A ROMANCE OF THE DAY. 



399 



III the middle of the hill a b;uik of pnow is built, 

 or there maybe some natural break in the ground 

 or projecting rock which serves the same purpose. 

 The juniper slides down from tin; top of tlie hill 

 on to this bank, which, owing to tlie great pace 

 Avhich he has already attained, throws him far 

 out into the air, whereupon, after a longer or 

 shorter journey through space, he alights on 



the slope below and continues his headlong 

 course at an even greater sj)eod than before. The 

 jumper may, and as a rule does, very much in- 

 crease the length of his leap by gathering himself 

 together and taking a spring just as he leaves the 

 projecting bank. In this way sixty, seventy, or 

 even ninety, feet may be cleared when the snow 

 is in good order." 



A ROMANCE OF THE DAY. 



Who will say that this practical age has killed 

 all romance ? The following narrative, related 

 in the New York Tribune, is a true one, and is 

 vouched for by very high authority. 'JMie charm- 

 ing grace and dramatic expression with which it 

 -was told is, of course, lost in this second edition ; 

 but as a sad, yet true, talc, of which an American 

 girl is the heroine, it is given herewith as nearly 

 as possible as related : " One of our rich oil kings 

 (or if it was not oil, he was king of something 

 rich) went to Paris a little over a year ago, taking 

 ■with him his wife and his beautiful daughter, a 

 lovely and childlike maiden, who showed not the 

 slightest trace of resemblance to the worthy people, 

 lier parents. All that money could do to develop 

 this charming creature had been lavished upon her. 

 She could sing most sweetly, play with charming 

 interpretation, dance like an houri, draw and 

 paint with uncommon talent — in short, she was 

 perfection, and her parents sim])ly idolized her. 

 She had not been long in Paris when she attracted 



the attention of young Prince Z -, heir to one 



of the oldest families of Italy. Through an em- 

 inent American, whom the prince numbered 

 among his acquaintances, he obtained an intro- 

 duction to the young lady, and became her de- 

 voted cavalier, surrounding her Avith attentions 

 and showering upon her llowers, bonbons, and 

 everything that the world deems it ])erinissible 

 for a young man to bestow upon a maiden. The 

 father, however, viewed his attentions with cold 

 , dislike, and finally took his daughter away from 

 Paris. 



" Our American family found pleasant quarters 

 in Naples, and thither the prince followed them, 

 renewed his attentions, and finally waited upon 

 the father to request permission to win the girl 

 for his wife, lie met witli a prompt and decided 

 refusal. Disappointed and astonislied, the prince, 

 who was young, handsome and rich, and whose 

 title was of the oldest, requested an exjilanation. 

 * I have tlirce reasons,' said the sturdy Amer- 

 ican, 'each one of whicii would be sufficient to 

 settle the question. In the first place, I would 

 never give my daughter to a Roman Catholic ; 

 secondly, she shall never marry a foreigner ; and 

 last, and by no means least, she is all we liave, 



and her mother and I could never consent to be 

 separated from her.' 



"In vain the prince pleaded ; the father was 

 obdurate ; and again the girl, who seems to have 

 been wonderfully passive in the affair, was taken 

 away — this time back to Paris. Prince Z— — re- 

 mained at home, disconsolate. And now conies 

 the part of the story which is equally disajipoint- 

 ing and romantic. The girl died after a few days 

 of sudden illness. Of course she ought to have 

 lived and married the jirince, but this is a true 

 story, and it cannot change the facts. A mutual 

 friend wired the prince, who arrived, however, 

 too late to see the face of her whom he had loved 

 so passionately and suddenly. Meeting on the 

 common ground of grief for the loved and lost, 

 the prince and the father were reconciled. A 

 large ship was chartered, and its largest cabin 

 beautifully fitted up as a chapel, in which, upon a 

 bier, was placed the coffin containing the em- 

 balmed body of the dead girl. Then the ship, 

 with father and lover on board, set sail for home. 



"All through the long voyage the candles are 

 kept burning, and daily service is held in the 

 mortuary chapel, which the two mourners inva- 

 riably attend. The millionaire owns his own 

 docks, and the stately ship sails up into the har- 

 bor, coming to anchor at the very portals of the 

 maiden's own dearly loved home. On the dock 

 are 2,000 workmen of her father's, with crape on 

 hat and sleeve, waiting for their dead. Slowly 

 the coffin is lowered to the boat ; reverently it is 

 cai-ried on the land, Avhere stand the many men 

 with bared heads to receive it. And very care- 

 fully and tenderly it is lifted by six chosen bear- 

 ers, and slowly and solemnly it is borne up the 

 long avenue to the house. 



" The father and the prince become intimate 

 through their weird journey, and in their mutual 

 sympathy walk together in the procession, the 

 men forming two by two and falMng into rank. 

 The last rites are paid, the body committed to its 

 native earth, and without one look at the New 

 World, the prince takes a steamer the day after 

 for Europe. That this man should have been 

 fated to love this woman with love as strong as 

 death seems jiassing strange." 



