E^UBKIS 
 
 le 
 
GIFT OF 
 Sir Henry Heyrnan 
 
 * 
 
 t 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 BY 
 
 LOUIS LOMBARD, 
 
 Author of "The Art Melodious, 1 "Observations of a Bachelor," 
 
 "Observations of a Traveler," Composer of the Opera "Juliet," 
 
 Founder and former Director Utica (New York) 
 
 Conservatory of Music, etc., f. 
 
 F TENNYSON NEELY, 
 
 PUBLISHER, 
 
 LONDONc 
 
 NEW YORK* 
 
Copyright, 18W, 
 
 by 
 F. TKNNTSON NKILT, 
 
 in 
 United SUtei 
 
 and 
 Great Britain. 
 
 All Righto Reserved. 
 
TO 
 
 EDWIN GOULD, 
 
 MEMENTO OF MY GRATITUDE AND FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 i) 
 
The Joys of lore-parental, filial, consanguinal, sexual, or altruistic 
 -*re but lightning flashes, while its sorrows may be eternal. Thuf , 
 though physically and psychically endowed to procure happiness^ 
 many a mortal in this vale of tears shall ask in rain forerermore: 
 
 "WHY WAS I BORN?" 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 i. 
 
 AN air of quiet and seriousness permeates 
 dusty Montpellier. In the environs, pictur 
 esque landscapes teeming with a semi-tropi 
 cal vegetation greet the eye on all sides. This 
 quaint old town of Southern France stands on 
 a low hill overlooking a narrow and smiling 
 river. A monotonous sound like a hymn 
 hummed by a grandmother runs with the 
 waters of this merry stream which, a little be 
 yond, expires with a soft murmur in the moist 
 arms of the Mediterranean. 
 
 In the early morning hours one hears about 
 the town little bells that dangle from the neck 
 pf asses bringing their own milk to the con 
 sumer s door. At noon, Basques in flat 
 woolen caps play mountainous tunes upon a 
 
6 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 flute of many reeds similar to Pan s. In this 
 odd manner these wild children of the Pyrenees 
 announce to those about to dine that, for a few 
 pennies, a long piece of cream cheese may be 
 bought wrapped appetizingly in plaited green 
 grass. When evening comes, happy folk 
 songs of Languedoc disturb those who prefer 
 their quiet hearth to the pandemonium of 
 dominos on the marble tables of the neighbor 
 ing cafi. These characteristic melodies are 
 sung by workmen and their wives or sweet 
 hearts on their return from some baptism or 
 wedding, or, mayhap, they serve to shorten 
 the distance from a suburban inn renowned for 
 its rabbit stewed in claret. Now and then 
 one s sleep is interrupted by drunken, though 
 harmless, fellows who drowsily bellow a popu 
 lar refrain with the goat-like tremolo voice of 
 the numerous bad singers of France and in the 
 style familiar to the inebriates of all countries, 
 that is, each bringing his own part one meas 
 ure after the others , and one tone and some 
 fractions from the leader s key. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 7 
 
 Most of the shops are closed on Sunday, 
 except the drinking-places. The trade of these 
 is then best, because, though devout, the citi 
 zens are good livers. To and from the Cathe 
 dral of Saint-Boch stretches a lengthy file of 
 neatly-dressed persons : the men in shining 
 blue blouses or black cutaways; the coquettish 
 sex, as elsewhere on the Sabbath, adorned with 
 the most seductive garments they can borrow 
 or buy. Some women are attired in a calico 
 skirt and waist over which latter is carefully 
 pleated a coarse silk fichu of blinding tint, 
 just as their mothers wore ; others dress with 
 costly fabrics cut in the latest fashion. 
 
 The love of living peacefully with the ability 
 to do so seems to be the birthright of these 
 good people. Of course, there is poverty 
 here. Where is there none? Nevertheless, 
 judging from the jovial countenances of the 
 lower classes in the Midi, there cannot be so 
 much suffering here as among the plebes of 
 northern regions. Cheap and wholesome wine, 
 a mild atmosphere, and a blue vault above 
 
8 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 almost suffice to make the indigent happy. To 
 be penniless in cold zones where fogs, snows, 
 and blizzards make the opulent gloomy, must 
 be unspeakably hard. What care men in * 
 soft clime if their clothing be torn! The 
 rents act as ventilators. What matters it to a 
 light-hearted apprentice here, if he cannot 
 have meat oftener than twice a week ! Three 
 sous of alcohol make him a Croesus. 
 
 This staid, ancient community has its select 
 few: the nobility, military officers, high 
 governmental and municipal officials, college 
 professors, some lawyers and physicians, and, 
 at the bottom of the list, a few successful men 
 of business. In this aristocratic circle the 
 possession of money is esteemed below that of 
 ancestry or talent. That explains why Paul 
 Roland, an eloquent though impecunious bar 
 rister who had come from Paris with his wife 
 and babe only one year ago, was already re 
 ceived into the exclusive salons of this con 
 servative town. 
 
 Owing to causes often summed up in the 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 9 
 
 polite phrase, incompatibility of temper, Paul 
 Roland and Eugenie Duprez had sought in an 
 illicit union the happiness denied them in 
 marriage. Before meeting each other, these 
 congenial natures had been bound in a loveless 
 legal union. Separation, at that epoch, being 
 the only relief offered by the Napoleon Code, 
 they could hope to legalize their relation only 
 after the death of wife and husband. Freedom 
 from these hateful ties, unhappily, was to be 
 denied them. 
 
 Soon after the Franco-Prussian war they left 
 their native city, Paris, and located in Mont- 
 pellier. One day their son s birth certificate 
 was asked for by a census clerk. This docu 
 ment showed that Eugene Koland, as the boy 
 was known, had been registered as Eugene 
 Duprez. To spare her little one the ignominy 
 of being classed in the public archives as an 
 unnatural child, its mother had given the name 
 of her legal husband as that of the father. 
 The officious employe lost no time in prop 
 agating this salty bit of news. It fell upon 
 
10 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 the placid town like a stone in a stagnant 
 pond, causing circles round and round until all 
 the social waters were stirred by horror and 
 indignation. 
 
 The principal reason why this scandal 
 spread so rapidly was that the jurist and his 
 mate belonged to a better class than did the 
 envious clerk. Without that social disparity, 
 however, it is quite certain that the unpleasant 
 report would have ultimately gone forth. 
 Acquaintances hear with interest of happenings 
 in our life, if these may react favorably upon 
 our "dear friends" themselves; otherwise, 
 their attention is not really arrested by an 
 event concerning us exclusively, however for 
 tunate it be. It is when the occurrence is sad 
 or ridiculous that they listen eagerly, that 
 they read with gusto. In our absence a few 
 talk about the affair with indifference, the rest 
 chuckle over it. To most human ears evil 
 reports are as mellifluous as the opening 
 phrases of Lohengrin. 
 
 A couple hitherto respected by peers and 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 11 
 
 superiors and envied by inferiors, found them 
 selves pariahs to all, more despised than those 
 belonging to the lowest set in India. They 
 felt as if they had been suddenly turned into 
 loathsome dogs without master or kennel. 
 Admittance was denied them at respectable 
 gatherings. The "good" woman could not 
 forgive this man for having "polluted pure 
 homes with the presence of his concubine!" 
 Illegal relations hidden are tacitly accepted by 
 "honest" persons without number; but, woe 
 to the transgressors if their sins are pub 
 lished ! At the club, which he had helped to 
 found, Paul Boland was most politely told 
 that his visits were unwelcome : executioners 
 are always urbane. In the street, haughty 
 stares answered Eugenie s humble bows; and 
 even where sisterly love has been preached 
 since the Nazarene shielded Magdalene, wotnen 
 friends cut her. One especially devout old 
 maid whose chair stood next to that of Madame 
 Koland, had it removed to another part of the 
 church. 
 
12 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 "I pray for this moral leper and I hope she 
 may be forgiven, but I will not be in the same 
 aisle. To tell you the truth, I fear she might 
 want to talk to me. How dare she come to 
 desecrate the house of the Lord!" 
 
 Thus this bloodless damsel, who had never 
 had the opportunity to falter, whizzed between 
 decaying teeth her sentiments and those of her 
 companions. And each self-respecting inhab 
 itant threw his stone ; some, a pebble, others, 
 a huge rock this usually coming from the 
 greatest sinner who, by vociferous condemna 
 tions, expected to veil the better an undis 
 covered sin. 
 
 Why remain in a city in which they were 
 abhorred by all? Because the sole means of 
 support was his practice. A lawyer cannot, 
 like an Arab, fold his tent and raise it the 
 next morning in a distant oasis. Strict atten 
 tion to business for a period of years in the 
 same locality ofttimes barely suffices to procure 
 a livelihood in the legal profession, even in 
 new countries where competition does not reach 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 13 
 
 its apogee, as in this crowded, anaemic, en 
 ervated, famished Old World. Prometheus- 
 like, he was rock bound. She oversensitive 
 soul! would have killed herself had it not 
 been for her beloved child. Although crushed 
 with shame, thanks to maternal instincts 
 Eugenie found a supernatural strength to bear 
 her infamy. This heart-sick mother now de 
 voted her whole time to the training of her son 
 in the art of music, in which she was proficient. 
 A man may throw the gauntlet to merciless 
 society and yet live; a true woman cannot. 
 Her former friends became so cruel in the 
 manifestation of their scorn that, before reach 
 ing the age of thirty -five, grief wrecked her 
 impressionable organism. By the febrile 
 light of a lamp one night, at her bedside sat 
 Paul. She was expiating her wrong by a dis 
 ease medical science cannot diagnose : a cancer 
 of the soul. Notwithstanding her sin, she had 
 remained a faithful Eoman Catholic, and now 
 feared the cruel, unjust, inconsistent theologi 
 cal vengeance of Divine Mercy. As her life 
 
14 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 was fast ebbing away she placed her hands in 
 his, while big tears slowly rolled down her 
 emaciated cheeks. 
 
 "Do you think God will forgive us? How 
 could I help following you ! I have been a 
 good wife to you, Paul, have I not? The 
 Creator knew how much I would suffer 
 through the love I bore you. If He did not 
 want us to meet, why were we placed in each 
 other s way?" 
 
 " My sweet Eugenie, it was inevitable that 
 we meet. He will not punish you for that. 
 All these years we have remained attached by 
 ties of affection, threads seemingly slender 
 considering the capriciousness of humanity. 
 In each other s conscience we led upright lives, 
 though breaking social rules. After all, was 
 love created by legal mandates or religious 
 dogmas? The story of existences passed 
 happily like ours, eloquently proves that there 
 may be sympathy and affinity without law and 
 church. Can these human chains fetter Cupid? 
 The fact that a mayor or a clergyman officiates 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 15 
 
 at a union does not make the mutual regard 
 better or worse. Owing to legal obstacles 
 many others have lived until the grave without 
 the marriage ceremony. Had these couples 
 not loved, would they not have separated when 
 a shocked world was retaliating by boycotting 
 the man s business and slamming its doors in 
 the woman s face? What hindered their dis 
 union? They had ceased to dread opprobrium : 
 a fear which keeps together many an inhar 
 monious, though legalized, household. The 
 worst being known, there was nothing to lose 
 by parting ; and they did not dread the expense 
 of attorney and tribunal like the many who 
 refrain from divorcing on account of its cost. 
 These persecuted beings could have disunited 
 body and property simply by saying, Good- 
 by! But no! darling! Just as we have 
 tried to do, they too, chose to atrophy their 
 sensibilities and turn a deaf ear to the admoni 
 tions of the well-behaved, rather than extin 
 guish the holy flame burning on love s altar." 
 Here he paused and pressed her tenderly to his 
 
16 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 breast, then added: "Most marriages are 
 heralded by careful reflections. Financial 
 and social advantages are weighed, while, more 
 than once, affection is not in the scales. 
 What, however, brings reckless creatures like 
 us together? Is it a diabolical force 
 that impels them to shock the moral sense of 
 unoffending persons and to disregard results so 
 detrimental to themselves and to society ? No ! 
 It is a power divine ! It is that spring of the 
 noblest actions : it is love ! And when the cup 
 of sensuousness has been drained to the bitter 
 dregs ; when, mayhap, one of the two becomes 
 physically worthless while the other stays in 
 the prime of mental and bodily vigor : what 
 magic power still binds these frail mortals to 
 each other? Is it not love, love as unalloyed 
 as that of a mother? From the lofty eminence 
 of pure reason freed from conventionalities, 
 from ethical fetishes and tin gods, relations 
 like ours are more beautiful, more heaven-in 
 spired than the majority of legal unions! Do 
 not fear, dearest! If there is a better 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 17 
 
 world, our marriarge shall be sanctified 
 there." 
 
 "May Heaven be merciful to us! * she 
 gasped, then fell back unconscious. 
 
 For minutes which to Paul seemed hours 
 she remained apparently lifeless; finally, a 
 slight pressure from her bony hand indicated 
 that the spirit had not yet left. Her purple 
 lips quivered, but no sound could reach his 
 ear. Drawing closer, he heard her call in a 
 veiled voice almost inaudible : 
 
 "My boy, my little angel, bring him to me, 
 oh! quick, bring him to me!" 
 
 The child, who had fallen asleep at the foot 
 of the bed, his face bathed in tears, was awak 
 ened. 
 
 "Baby dear!" said the mother, looking into 
 his limpid eyes, "I am about to leave you. 
 Be obedient to papa, for my sake. Do not 
 think harshly of your poor mamma, whatever 
 the world may say." Here she waited for 
 breath. "Kemember how much she has 
 suffered. Those who love must suffer. Oh 1 
 
18 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 never forget that those who love .... 
 
 must " 
 
 A ghastly smile spread over the ashy lips 
 like a ray of the sun struggling through an 
 autumnal sky. A faint glimmer in glassy 
 pupils flickered an instant as a butterfly in its 
 agonizing throes. And the lamp ceased to 
 burn. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 19 
 
 n. 
 
 AMED scenes in which he had passed so 
 many glad days, Paul Eoland could not endure 
 the void. Each twilight brought suggestions 
 of the beloved dead. 
 
 "On this stand there would be hyacinths, 
 were she here. Poor piano ! whose fairy touch 
 can make you sing so sweetly again! Dear 
 geraniums, you are withering! She would not 
 have forgotten you! Tis here my darling 
 laughed ; alas ! there she wept. Her place is 
 empty at my table : I cannot eat. Shall I ever 
 sleep with that form floating in the penumbra? 
 Oh! the smell of those lilies on her casket!" 
 
