Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-06

| American writer, lecturer and journalist.
| He is best remembered for his "Prue and /.
My finest castles are in Spain. 1t is
a country famously romantic, and my
castles are all of perfect proportions
and appropriately set in the most pic
turesque situations. have rsver been
to Spain myself, but I have naturally
ccnversed with travellers to that coun-
try, although, must allow. without de-
irving from them much substantial in
formation about my property there.
There are more holders of real estate
in the form of castles-in Spain than
in any other region of the world. Every
one of them possesses multitude of
the stateliest castles. From conversa-
tons with them you can easily gather
that each one considers his own castles
much the largest and in the loveliest
! positions.
1t is not easy for me to say how /
know so much, as 1 certainly do, about
my castles in Spain. The sun always
shines upon them. They stand lofty
and fair in a luminous, golden atmo-
| sphere, a little hazy and dreamy per-
| haps, like the Indian Summer, but in
which no gales blow and there are no
| tempests.
From the windows of those castles
| look the beautiful women whom l have
never seen, whose portraits the poets
have painted. They wait for me there,
and chiefly the air-haired child, lost
to my eyes SO long ago, now bloomed
into an impossible beauty. The lights
that never shone glance at evening in
! the vaulted halls upon banquets that
were never spread. The bands I have
| never collected play all night long and
enchant the brilliant company that was
never assembled into silence.
In those castles in Spain my wife,
Prue, is beautiful and young-her face
has a bloom we both remember, and
her movement grace which my Span
iSh swans emulate. and her voice a
music Sweeter than those of orcheStras.
She is always there what she seemed
| to me when I fell in love with her,
many and many years ago.
1t occurred to me that Bourne, the
millionaire, must have eScertained the
safest and most expeditions route to
| Spain. So I stole few minutes one
afternoon and went into his Office.
There were several gentleman waiting
| to converse with Bourne, so I waited
until they went out. But others came
| in. There was no pause in the rush.
At length I stepped up.
"A moment, please, Mr.. Bourne"
| He looked up hastily, wished me good
morning, which he had done to none
of the others, and which courtesy !
attributed to Spanish sympathy.
What is it, sir?" he asked blandly,
with wrinkled brow.
| Mr.. Bourne, have you any castles In
Spain?" said I without preface.
! He looked at me for few moments
without speaking and without seeming
to see me. His brow gradually Smoothed
and his eyes, apparently looking into
the street, were really, have no doubt,
feasting upon the Spanish landscape.
Too many, too many" said he at
length, musingly shaking his head.
will you tell me what you consider
| the shortest and safest route thither,
| Mr.. Bourne? For, Of course, a man
who drives such an immense trade
with all parts of the world will know
all that have come to inquire"
MY dear SIR" he answered YEARLY,
II have been trying all my life to dis
cover the way to my own castles in
Spain. But none Of my ships has ever
been there, none of my captains has
any report to make. They bring me,
as they brought my father, gold dust
from Guinea; ivory, pearls and precious
stones from every part of the earth,
but not fruit, not solitary flower,
from one of my castles in Spain.
have sent clerks, agents and travellers
of all kinds, philosophers, pleasure
hunters and invalids in all sorts of
ships to all sorts of places, but none of
them ever saw or heard of my castles,
except one young poet, and he died in
an insane asylum"
"Mr. Bourne, will you take 5000 at
97?" hastily demanded a man, whom,
as he entered, recognized as broker.
We'll make a splendid thing of it,
Bourne nodded ascent and the broker
disappeared.
Happy mani" muttered the million
aire as the broker went out. He has
no castles in Spain"
81 am sorry to have troubled you,
Mr. Bourne" said I, retiring.
II am glad you came" he returned,
"but / assure you, had known the
route you hoped to ascertain from me,
I should have sailed years and years
ago. People sail for other places, which
are nothing when they get there. Why
doesn't some one finance an expedition
| to discover all our castles in Spain?"
| He sat in thought. I turned to go.
wishing him good morning. When I
had nearly reached the door he called
me back, saying:
ut is strange that you, of all men,
should come to ask me this question.
If I envy any man, 1t is you; for l
/ sincerely assure you that supposed
you lived altogether upon your Spanish
estates. I once thought I knew the
way to mine. I gave directions for fur
nishing them and ordered bridal bou-