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No. fi.
M.VKDI OKAS.
381
loft upon his face. Occasionally vc may
approximate the truth in regard to a
man's past life; as we learn to recognize
the debauchee by the bland inditlereucc
of his manner and the traces of dissipa
tion on his worn face.
Again, I think we have all known, some
where, a woman with a gentle, cheenul
countenance, that seems to bespeak the
placid content of her life, who is onlv
waiting to And rest from as much sorrow
as could possibly be crowded within the
brief space of her 3'citrs.
How little do wc know of men and
women by their faces and bearing. A
man may have an injenuous countenance,
and talK to you with open honest eyes;
having nothing in his manner that would
not indicate the greatest earnestness.
But with a wisdom gained by experience,
you save yourself in the knowledge that
he is wearing a mask, behind whicll he
leers at you, as he entertains designs upon
your purse, or thinks of gaining your in
fluence for his own aggrandizement.
Men arc instinctively regarded as evil
geniuses. Some come to us in the guise
of friends, and we learn that the only way
to cope with them is to retaliate. There
upon we adjust our false faces, and greet
them, reciprocating their smile and bian
dishments in a manner becoming the char
acters that wc are. Hettcr and cynical, it
has made some of us that we do not after
a time discriminate between friends and
foes. Man are the heart-aches we cause
by choosing to misunderstand the kindly
motives of others. True friend may lie
beside us in the procession, and should
they see us jostled by the crowd and
trampled beneath its rude feet, they would
fain stop and lend us (heir assistance We,
underestimating, repel the proffered aid.
Striking the hand held out to save us, we
struggle to our feet and hasten on to over
take the crowd
Men have won their masks with mar
velous skill. Never did men una women
present a fairer exterior, than in the coi
rupt courts of Louis of France. Never
did more gallant men tender their homage
to more brilliant fascinating women.
Neither trusting the other, they, whose
lives were of darkest intrigues and deep
laid plots against each other, tried, by
their Haltering tongues and brilliant court
ly manners, to hide the treachery of their
hearts. Beautiful, smiling Judascsl what
master would they not have ki3sed and
betrayed ?
We naturally associate the good with
the beautiful and arc attracted by comely
faces. Th2 men and women most famous
for heartless cruelty, have also been fa
mous for their handsome faces. Writers
of Action have not been unmindful of
this fact ind Faust is represented as being
a handsome man; while German fisher
men sing songs of the Sirens who drag
men's souls down to perdition by the
power of their fatal beauty.
We do not know what lurks beneath the
smiles and roses of a woman's face, and
in the music of her voice. She has, by
right of heritage, joined the masquerade,
and with a piteous prayer for strength,
she strives to play her part. She glosses
her pale face witli laughter and lifts her
voice tempered by feigned happiness. The
red mouth closes down the breath that is
hard and tierce; the mad pulse beats back
the baflled life with a low sob. We may
look into the clear saintly depths of her
eyes, and never guess that the' reflect but
the weariness of a dead soul.
The time is not long for you, ye weary
and jaded masqucradcrs; the week of rev
elry is almost over; the lime is drawing
near when wc must leave our place in the
procession to others. Tim music and
dancing will cease for us. The lights,
whose glare may have dazzled some of us
here, will be turned down and in the
light of eternity, each masker will turn
to his companions and present his soul
revealed.
til
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til
ti
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