Life — December 24, 1896 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

OVERHEARD SCENE: Time: IN ARCADY. The Bower of a Bookman. Christmas Eve. TNE GIRL (tossing a pine-cone on the Aire): Christmas time in Arcady isa heap better than over there on that snowy planet. The Man (closing a book with a sigh): I'm not so sure of that. It is rea? snow over there, and real people trudging through it; and that is the laughter of real children floating over here to us, like the sound of silver bells. The Girl: Well, aren't we real? (Pult- ing his tron-gray locks.) Don't you feel that? (Kissing his fore- head.) And is that an unsub- A BROOKLYN TANDEM. THE BALLADE OF MISTLETOE. HEN a brave fire roars in the smoke-stained grate, When the heart with a new-found hope beats high, When young Love takes up the threads of Fate, A fig for the wintry winds, say I! When the hours seem minutes in passing b; When the pulses leap and the fair checks glow, And the silence breaks at the startled ery — Ay, then is the time for the mistletoe ! When the Frost King flings on the panes in hate The frozen tears of the lonely sky, When the old folk thoughtfully abdicate, A fig for the wintry winds, say I! When your sweetheart looks so timid and shy, Like a fay from the bourn where the roses grow, And her lips give vent to a well-feigned sigh — Ay, then is the time for the mistletoe ! When the flames in her checks intoxicate, When her hair falls down o'er her brow awry, When we hear our hearts as they palpitate — A fig for the wintry winds, say I! When her full red lips, where the kisses lie, Are wreathed in a pout like a Cupid’s bow, And a challenge darts from her roguish eye — Ay, then is the time for the mistletoe ! VeNvor. So, Prince, when the white -bulbed branch hangs nigh A fig for the wintry winds, say I! When it’s “Love for two and a ring to show "— Ay, then is the time for the mistletoe ! Harold MacGrath, WHY HE DARED. HE: I think I might love you more if you were not so extravagant. He: It’s my extravagant nature that makes me love you so, stantial phantom ? only do that sort of thing because you've read in books that women flirt with men like that. That's what's the mat- ter Arcadians — they live on other peo- ple’s dreams. The Girl: 1 like it. I came over here to get away from social duties, and philanthropic problems, and athletic fads. Horses and golf and the bicycle were fast making mea rank materialist. 1 only believed in what I saw with my own eyes, ‘There was no higher pleasure than the color and joy of life that came from out-door sports. The Man (sighing again): AM that sounds very attractive to me. I've been in Arcady a long time. For years my only associates have been great thinkers and poets. The Girl (with rapture in her eyes): You fortunate man! To have lived all these years in such company! And I've only been here afew months. Ican’t understand how you can endure having me loat around your bower in this way, when you might be communing with the Immortals! The Man (patronizing her): You are an intellectual rest. Besides, you seem to appreciate everything that I say to you, I'm not used to that. These Arcadians are always measuring themselvey with each other, [tell you it is pretty cold business associating with Great Minds! It makes one feel so small. The Girt: Oh, see! I'ma sim- ple poultice for your vanity. You with The Man (laughing): Ob, you JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS. Santa Claus: WM! 1 BETTER CONSULT THE WEATHER BUREAU. I'M NOT GOING TO PUT ON FURS JUST FOR THE SHOW OF IT, AND MELT!