A Crystal Age

emony was over I continued staring vacantly at the speaker, ignorant of the fact that the beautiful young

look there! Who is that strange-looking

merest apology for a shelter. Putting a bold face on the matter, although I did not feel very easy, I came out and advanced to them, removing my battered old hat on the way, and bowing repeatedly to the assembled company. My courteous salutation was not returned; but all,

t it best to step out of the way until-well, until the funeral was over. The fact is, I met with a serious accident in the mountains over there. I fell down into a ravine, and a great heap of earth and stones fell on and stunned me, and I do not know how long I l

e of considerable duration. "That you are a perfect stranger in this place

th garments, by the way, were made by a fashionable West End tailor, and fitted me perfectly, although just now they were, of course, very dirty. It was also a surprise to hear tha

ntinued regarding me with unabated curiosity, the old gentleman c

natural pride of a Briton, "is

e," he returned; "nor have I e

name; for without having penetrated into any perfectly savage country, I had been about the world a great deal for a young man, visiti

me to hear that my name-well, you have not heard of me, of course, but there have been a great many distinguished men of the same name: Syd

d, and continued

at countrymen: Beaconsfield, Gladstone, Darwin, Burne-Jones, Ruskin, Queen Victoria

e his head after each n

e people you have

ous men and women who have a wor

the names of all the great people you have ever

o-morrow to name all the great men I have ever heard of. I suppose you have heard th

shook h

cius, Zoroaster, Plato, Shakespeare." Then, growing thoroughly desperat

d vision in its method of judgment, regarding the things which are near as great and important, and those further away as less important, according to their distance. In such a case the individuals one hears about or associates with, come to be looked upon as the g

not relish being addressed as "Smith," like some mere l

moreover, the beautiful girl I have already mentioned so frequently, was now walking just before me, hand in hand with the young man who had raised her from the ground. I was absorbed in admiration of her graceful figure, and-shall I be forgiven for mentioning such a detail?-her exquisitely rounded legs under her brief and beautiful garments. To my mind the garment was quite long enough. Every time I spoke, for my companion still maintained the conversation and I

h my dignified old friend would be able to answer without intimating

the name of your nearest town or city? how far

uite round, and, waiting until I was even with her, she continued

ou so fond of honey, Smith? You shall have as much as you require without disturbing the bees. They a

purposes again. I mean," I added hurriedly, seeing the inquiring look on his face, "that

you mean by a

of houses-hundreds and thousands, or hundreds of thousands of houses, all built close

the mountains must have caused some injury to your brain; for

together in a small space? Of course I mean a small space comparatively; for in some cities you might walk all day without getting into the f

d evidently ceased to pay any attention to what I said. The girl looked at me with an expression of pity, not to say contempt, and I

of such cities as Paris, Vienna,

s head, and walk

ginning to see light, and wondering at myself for not having seen it

doubt that you have any," said he, a little ruffled. "I am

ave been indulging in-well, tarradiddles." Then, seeing that I was making

re disordered fancies for willful offenses against the truth. I have no doubt that when you have recover

as possible," said I, with considerable temper. "At pres

ed with a grave smile, "although I must allow tha

not to be understood; it is like men calling to each other in

e the beautiful girl bestowed on me the coveted rew

from each other, like the widely diverging branches of a tree; but, like the branches, we have a meeting-place, and this is, I fancy, in that part of our nature where our feelings are. My accid

from the girl warned me that I was

ast yourself on the earth to kiss the cold face of one you had l

rom her green, mysterious eyes; and then, to increase my wo

aid the old man, by way

nlike us outwardly should be so like us in

d not altogether like, though I could not detect

im living-never heard his sweet voice, which still see

ur father?

she returned, with a glance at the old gentleman, which seemed stra

little known to this stranger to our country as all the g

r my whole person, the survey finishing at my boots, which seemed to have a disagreeable fascination for her. She shivered slightly, and withdrew her hand from mine, and in my heart I cursed those rusty, thick-soled monstrosities in wh

e of these rocks standing a little above the river that flowed behind it. The stone was gray, tinged with red, and the whole rock, covering an acre or so of ground, had been worn or hewn down to form a vast platform which stood about a dozen feet above the surrounding green level. The sloping and buttressed sides of the platform were clothed with ivy, wild shrubs, and various flowering plants. Broad, shallow steps led up to the house, which was all of the same material-reddish-gray stone; and the main entrance was beneath a lofty portico, the sculptured entablature of whic

d gentleman, who still kept with me. By-and-by, withdrawing to a stone bench under an oak-tree, he motioned to me to

Men in such a position can afford to be as eccentric as they like, even to the wearing of Carnivalesque garments, burying their friends or relations in a p

ng time to build, I am also puzzled to understand you. For are not all house

roken the rule I had so recently laid down for my own guidance. "But the trees of the forest, to which you compare a house, s

Men pass away, and others take their places. Trees also decay, but the forest does not die, or suffer for the loss of individual trees; is it not the same wit

then, of the materia

he elements, or by the footsteps of many generations of men; but

is light before," said I. "But surely

nished look which threatened to become the permanent expressi

of horror here made me pause, and to finish the sentence I ad

man race, the world itself. But the origin of all

hen, that a house, howev

u continue to speak in riddles. P

by some natural force-by floods, or subsidence of

made me jump from my seat. "Are you alone so ignorant of these

aps I was mistaken-people often are. I should like to hear you say something more

to read-have you been t

perhaps I am never so happy as when I have nothing to read. Nevertheless, I do occasionally look into books, and greatly appreciate their gentle, kindly ways. They never shut themselves up with a soun

able condition. I can only attribute such a mental state, with its disordered fancies about cities, or immense hives of human beings, and other things equally frightful to contemplate, and its absolute vacancy concerning ordinary matters of knowledge, to the grave accident you me