 Three months after, this disconsolate man 
 left for Paris. Eugene s aptitude and great 
 youth he was not eleven gained him admit 
 tance to the free classes of the Conservatoire 
 do Musique after competing with half a hun- 
 
20 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 dred violinists, most of whom could execute 
 greater difficulties. The boy s soulful face in 
 which grief was early imprinted had favor 
 ably influenced the jury. He was not what 
 might be called a beautiful child; neverthe 
 less, he impressed thinking persons by his 
 dignified manners, his intellectual forehead 
 and his brilliant eyes indicating a warm tem- 
 prament and a poetic imagination. 
 
 The youthful artist made rapid progress. 
 Diligent as gifted, withal he remained a young 
 ster. To see him join so heartily in the games 
 of other children, it could not have been in 
 ferred that wretchedness surrounded him. His 
 father s health was failing visibly. No longer 
 was he able to practice law. Copying briefs 
 for other attorneys became his sole bread 
 winner: and a meager one that was! 
 
 The inexperience of youth has its compensa 
 tions : a child scarcely feels its parents desti 
 tution. In the midst of poverty Eugene s life 
 was joyous and hopeful, overflowing with the 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 21 
 
 exuberance of a lively mind and the sprightli- 
 ness of a nimble body. What was it to him if 
 the food and the wine were of a coarser kind, 
 so long as he could drink when thirsty and eat 
 when hungry ! What mattered if he had to 
 climb five flights of stairs : his young legs felt 
 no fatigue ! Their garret might have contained 
 furniture more comfortable and elegant, but he 
 never thought of that. His sleep was just as 
 sound as if tha mattress were softer, and his 
 plain wash-basin held each morning water as 
 pure as a Sevres could hold. He had a violin, 
 a collection of music, and a box of paints. 
 What more could a healthy boy wish for? 
 No one had marred his bliss by telling him 
 that the latest book of studies cost his father 
 sixty hours of extra night work, nor did he 
 realize that the poor man no longer smoked in 
 order to buy his son better violin strings. 
 When thinking of his mother buried in the 
 south, this susceptible lad was melancholy. 
 Such sad moments, however, were as rare as 
 short-lived, because his whole time was occu- 
 
22 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 pied by play and study ; and into these he 
 threw himself with energy. In any manner, 
 he would have found but a few hours for intro 
 spection had he had the necessary wisdom for 
 that self-analysis which might oftener be 
 named, self-torment. 
 
 This youth believed in himself and in every 
 body else. Probity, generosity, faith, and 
 other moral attributes reach their acme while 
 we are of tender age. Soon after first and 
 saddest of disillusions we awaken from child 
 hood s gilded dream to the ungracious reality 
 of man s selfishness. If evil-inclined, we, 
 like most others, take teeth for tooth ; if benev 
 olent, we are regarded as a target and spend 
 our days trying to parry blows. 
 
 At this stage of Eugene s career all things 
 seemed to smile upon him ; and as if to com 
 plete his happiness, the professor gave him a 
 concerto of Viotti to prepare for the July 
 concours. To be admitted to this contest had 
 been the height of his ambition, and he leaped 
 with joy at the thought. But, like the lull 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 23 
 
 that presages the storm, so is that beatitude 
 which, though only for a second, each of us 
 has felt just before a calamity. A few days 
 after the realization of this great hope, his 
 father took him upon his lap and said : 
 
 "I must speak seriously to you, sonny. 
 Time has come for this sooner than I expected. 
 I had hoped to see you a great artist before 
 leaving to meet your saintly mother. Don t 
 cry, my child!" and stroking the auburn hair 
 of the little one, who meanwhile was weeping 
 in silence, he pursued: "Practice hard and 
 carefully that you may soon be able to earn 
 your own living. Fame, I know, will event 
 ually come. Until that day, unfortunately 
 Here he hesitated: "Until that day you 
 must eat, and I have nothing to leave 
 you." Ashamed of his inability to provide 
 for his offspring, the poor man let his head 
 droop upon the chest and with eyes riveted to 
 the floor, muttered sadly : "Nothing, absolutely 
 nothing to leave you. That which your mother 
 and I saved, went during her illness. Since 
 
24 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 we came to Paris I have not been able to eke 
 out enough for our daily sustenance. I have 
 been very weak since dear mamma died. At 
 the free clinic, this noon, the doctors told me I 
 shall not see another summer." 
 
 It was without moisture in his eyes that the 
 boy now listened. Although he was only 
 twelve, he had been trained to grief. Like an 
 experienced sufferer, he could repress the storm 
 of tears which nearly rent his throat. Quietly 
 he swallowed the big lumps that rose there 
 while his father spoke; but this young spirit, 
 not knowing why, to-day rebelled against 
 Destiny. Why should he be deprived of father 
 and mother so soon ! He was not jealous of 
 other children for their cozy homes and fine 
 clothes, but why should their parents live since 
 he had to be an orphan ! And through this 
 puerile logic he grew indignant at he knew not 
 what. Early storms of this kind may perman 
 ently shake our faith in Divine Justice. Dur 
 ing these moments of anguish the boy vainly 
 cried: "Why thus?" and the first black drop 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 25 
 
 of cynicism blotted his naive soul. The expe 
 riences of youth are potent teachers ; they often 
 shape our whole character. Many dark deeds 
 of middle life have had their germ sown dur 
 ing a murky childhood. 
 
 Paul Koland s ailment was mental rather 
 than physical. Days of depression when he 
 would moan unceasingly for hours, had acted 
 upon his system like a poison. Through self- 
 hypnotization he frequently saw Eugenie and 
 spoke to her; she seemed to utter words like 
 these : 
 
 " Bear your cross patiently, for we shall meet 
 soon again. Tell our boy not to love ; those 
 who do, suffer too much on earth. 
 
 When coming out of his trance he always 
 told his son what he had observed, and with 
 great earnestness added : 
 
 "Yes, Eugene, your mother is right: culti 
 vate indifference, never let your heart rule. I 
 know full well that none can escape sorrows; 
 that, whether soft-hearted or brutal, helpless 
 mortals shall ever be the toys of unseen, cruel 
 
26 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 hands. But the pain is so much more intense 
 in those who are tender that I would warn you 
 never to yield to unselfish impulses, never to 
 love either woman or man!" 
 
 In his ineffable despair, when all the bitter 
 ness of his past seemed to rush forth in a 
 single instant of supreme crisis as if to crush 
 him, this man s natural optimism turned to an 
 irrational hatred; and with a serpent s hiss 
 and a demoniacal flash in his eyes emphasized 
 by wild gesticulations, he advised his son to 
 carry pessimism to crime, if need be. Like 
 a surly mad dog he then snarled and growled 
 at the world, at its Maker, at everything! A 
 moment later, realizing the awfulness of his 
 precepts, and regretting his profanity, a smile 
 would spread upon his countenance and, in a 
 gentle tone, he thus ended his harangue: 
 
 "What s the use ! Everything is for the best, 
 after all. It is because I am ill, Eugene, that 
 I could not control myself. Man should not 
 get angry : it is weakness to be swayed by one s 
 emotions. "We should be master of ourselves. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 27 
 
 At the hospital for the poor, a fortnight be 
 fore the Conservatoire concours, this wretched 
 man returned his life to the Great Source. 
 
 The terrible loss under circumstances that 
 would have been well-nigh unbearable to an 
 adult, disheartened a young boy. The pupil 
 neglected his musical studies and spent the 
 days bewailing his misfortunes. When the 
 contest came he was so badly prepared that the 
 professor asked him not to present himself, 
 saying: 
 
 "You are excused for this year. There is 
 no need of worrying; due consideration will 
 be given to the fact that you have recently lost 
 your father. * 
 
 No one at the Conservatoire knew in what 
 straits this orphan was. His father had left 
 only debts, in payment of which the household 
 goods were sold at auction. The wife of the 
 janitor, mixing a grain of compassion with a 
 pound of practicalness, gave him his board 
 and clothing in exchange for services, 
 
 "I have nothing for you to do," said she, 
 
28 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 "but if you will make yourself generally use 
 ful, I ll take care of you and let you practice 
 your violin and attend your lessons." 
 
 The vague meaning of "generally useful * 
 has a special import in the minds of sordid 
 employers; it usually means "generally 
 busy." With the sweeping and waxing of 
 floors, the carrying of packages, and the black 
 ing of tenants boots, Eugene had not sufficient 
 time to study. He was too proud to speak of 
 his menial occupations to his teacher, and he 
 accepted the epithet, lazy, without murmuring. 
 
 The boy s musical career would have ended 
 soon after entering the garlic-smelling quarters 
 of Madame Ic concierge, had not a lucky star 
 appeared at this hour in his firmament. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 29 
 
 III. 
 
 THE first floor was occupied by Colonel Bon, 
 Count of Danvre, a retired officer of the French 
 Army. This old soldier was the embodiment 
 of true nobility. His ancestors had handed 
 down to him more than a glorious name. 
 There is a legacy of fine feelings which may 
 augment from generation to generation. The 
 sentiment, noblesse oblige, had become part 
 of his organism : an automatic, unconscious act 
 an instinct. The heritage of a new name, 
 of a new estate is seldom embellished by so 
 exquisite a gift. To relieve the burdens of 
 others was the principal occupation of this 
 gentleman; no day passed that he did not 
 delight some one with a smile, a cheering 
 word, or a handful of money. 
 
 A dashing youth was the count when, forty 
 years before, he came out of the military 
 
30 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 school of Saint Cyr with one epaulet. Rich, 
 well-bred, finely built, and possessing the 
 traits that win the esteem of the old, the love 
 of the young, and the devotion of rascals, the 
 lucky sub-lieutenant seemed destined to lead a 
 blissful life. The gentleness of his nature, 
 however, caused this philanthropist, this lover 
 of humanity, to suffer long before he was 
 twenty-five. Yet, the deceit and brutality he 
 found about him, though stirring his magnani 
 mous spirit with indignation, did not shut his 
 heart to mankind. From these struggles he 
 had come out either indifferent or full of 
 pity, never resentful. Now, at the age of 
 sixty, he was more than ever ready to lend a 
 helping hand. 
 
 Many years ago, while he was stationed in 
 Rouen, a vagrant was arrested for having made 
 some charcoal marks upon the white fagade of 
 his residence. The judge asked the vagabond : 
 
 "Why did you do this?" 
 
 "You see, your Honor, we poor devils don t 
 always get food where we ask it, and when we 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 31 
 
 do, well! we mark the house so that some 
 other hungry fellow may know where to apply. * 
 
 The culprit was given the choice of paying 
 fifty francs or of going to prison. Fortu 
 nately, as he was beginning to explain his in 
 ability to pay, the colonel entered the court 
 room. 
 
 "Charge that fifty francs to me, judge!" 
 shouted the veteran in stentorian tones. 
 "Man, take these five louis." And, grasping 
 the hand of the amazed beggar, he added in a 
 voice trembling with emotion: "During my 
 forty years service I have received some marks 
 of praise : look at the red ribbon on my coat ! 
 But your speech is better than that. Yes! 
 shout it to the whole world that no one need 
 pass my door hungry." 
 
 Each afternoon precisely at four, Colonel 
 Bon could be found at his club sipping an 
 absinthe, surrounded by chums who drew their 
 easy-chairs near his as instinctively as the sun 
 flower turns its petals toward the sun, for, to 
 all men alike his big heart radiated invigorat- 
 
32 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 ing rays. Bitter experiences had not made 
 him a cynic : the world is a mirror in which 
 one s own BOU! is reflected, and his soul was 
 beautiful. This tender-hearted philosopher 
 made it his duty to remember the good and to 
 forget the evil. Of course, immorality dis 
 guised and prosperous excited his vehement 
 reproof and momentary anger ; nevertheless, in 
 the end, the criminal, though great his crime, 
 always enlisted his pity, his mercy, and his 
 solicitude. Trifling wrongs done him, he did 
 not so much as notice. Knowing that alone 
 angels were perfect, the colonel simply ac 
 cepted man as he is instead of fruitlessly de 
 ploring he is not as he might be. 
 
 "You seem to have so much faith in human 
 nature that, my dear count, were I not aware 
 of the fact that you are experienced, I might 
 believe you have not perceived man in his true 
 colors." The young officer who had spoken, 
 did so merely to draw out one of those striking 
 little speeches, which always edified. 
 
 "My friend," retorted Colonel Bon, "1 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 33 
 
 was quite benevolent during the period in life 
 when passions are strongest. My charity, 
 through ignorance, was more than once mis 
 placed; and possibly, some harm resulted. 
 Indulgent parents, sycophantic teachers, and a 
 large income caused me to misjudge the para 
 sites and the scoundrels who first crossed my 
 way. It was only after reverses came and actual 
 life revealed itself to me that I learned to read 
 my fellows clearly. At the same time I began 
 to appreciate their circumstances; and this 
 insight into environment, my dear lieutenant, 
 made me forgive many sins. Have no fear, I 
 see man as he is. I bear in mind, however, 
 that there exists a large percentage of sincere 
 and generous persons, and that, among the 
 ones who are bad, many owe their evil propen 
 sities to heredity. Early training, too, does 
 so much to frame a man s code of ethics that 
 we should mix science and mercy with justice. 
 When I see crime proclaimed in a prophetic 
 anatomical conformation of the skull, should I 
 not pity? When noting the manifest physio- 
 
34 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 logical signs of idiocy, cretinism, imbecility, 
 dementia absence or weakness of organs or 
 senses, vicious conformation of the head, 
 facial asymmetry, flattening of the ears, and 
 other unmistakable marks, ought I not to 
 sympathize? The loon crawls rather than 
 flies, yet it has wings lite the eagle. What is 
 the reason one man must steal and another 
 work : are they not both made to the same 
 image? Alas! neither can do aught else than 
 follow the path traced for each by Fate." 
 Here he lit a fresh cigar. "Every crime con 
 sists of the act and the intention. No criminal 
 intent can be in a man who has not the exer 
 cise of his moral faculties. The law should 
 not punish one when disease has enervated his 
 intelligence, disordered his reason, and de 
 prived him of his free will. Ah! a fine phrase 
 indeed is this "free will." When confronted 
 with the all-overpowering forces of birth and 
 experience, I ask myself: Is there such a 
 faculty even in normal beings? We should 
 certainly prevent the morally diseased from 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 35 
 
 harming others, just as we place those afflicted 
 with contagious or infectious diseases in hos 
 pitals, for purely hygienic reasons: not to 
 punish them, not to revenge ourselves. The 
 question is: Can a man, a weak mortal, be 
 responsible for his evil motives, granting that 
 he is sane? I doubt it for, aside from the 
 reasons I have enumerated, there might be be 
 hind his motive a suggestion not of his own 
 volition nor creation which, after all, was the 
 true, the sole, the prime mover in his crime. 
 Modern law recognizes the criminal irrespon 
 sibility of the insane. I pray Heaven that a 
 nobler, a grander intellectual vista may one 
 day reveal also the irresponsibility of the sane. 
 At any rate, how can legislators and alienists 
 draw the line between sanity and mental alien 
 ation which does not exhibit physiological dis 
 turbances? I believe that the self-appointed 
 judges of frail humanity, be they theologians, 
 jurists, or physicians, shall find many of their 
 decisions reversed before the Supreme Court 
 of the Omniscient Judge. My young friend, 
 
36 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 life Las been so much sweeter to me through 
 philanthropic endeavors that I wonder why 
 more men do not practice charity, if from no 
 other than a selfish motive. Where could 
 there be more pleasure than in doing good?" 
 
