The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 26, 1905, Page 8

R L f D%&%MQL' 0 “Wilson+ + e the Sandwich group, there is an island to the dwellers small boat with two men re one day and tossed of the Western the men in the boat .stared the water with weary, observa was three years since Allison s he almost covered the chicken- ¢ ing on it while he . of the mavp is it, he inquired. This i= the place we're after,” Allison “We've fetched it right enough. but there were no the treetops sounds ar S brought back the He walked up the higher gro urned to look at the breakers, which ro - f the ¥ most 1 sther ma ring ip behind it. t wild some- mes He gazed down upon the bay and 1t moorings A d from the , and the , it had now a kind -of if to proclaim that . there that a new was upon the waters of the eves of Allison brightened; figure seemcd to swell. He u nd on Holmes' shoulder and 1 one way and the other. k at there, Henry,” he sald, with kind of shamed enthusiasm. “Over that to our backs, is San Francisco and he States. And down there is the Phil- ines, where Dewey is. But here on his we're the farthest out of any Americans. I tell you it makes a fellow 1 responsible!” Where's your village? length asked Holmes Come on and the two big path over this way, avily inland through 1as been the as. There as Allisc but the rememt of molder wing every- whistle ary plied Allison, ruefully looked around him with a feeling of ression at that abandoned Vonder what's become of "em ™ he 2 whisper, as though he feared to # thelr ghosts. “They were meal de- ome of *around e other, day he heir ears and sught him back e years fin s and which which wa e burning de to be a 1t lay ale onished & clvilizad e ¢ arrived. Before th tives loltering the garb of the Pen Harrison said Allison, a somewhat wolfish. They inly to the three, in the guarded fa of men who meet each other in earth's donely places. went up g \\H!A§Z in thedt rumble of they - . : them in the lton did not sk very L e lept be drcamed Fe nd i reamer; a man h ! sch of reql n » is which b T the I"acific i a i Bacran to groc . s maoving over L e Ty r f the Ameries s a part of ibem: b se pust § few bours Y made him doubif P morning he and Holmes took their bo aiound the coast to where the newer v lage lay. ; - £ “Good moraing, .gentlemen,” spoke = German. veice, in excellent, precise. Eng- lish, He was a spruce young fellow, with the upturned mustaches of the Second Willelm, and his shoulders were squared as though they still wore a upiform of the Prusslan mapine. “You have, I percelve, found us out In our island.” 1 guess, mebbe,” said Allison, slowly, “that one of us has been here bofore you hay ruly These natives haye, in fact, en- deavored 1o tell us of a white man once dwelling in thiz place, who traded a little and secms to have won their hearts.” Allison stared moodily ‘at the speaker, who watched him through ‘half-shut eyes and laughed. “Permit ‘me. My name Iy Von Rosen, and this is my comrade,” Herr IEckhardt. And this"—he turned to a surly.old pickled marincr with Brifish-salt written all over him—"this i3 M. Tibbits, the rep- resentative of her Majesty Victoria, 3Mr, Tibbits, bere are somg blood relations of it would appear.” you Mr. Tibbits sarcastically inspected the new arrivals. “Americans, eh?” e growled Holmes nodded briefly. ‘“Just so,” he 1, and spat upon the sand. Long way from home, ain't ye?” in- quired the Briton. “Howsoever, I ain't your guardian. “Too bad about that”. responded Holmes. “So hard to do without you. But we'll try to worry alang.” “Which, 1 think, perhaps ye will have to!” came back, the anclent mariner, and knocked the ashes from his pipe, ‘Good! Brave!” cried Von Rosen, with a roar of laughter, and he winked at his companign. Then, with effusive. polite- ness: ““You must pardon our friends, Mr. Tibbits, thelr very proper pride in recent acquirements. For have they not a brand new navy2" “And an army,” sald Eckhardt, “all in nice ney uniforms?’ Allison began to speak: “That navy of sald he, “is, by last accounts, still a-floating. You have heard, mebbe, about a little happenipg out In the Philippines® “No,” sald Von Rosen. “Did thc most highly renowed Dewey really arrive, then? Did he s¢ek for worlds to conquer? For you must know that we were set down here some three weeks past and re- ve not the newspapers.” You listen,” Allison replied: and squat- ting down In the shade he supplied them with some Information. They had heard nothing of it: news travels but slowly in these slde plages of the Pacific. With a Talting cloquence he told of the sea fight of M; and the death of the ships. Von Rosen at the end sat and eved the other with an eve which calculated chances, “Very fine,” sald he, “‘exceed- gly fine. And npw, my good friend, for