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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (March 27, 1904)
Romance: A Chronicle of the Adventures of John Kemp in England and Jamaica By Joseph Conrad (Copyright. I'Jol, by McClure, l'hllllps & Co.) IHT FlltMT. 'I'h unrry nml the Hrx'h, CHA I'TKR I. 1 VL-JTI.MHIA V ..n.l 4n 1 ...... mmL 1 ij'ii i . w - niiu i.r iniaj r.t jr I I my polite "vnya ustod con l'los." A I Wk.it uni fll..u.l .1-. HI It.. Itiut far-off day of my romance, when from between the blur und v .lilli' hales In lim Ramon's darkened fctoivrinim, lit King-don, I saw tllr door op"rl before the tin it I- of hii old rimn with n llr'd, lull),', whlti- face, that day I n:n nut likely tu forget. I remember the chilly smell of the Went Indian store, the sufi II of damp ghsim, of Idcoh, (if plincnto, of olive nil, of now sugar, of new rum; iho glassy double sheen of Ramon's ureal spec tacles, the piercing eyes In the mahogany face, while the tup tap, tap of a cune en the Hans went ' on behind the Inner dour; the. click of the latch: the stream of Unlit. Tht door, petulantly thrust inward, Mruck ngalntt mime barrels. I remember the rattling of the holts on that door, and the tall figure that appeared there, snuff box In hand. In that land of white clothe, that pre cise, ancient CastillHii In Mack wan some thing to remember. The I lack enne that had mmln the tap, tap, tap dandled by a liken rord from the hand whose dcllcnto Miie-velned, wrinkled wrist ran back Into a foam of luwn rullles. The other hand paused in the act of conveying a pinch of miff to the nostrils of the hooked tms that had, on the Hkln stretched light over the hrMge, the polish of old Ivory; the. elbow prcsHluK the black cocked hat against the side; the logs, one bent, the other bow ing il Mttle back-thls was the attitude of Beraphlna's father. Having Imperiously thrust the door of tho Inner room open, he remained Immovable, with no intention of entering, and called In a harsh, uged voice: "Senor Hamon! Seiior Ramon!" and then twice: "Sera-phlua-Seraphlna!" turning his head buck. Then for the first time I saw Heraphlna. looking over her father's shoulder. I remember her face of that day; her eyes Were Kray the Krny of black, not of blue. Kor a moment they looked mo straight In tho face, reflectively, unconcerned, and then traveled to tho spectacles of old Ramon. This Kla nee remember I was young on that day had been enough to set me won dering what they were thinking of me; What they could have seen of me. "Hut there he Is your Senor Ramon," he said to her father, as If she were chid ing htm for a 'tulanct In calling; ''your sight Is not very good, my poor lit tin father- there he Is, your Ramon." The warm reflection of the light behind her, gliding the curve of her face from ear to chin, lost Itself In the shadows of M.uk lace f illing rrom dark hair that was not unit" black. She spoke as If the words rlung to her lljia; ns If she had to put them forth delicately for fear of damaging the frail things. She raised her long hand to a white flower that clung above her ear like the pen of a clerk, and disappeared. Kamoii hurried with a slilTness of Im mense respect towards the ancient grandee. Tho door swung to. 1 remalni! alone. The Mue bales and the while, and the great red oil Jam loomed In the dim light tillering through the jal ousies out of the blinding sunlight of Ja maica. A moment after, tin door opened once more and a young man came out to me; tall, slim, with very bright, very largo Mack eyes aglow In an absolute pallor of face. That waa Carlos Ricgo. Well, that Is my yesterday of romance, for tho many thing that ha.ve passed be tW"in those times and now have become dim or have gone out of my mind. And my day liefore yesterday was the day on which I, nt -J2, stood looking at myself In the tall glass, the day on which 1 left my home In Kent and went. n chance willed It. out to sea with Carlos Ricgo. That day my cousin Rooksby had be come engage,! to my sister Veronica, and I had a tit of jealous misery. I ws raw boned, with fair hair. I had a good skin, tanned by the weather, good tceih and brown eyes. I had not had a very happy life, and I had lived shut In on mvsi If, thinking of tho wide world beyond my reach, that seemed to hold Infinite pos sibilities of romance, of adventure, of love, perhaps, and stores of gold- In the fam ily my mother counted; my father did not. She whs the daughter of a Scottish earl who had ruined himself again and again. Ho had been an Inventor, a projector, and my mother had been a pour beauty, brought up on the farm we still lived on the last rug of land that had remained to her father. Then she had married a Bool man In his way; a good enough catch, moderately well off, very amiable, eai-lly Influenced, a dilettante find a bit of a dreamer, too. Me had taken her Into tho swim of tlie regency, and his purse had not held out. So my mother, asserting herself, had lu.