 "I agree with you, colonel, but you must 
 admit that indiscriminate charity may be a 
 source of evil, and that one might exercise 
 generous instincts unwisely, thereby fostering 
 laziness and pauperism. * 
 
 Here came an opportunity for gentle irony, 
 and in that art this cultured nobleman was a 
 past master. 
 
 "True, my young friend. Some years ago 
 I resolved to act upon views such as yours. I 
 was not going to be imposed upon by unworthy 
 beggars. The first occasion came sooner than 
 I expected. A ragged little girl had coaxed 
 my spare change by telling me, between 
 copious tears, Father is sick, and mother at 
 home has no bread for my young brothers and 
 sisters. Actuated by suspicions such as your 
 deductions should inspire, I followed the child. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 37 
 
 No sooner had she turned the corner than she 
 began to sing and romp with some children she 
 met. You little hypocrite, thought I. Over 
 taking her, I said, with some irritation : You 
 were crying a minute ago when you spoke to 
 me. How do you explain this sudden change? 
 Sir, answered she, I am singing for myself, 
 sir! I was crying for those at home. I after 
 ward ascertained that she had told the truth 
 about the misery of her family. Your prac 
 tical suggestion, lieutenant, recalls still another 
 case; this time, however, it is a powerful 
 argument for your side, " assured he with a 
 twinkle in his eye that prognosticated the 
 opposite. "Yes, I mean it. This time I had 
 the best of reasons for being disgusted with my 
 gullibility. One cold evening I saw a young 
 woman begging with a babe under her shawl. 
 The sight of that helpless mother and her child 
 would have touched a harder heart. I gave 
 her some pennies. At that moment, a detec 
 tive jumped from behind a tree, and with his 
 fist knocked down her little one. I under- 
 
38 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 stand your horror at the mere recital of this. 
 I was struck dumb. Calm yourself, though. 
 This child would you ever believe it? this 
 child was but a bundle of dirty rags. You 
 may imagine my feelings then. And this 
 woman seemed so simple! so sincere! What 
 a fool I had been! Pity me, sir! she cried, 
 while frantically embracing my knees. Ask 
 the policeman to let me go back to him, or 
 he ll surely die. I could not take my darling 
 out in this murderous air: he is so sick! So, 
 to spare him, I thought I d make a false babe 
 out of those dish-cloths! Ah! had you been 
 with me in that cheerless hovel, so many poor 
 people call home, and could you have seen that 
 creature s child gasping in the last stages of 
 pneumonia, perhaps you would not care much 
 about the risk of being too charitable. I think 
 you might conclude it is better to be deceived 
 ten times than to repel one worthy poor man. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 39 
 
 IV. 
 
 "Do you play that instrument, boy?" 
 queried Colonel Bon one morning as Eugene 
 passed his apartment with a violin under the 
 arm. 
 
 Through the guileless pro tray al of his un 
 happy life, the orphan unveiled a soul sensi 
 tive and deep. At an age when others were 
 occupied with frivolous ideas, he was filled 
 with earnest aims. In an artless manner this 
 young lad told his sorrows and his aspirations. 
 
 " What do you wish to do when you are a 
 man?" asked the count. 
 
 This simple question moved the embryonic 
 artist to a pitch of intense excitement. His 
 ambition was so lofty that it seemed but 
 natural to speak of it with warmth. His face 
 glowed with the rushing blood, and from his 
 eyes darted rays of fire sparks that emanate 
 
40 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 only from the inspired in hours of profound 
 emotion. 
 
 "I would like to be Paganini and Bee 
 thoven!" exclaimed he. The colonel could not 
 repress a smile at this childish answer. "For 
 their gifts," continued Eugene, "I could die! 
 Had papa lived I would have had time to study 
 all the while. Now I can only expect to reach 
 mediocrity, because I black boots and do 
 errands when I ought to practice and hear 
 music. If I could study the whole day, how 
 glad I would be ! Mamma must be ashamed 
 of me, if she can see from heaven. Her main 
 object was to make a great musician of her 
 son, and I blush to think of what he will 
 become." 
 
 No design was behind these words : they 
 flowed straight from the heart. Though pre 
 cocious, this boy was too honest to speak with 
 a hidden motive, as adults very often do. The 
 simple way in which he related his pitiful 
 story might have affected a listener less re 
 sponsive than the colonel. Eugene s ingen- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 41 
 
 uous pathos, accompanied by tearful eye and 
 heaving breast strong evidences of youthful 
 sincerity won him that which an artful 
 pleader, however brilliant, might have lost; 
 for the sagacious old soldier had grown quite 
 impervious to eloquent sophistry through years 
 on the bench of military courts. 
 
 His first impulse was to take the boy and 
 educate him. After a short consideration he 
 resolved to hear him play before assuming so 
 important a charge. 
 
 "I ought not to allow my instincts to wrong 
 both this child and society by fostering 
 another musical nuisance; too many foolish 
 parents, designing teachers, and hypocritical 
 acquaintances contribute to that rank and file. 
 He might be ambitious and still lack the 
 aptitude for achieving success in the art he 
 loves." 
 
 After this reflection the count propped 
 himself up with richly embroidered pillows, 
 lit his Turkish pipe, reclined on his divan, 
 and asked Eugene to play something. 
 
42 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 Upon a worthless small-sized violin, and 
 with a bow crooked and nearly denuded of 
 hair, the dapper fellow began Ernst s famous 
 Elegie. 
 
 This funereal poem opens with one loud 
 minor chord ; may be it is the precursor of a 
 life tumultuous and dolorous. The composer 
 must have been deeply moved when an inner 
 voice first sang to him this pathetic and fiftul 
 melody which, mournful to the verge of mor 
 bidity, suddenly thrills with love, with life, 
 with hope in exhilarating accents, then, 
 resignedly falls into the clutches of death like 
 a human being sinful, despairing ! 
 
 The young violinist s execution of the open 
 ing recitative Spohr wrote to this soul- 
 stirring work would have sufficed to prove 
 Eugene s mastery. His firm attack, exact in 
 tonation, refined phrase, and rarest gift in a 
 prodigy his manly poise, demonstrated a bud 
 ding virtuoso. Under the short bow the 
 strings sobbed, meanwhile, the interpretation 
 remained virile and dignified, owing to the 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 43 
 
 good traditions from bis mother and the Paris 
 School. 
 
 Weak poets sometimes burn up with their 
 own inordinate heat, but the fire of this youth 
 ful genius was kept within his control. 
 Whether the sentiment be heroic or tender, 
 grandiose or simple, he expressed it with 
 nice taste. The reserve power needful to great 
 achievements existed there. The world rever 
 ences composure in the face of upheavals, and 
 a tremendous force that can hide the machinery 
 generating it, is thereby enhanced in the 
 opinion of mankind. This mercurial son of 
 Gaul could conceal the whitening of his soul s 
 sinews when lifting ponderous weights. In 
 addition, notwithstanding technical defects 
 that time alone could remedy, a clear, a unique, 
 a forceful individuality oozed out of his cheap 
 fiddle as a crystalline spring from its rugged 
 cliff. 
 
44 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 V. 
 
 TEN scholastic years Lave elapsed since Col 
 onel Bon and Eugene Duprez met. Upon 
 leaving the porter s den, the boy had found 
 not alone a luxurious home, he had also been 
 blessed with a new father. Having no blood 
 relations, the count centered all his affection 
 upon him and watched his career step by step 
 with unflagging interest. 
 
 While the proteg6 received a thorough 
 musical training, his general education was not 
 neglected, as is the case with most musicians. 
 The child had become a polished man as well 
 as an accomplished artist, and to a superficial 
 observer might now seem perfect. This 
 view, however, would be ill-founded. Incon 
 sistent as it may appear, although the guardian 
 watched assiduously the mental and physical 
 development, he had wholly neglected the 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 45 
 
 spiritual side of his pupil s nature. The in 
 fluence of a good mother was wanting, and the 
 youth s moral unfolding did not keep pace 
 with the intellectual progress. Like many 
 distinguished men, Eugene grew more talented 
 than virtuous. In the biography of geniuses 
 this disparity between their special abilities 
 and their moral qualities seems to be the rule. 
 Providence does not intend to allot perfection 
 to any one individual ; that, perhaps, explains 
 why so many intellectual persons are vicious. 
 
 As an artist he pursued high ideals. 
 Strange to relate of a musician, he did not 
 envy colleagues ; but his temperament was ex 
 tremely moody : alternately tender and cruel, 
 lazy and diligent, philosophical and thought 
 less. It is a peculiarity of aesthetes that 
 they must pass through these conflicting psy 
 chical states every twenty-four hours; and 
 this sensitive being was not exempt from that 
 law. 
 
 Two cardinal vices overpowered him : un- 
 truthfuluess and unchastity. He did not pre- 
 
46 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 varicatefor the mere pleasure of lying, as some 
 habitual liars do. His falsehoods, his machi 
 nations had but a single end woman, his all- 
 absorbing passion. When hesitating or re 
 morseful he braced himself with the sophistic 
 excuses natural to wrongdoers. 
 
 "After all," would he muse, "if I err, who 
 is blamable for my conduct? Stupidity ap 
 plies to man, not to God. Did He not foresee 
 what my temperament and training would lead 
 to? Why, then, did He make me thus?" 
 
 At times his amorous schemes were worthy 
 of a Machiavelli. When regarding the game 
 as worth his powder, he could be cunning, 
 tactful, feelingless. In short, he was a diplo 
 mat and a rou6. The principle, "Success is 
 not always attained by the fairest means," 
 enunciated by his father in moments of insane 
 outbursts, had imprinted itself upon his youth 
 ful and, therefore, retentive memory ; and to 
 win the object of a passing fancy, he unhesi 
 tatingly put this precept into practice. A 
 mad father s theories, his own bitter early ex- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 47 
 
 periences, and a mother s admonition not to 
 love, had moulded a malignant character in 
 one who, under other influences, might have 
 become a model citizea. This young man who 
 could be gentle to the verge of effeminacy, and 
 who, for a week, mayhap a month, might be 
 filled with a pure affection for a woman, would 
 abruptly hush the promptings of his better self 
 to heed a voice from the grave murmuring, 
 "Those who love must suffer." Ephemeral 
 Abeilard would then snap his fingers at all that 
 is holy and become Don Juan for the hun 
 dredth time. Passing strange was that spir 
 itual compound of sour nurture and sweet 
 nature ! 
 
 To-day, Eugene was a Bachelor of Letters, 
 and a First Prize of the Conservatoire. His 
 reputation as a violin soloist had crossed the 
 borders of France, although he appeared sel 
 dom in public. The large income of his pro 
 tector, with whom he lived on terms of perfect 
 camaraderie, enabled him to enjoy an opulent 
 existence without contributing to its cost. 
 
48 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 The two were like brothers ; not as brothers 
 sometimes are, but as they should be. So de 
 lightful a relationship between an old man and 
 a young one now and then occurs to rejuvenate 
 age and enlighten youth. Colonel Bon merged 
 his whole personality, his aims and whims, 
 into those of his comrade, who returned in 
 marks of delicate appreciation a sincere regard 
 more akin to respect than to friendship, for 
 odd to say of an emotional artist his nature 
 was cold in affairs of the heart. 
 
 Only that which interested or benefitted 
 Eugene was considered by his aged friend. 
 This is the reason why, to extend his prottg&s 
 musical education the colonel decided to leave 
 sensuous Paris, and his comfortable club and 
 cozy apartments, in spite of the fact that he 
 was an invalid. The young musician desired 
 to travel not for pleasure alone, although that 
 was the principal object, but also that he 
 might add to a culture already remarkable the 
 lustrous polish attainable through careful ob 
 servation in many lands. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 49 
 
 ^ No book learning, " believed he, "can be 
 complete. What do I know of countries I have 
 not visited? Only the views of some writers 
 who were actuated by their moods, education, 
 and prejudices, granting that sordid motives 
 or the desire for fame did not guide their pen. 
 At best, I have seen only a dim photograph of 
 the originals. I should travel. 
 
 This Bachelor of Letters was also a thorough 
 student of modern psychology, and knew how 
 to apply the power, the very great power 
 called, Suggestion. In order to gain what he 
 wished from the colonel, which was an invita 
 tion to visit the Orient, he began a conversa 
 tion from a point apparently far removed, 
 yet cunningly connected toward the end in 
 view. 
 
 "The higher conception of music, colonel, 
 is a closed book to the majority of men, al 
 though no language is better adapted to tell 
 their joys and sorrows. Harmonies that 
 evoke an imagery sweeter than Virgil s, or 
 more awful than Dante s cause in many human 
 
50 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 beings only a pleasant ear-tickling : the greater 
 number cannot behold these lofty dreams. 
 There exists a largo proportion of mortals in 
 whom music ends where it begins ; in them, 
 air-vibrations go no further than the nervous 
 system, and die before reaching the sluggish 
 imagination." 
 
 "Don t you think special culture may aug 
 ment man s sensibility and his power of appre 
 ciation?" 
 
 "Most assuredly. The normal civilized in 
 dividual, notwithstanding the superiority of 
 his intellect, could not understand music 
 better than could a savage, were that superior 
 organism, that Westerner, wholly devoid of 
 musical knowledge; I mean, for argument s 
 sake, had he not heard even a scale : because 
 it is quite natural for a civilized man to know 
 something of this art, though he may not have 
 taken lessons. What he hears in the church, 
 the street, the theater trains him, in spite of 
 the fact that he may be unconscious of this 
 culture. It is therefore through some model 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 51 
 
 or precept that we come to enjoy and judge the 
 more complex forms of music." 
 
 "You say enjoy and judge : is it neces 
 sary to do both?" 
 