have not yet cxplajned it to us, bfings you ' to this ‘lttle-known Amarican flushed under his tun. ie 11's because I have been here be- =ald he. ut afso—we are here na that _fact in all He took w¥ Fesn . “toF Amerfean eiter;” sald r of 18127 imes, “as you did-in Or the Revolution? Oh, remarked the venerable nny sfde wars, Ye never yet in u real A Fable for the Foolish---By Nicholas Nemo PEOSIES NG5S ENVENUTO €. JONES was an artist. He could draw anything under the sun but a steady income and for that reason nourished a vociferous contempt for those vul- 5Aividudls who can’'t draw anything t was natural and proper; men w't do anything more than sup- rt their familles and do a little business savings buni in good years have cal FENL (o live and it is only by the ent-al Alies people It SrtEiE. tat- enis that they ure allowed 10 « tinue to infest the wiobe with their pres- be- . But Benvenu C. went a ilttle 1 Not content with Wespi individuale, pay their £ly and know no mera of Ahe nd of Bohemia than fs comprehend- =lo) visit to the French where prospect the vile, who an o d'hote, s and’ only every is wine he aped a double portion of. righteous ‘in- brother ion on the b s who wwere, coud sell pletu Piclures 1ute's proud theory: they were in- ded 20 ‘be & solace to the ariist and a ree of pleazure and: inspiration to his of ' his ud’ of the teliowmen. Instead of establishing soup kitchens houses of correction he would have had art museums opened. In every ward so’ that the poor and the oppressed might go and- homes for the aged and “Real pity fellows ean’t come over and learn us,” sald Holmes, “Some day, little man, some day, when you have a few more ships,” was Tibbits' lia, most excellent!” exclaimed , and his face expressed appre- fon and much joy. With a rare di- omacy he urged them on to new i#sageg of sarcasm, making fierce enemies of them: and this was the fine oy ' FRANCISCO SUNDAY cor of who can hoodwink me: Remarkable Von Rosen—but if only he had comprehended the true inward- ness of Anglo-Saxon chaff, /Toward evening he seemed to think that the time was ripe for a declsive word. “Peing now here in possession,” kL satd, standing up very erect and twirl- ing thesa fierce mustaches of his, ‘ani the natural representative$’ of his Sacred Majesty, we cannot, as you there and draw mental and spiritual sus- tenance from the, canvases and the more or less cold and unfeeling marble. Were a man cold and hungry, a little call on the work of the late Michaclangelo; or the present’ Auguste’ Rodin, would convince him that cold and hungerswere but cvan- etcent states that couldn't possibly con- tinue after death, while truth-and beauty, sweeiness and harmony were immortal continue to live lorig after the had adjourned for the last time, it was a beautifu! theory and so pruc- ticable. According to ‘it the gentleman who comolained that he hed received a stone when he had asked for bread didy't know when he was well off. All that the breud could possibly ‘do “for him was to keep him allve for‘a day or two longer, while the stone, If properly carved - or puinied, would nourish bis sou! through countless ages. Of course, -as against that ft Inight be said that it len't the countless ages that 'WOrry most of us so miuch as it Is the note that is coming. duc week after next. But artists can't be bothered with ceoarse, materlal things like notes, unless they happen to be piano players, and not always then. Wherever any alleged artist was heard - te beast in Benvenuto's presence that he bad sold & picture the day before for a hundred and’ fifty ‘dollars ‘cold cash to Scads, the millionaire, Benvenuto would shudder. softly to himself and murmur to° his admiring friends that the commereial- ism of this age was rapidly rendering it impossible for a really sensitive and artis- tic person to contlnue living. Then he would return to his great work, a study of a yonnalse dressing in the nude. This ‘wag intended to teach the waiting world that art for art’s sake was the only real thing n the uMr.verse. When it was finished he intended to hang it up in his studio and let his, friends In on bright days, when the light was right, so that they might let the maycnnaise soak into their stuls, Souls soaked With mayon- nuige are the latest thing In the artistic world, -+ It was fortunate for Benvenuto that his “grandfather had got in on the groundfloor of a large tract of railroad land "in® Nebraska which enabled bhis descendant to live in peace and ¢om- fort while his soul disported itself in the ‘ethereal realms of lignt. It might be sugg@cstec that this had something to do with his abhorrence of pictures thut could be sold or of artists who painted for hire, and the higher the better. ‘This is a rude, unfeeling thought and should not be allowed