocer at his door, and then,
as If awakened, he would take his lit
tie family and board the train for some
minor university where he would teach
| himself out of debt and into a period
| of bitterness of heart because neither
his learning nor his important place
| in history were given recognition.
With great sigh from his expansive
chest, he would move on again in pur-
suit of some inquiry, some research,
SOME new application of his heroic, Inn
practical head. In consequence, the
little girl, red Of cheeks, with spin
ding legs and great wondering brown
eyes, never stayed long enough any
where for acquaintance with children
and for play. Tutored by her mother
and by the booming, terrifying voice Of
Demetrius Selcoss when he, as he said,
could spare time for it, she learned a
j taste for books aud consumed them,
according to her own story, ''like a
hungry little pig regardless of the wis
dom of diet and eating all that was
within reach" The books served to
give her a fake veneer of experience
and maturity.
This outer covering was fake be-
cause it failed to represent the truth
| that Brena had reached sixteen, with
physical attributes which made men
turn as she passed but without any
consciousness OF having approached
womanhood Without contacts with
childhood, ever on the move, living in
hotels, in boarding houses, in suburban
cottages, ever dependent upon one rick
ETY. patched old trunk and her two
parents. she had acquired the habits
of childlike dependence. Like child