 "Yes, if one intend to criticise music. In 
 this case, temperament is as insufficient as 
 learning : the two must be combined in order to 
 be able to form a just opinion. The best critic 
 is he who, in blood and training, approximates 
 closest to the artist; the main distinction 
 between him and the musician is that the critic 
 often is a passive, instead of a creative, 
 xartist. Should he be inferior, through birth 
 and schooling to the producer whose work he 
 analyzes, his criticism shall reach no higher 
 than his own low standard, and consequently 
 be unfair. By the way, when our musicians 
 think they can write Oriental music without 
 having traveled beyond their own shores they 
 delude themselves, and must appear ridiculous 
 to the barbarians whose art they intend to 
 copy. At best, such European compositions 
 can only be representations of what the western 
 
52 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 mind has been educated to call Asiatic ; and 
 as the models for this popular training were 
 factitious, and ofttirnes absurdly false, so are 
 these imitations. To write the music of other 
 nations the composer should study it at its 
 fountain-head, among the peoples themselves : 
 breathing their air, eating their food, reading 
 their poets, and courting their women in 
 brief, he ought to live as they do. Then 
 might the root of a national art be extracted. 
 It is absurd to look for the metaphysical man 
 ifestation of a race in a musical score. How 
 could the multi-colored states of consciousness 
 be sketched in black and white ! Our system 
 of notation is too limited to enable us to copy 
 in its completeness what we may hear in dis 
 tant regions. "We cannot even represent the 
 notes of some peoples scale. If we try to 
 record their musical alphabet we are at once 
 confounded, not possessing equivalents for the 
 pitch of several of their tones. How much 
 farther then must we be from the truth when 
 endeavoring to bring out the delicate shades of 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 53 
 
 timbre, accents, and dynamics upon instru 
 ments totally unlike theirs ! And can we ever 
 grasp the daintier and more subtile de 
 tails: the subjective moods, ethereal soul- 
 nuances of races whose very blood is of another 
 color ?" 
 
 "I quite agree that imitations of such music 
 must be very incorrect, if the composer has not 
 lived in the country whose art he copies. Let 
 us suppose, however, that a good musician 
 should study on the spot. Do you not think 
 he might catch the local spirit, quite like a 
 native?" 
 
 "I doubt it, yet, though he should fail in 
 this, he might gain an immense advantage. By 
 studying a strange art in a strange land, he 
 ought to be inspired with novel themes, effects, 
 and forms that would prove appetizing to the 
 atrophied palate of our neuropathic public. 
 
 1 That being the case, why not travel for 
 awhile out of our homogeneous Europe made 
 so tiresomely uniform by our railways? 
 What do you say about going to Egypt this 
 
64 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 winter? The climate is excellent there at that 
 season. Extensive travel will do more than 
 widen your musical experience ; it is the best 
 branch you could add to your university 
 course. I want you to visit foreign countries 
 to round out your education. At any rate, we 
 shall find it fascinating to taste new sensa 
 tions among queer tribes, after having felt the 
 pains and joys of our own civilization. I re 
 member how charmed I was when first I went 
 to Algeria, many years before you were born. 
 Though everything seemed different, in a short 
 time I felt quite at home : it was so restful, so 
 quieting in that placid atmosphere, freed from 
 the restraints of our hypocritical manners. The 
 sojourn acted like a sedative upon my weary 
 nerves. I prolonged my residence to the last 
 day of my leave of absence and was sorry to 
 re-enter the vortex of Paris Saturnalia. I grew 
 quite fond of the contemplative life of Moham 
 medans. A trip to Africa, my dear Eugene, 
 is a sort of excursion into a past and present 
 wholly dissimilar from ours, and the impres- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 55 
 
 sion it leaves can never be effaced. Your hours 
 glide as if you stood before an immense kalei 
 doscope into which had been thown in lieu of 
 bits of glass : Moors, Arabs, Greeks, Maltese, 
 Turks, Jews, Copts, and so forth in character 
 istic costumes, outdoing one another in the 
 outlandishness of the fantastic designs and 
 colors. 
 
 Thus, as usual, their power of suggestion 
 bore its fruit. 
 
56 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 VI. 
 
 " I shall now speak at greater length of Egypt as it 
 contains more wonders than any other land, and is pre 
 eminent above all the countries in the world for works one 
 can hardly describe." HERODOTUS (B.C. 456.) 
 
 THE two friends selected Cairo as their next 
 hitching-post, and hired a dragoman named 
 Said, an educated young Bedouin who spoke 
 some French. Eugene liked this guide be 
 cause he was thoroughly familiar with interest 
 ing subjects pertaining to Egypt, and in other 
 ways possessed uncommon attainments. The 
 reigning khedive occasionally commanded Sai d 
 to decipher obscure hieroglyphics and to settle 
 mooted questions of archceology and ethnology 
 for the renowned Museum of Boulak, founded 
 by Ismail Pasha, a former Egyptian ruler. 
 
 The musician admired the erudition of his 
 guide and, realizing that more information 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 57 
 
 might be got through friendly intercourse 
 rather than from the relation of master and 
 servant, treated him with much consideration. 
 
 The Arab did not speak French fluently; 
 still, he could make himself understood by 
 resorting, when necessary, to the Arabic 
 tongue with which Eugene had somewhat ac 
 quainted himself during a two months trip up 
 the Nile in a dahabeyeh, with only natives as 
 companions. The colonel was too. feeble to 
 have joined him in this excursion. 
 
 Although friendship from a Mohammedan 
 could not be expected, the employer s tactics 
 had brought about a cordial understanding 
 between himself and dragoman. To complete 
 the enchantment of the Bedouin, Eugene 
 addressed him one evening upon a delicate 
 subject in this crafty manner : 
 
 "Our Christ is perhaps better suited to the 
 northern mood, but Mohammed is unquestion 
 ably the ideal man for your people. The 
 sweet nature of Jesus, his abnegation, his 
 purity these are virtues that appeal strongly 
 
58 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 to our races. An eternal bliss of spiritual 
 communion with God surrounded by archangels 
 which my religion offers, is unsuited to your 
 fiery blood. You would be bored in such a 
 heaven, wouldn t you? Well, so would I. 
 There are only a handful among Christians 
 themselves whose soul can be so totally di 
 vorced from the senses as to rejoice at so tame 
 a prospect. The greater number of our faith 
 ful, I believe, might be found among those who 
 fear damnation rather than with the ones who 
 long for this tasteless paradise. I, for one, 
 could hardly look with complacency upon the 
 loss of senses which give so much pleasure. 
 Ah! but the Koran s heaven! That were joy 
 indeed! To inhabit everlastingly tropical 
 groves where vines give a shade so much 
 desired upon your burning soil; where trees 
 incline before you, the indolent, offering their 
 succulent fruits, while you lazily recline upon 
 heaps of roses; and where chalices of iced 
 beverages so eagerly wished for under your hot 
 sun are placed upon your parched lips by 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 59 
 
 young, healthy, and lovely nymphs, intoxi 
 cating all your fibres, were paradise indeed!" 
 
 Said listened suspiciously. He was a gen 
 uine child of nature, trusting and truthful, but 
 to take him for a, simpleton would be an 
 egregious blunder. 
 
 Being himself honor incarnate, he could 
 hardly believe that the Frawaui had lied upon 
 matters usually so sacred to Europeans. 
 Eugene having observed this suspicion and 
 fearing to have displeased, quickly added : 
 
 "I suppose you think me very different from 
 the run of Christians. I cannot deny that I 
 am. Even concerning universally accepted 
 notions, I hold views diametrically opposed. 
 For example, I do not believe Christ is the sou 
 of God any more than you are. He doubtless 
 was a model man, the very prototype of moral 
 goodness and beauty, yet he was only a man. 
 An unbiased history may teach that Jesus was 
 but a rebel to the Eoman dominion, a popular 
 dissenter trying to Prevent the oppressors 
 wrong; that his counsels were only in part 
 
60 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 religious, many of his efforts having been 
 temporal and political; and that, if he was 
 crucified, it was as a dangerous agitator, as a 
 sort of revolutionist, rather than on account of 
 his moral teachings. New dogmas absolutely 
 unknown to Christ s disciples are to-day pro 
 mulgated by our church ; and this Messiah, in 
 whose divinity the majority of those who 
 knew him disbelieved, she, centuries after his 
 death, calls God. To better overawe, enlist, 
 and enslave Pagan nations, the church goes to 
 any length : she swallows their customs, be 
 liefs, and superstitions. From Constantino, 
 matters grow worse; a long list of mysterious 
 and esoteric practices contrary to the teachings 
 of Christ and the Apostles is introduced : the 
 divinity of the Holy Ghost, the cult of the 
 Virgin, of the saints, of images, relics, and 
 shrines, of the Sacred Heart, of the Trinity, of 
 the Eucharist, and so forth ad nauseam, con 
 tinuing to our enlightened epoch until the 
 Infallibility of the Pope and the Immaculate 
 Conception stick in the throat even of an All- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 61 
 
 swallowing Faith. Modern Christianity has 
 certainly drawn more inspirations from the 
 councils of Nice, Constantinople! and Koine 
 than from her great originator.^ ftimu^l avow 
 to you, my dear fellow, that, whej sneaking of 
 himself, Mohammed appeals moi^ forcibly to 
 my reason than does the son of S^ary. I am 
 only the sent one, says your p/cMpt. I am 
 a man like you. / 
 
 This logic reinforced by h^Btor^a%iata more 
 or less correct, and by quotations " from his 
 consecrated Koran, won/ the Egyptian, who 
 thereupon concluded that this n^j^ra was "too 
 intelligent to be faithful totf6 Jcliotic a creed. " 
 From that moment he; rega/ded the Christian 
 
 as almost worthy of /his respect, and he, who 
 
 if 
 heretofore had beer/ taciturn about beliefs, 
 
 was moved to remark in the most earnest 
 manner : 
 
 "No religion as grasped the greatness of 
 God as has Mohammedanism. Our god is not 
 The Father; still less is he one of the myriad 
 idols of Paganism. Our god is not the Jews 
 
 
62 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 Jehovah : that revengeful God of battles and 
 frowning Master of enslaved Israel ; nor is our 
 god part of a Holy Trinity. Allah is far, far 
 above such conceptions. He is the almighty 
 over humanity, over the world, over the uni 
 verse. He is undiscoverable, indivisible, in 
 comprehensible. He neither speaks nor re 
 veals himself. We do not circumscribe the 
 Divinity by affirmative attributes, for if we 
 said he is great, he is good, he is wise, he is 
 powerful, would we not qualify the Unqualifi- 
 able by human standards? What do we know 
 about greatness, goodness, wisdom, power we 
 so infinitesimal? All the books on theology, 
 all the hymns of all the sacred parchments 
 should contain but the words, La ilaha illallah ! 
 HE IS!" 
 
 "Bravo! beautiful! beautiful! If I lis 
 tened to you much longer I too should become 
 a disciple of Mohammed. Do you know that, 
 not alone do I admire your religion, I also 
 find much that is praiseworthy in the customs 
 of your race. There are times I wish I were 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 63 
 
 an Arab. Your girls are so modest ; they must 
 make ideal wives. I am frequently disgusted 
 by the boldness of our women ; they show the 
 face and speak to any man, and, occasionally, 
 do not stop at that, owing to the facility of 
 relations between our sexes. 
 
 "Do you know what I would do if my sister 
 or my sweetheart addressed a man not of our 
 family?" 
 
 "No, what would you do?" 
 
 "I would stab her!" hissed he fiercely, 
 while rending the air with his poniard to em 
 phasize his threat. 
 
 "It would serve her right. If the same 
 thing could be done in my country, many 
 domestic troubles might be averted," sternly 
 observed this Parisian, the last of men who 
 could believe such severity advisable. 
 
 Said felt gratified to hear a foreigner praise 
 Mohammedan customs. 
 
 "What would you like to do to-morrow?" 
 asked he, as he was about to leave for the 
 night. 
 
64 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 "Let me think. Do you know where I 
 could listen to a real Arabian song? I mean 
 well-rendered, too. Are you not acquainted 
 with some pretty singer who has been trained 
 in your music?" 
 
 After an instant s hesitation, Said answered : 
 
 My sister shall sing for you to-morrow." 
 And placing his hand upon the heart and then 
 the forehead, he bade the customary " Salam 
 aleikum!" 
 
 The Frenchman had not wasted his strata 
 gems. This Arab delighted by Eugene s kind 
 ness and the soundness of his ethical views 
 where is the man who is not charmed by 
 notions echoing his own? had granted a 
 privilege seldom accorded a Christian. It is 
 exceedingly rare in Mohammedan countries to 
 bring into the home a man not of the family ; 
 for a follower of Jesus a member of that most 
 despised sect to be received in this sanctuary 
 was a great homage. Had Said been rich under 
 no circumstances could that have occurred. But, 
 as in all countries poverty is an obstacle to pride 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 65 
 
 and etiquette is seldom observed by the hungry, 
 this European s generosity and anti-Chris 
 tian opinions easily removed the traditional 
 Oriental barriers around a humble hearth. 
 There was another reason also for the drago 
 man s startling invitation. Knowing that his 
 sister Zuleika was fond of northern music, he 
 wished her to hear the renowned violinist who, 
 after all, was to him as nearly perfect as could 
 be one educated in that abhorred Christianity. 
 
66 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 vn. 
 
 A WONDROUS beauty, though only a child of 
 fifteen, was Zuleika, with her small body as 
 yet more developed below than above the waist, 
 her slender form and baby -like hands and 
 feet. The poise of her head and the promis 
 ing contour of her neck would have thrilled 
 Saint Anthony. The oval face of unmixed 
 Arabian cast encircled by black luxuriant hair 
 which fell loosely in undulating waves over 
 translucent little ears, resembled a clear-cut 
 cameo adorned by India s rarest gems. 
 Whether the picture or its setting was the love 
 lier, would have been hard to tell. She had 
 big, dark, almond, shining eyes over which 
 long lashes languidly drooped ; her nose would 
 have been Eoman but for a slight accentuation 
 of the nostrils curves; the mouth, somewhat 
 large, revealed glimpses of teeth wide and 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 67 
 
 sound, evenly ranged behind vermilion lips 
 thick enough to suggest sensuousness ; and her 
 plump chin formed a delicate shadow in its 
 center the proverbial dimple that, so goes an 
 old saying, renders a girl s dowry superfluous. 
 Approaching with a step airy as that of her 
 pet gazelle, she drew up the left sleeve to free 
 the strings of her instrument, exhibiting to 
 Eugene an arm of exquisite moulding ; and, as 
 if to complete his rapture, she blushed, thus 
 adding to the already ineffable charm of her 
 bronze complexion. 
 
