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Young Lives, a novel by Richard Le Gallienne |
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Chapter 22. Mike's First Laurels |
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_ CHAPTER XXII. MIKE'S FIRST LAURELS The gardens of Sidon had a curious habit of growing laurel-trees; laurels and rhododendrons were the only wear in shrubs. Rhododendrons one can understand. They are to the garden what mahogany is to the front parlour,--the _bourgeoisie_ of the vegetable kingdom. But the laurel,--what use could they have for laurel in Sidon? Possibly they supplied it to the rest of the world,--market-gardeners, so to say, to the Temple of Fame; it could hardly be for home consumption. Well, at all events, it was a peculiarity fortunate for Esther's purpose, as one morning, soon after breakfast, she went about the garden cutting the glossiest branches of the distinguished tree. As she filled her arms with them, she recalled with a smile the different purpose for which, dragged at the heels of one of Henry's enthusiasms, she had gathered them several years before. At that period Henry had been a mighty entomologist; and, as the late summer came on, he and all available sisters would set out, armed with butterfly-nets and other paraphernalia, just before twilight, to the nearest woodland, where they would proceed to daub the trees with an intoxicating preparation of honey and rum,--a temptation to which moths were declared in text-books to be incapable of resistance. Then, as night fell, Henry would light his bull's-eye, and cautiously visit the various snares. It was a sight worth seeing to come upon those little night-clubs of drunken and bewildered moths, hanging on to the sweetness with tragic gluttony,--an easy prey for Henry's eager fingers, which, as greedy of them as they of the honey, would seize and thrust them into the lethal chamber, in the form of a cigar-box loosely filled with bruised laurel leaves, which hung by a strap from his shoulder. It was for such exciting employment that Esther had once gathered laurel leaves. And, once again, she remembered gathering them one Shakespeare's birthday, to crown a little bust in Henry's study. The sacred head had worn them proudly all day, and they all had a feeling that somehow Shakespeare must know about it, and appreciate the little offering; just as even to-day one might bring roses and myrtle, or the blood of a maiden dove to Venus, and expect her to smile upon our affairs of the heart. But it was for a dearer purpose that Esther was gathering them this morning. That coming evening Mike was to utter his first stage-words in public. The laurel was to crown the occasion on which Mike was to make that memorable utterance: "That's a pie as is a pie, is that there pie!" Now while Esther was busily weaving this laurel into a wreath, Henry was busily weaving the best words he could find into a sonnet to accompany the wreath. When Angel duly brought him his lunch, it was finished, and lay about on his desk in rags and tatters of composition. Angel was going to the performance with her sisters,--for all these young people were fond of advertising each other, and he had soon told her about Mike,--so she was interested to hear the sonnet. Whatever other qualities poetry may lack, the presence of generous sincerity will always give it a certain value, to all but the merely supercilious; and this sonnet, boyish in its touches of grandiloquence, had yet a certain pathos of strong feeling about it. And if, perchance, the herd shall find thee out
"How wonderful it must be to be able to write!" she said, with a look in her face which was worth all the books ever written. "And how wonderful even to have something written to one like that!" "Surely that must have happened to you," said Henry, slyly. "You're only laughing at me." "No, I'm not. You don't know what may have been written to you. Poems may quite well have been written to you without your having heard of them. The poet mayn't have thought them worthy of you." "What nonsense! Why, I don't know any poets!" "Oh!" said Henry. "I mean, except you." "And how do you know that I haven't written a whole book full of poems to you? I've known you--how long now?" "Two months next Monday," said Angel, with that chronological accuracy on such matters which seems to be a special gift of women in love. Men in love are nothing like so accurate. "Well, that's long enough, isn't it? And I've had nothing else to do, you know." "But you don't care enough about me?" "You never know." "But tell me really, have you written something for me?" "Ah, you'd like to know now, wouldn't you?" "Of course I would. Tell me. It would make me very happy." "It really would?" "You know it would." "But why?" "It would." "But you couldn't care for the poetry, unless you cared for the poet?" "Oh, I don't know. Poetry's poetry, isn't it, whoever makes it? But what if I did care a little for the poet?" "Do you mean you do, Angel?" "Ah, you want to know now, don't you?" "Tell me. Do tell me." "I'll tell you when you read me my poem," and as Angel prepared to run off with a laugh, Henry called after her,-- "You will really? It's a bargain?" "Yes, it's a bargain," she called back, as she tripped off again down the yard. * * * * * Mike's _debut_ was as great a success as so small a part could make it; and the main point about it was the excitement of knowing that this was an actual beginning. He had made them all laugh and cry in drawing-rooms for ever so long; but to-night he was on the stage, the real stage--real, at all events, for him, for Mike could never be an amateur. Esther's eyes filled with glad tears as the well-loved little figure popped in, with a baker's paper hat on his head, and delivered the absurd words; and if you had looked at Henry's face too, you would have been at a loss to know which loved the little pastry-cook's boy best. When Mike returned to his dressing-room, a mysterious box was awaiting him. He opened it, and found Esther's wreath and Henry's sonnet. "God bless them," he said. No doubt it was very childish and sentimental, and old-fashioned; but these young people certainly loved each other. As Mike had left the stage, Henry had turned round and smiled at some one a few seats away. Esther had noticed him, and looked in the same direction. "Who was that you bowed to, Henry?" "I'll tell you another time," he said; for he had a good deal to tell her about Angel Flower. _ |
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