to gain a Jodging in the human breast. At is likely that Benvenuto would have permitted himself to starve slowly and gracefully if he could have done it with the proper artistic accompani- ments. S 1t fell out, however, that in the course 6f his wanderings he ran acrosy w young, lady who scemed to him .to just fiil his requirements for ‘“dle ewige ‘Welbliche.” ‘The only trouble was that CALL. . ! wil. understand, consent to relinquish any cf our rights. Here, as in China, we gtznd by the doctrine of the malled fist. . And as a formality thereto, ihat there may be no unfortunate misunder- standings, T propose at sunset to hoist on this t the German flag.” “Humph!” said Holmes and Allison together, and they went off by them- selves to a point of rock to discuss the matter; for being both of New England stock, the town meeting instinct was still strong in them. “Wahl?” sald Holmes, and looked at Allison. “Well,” Allison replied, “what'll we do now?” = “Just so soon,” said Holmes, “as I get matters straight in my own mind I'm goin’ right ahead. I want to do the fair thing,” he added (the Puritan com- ing uppermost), “and I've sometimes thought it ain’t quite right to mop up any land without a word to the in- habitants. I .aln’t forgot my United States history or Helen Hunt Jackson's book about ‘the Inju But I will be blowed if T like to back down to these here Dutchmen.” “It's just lke this,” Alllson said, eagerly. . “Somebody Is a-going to get this island—you can’t get around the t. The only question is. Who?" “Quite right,” a volce remarked; “who?" 0ld Tibbits was smoking his pipe at the other side of the rock. They want around to him and found him sitting on the sand. guzing thoughttully out to sea. “Down yonder,” raid he, with a flour- she dldu’t have any money to speak of, and by this time Benvenuto had done 2 number of things to his patrimony except to save it. It is generally ad- mitted that the worship of art, when ft is all on one side, Is a rather expen- sive procedure, only to be compared with the sitempt to get even with the stock exchange for that first five thou- sand that was lost. . In his desire to malge up the deficit Renvenuto sold the Mttle Nebraska land that was left to him and invested his gapital in what he whs assuged was a dead sure thing. Therefore the bottom dropped oyt of the market the next day and Beavenuto found himself with a wife on his hands and nothing in his pockets.. Those who Lave trled this combination pronounce it quite as exhilarating and inspiring in its general effects as a bath in Hud- son Bay on the 3ist of January. 1t was up to Benvenuto to choose be- tween his art and the rest of the world aud he hesitated at least six minutes, the reason for his hesitation being that ‘he had pawned his hat and had to wait till his wife could borrow one from the janitor. Then Benvenuto sallied forth to the Mayor and laid the case before him. The latter had known Ben- venuto's grandfasher in the days when land grants were growing on all the trees and he bent his mind to the task of helping the struggling artist keep out of the workhouse. There was a place open on the muni- cipal art commission and it was finally , decided that it was a good thing for Benvenuto. The duties consisted in at- tending & meeting once a month and Nl TTEEN IOD YA ES ABOTT 7T K LEZ fr o 2 ol e ish of his pipe, “is the Philippines, and alsc Australie. And farther up, as everybody knows, lles bloomin’ old China. But over there,” and starting up, he pointed northward, “over there is Russia! Just beyond them rocks, and with nothin’ but a little water be- tween, the Bear is a-reachin’, reachin’ out of his paws, and always gettin’ ready. This turn. of yours with the Spanish is all very good for amuse- ment; but just ye wait a little if ye wants to see true jollity.” He smacked his lips and leaned forward, peering as though he saw already the giant threatening shadow. He was talking in large terms, much as Allison had done; this little island, so lonely in the sea, seemed favorable to gxpansive ideas. Presently Tibbits, coming out of his dream, looked around. “No hard feelin's,” said he. “No; of course not,” Allison replied. “They don’t understand it,” remarked the old tar, “and they can’t. Well, I've sald enough things in my time about Ye Yanks—learned that name from a little Charleston man as was on the Alabama. / But the plain fact of it 1 e burst forth, and I tell it in confl. donce, 1 can't stand these blarsted foreigners. Russlans, Prusstans, Frenca- men and other dagoes—they're 2ll alike. ‘hat business have tney got here any- We showed the way into these we showed ‘em how to do it way? waters; . L And now they come and want to grad land and Inflict their bloomin’ miling- tary despetism on the bloomin’ niggers, They