 " Who hath not proved how feebly words essay 
 To fix one spark of Beauty s heavenly ray? 
 Who doth not feel, until his failing sight 
 Faints into dimness with his own delight, 
 His changing cheek, his sinking heart confess 
 The might, the majesty of Loveliness? 
 Such was Zuleika," 
 
 at whose sight a famed Persian poet had 
 exclaimed : 
 
 "Gods of Form, Color, Motion, 
 Behold your Masterpiece !" 
 
 She sings the Arabian song, "Come, come, 
 
68 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 my beloved ! a weird and wild melody minor, 
 warm, monotonous as the sands of the desert, 
 while accompanying herself upon a two- 
 stringed violin, the body of which is a cocoa- 
 nut shell. Neither her voice, in its metallic 
 color resembling that of a Spanish woman, 
 nor her peculiar songs, can please the highly- 
 developed musical sensibilities of her auditor. 
 For all that he yet tries to listen, but the 
 sense of sight paralyzes the others. The vir 
 tuoso endeavors to jot down her tune; his eyes, 
 however, refuse to pass from that magnetic 
 vision to the music-pad, and the paper slides 
 off his knee, leaving him transfixed in the con 
 templation of this siren. His head reels. 
 The picture Eugene beholds acts like opium 
 upon his brain, and, though his eyes are 
 wide open, he dreams. Everything about 
 Lim vanishes into air, into nothingness, every 
 thing! save that immature Cleopatra with 
 whom in a mad flight he floats beyond the 
 stars. This brilliant Frenchman of twenty -two 
 had basked more than once in the sun- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 69 
 
 shine of woman s best affection, yet he 
 never felt aught save the baser instincts. His 
 urbane ways, well-garnished mind, and musi 
 cal endowments won him many a time that 
 celestial regard, Platonic love; still, nothing 
 of so magnanimous a passion, no, not even one 
 ray of its light serene had ever penetrated his 
 own breast. Instead of that, a malevolent 
 spirit always took hold of him in the presence 
 of chastity, and, for sinister gratifications, 
 this otherwise fairly-good citizen, as the world 
 wags, trampled upon the holiest objects. A 
 beautifully wrought cup in which to quench 
 his insatiable thirst that was woman! Be 
 she yellow, black, red, or white ; be she fleshy 
 or thin, statuesque or petite, golden haired or 
 dark eyed, bright or dull, devoted or untrue, 
 noble or plebeian, was of small moment if for 
 the fleeting hour she seemed delicious. Like 
 the legendary hero immortalized by Mozart 
 and Byron, he, too, could in his past behold a 
 long and varied flock of broken-hearted crea 
 tures : 
 
70 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 " Montrant leurs seins pendants et leurs robes ouvertes, 
 Des femmes se tordaient sous le noir firmament 
 Et comme un grand troupeau de victimes offertes 
 Derriere lui trainaieut un long mugissement." 
 
 When a girl deserving man s loftier senti 
 ments appealed to bis better self, the other Me, 
 lustful and cynical, sprang forth and dominated. 
 Y> r as he accursed for being born out of wed 
 lock? Was it his mother s warning that made 
 him unsentimental, designing, gross? What 
 ever be the cause, his spiritual ego evidently 
 slumbered, granting it existed. 
 
 Love, as this intellectuel understood it, was 
 solely the scientist s prosaic law: The pres 
 ervation of the species. 
 
 An acquaintance once asked him : 
 
 "What is the underlying principle of love?" 
 
 "That magnetic force which makes heroes 
 
 of poltroons and scoundrels of saints," replied 
 
 he, "is the irresistible, although nearly 
 
 always unconscious, instinct of reproduction; 
 
 without it the greatest calamity would fall 
 
 upon the earth the extinction of all things 
 
 animate, This is the supreme law of living 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 71 
 
 beings, and before its tribunal the slimy bac 
 teria and the man of genius stand equal. One 
 grand, mystic, ceaseless wave sways creation 
 Creation, that boundless cauldron into which 
 generations of all sorts are eternally forming. 
 Upon this planet, at each instant, some loath 
 some invertebrate sends forth a transparent 
 chrysalis upon wings of amethyst and gold, 
 and an adolescent thrills at the sight of a 
 flower his inamorata gave; while, perhaps, at 
 that same moment, at the risk of his ignomin 
 ious life, some soulless ravisher, instigated by 
 anthropophagous fathers, pounces upon a de 
 fenceless woman. Synchronously appear 
 doves and vultures; simultaneously and 
 through a similar process are born Neros and 
 Virginias, though no human eye may compass 
 the abyss separating their souls. My vision 
 certainly fails to measure that psychical chasm, 
 yet it forcibly apprehends the identicalness of 
 the physical bases underlying those human 
 bodies. Unlike as the crawling gnat and the 
 swift giraffe may be the spiritual laws govern-? 
 
72 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 ing two mortals. I suppose the gnat typifies 
 my principles." 
 
 Such views were not apt to enlist many 
 friends ; the majority hardly allow science on 
 this all-dominating subject to carry them so 
 far from the domain of poetic sentiments. 
 Consequently, Eugene was regarded as a most 
 eccentric fellow, if nothing worse. 
 
 Upon other questions, his heart was con 
 ceded to be in the right place. For instance, 
 though callous and scheming in love affairs, 
 he was severely correct in matters of friend 
 ship an anomaly peculiarly masculine. 
 
 In the presence of Zuleika he now felt a 
 nascent tenderness, an indescribable something 
 each mortal has experienced at least once in a 
 lifetime, usually during his teens. The en 
 chantress threw a spell over this hitherto in 
 vulnerable Frenchman, and he revelled in the 
 novel snare, in the intangible love-woven net 
 that momentarily imprisoned him. Fortu 
 nately, a guardian angel in the garb of Friend- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 73 
 
 ship came at this dangerous pass to dispel the 
 enchantment. 
 
 "I am sorry that girl s brother is such a fine 
 chap," mused Eugene. "If there is any truth 
 in the theory of souls affinity, my soul has 
 found its mate. Were not Said so kind to me, 
 I would move heaven and earth to possess this 
 celestial fairy." 
 
 Immediately after playing the violin solo 
 promised the night before to his dragoman, he 
 locked up his violin box, saying : 
 
 "Let me thank you and your sister for her 
 interesting music. I must hasten to the col 
 onel. Good-by!" 
 
 Conscious of having done well by ending 
 abruptly an interview he would have prolonged 
 had he obeyed his lower impulses, and with 
 the resolution to dissipate all thought of the 
 little Arab, the Franzoui drove away in his 
 victoria, unwittingly taking along the peace of 
 this white-domed dwelling. 
 
 Did some good angel whisper into the young 
 woman s ear, "Forget this man! Though you 
 
74 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 think him the best that lives, he is not what 
 he seems to an ignorant lass ; he is unworthy 
 of you, and if you persist in your foolish hope 
 to win his affection, an everlasting crown of 
 thorns shall fill your eyes with blood and 
 tears!" 
 
 If such a voice spoke, she did not heed it. 
 Mysterious and awful auto-mesmerism! this 
 belief that we are fascinated and cannot escape 
 our self-created Mesmer. 
 
 However young, however inexperienced be a 
 woman, she has a wonderful intuition in heart 
 problems. Although totally unacquainted with 
 the ways of the world, Zuleika knew that 
 lovers cannot escape sorrow, though their 
 affection be profound and mutual ; she was 
 aware also that the spoiled child of Parisi- 
 ennes might soon tire of a little barbarian, no 
 matter how sweet and thoughtful she be ; yet 
 she was willing to risk everything for his love 
 happiness, honor, health, life, eternal rest. 
 
 That night is her first sleepless one. Her 
 are closed, but she is awake listening to 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. ?5 
 
 an occult violin whose sylph-like harmonics 
 reverberate again and again from the walls of 
 her bed-chamber; now, softly as the buzzing 
 of an insect, then gently creeping into her ear 
 and insensibly swelling to a climax of blaring 
 trumpet-sounds vast as the Mosque of 
 Mehemet-Ali. 
 
 In this subjective mood, intensified by her 
 nervous, semi-hysterical temperament, the 
 player s features slowly emerge from a milky 
 cloud to impress a burning kiss upon passive 
 virgin lips. 
 
 Her first impulse when arising is to tell her 
 dream to the old servant, Uarda, as she is 
 wont to do. Upon second thought she hesi 
 tates. 
 
 "It was not a dream, anyway. What would 
 Uarda think of such silly imaginings. She 
 would surely advise me not to mention again 
 the name of one so despised by Mohammed." 
 
 The outpourings of a heart Cupid enters 
 for the first time can no more be stemmed 
 than the ebb and flow of the ocean. When 
 
76 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 there is nothing better at hand, it is a poodle 
 or a kitten that is told of the heart s first tem 
 pest; may be it is a Marguerite which hears, 
 while its silken petals fall, "He loves me, he 
 loves me not." Zuleika had no mother to 
 whom she might outpour her tender effusions ; 
 her father, too, was dead. In any manner, she 
 would have kept her secret from both. Chil 
 dren speak to parents upon such matters only 
 at last resort : a schoolmate, a servant, even a 
 stranger is oftener the first discoverer of 
 that beauteous bud on the stem of a soul. 
 
 While combing her mistress hair Uarda 
 noticed an expression of lassitude in her eyes. 
 
 "Are you ill? You look quite fatigued, 
 my child." 
 
 "No, Uarda, thanks. I am very well." 
 
 "Why, then, do you seem so bewildered? 
 Have you not slept soundly? Do tell me. 
 Do not hide it from me : you have cried, I can 
 tell it from the redness of your eyes. What 
 is troubling my dear babe?" 
 
 Here the flow of emotions could no longer be 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 77 
 
 checked, and between sobs, the girl recited her 
 night and day dreams, whence, alas ! she was 
 doomed to awaken only in death. 
 
 "I would give my life for him, Uarda!" 
 "Dear, deluded lamb! Are you not aware 
 that impassable obstacles separate you ? He is 
 rich, you have nothing. On account of your 
 good looks this might be overlooked by a 
 Franzoui: I don t know what are the customs 
 of his land. " (She evidently did not for, in 
 France, without dowry, even a belle finds it 
 difficult to marry above her pecuniary rank. ) 
 "What I do know, however, is that your 
 brother would not let you marry a Christian. 
 Don t cry, my doll, my dearest! Most likely 
 this man has forgotten you before this. You 
 should do the same. How babyish to poison 
 your days with such thoughts!" 
 
 The diminutive harim had wiped away her 
 tears and stood silent, motionless, with her 
 small fists clinched, her lips tightly drawn to 
 gether, and her long lashes veiling semi-closed 
 pupils that aimed straight at the curled sharp 
 
?8 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 tips of her dainty red sandals an evil-fore 
 boding attitude the old servant observed with 
 anguish, knowing its ominous significance. 
 
 Uarda, being like a mother to Zuleika, hav 
 ing cared for her since the cradle, felt a 
 mother s grief at this unwise determination. 
 
 "Oh! what shall I do to save you from this 
 terrible fate? If I were your mother, instead 
 of your poor old nurse, I would flog you to 
 alter your mad purpose. My darling, for 
 heaven s sake, don t tell Said! You don t 
 know what he might do to a filthy Christian 
 dog!" 
 
 "I don t care, " shouted the now enraged 
 girl. "I shall tell him, and I ll give him the 
 choice between Zuleika dead, or Zuleika the 
 wife, yes, if need be, the mistress of that 
 Christian dog!" 
 
 Sparks of fire darted from dazzling orbits 
 freed from their lids, giving her face a fero 
 cious mien, and Uarda, terrified, unable to say 
 another word, wept. 
 
 This young woman, though admirable in 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 79 
 
 many respects, was, as lias just been exempli 
 fied, far from perfect. Though she usually 
 was gentle as a child and simple of manner 
 as one unconscious of attractiveness, 
 now and then, her one overmastering vice 
 an uncontrollable will gained complete 
 victory over a modest, quiet, and tender 
 nature. Circumstances had helped to develop 
 this abnormal faculty since she was old enough 
 to manifest a, wish. From her nursery days 
 Zuleika had commanded, and those around 
 obeyed. As a mere tot, if she would have a 
 toy it had to be brought, otherwise she refused 
 to eat. This spirit of domination gradually 
 became a law to her family, who tolerated it 
 as a childish whim, largely on account of the 
 fact that it had never been exercised for serious 
 purposes. 
 
 The will depends neither upon moral nor 
 immoral qualities. It is a distinct state of 
 consciousness which may exist in the best as 
 well as the worst of men. Nor is it akin to 
 courage or intellect. Said was wise and fear- 
 
80 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 less; of the two, he had the superior char 
 acter, yet he yielded to the stronger will of his 
 sister. Her parents having concluded from 
 the dawn of life that it was impossible to cure 
 their daughter of this obduracy, indulged her 
 in it. In that they erred : a special education 
 could have weakened this natural tendency. 
 "Who loves well chastises," says an old prov 
 erb. Zuleika s parents had loved unwisely. 
 The unrestrained will of a capricious child un 
 folded more and more rigid, and the reed that 
 might have bent as a garland of wheat grew 
 into a gnarled twig of steel. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 81 
 
 vm. 
 
 ONE afternoon, a few days later, Eugene and 
 his guide were sipping tiny cups of mocha in 
 the Ezbekieh Gardens while listening to the 
 atrocious wailings of the khedive s band, 
 which, to Arab ears, passes for Western music. 
 
 "What shall we do to-morrow, Said? I 
 have seen practically everything worth visiting 
 in and around Cairo. Could you not suggest 
 some new trip? I am tired of the beaten 
 track of travelers. 
 
 For a few seconds the dragoman was plunged 
 in a deep reverie. At this instant violent 
 feelings agitated his soul, but his fatalistic 
 religion having early taught him to repress 
 outward manifestations, he remained impas 
 sive. Little did Eugene infer that his appar 
 ently calm companion was debating within 
 
82 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 himself: "Shall I disembowel that cur, or 
 shall I make him happy and famous?" In 
 any manner, had the musician heard this tacit 
 query, he could not have unfathomed its cause, 
 for he could not know that, only an hour 
 before, Zuleika had told her passion to Said, 
 who now hesitated to obey the command, 
 "Make him love me!" 
 
 Brotherly tenderness finally conquered his 
 hatred and he decided to gratify her mad desire, 
 Martyrdom does not always consist in bodily 
 tortures nor in death. This Mohammedan s 
 self-abnegation and renunciation of racial, 
 moral, and religious principles to please an 
 adored sister, was as heroic as the suffering of 
 many a martyr. 
 
 The silence had lengthened oppressively. 
 
