Life — December 28, 1893 — page 39: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

As Mr. Valentine sat before the fire his clean cut features and handsome eyes made it easy to believe the stories of his earlier successes with the gentler sex. Although over seventy he retained the bearing and manner of a youngish man, And now, in his big chair, the half closed eyes shutting out the scene before him, he goes back some forty years to a certain ball-room on an eventful summer night. He takes her from the other dancers out into the moonlight, down to the little boat- house. And then, just for the joke of it, she in her ball-dress, he in a swallow- tail, they get into a boat and row over to the island, the music from the shore filling the air about them. How long they stayed upon the rocks, how close they sat, or what he said to her or she to him was never published; but when they wish to return the boat is gone. He sees it floating down the river a hundred yards away. Then there is a clinging scene, she in her ball- dress and he in his swallowtail, and he remembers the moist eyes and quivering lips. He hurries to the lower end of the island, removes the swallowtail, and everything else, and plunging in, strikes out into the black river. The current is with him and he reaches the boat. But the pulling “back! Now in his old age he wonders how he did it. Half an hour later they re-enter the ball-room while the last dance is on. They also take a spin about the room, and no one ever sus- pected what had happened. He rose from his chair with a long sigh and stepped into the dining-room where Clem had started a fire and put a leaf in the tabk. These serious preparations make him realize what a childish entertainment he is giving him- self. “'Tis a tribute to ¢hem,and who knows if I shall see another Christmas. Moreover, if I choose to make a fool of myself it is my own affair.” Clem entered with a large pasteboard box. “Dis yer’s just come, sah. It’s flowers I reckon.” “Ah, yes, those are the flowers. There are seven bunches in there, Clem. Put a bunch at each plate except mine.” Clem retired to the kitchen and as he laid the box in a cool place he remarked to the cook: “ Hope dey’ll like der smell 0’ dese yer flowers, for it looks mighty like dey wasn’t goin’ ter git anything else.” Mr. Valentine in the meantime returned to his library and seated himself at an old-fashioned desk. From a little drawer he took a letter and a daguerreotype. The letter was yellow and considerably worn, with the appearance of having been opened and read and laid away again a great many times. He placed it reverently before him and read once again the words he knew by heart: “How close they sat, or what he said to her or she to him was never published.” Sitty Boy: Do you take seriously everything a woman says? P, S.—To-morrow afternoon about half- past three a foolish girl on a bobtail horse will be in that lane between the bridge and Holbrook’s farm. At this point something fell upon the page which Mr. Valentine blotted up carefully with his handkerchief. Laying the daguerreotype upon the let- ter, he gazed silently upon the features of a raven beauty with gentle eyes and a most inviting mouth. As he laid the portrait and the letter back into the drawer Clem appeared in the doorway and said: “Sence dey's ter be some style at dis yer suppah p'raps it'll be bettah ter have two to wait on de table. But as dey ain’t no food and only one bottle of wine I s‘pose I'll be enough.” “You'll be one too many, Clem. I want you to go to bed after the table is set, and not be around at all.” “Not be around at all?” “No, Clem.” “Den whose ter let de guests in?” * Nobody—that is, I can do it myself if necessary.” As his servant departed he muttered : “ What an old fool he thinks lam.” And the guess was not wide of the mark. Old Clem was seriously alarmed, for although his master had never yet shown any of the usual symptoms of mental derangement he knew those things often came suddenly and without warning. But he set the table with unusual care. At precisely half-past eleven he knocked at the door of Mr. Valentine's chamber and receiving no answer after a second knock he slowly opened the door. The old gentleman was lying upon the bed, apparently asleep. Clem noticed that he had donned a fresh shirt and a white cravat. As he touched his arm Mr. Valentine slowly opened his eyes and at first did not seem to realize just where he w He arose from the bed, however, and there was a little flush in each cheek that made his pleasant old face look younger than ever. “Thank you, Clem,” he said. T'll be right out.” Five minutes later Mr. Valentine entered the dining-room in full evening dress with a rose in his coat, a smile upon his face and the same rejuvenating flush upon his cheeks. Clem was surprised to see how young and fresh the old gentleman looked. He also realized that whils his color was most be- coming and came and went as with a girl of sixteen, it might be an unfavorable symptom with a man of seventy. But Mr. Valentine was in excellent spirits, although quiet and at intervals even absent in his manner. His eye was bright and his step elastic as he made the tour of the table, giving here “T must have been asleep. comicbooks.com