know how to run things! They ART AND INCOME--THEORY vs. PRACTICE gm. making out a voucher on the city treas- ury once a quarter for fifteen hundred very vulgar dellars. When the com- mission met the chairman furnish:d the cigars and the rest of the members sat round and told stories. When they had told all they knew they put the names of the designs for the new lamp posts in a hat and Benvenuto, as the most artistlc man on the board, drew out the winner. It was a good way of ding disputes and assuring the con- iuance of u friendly feeling among the commissioners. Furthermore it prevented ainy charge of favoritism from Dbeing brouzht against them. Whenever Benvenuto had a clever idea for @ pew door mat at the city hall or an ornamental base burner for po- lice stations they would suspend the rules and put the order through as emergency business and. direct the treasurer to pay double time for over- work. In his off hours, which are at least twenty-three out of the twenty- four, Benvenuto touches up the salad dressing and lectures before the teach- ers’ justitute on the holiness of art. Gentle readers must not rise and jump at the ragh conclusion that Ben- venuto has given the chilly mit to his early ideals. The ideals are still there and in good order, but he has found out that when on ambitious youth *hitches his wagon to a star it Is well to be sure that there are enough canned goods in the wagon for a long trip. Besides, all good Americans will tes- tify that wlkl:: loi' o city fsn't really working for a living. «,:[zwr‘!‘m. 1903, by Albert Britt) picture thing that moved. He marched Yo front of the hut and drove the O fight a ship! W'y, I tell yo whal cried, with a final wave of m “we may have our family jars Dow /ST again, but we ain‘t foreigners, I hope. Columbia and the mother country solemnly shook . -ids all round. Some- what later the three strolled down to the beach, where the Germans were waliting. “Well?” asked Von Rosen. “Wahl." replied Holmes, “Mr. Tibbits, late of hey Majesty's navy, not being an interested party, Is kindly a-goin’ to be our dipiumatic embassador.” The embassador rolled heavily twice and thrice on his wide-bowad legs. “We-11,” said he, “it's this way. friends here, they thinks they were first on this bloomin' island. and If anybody has a right to it it's them. They don’t exactly claim as they own It, but they do claim as nobody else does.” “Al ald Von Rosen. He drew him- selt again to military erectness and with a contemptuous smile stared over the heads of the three slouching figures. Pos- sibly their awkwardness and hesitation had dgeelved him. “Most unfortunately, sald he, “a former officer of his Majesty cannot permit himself to De gulded by the wishes of. two Yankee beachcombers. At sunset, therefore, I shall =t this point run up the German flag. - Holmes turned and spoke to his com- panion in a melancholy voice and with only a furtive gleam of enjoyment in his eve. *I guess, mebbe,” sald he “that ‘there an't no need for further talkin’ The other American without a word walked to the water's edge. He waded sout to nis boat, swung himself aboard the it and and all apon big cirele, watching without com ton. The blug ocean before and the hills behind, with the placid Pacific s@nshine streaming down, made the setting of 2 m which Allison was the ouly and pulled down the American fla; bow. Then he waded ashore down Into the sand: then falling back a 'step, removed his hat and gazc. upen his handiwcrk. “There!” he said. And Holmes, wita the queer, sure in- sinet of the race, seized the psychologlcal moment and edged forward. “That' he remarked, “is about all there Is to it. We was here first. we are a kind of sacred majesties ourselves, and our motio 1=, ‘Hands o It these nig- gers have got to have the blessials of civilization, they might as well learn to votc and beg for gin in English And I guess they'll have to.” “Them doctrines.” sald old Tibbits, “awakens here a cordial response. Where- fore and whereas, as [ was about Lo say when intercepted, they wen't annex the bloomin’ island. but they’re goin’ (o be the suzy—the suzyralge power. And with a hand upon his belt—"T backs "em. And now then,” sald Holmes, looking. Von Rosen i the eye, “about that mailed fist : The German shrugged bis shoulders, “To fight fo " sald he. “This wilder- ness? Bah! While to aley tndifference tricd what these Yankees themselves terta 2 biuff, and they were too stupld to ses ft. The greedy pigs! But they have not the first Mdea of why they want this island.” Even old Tibbits, returned again to sar- casm, was grumbling: “Eh, and what will ye do with It pow? Make a coalin’ station, | suppose, for your ar down yonder.” But none the less that bit of can buniing waved over the beach of Faraway Island.