 "What is the matter?" ejaculated the em 
 ployer, slightly annoyed. 
 
 "Oh! pardon me. I wanted to reflect a 
 little before deciding." Surveying the neigh 
 boring tables to ascertain they were far enough 
 away, and to make doubly sure that his re- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 83 
 
 marks would not be overheard, he drew his 
 chair close to the Frenchman s. With a mys 
 tifying air, and in a voice low and persuasive, 
 he continued : 
 
 "Do you know that I have formed a peculiar 
 attachment for you? I believe I could do 
 anything in your behalf. You certainly are 
 too bright to believe this nonsense without 
 proofs. Well ! I intend to give you an unequi 
 vocal guarantee of my friendship." 
 
 Journeying up the Nile, Eugene had had 
 ample opportunity to appreciate his drago 
 man s intellect. To reconcile this unexpected 
 gush with the inflexible prejudices of a 
 learned Oriental might be difficult to an Euro 
 pean nincompoop ; to this clever Parisian it 
 was impossible. He simply nodded his 
 thanks, while Said went on : 
 
 "To prove to you the extent of my regard, I 
 am going to give you the fruit of my life s 
 researches. I shall show you what no other 
 living man has seen. I ll open a concealed 
 portal in the Cheop s Pyramid leading to a 
 
84 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 hall never entered since that famous tomb was 
 built. If any mortal has gone there, he did 
 not divulge the fact, for there exists no known 
 record of this vast chamber. Though I have 
 not yet visited it, I am positive I shall find it 
 by the aid of directions I discovered in the 
 Necropolis of Sakkara. Through inscriptions 
 in one of the granite coffins of the sacred bulls, 
 I deciphered almost by accident the way to 
 this unknown hall. I also read that its walls 
 are covered with figures of material objects 
 from every sphere of nature and art, together 
 with mystical and mathematical symbols. 
 Owls, snails, hexagons, rhomboids, triangles, 
 axes, squares, elephants, birds, bulls, faces of 
 gods, goddesses, and emperors, and stranger 
 signs are written in granite, as in the sarco 
 phagus of Sakkara. This particular monu 
 mental writing has not come to the notice of 
 another Egyptologist; no man save Sai d can 
 unravel its meaning. It has taken me ten 
 years of study and practice to get a correct 
 interpretation of these rare hieroglyphics, 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 85 
 
 though trained from childhood in the science 
 of sacred characters and Egyptology. These 
 writings, khawageJi, are unlike anything 
 ever grasped by our greatest historian, be he 
 Herodotus or Lepsius. The marks I ll trans 
 late to you are based upon an alphabetical 
 system, while all the ancient signs known were 
 founded upon two other systems which, though 
 differing, were yet connected : the ideographic 
 which, by the introduction of familiar sym 
 bols sought to express thoughts and events ; 
 and the phonetic, representing words by sym 
 bols and their sounds. If the principles I 
 learned in Sakkara do not mislead, pursued 
 Said, now thoroughly excited, "I shall read 
 you a wonderful historical record, a narrative 
 beginning back of the Pagan period of Egyptian 
 history, before which not even a legend has 
 reached us. Behind the seventy centuries of 
 uninterrupted annals, I ll recite new and mar 
 velous facts from indubitable evidence. His 
 torians, as you know, stop at the commence 
 ment of the Pharaonic antiquity, when Egypt, 
 
86 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 the ancestor of nations, seems to rise as at the 
 origin of all time from the depths of an eternal 
 night; but I shall start long before that era of 
 the world s history. Antedating all biblical 
 documents, Said will even precede by a my 
 riad years the reign of the first Pharaoh, 
 Menes. What a wondrous parchment roll the 
 future chronicler shall then unfold ! Starting 
 when the Romans and the Greeks were hordes 
 of cannibals more kindred to the orang-outang 
 than to the present man, and when the Western 
 world was not even a dream, he will translate 
 the indelible signs carved in those granite 
 walls, telling the birth, rise, and fall of a great 
 nation now wholly extinct which dwelled in 
 this same privileged land of Egypt whose terri 
 tory nourishes an obedient race, and the fer 
 tility of whose soil is proverbial as the softness 
 of its clime and the virtue of its women. This 
 narrator of the world s unbroken annals will 
 then be able to connect the beginnings of all 
 human activity to the Pagan, Christian, Mus 
 sulman, and contemporaneous periods. He 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 87 
 
 will find the origin of the Cheops dynasty and 
 the motives that led to the building of those 
 fabulous pyramids modern art cannot equal. 
 From the Pharaohs he will proceed to the vicis 
 situdes of this nation under the cruel, though 
 now lettered, sons of Rome and Athens, and 
 he will record the philosophical researches of 
 the various sects in Alexandria who started the 
 grand intellectual movement whence issued our 
 modern world from a chaos of human fallacies. 
 At this stage, the annalist will reach the mid 
 dle ages with their inimitable Arabic art creat 
 ing indescribable marvels. Later, the Cru 
 saders and their useless butcheries will come 
 upon the scene, soon to be followed by that 
 inordinately selfish Corsican who ll say to his 
 hypnotized French hounds: Soldiers! From 
 these pyramids forty centuries of glory look 
 down upon you! 
 
 Lastly, reaching down to our own 
 day, the undeservedly famous engineer will 
 carry off some sand to reopen an ancient way 
 to the Bed Sea for the floating piratical cities 
 
88 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 propelled by steam and bound for the looting 
 of India and China." 
 
 These words were accompanied with fitting 
 gestures and an impressive facial expression. 
 Said s vcice had grown louder, and big drops 
 of perspiration trickled down his bronzed fore 
 head, At the end of the speech, his tone re 
 gained its natural suavity, and he added, 
 almost imploringly : 
 
 "I am a humble Bedouin; you are famous 
 and wealthy. I dwell in a country which 
 hardly values intellectual efforts; you, on the 
 other hand, reside in Paris, in that capital of 
 the peoples where great deeds are prized and 
 whence throughout the earth resounds their 
 doer s name. Aside from the satisfaction of 
 vanity, this discovery, at best, can only be of 
 small use to me. To you, it means more ad 
 miration, more renown, more riches and power, 
 for it shall proclaim you the earth s leading 
 historian. In brief, I want you to claim my 
 knowledge as your own." 
 
 Eugene, who had followed him closely, at 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO, 89 
 
 this moment felt certain of having discovered 
 the wily spring of this apparently generous 
 proffer. 
 
 "If you do this, Said, and let me claim the 
 find exclusively, I ll give you ten thousand 
 francs. 
 
 "You have misunderstood me, Jchawageh," 
 sharply retorted the dragoman with a haughty 
 and disdainful glance, which, quick as a flash, 
 changed to an expression of kindliness so as 
 not to defeat his own strange device. "Al 
 though I am poor, money is not everything to 
 me. I told you I liked you, and said I would 
 prove it. I shall do as I promised, but, I beg 
 of you, khawageh, never again to wound me 
 with offers of money." 
 
90 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE road leading to the Pyramids is shaded 
 at various places by tall mimosas and follows the 
 Nile s banks, which here and there are dotted 
 with palm forests and gray villages. On one 
 side lies the Hassouan desert, behind ascend 
 Cairo s graceful minarets, and in the hazy 
 perspective ahead the awe-inspiring outlines of 
 the mighty Pharaoh s tombs are solemnly 
 sketched upon a sublime canvas of opal 
 stretched over the horizon. 
 
 As Phoebus descends beyond the Mokattam 
 hills, the skies invest an aspect of unspeakable 
 glory, and the soul successively receives impres 
 sions of surprise, admiration, beatitude. 
 From deep red the coloring imperceptibly mod 
 ulates to a transparent golden yellow and 
 melts into a subdued violet hue; then the 
 whole background swiftly becomes a boundless 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 91 
 
 canopy of deep blue spangled with diamonds 
 of amazing purity. The contemplation at 
 twilight of this tropical firmament with its 
 billions of stars, suns, planets, comets, meteors, 
 aerolites visible atoms of invisible infinitude! 
 with its sextillions of worlds scattered by the 
 All-creating Hand into limitless space and 
 time, yet, vibrating eternally with perfect har 
 mony, would make an atheist prostrate himself 
 into the dust, confessing that such heavens 
 proclaim God s majesty! 
 
 Upon the sharp rib of the mountains sur 
 rounding the Beneficent Kiver, flitting shad 
 ows of camels, dogs, and Mussulmans move 
 to and fro as in a magic lantern; and, as if 
 the phantasmagoria were not lively enough, 
 two riders, following the water s edge, advance 
 swiftly toward El-Gizeh the good station a 
 village which gave its name to the tallest 
 pyramid, chief monument of ancient Mem 
 phis. A large white woolen cloak that nearly 
 reaches the ground, and two piercing black 
 eyes crowned with a bright red fez partly 
 
92 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 hidden by a many-tasseled and multicolored 
 silken hiffiyeh, can be seen over the first 
 pony; upon the other sits a young man in top 
 boots, riding trowsers, flannel shirt, and Scotch 
 cap. The luggage of these travelers is tied to 
 the saddle under the wide burnous of the first 
 horseman, and consists solely of some sharp 
 ened pencils, a pad of writing paper, and a 
 portable lamp. 
 
 The women of a Bedouin s family are never 
 the theme of conversation among men un 
 related, everything pertaining to them being 
 sedulously kept, particularly from Europeans. 
 Said, the rider in white, could not resist the 
 desire to depart from this time-honored usage, 
 so fearful was he that his sister s hope and 
 his own sacrifice might be in vain. His strat 
 agem was to secure the gratitude, and as a 
 consequence, the friendship, of this French 
 man. "After that," believed he, "it will be 
 very easy to influence him in Zuleika s behalf. 
 She is so beautiful that my task will be made 
 quite simple, and eventually this Christian 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 93 
 
 shall become my brother-in-law. May Allah 
 forgive ! 
 
 As the evening wore on, faith in the prac 
 ticalness of his scheme diminished. 
 
 "Suppose," thought he, "this man has 
 found nothing attractive in my sister : how on 
 earth can any amount of regard for me cause 
 him to care for her ! I ought not to waste my 
 energies any farther in this hypocritical con 
 duct. I must find out at once what he thinks 
 of Zuleika." 
 
 Carefully as a snail that thrusts out 
 its antennae, after having withdrawn them 
 at the touch of some disagreeable object, he 
 broke the long silence with : "What do you 
 think of our music?" 
 
 "I prefer not to express my opinion about 
 your music, Said. Were I in my own country 
 where I could speak freely of women, I might 
 have much to say concerning one of your 
 singers." 
 
 "Go ahead, khawageh. You are so con 
 siderate of our customs and people that I 
 
94 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 almost feel as if you were a member of my own 
 family." 
 
 Eugene hesitated to foster intimate relations 
 with a servant, however worthy. He knew that 
 disinterested friendship was rare everywhere, 
 and particularly in the East. Cupidity 
 seemed to lurk from behind all protestations of 
 disinterestedness. Mercenary designs had been 
 so craftily devised by knights of the carpet 
 he had met that, notwithstanding Said s rejec 
 tion of money, he remained as unconvinced as 
 puzzled about his dragoman s motives. At the 
 same time, feeling quite certain that much 
 latitude would be allowed his profane views, 
 and knowing full well that he was able to take 
 care of himself should the Arab become too 
 familiar, he remarked : 
 
 "Your melodies are too monotonous, and 
 your instruments too primitive to please my 
 ear; yet, I do not recollect having been moved 
 more deeply than by your sister s song. I 
 have heard that voice unceasingly since I left 
 your house." Spurring the horse to his com- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 95 
 
 panion s side, he looked inquiringly into his 
 glowing eyes the windows of the soul and, 
 in a voice full of sincere fervor, while a happy 
 smile hovered about his mouth, he pursued : 
 "If there is any truth in telepathy, she is 
 singing to me at this very instant. Do you 
 not hear, Come, come, my beloved! Hoi, 
 hoi, yd lidbibiT Wait, friend, listen!" A 
 jerk upon the reins brought both horses to a 
 dead stop. "Do you not distinguish sobs too? 
 Why should she be crying, tell me, Said?" 
 
 The sturdy son of the desert stood petrified. 
 His parched throat could not utter a sound. 
 No tear was in his eye : does the volcano send 
 forth water? Blood thick and hot flowed 
 down the left side of his chin from the lip he 
 locked in his glistening teeth. Humiliation, 
 love and pity for his sister, and the ignoble 
 plan to win for her the regard of a Christian 
 whom he hated with the accumulated hatred of 
 all his Mohammedan ancestors, had caused 
 this violent reaction of his subdued spirit. 
 
 It is a paradox, nevertheless it is true, that 
 
96 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 in every life enter fears that a cherished hope 
 be realized. We are so vacillating, so capri 
 cious, so inconsistent that we may gladly tear 
 down to-day what we joyfully built yesterday. 
 Sai d at this juncture felt like strangling this 
 Jcamzir, this unsavory beast, because he was 
 interested in Zuleika : the very thing, only a 
 minute ago, he had desired most. In spite of 
 this murderous impulse, his sister s will im 
 pelled him to obey her to the bitter end. 
 
 They were now in sight of the ruins of 
 Memphis, and the grandeur of the scene they 
 beheld gave the guide an opportunity to turn 
 the current of his thoughts, thus mollifying 
 his hateful feelings. 
 
 "We are approaching the city of the dead, 
 where stands the oldest building erected by the 
 hand of man," observed he, pointing south 
 ward. "Look yonder! On the edge of the 
 Libyan desert, with its feet bathing in the 
 waters of the King of Rivers, rises the largest 
 earthly monument the stupendous pyramid, 
 tomb of the Pharaoh Khufu, also known as 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 9? 
 
 Cheops. Think of his mighty work! One 
 hundred thousand men relieved every three 
 months by another hundred thousand toiled 
 thirty consecutive years to complete this fabu 
 lous mausoleum. The first ten years were 
 spent merely to make a road for the carrying 
 of those immense blocks which have stood piled 
 on one another four hundred and twenty-five 
 feet during these six thousand years. The 
 construction of the pyramid took the remain 
 ing twenty years. Each of the sides of this 
 mammoth measures eight hundred and twenty 
 feet, and its four sides face precisely the four 
 points of the compass. Every stone is thirty 
 feet long or over and carefully polished and 
 jointed. Cheops, the vicious warrior king, 
 shall ever be known as the greatest builder. 
 Though potentates yet unborn may construct 
 another structure of monstrous dimensions like 
 this which at present holds the records of the 
 babyhood of humanity, no contemporaneous or 
 future ingenuity and skill will build chambers 
 and halls that, through centuries, notwith- 
 
98 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 standing the millions of tons pressing over 
 their ceilings, shall preserve perfect regularity. 
 No architect can again rear an edifice that for 
 thousands of years shall endure against our 
 sun s fires, the Nile s inundations, the Sahara s 
 typhoons, the ever-drifting sands, and, most 
 destructive of all the vindictiveness of man !" 
 