-dstcil upon a return to our farm, which had been her dowry. The nltcrnalivo would have been a shabby. Ignominious life ut Calais in the shadow of Hruimncl and Mich. My father usci to sit nil day by tlv pleasant, well-spoken, amiable young squiro of the immediate neighborhood; young Sir Ralph, a man popular with all sorts, and In love with my sister Veronica from early days. Veronica was very beautiful, and gentle, anil very kind; tall, slim, with slop ing white shoulders and long white arms, hair the color of amber, and startled blue eyes -a good mate for Rooksby. liooksby had foreign relations. The uncle from whom he inherited the J'rlory had married a Rlogo, n, Castillian during tho peninsular war. Hi? had died In Spain, I think. When Ralph made the grand tour ho had made the aoimnlntanoe of his Span ish relations; he used to talk about them, the Klegos, and Veronica used to talk of what he said of them until they crime to stand for romnnoo to me. One day, a little ness overcome, I adored Carlos, and Vero nica liked him, and laughed at him, till one. day he said goodhy and rode off along the London road, followed by his Tomas Castro. I had an intense longing to go with him out Into the great world that brooded all round our foothills. Shortly after Carlos went, Rooksby pro posed for the hand of Veronica and wal accepted by my mother. Veronica went about looking happy. That ujiset me, too It seemed unjust that she would go out into the great world to Hath, to Brighton, should see the prince regent and the great fights on Hounslow heath whilst I was t remain forever a farmer's boy. That after noon I was upstairs, looking at the reflec tion of myself in the tall glass, wondering; miserably why I seemed to be such an T1IKRK HAD EVIDENTLY HKKN SO.NfB TUAY WITH KNIVES. fire, Inscribing 'idea" every now and then In a pix-ketbook. I think he was writing an epic poem, and I think he was happy in an ineffectual way. He hid thin red hair, untidy for want of a alet, a shining, delicate hooked nose, narrow lidded blue eyes, and a face with the c dor and texture of u white-heart cherry, lie used to sicnd his duys in a hooded chilr. My mother managed everything, Uad ng an out-of-door life which gave her f.ieo the color of a wrinkled pippin. It was the face of a Roman mother, tight-lipped, brown-eyed and tierce. As for me. I was undr her, and. since I had my aspirations. I had a rather bitter childhood. And I had others to contrast myself vi'lh. J'list there was Rooksby, before Ralph and Veronica became en gaged, these Spaniards descended out of the blue. It was romance suddenly dangled right before my eyes. It was romance; you have no idea what It meant to me to talk to Carlos Riego. Carina wus dark, and of a grace to set Ralph as much in the shade as Ralph him self set me; and Carlos had seen a deal more of the world than Ralph. He brought with him a short, pursy, bearded com panion, half friend, half servant, who said he had served In Napoleon's Spanish con tingent, and had a way of striking his brcust with a wooden hand this arm had suffered in a cavalry c1iiir.-I. und exclaim ing. ' I. Tomas Castro! . . ." He waa an Andalusian. For myself, the first shock of his strange- oaf. The voice of Rooksby hailed me suddenly downstairs. "Hey, John Jchn Kemp; come down. I uuy!" He wanted to talk to me, he sail, and I followed him out to the soft road that (limbs the hills to the westward. The evening was falling slowly and mournfully; it was dark already ill the folds of the somber downs. "I know what you've got to tell m," I said. "You're going to marry Ve.on ca. Well, you've no need of my blessing. Some pet. pie have all the luck." "Confound it," 1 continued. "I shall run away to sea! I say, Halph, give me C trl is direction. I'll go aftir him. Carlos is the only su.il I know outside five miles front lure, lie's friends la the lud.ej. Ttxa.1 J