 A southern night in its splendor and silence 
 covers this sublime scene of Nature and art. 
 As the travelers dismount to tie their animals, 
 the moon s rays spread a silvery mantle over a 
 colossal image of granite with a human head 
 and breast, and the body of a reclining lion. 
 It is the Sphinx, a hybrid, mythological crea 
 tion of ancient craft. Woe to him who fails 
 to solve the riddles which, tradition says, this 
 monster propounds to mortals! 
 
 "You may think me unbalanced, kliawageh, 
 yet I have never been more lucid than to-night. 
 I tell you this fearing you may doubt my 
 sanity after hearing what I am going to say. 
 The fact is, I must hypnotize myself before 
 being able to find the entrance to the hall. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 99 
 
 Not alone ought I to be in a trance to discover 
 the door, I must also remain in that condition 
 in order to understand the marks on the walls. 
 In his objective state man is never inspired, 
 and I need much inspiration indeed to succeed 
 in this undertaking." 
 
 "Instead of thinking you of unsound mind, 
 I have now more faith than ever in your ability 
 to do what you expect," retorts Eugene, filled 
 with admiration for this Jin-de-si&de Arab. 
 
 Parisians are prone to believe that, beyond 
 their city s fortifications, new sciences are un 
 known. While this one was aware that hypno 
 tism is only a modern name for an old fact, 
 having familiarized himself with its history 
 antedating Mesmer, and the epoch when kings 
 cured goiter by the laying of hands, he also 
 knew that the more important and complex 
 manifestations of this mysterious force had 
 resulted from tests made recently in his own 
 country. Therefore, great was his astonish 
 ment to find an Egyptian, a barbarian one 
 might say, conversant with the latest and most 
 
100 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 interesting scientific theories; and, from that 
 moment, his esteem of Said grew. Eugene 
 had studied this psychic phenomenon in many 
 of its phases, and quite a number of his exper 
 iments in suggestive therapeutics, spiritism, 
 telepathy, somnambulism, clairvoyance, mind- 
 reading and other ramifications of hypnotism 
 had succeded beyond the expectations of crack- 
 brained enthusiasts, and in spite of the skepti 
 cism of "know-it-all" persons. Among medi 
 cal men he was regarded as an operator pecul 
 iarly gifted to induce hypnosis. Upon various 
 occasions he had placed patients in a state of 
 insensibility to pain for the operations of a 
 well-known surgeon, one of his friends; and 
 this musician s influence, electricity, magnet 
 ism, or whatever appellation a stickler for 
 names might wish to give to his uncanny 
 faculty, proved more efficacious than ether. 
 
 It is not necessary that volition be exerted 
 on the part either of hypnotist or subject in 
 order to inject this most deadly or curative 
 drug. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 101 
 
 Who knows but this occult compound was 
 that which enthralled Zuleika, although he 
 had not sought to intoxicate her? 
 
 Who can prove that love is not hypnotism? 
 
102 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 X. 
 
 "I WONDER, Said, why some Egyptian ruler 
 has not discovered the place we are about to 
 visit. If I remember correctly, I read some 
 where that serious and thorough searches had 
 been instituted." 
 
 "They have been, kbaivageh, and much was 
 unearthed; not everything, however. May I 
 give you a bit of history showing exactly how 
 far other investigators have gone?" 
 
 "Do." 
 
 "From many centuries before the Christian 
 era to our day, Persians, Greeks, Eomans, 
 Arabs, and others, hoping to find treasures, 
 from time to time penetrated new passages and 
 chambers within the Great Pyramid. The 
 Khalif Mamun, two thousand and six hundred 
 years ago, caused an entrance to be made. His 
 workmen, afterreaching a considerable depth, 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 103 
 
 found a vessel containing, strangely enough, 
 exactly the sum expended in the exploration. 
 A marble slab was also discovered, bearing 
 the information that the money sufficed for the 
 work undertaken by the curious monarch ; it 
 also added that he would spend a larger sum 
 in vain, if he attempted to penetrate farther. 
 Fabulous legends tell of statues of gold 
 set with rare jewels, of amulets, talismans, and 
 mummies which were found in a golden box 
 placed in a stone sarcophagus, but there are 
 no authentic proofs of this. To-day, nothing 
 of value is known to exist under those rugged 
 blocks. The modern visitor may enter the 
 several chambers, among which, the one named 
 The Great Hall, is the handsomest. There 
 he can verify the astounding fact that neither a 
 needle nor even a hair can be inserted into the 
 joints of these polished fine-grained Mokattam 
 stones, so skillfully are they placed together 
 an unsurpassable marvel of masonry. The 
 explorer will then proceed to the King s Cham 
 ber, the floor of which stands one hundred and 
 
104 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 thirty-Dine feet and a half above the plateau 
 holding the pyramid. If he is inquisitive, and 
 expects to see jeweled caskets, ancient works 
 of art, and other paraphernalia interesting to 
 archaeologist or ethnologist, he must be disap 
 pointed on entering this room which contains 
 only a mutilated and lidless granite coffin 
 without any inscription. Owing to the enor 
 mous weight of the mass above, the prudent 
 architect relieved the ceiling of a dangerous 
 pressure by constructing five small chambers 
 above this room. These may be reached from 
 the Great Hall, though with much difficulty. 
 They hold but a few hieroglyphics of small 
 import. The only other rooms known are the 
 Queen s Chamber, located below the King s, 
 and a subterranean room which is reached by 
 following a passage leading downward in a 
 straight line two hundred and ninety-three 
 feet long. From this chamber there is a hor 
 izontal tunnel running some distance, which, 
 according to all Egyptologists, leads noivhere. 
 There lies their error, for there is the missing 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 105 
 
 link completing the chain of Cheop s hitherto 
 mysterious purpose, which was to make the 
 pyramid not alone his mausoleum, but also 
 the receptacle of his nation s archives. And 
 from that intersected passage which according 
 to everyone leads nowhere, we shall go on 
 until reaching the wonderful spot. 
 
 Said who had placed himself in a somnam 
 bulistic condition by gazing fixedly at the 
 lantern for twenty minutes, was now dragging 
 Eugene by the arm out of the underground 
 chamber into the tunnel supposed without exit. 
 After crawling and clambering for several 
 minutes through this uncomfortable labyrinth 
 which, at places, is not over three feet high 
 and four wide, they suddenly halt. The stones 
 around them are covered with slime, and the 
 close air strongly smells of rats, toads, and 
 bats. 
 
 The Frenchman, half-asphyxiated, unable to 
 proceed, stops exhausted and on the verge of 
 fainting. His guide, on the contrary, moves 
 with extraordinary energy and urges him on. 
 
106 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 One of the many inexplicable physiological 
 phenomena of hypnotism is that in some som 
 nambulistic states neither bacteria nor nox 
 ious gases produce deleterious effects. The 
 subject may be wounded with a poisoned in 
 strument or breathe ammonia, illuminating gas, 
 and various disease-breeding substances, yet 
 feel no harmful results. This accounts for the 
 disability of one of these men, while the other 
 retained his full physical powers. 
 
 Happily the dragoman s calculations were 
 correct. Had not the huge trap door of bronze 
 responded at that moment to his pressure, let 
 ting in a gust of pure cold air, his employer 
 would not have survived many more inhala 
 tions in that fetid atmosphere. 
 
 Still dazed, Eugene found himself in a large 
 square hall. The south wall was one big 
 monolith of porphyry, the north of alabaster, 
 the west of crystal, and the east of black mar 
 ble. The ornamentation was exceedingly rich. 
 Metal reliefs of dazzling colors, contrasting 
 strongly with the tone of their background, 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 10? 
 
 literally covered the walls. By the dim light 
 of their lantern it was impossible to get a com 
 plete effect of this astonishing scene, but the 
 sense of sight was more than compensated for 
 this loss in the contemplation of details. The 
 filigree work in stone and metal resembled a 
 piece of old point lace, and its novel, startling, 
 bewildering tints fascinated the vision with 
 their transcendental harmony. An aesthetic be 
 holder would have concluded that this dis 
 covery added more to the plastic and pictorial 
 arts than to the annals of man, even had he 
 understood the wondrous meaning of these 
 amazing designs. 
 
 "Do you feel sufficiently strong, Ichawageh, 
 to begin recording what I am about to trans 
 late?" 
 
 "Positively. Since breathing better air I 
 feel revived. I must warn you that I am unac 
 quainted with stenography, therefore, have the 
 goodness to speak slowly or else I may miss 
 valuable notes." 
 
 "Have no fear. It is difficult enough to 
 
108 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 read this at a moderate speed, and I trust you 
 will not be impatient if I linger too long upon 
 figures which may puzzle me. I would rather 
 be slow, yes, silent, than conjectural: the 
 absence of facts makes a more correct history 
 than the invention of them." 
 
 And directing his light upon the angle 
 made by the south and west walls, he began. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 109 
 
 XI. 
 
 "THE REMOTEST ANCESTORS OF MENES. 
 
 "THE Ehonnou race settled upon the banks 
 of the Nile one hundred centuries before the 
 birth of Menes, first king of the first Egyptian 
 dynasty. The Pharaoh Menes is a direct 
 descendant of Klanrahd, the Liberator of this 
 nation. 
 
 "The Ehonnou walked on air and water. 
 Without mechanical aids, they heard and saw 
 beyond the seas. Their homes were warmed 
 by pipes sunk fifteen thousand feet into the 
 earth s crust, thus drawing its central heat. 
 Through the suction of the enveloping ether 
 over any point upon this sublunary sphere, 
 they thwarted the law of gravitation and lifted 
 heavy bodies to any height; with this same 
 principle applied horizontally they trans 
 ported these weights instantaneously over vast 
 areas. 
 
110 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 "Gold was not utilized, being too soft for 
 the useful arts; nor were rare stones con 
 sidered of value. The people placed upon the 
 body only seasonable cloths. Precious metals 
 and gems were cast aside, if they could not be 
 fruitfully employed. 
 
 "Through a highly developed sense of smell, 
 concerts of perfumes were appreciated. The 
 sensitiveness and culture of the Khonnou 
 enabled them to receive sound-sensations with 
 ears hermetically closed, for they could appre 
 hend the vibrations of the air through the 
 optic nerve ; and with eyes also shut, they en 
 joyed accents and musical tones merely by the 
 sense of touch. 
 
 "An equal amount of food and clothing was 
 allotted to each inhabitant. No money existed. 
 Wise economy was a civic virtue, making it 
 praiseworthy to return large portions of one s 
 unused State allowance. 
 
 "Only the gifted few were entitled to a 
 higher education, and this was mainly moral 
 and ethical, because material ends were re- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. Ill 
 
 garded as secondary in the training of virtuous 
 citizens. It was thought that the schooling of 
 the masses in superior knowledge would pre 
 vent them from being able to satisfy their most 
 pressing needs, thereby causing discontent of 
 mind and discomfort of body, eventually lead 
 ing men to destroy the life and property of 
 their neighbors through jealousy, hatred, and 
 envy. No amount of instruction might spare 
 the miner from living under the ground, the 
 sailor from floating over the watery expanse, or 
 the ploughman from laboring the fields. The 
 leading aim of teachers was to inculcate in 
 each inhabitant self-respect, the respect of 
 others, the veneration of parents, and the love 
 of work. 
 
 " Woman was forbidden abstruse studies be 
 cause they made her less fit to bear and nour 
 ish healthy children. When with child, she 
 was almost deified; under these circumstances, 
 the State, regarding maternity as the noblest 
 function, did everything for her well-being. 
 
 "If women outnumbered men polygamy was 
 
112 THE vicious VIRTUOSO. 
 
 considered good, morally and physiologically ; 
 when the stronger sex preponderated, poly 
 andry ruled ; if the sexes were equally divided, 
 statutes enforced monogamy. There were no 
 celibates, except the deformed, criminal, dis 
 eased, and those mentally, morally, or physi 
 cally feeble whom the State then asexualized 
 to avert unborn misery. 
 
 "Suicide was recommended in the case of 
 incurable disease or inconsolable grief. The 
 right to terminate life when pain could not be 
 alleviated, was granted the physician. 
 
 "The Khonnou severed the marriage tie at 
 will ; the daughters going with the mother, 
 the sons with the father. It was incumbent 
 upon the divorced to remarry within a year, 
 under the penalty of imprisonment, which, in 
 such instances, lasted until the State could 
 arrange another union. 
 
 "Sympathy was extended to all human 
 beings regardless of race or opinions. This 
 people condemned patriotism as an unwise and 
 selfish love of one s native land, causing blood- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 113 
 
 shed between nations. They believed patriot 
 ism engendered pride, arrogance, and com- 
 bativeness, and that, through overweening 
 confidence in their military power, races might 
 plunge into sanguinary conflicts and ultimately 
 disappear. War was called a wholesale mur 
 der sanctioned by Fatherland. The Ehonnou 
 were certain that beneath the hatred of peo 
 ples, beneath the interests, the jealousies, and 
 the cruelty that may crush empires, there was 
 a peaceful commonwealth universal, all-embrac 
 ing, and grander than all the republic of 
 altruism. 
 
 " These dwellers along the bountiful Nile 
 did not think exile was an evil. They had 
 enjoyed the change to these fertile banks from 
 the arid plateaus of Asia overlooking the 
 Euphrates, the cradle of their race, and they 
 successfully founded distant colonies. Man, 
 they used to tell, is not a tree imbedded in 
 one garden ; he can thrive in many gardens 
 and under many skies. 
 
 "There were no priests nor religious dog- 
 
114 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 mas. An intuitive morality guided all. The 
 motive to a noble action was conscience in 
 spired by the love for others. These altruists 
 had no god to reward the right or to punish the 
 wrong. The individual set his whole trust 
 upon himself. When he rode alone through 
 desert and forest or sailed the shoreless oceans, 
 he commanded his soul to himself not to fetich 
 or saint. This egoism expanded to great 
 sacrifices for friends, family, and country. To 
 a Ehonnou, Nature was a book half-understood 
 or misunderstood, yet whose pages were open 
 to all. 
 
 " Opinion as to the conduct of public affairs 
 was not divided. Political factions were 
 known only theoretically, and were deprecated. 
 Some of the popular notions regardiug 
 political parties were : A party is an arm in 
 vented to injure one s enemies ; a party leader 
 can never be entirely honest; partisans think 
 they are actors, but they are simply acted 
 upon ; to the other faction, a citizen is always 
 a traitor; partisans lie so often that they 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 115 
 
 finally believe themselves, the only ones who 
 escape the self-delusion being their intellectual 
 leaders, originators of the falsehoods ; a party 
 divides family and commonwealth; it 
 crushes honesty because truth is a party s 
 worst opponent; when a party cannot bribe it 
 defames ; all wars result from political 
 parties." 
 
 With this sentence Said reached the end of 
 the west wall. 
 
 "I believe," said he, "we shall find that 
 each wall is like a chapter in a book. Sure 
 enough ! Here begins the next wall with an 
 epoch distinct from the preceding. Are you 
 ready?" 
 
 Go ahead!" 
 
 "THE HIEBAKCHY OP PRELATES. 
 
 "Seventy-four centuries before Menes as 
 cends the throne, the Ehonnou libraries were 
 yet far-famed, and the nation known as the 
 wisest. Kings and savants came from the 
 antipodes for universal wisdom. 
 
 "At this period the people began to have a 
 
116 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 religion, and io burn incense before wooden 
 images of gods, each representing an 
 evil. 
 
 "The pilgrims who knelt at the shrine of 
 the Father of Gods in the Temple of Temples 
 offered in sacrifice, original works of art, new 
 systems of philosophy, and recent inventions. 
 These, snatched by geniuses from the realms 
 of matter or of spirit, were destroyed to pro 
 pitiate the gods. This form of offering was 
 the highest proof of devotion inventive men 
 could give. 
 
 "These people were as ever thrifty and 
 honest: their instincts led them to do good 
 and to search the truth. Why, then, should 
 they need to propitiate the gods? Because, 
 according to the clergy, goodness and tolera 
 tion were detested by their deities. Cunning, 
 indolence, and unmentionable sins were en 
 couraged, and schools of vice established by 
 divine command, as the priests said. Through 
 a long line of virtuous progenitors the Ehon- 
 nou were impelled to obey benevolent propen- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 117 
 
 sities, and they often digressed from the 
 criminal paths traced by their religion. 
 
 "Ecclesiastical laws forced the hereditary 
 rulers to make vows of poverty, which resulted 
 in placing the governmental reins in the hands 
 of the clergy. When these came to power they 
 put into use the inventions which were sup 
 posed to have been annihilated by them in the 
 secret sacrificial chapel. 
 
 "Purely intellectual forces now no longer 
 sufficed to sway men, and by playing upon 
 their emotions, the prelates grew in might and 
 riches. The sentiment of fear was skillfully 
 used ; through threat of everlasting punishment 
 in the next life, they held the people in abso 
 lute subjugation. The priests claimed to be 
 representatives of the gods, and the divinely 
 appointed guardians of the public weal. They 
 pretended to have received mandates direct 
 from heaven in the form of golden tablets upon 
 which were inscribed the laws ; these records 
 were zealously hidden from profane eyes. 
 
 "It is wonderful how history repeats itself !" 
 
118 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 exclaimed Eugene. "The success of the 
 founders of a religion is always due to the 
 hysterical element in man : a divine vision is 
 but a pathological state. From time im 
 memorial stupid humanity has been swayed by 
 epileptics, geniuses, and prophets. " Here he 
 paused and bit his lip, suddenly remembering 
 Mohammed s peculiarities; luckily Said had 
 not heard as he was almost blinded by a vio 
 lent headache, and thought only of finishing 
 his task. Noting an expression of pain in the 
 guide s countenance, which he attributed to his 
 interruption, the Frenchman pursued: 
 "You ll pardon these reflections, won t you? 
 You cannot imagine how many times I have 
 felt like expressing the thoughts your fascinat 
 ing narrative awakens." 
 
 "Do not hesitate to interrupt me whenever 
 you wish," responded the dragoman, who 
 thereupon resumed his translation : 
 
 "With their delusive hopes and fears of a 
 future existence, and their priests preaching 
 of the present s worthlessness, the Ehonnou, 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 119 
 
 hitherto a contented people, became wretched. 
 Suffering augmented and created an artificial 
 need of another life that promised to be better. 
 
 "The instinct of egoism was thoroughly 
 taken advantage of by the clergy ; but they 
 overshot the mark in their endeavor to enslave 
 man through the free exercise of his vilest pas 
 sions. At this stage the nation touched the 
 lowest depth. Crimes were lauded and re 
 wards offered for excesses in them. Sanguinary 
 combats between man and beasts became ritual 
 forms. The sexes lived apart, deaths out 
 numbered births, and the race was rushing to 
 its extinction." 
 
 With this last word ended the north wall, 
 but the guide proceeded without resting : 
 "THE LIBEEATOE. 
 
 "Fifty-one centuries before Menes ascends 
 the throne, Klanrahd, the Liberator, appears. 
 
 "The main event is the peaceful revolution 
 through which this noble character, unsullied 
 by his time, brings back his people into the 
 ways of righteousness: from polytheism to the 
 
120 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 high empyrean of pure reason, from the dread 
 of idols to the love of men. 
 
 "The final hypothesis of his creed was that 
 the First Cause is Unknowable, and, irreconcil 
 able as it may seem, while he propounded the 
 doctrine of agnosticism, he spoke of the 
 spiritual and physical manifestations of the 
 Hakmah a collective term for soul, spirit, 
 mind, and brain. 
 
 "Klanrahd had been begotten in bondage; 
 he was lame, short of stature, slight of frame, 
 and his features were irregular and bizarre : 
 they would have repelled, except for the 
 nobility of his brow, the kindliness of his 
 smile, and the meekness of his demeanor. 
 In the beginning, he was ridiculed, cari 
 catured, and persecuted ; later, the unflinching 
 adherence to his principles under repeated 
 tortures won him the admiration of all. 
 
 "His healing power was infallible. The sick 
 in body or mind flocked to him from distant 
 parts. Incurables approached, their suppli 
 cating arms extended, and by laying his hands 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 121 
 
 on each, he sent them forth cured and rejoic 
 ing. 
 
 "The Liberator was the embodiment of un 
 selfishness, and never accepted fees or honors. 
 He dwelled in the cave of a rocky hill. A 
 tunic of coarse hemp, a copper dish, and a 
 wooden spoon, were his sole possessions. He 
 ate only vegetables; these, unasked for, were 
 placed in his metal vessel by grateful patients. 
 Once in a while he passed several consecutive 
 days without food, if it was not brought to 
 him, because he never complained nor begged. 
 
 "Leisure hours had come to the Ehonnou 
 through practical inventions and discoveries 
 applied over their vast and fertile territories, 
 and by the storing of their immense and super 
 fluous crops. The people grew indolent, luxu 
 rious, heartless : their soul was dead. 
 
 "In the Temple of Temples he usually began 
 his daily oration by saying: You fill your 
 palaces with gold while you starve your 
 HakmahP 
 
 "Klanrahd s example in resisting the master 
 
122 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 temptation of his day material gain was 
 potent; it mollified the avaricious spirit of his 
 nation. His whole existence was a silent, 
 though sublime and potent, revolt against 
 gross materialism. 
 
 "The Liberator s humility, generosity, and 
 particularly his healing power, ultimately 
 made him the object of a popular regard bor 
 dering upon idolatry. His great honesty and 
 eloquence alone prevented the nation from 
 worshipping him as a god. I am a plain man 
 like you, would he preach. My origin is 
 lowlier than that of any one here, and the 
 worms in an eternal night await me yonder. 
 I am not better than the most despised and 
 despicable. If I do good it is in obedience to 
 an inexplicable impulse. My will is not more 
 free to make me do wrong than is the will of a 
 sinner free to make him do right. My acts 
 are unconscious, they result from birth or sug 
 gestion. If the Hakmah impels me to virtuous 
 action, let me thank its Good Maker. How 
 could I claim credit for faculties which, 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 123 
 
 though beneficent, are not of my own mak- 
 ing? 1 
 
 "With consistency he demonstrated that the 
 evil thoughts and deeds not the original sins 
 of parents cursed their children. Klanrahd 
 was convinced that through generations of vir 
 tuous lives and the proper training of descend 
 ants, a steady advance would be made toward 
 philosophy and beatitude until finally the 
 highest plane would be reached by the human 
 family upon the wings of the Hakmah. An 
 impressive exhortation to charity always 
 closed his sermon. His precepts, with the 
 powerful example of a life of abnegation, in 
 fluenced the Ehonnou and made them once 
 again wise and philanthropic." 
 
 The east wall was finished, but Said could 
 not go on. His head hung limp upon the 
 breast, and he stood mute, with parched lips 
 and burning throat. His temples throbbed as 
 if about to split. He looked around aimlessly, 
 and just as Eugene thought he was going to 
 read the next wall, the Arab fell swooning in 
 
124 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 bis arms, a helpless prey to a fever that, for 
 several days, had been insidiously consuming 
 him. 
 
 " Great heavens, Said! what is the matter? 
 Let us get out quickly," the Frenchman 
 shouted. Although appehending some seri 
 ous trouble, he was too startled and shocked 
 to note the maniacal gleams in his dragoman s 
 eyes, which a practised alienist would have 
 interpreted as symptomatic of a terrible mental 
 disorder. 
 
 Was it fatigue the result of ten hours of 
 close attention that had unnerved the hardy 
 Bedouin? Was it hysteria induced by hyp 
 nosis? Might not his superexcited state be 
 due to the recital of the thrilling Ehonnou 
 annals? No ; not one of these was the cause of 
 his collapse. His condition resulted from the 
 conflicting emotions that seared his heart since 
 Zuleika s avowal. The illness had stealthily 
 increased through days and nights of ceaseless 
 perturbation, during which, with clinched jaws 
 and threatening fists he hurled anathemas upon 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 125 
 
 that foul Christian s head while cursing his 
 own weakness which made him the tool of a 
 foolish sister when, instead of this, he "ought 
 to be eating the heart of that cur!" 
 
 Five or six minutes elapsed before the guide 
 could speak; meanwhile, he remained rigid 
 and cold in his employer s arms. Then, roll 
 ing his eyeballs and swaying his head like a 
 caged tiger, he mumbled : 
 
 "What has happened? Why do you stare 
 at me thus, and why your arms around 
 me?" 
 
 "My dear fellow, you were about to sink to 
 the floor as you ended Klanrahd s oration, and 
 I caught you barely in time. We had better 
 not begin the remaining wall to-day." 
 
 "Oh, yes! I must finish now for all time," 
 blurted out Said. "Of course, I am dizzy and 
 rery, oh ! very tired. I feel nauseated, too ; 
 but I shall end my task now were I to do it 
 alone and die in the attempt. Do you hear? 
 Were I to die in the attempt!" 
 
 He then deciphered from the south wall : 
 
126 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 "THE CUKSE OF THE GODS. 
 
 "Four centuries before Menes ascends the 
 throne, from miles around could be seen the 
 stupendous statue of Klanrahd rising three hun 
 dred feet which the Ehonnou, in their gratitude, 
 had erected to the memory of their Liberator. 
 A report has it that when his spirit left its de 
 caying abode, the gods watching over the 
 destiny of this race petrified the remains and 
 augmented them to this fabulous size. That 
 fable was woven by the priests who were 
 gradually returning to power. The clergy 
 hated the name of this good philosopher, but 
 the remembrance of him was dear to the peo 
 ple. The position of these prelates being, as 
 yet, insufficiently firm to enable them to over 
 throw this popular idol, they craftily praised 
 Klanrahd s achievements, pretended to be his 
 acolytes, and claimed to have built his statue. 
 In reality, they were doing their utmost to 
 counteract the benign influence of his teachings. 
 
 "A notion prevailed to the effect that so long 
 as this stony image stood, the nation would 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 12? 
 
 prosper. Woe to us! believed the Rhonnou, 
 if Klanrahd ever falls! For this apprehen 
 sion there existed two reasons ; the first was 
 that, in its fall, the statue would crush the 
 costly Temple of Temples whose dome touched 
 the palm of the monstrous hand uplifted in the 
 act of blessing it; the other, was on account of 
 the belief that such a calamity would prophesy 
 an unheard-of general cataclysm. 
 
 "Manrmhud, the capital of the Ehonnou, 
 was an immense city spreading many leagues 
 over both banks of the river. In the west, it 
 extended as far as the marshy lands* that 
 divide the north and south seas. In this 
 metropolis the hundred mightiest citizens, one 
 half of whom were bishops, dwelled in palaces 
 of tremendous dimensions surmounted by 
 hanging gardens vast and beautiful, that sent to 
 the zenith an unbroken cloud of incense from 
 the fragrant perfume of rose, citron, lilac, 
 orange, magnolia, and jessamine blossoms. 
 Baths of fabulous size shaded by majestic 
 * The Suez Canal. 
 
128 THE vicious VIRTUOSO. 
 
 eucalyptuses and decorated with frescoes, re 
 liefs, and intaglios of mysterious symbolism, 
 characterized these sumptuous habitations, to 
 which were annexed pyramids of vertiginous 
 height holding ancestral remains. Stupendous 
 private temples for the worship of each family, 
 were approached by long avenues of colossal 
 owls of granite and porphyry that led to their 
 alabaster peristyle containing forests of marble 
 columns, one more precious than the other, 
 and myriads of statues of inconceivable work 
 manship. Upon the monolithic door-posts 
 garlands of flowers and features of mytholog 
 ical beings were chiseled with inexpressible 
 skill. 
 
 "The remainder of the population, amount 
 ing to nearly ten million souls, lived in mud 
 huts. 
 
 "In this era, in spite of the Liberator s 
 moral precepts, the horrible practices of a 
 former cruel epoch were resumed, and, under 
 ecclesiastical domination, national degenera 
 tion once more set in. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 129 
 
 Temple of Temples stood upon a 
 round "terrace half a mile in diameter. The 
 exterior of its dome inlaid with gold and 
 enamel, seemed to challenge the skies in bril 
 liancy, so glorious, so resplendent was the 
 reflection of the sunbeams as they fell upon 
 the bright surface. One night the huge statue 
 swayed to and fro for a few seconds, and then 
 solemnly toppled over head foremost upon 
 this sublime cathedral, carrying everything in 
 the way of its awful descent. Some of the 
 fragments of the mammoth image, found miles 
 away deeply imbedded in the soil, are the only 
 vestiges of its departed grandeur. 
 
 "Klanrahd s statue had been erected accord 
 ing to perfect laws of construction, and there 
 had been no earth disturbance ; therefore, the 
 way in which it dropped could not be attributed 
 to the mistake of builders, nor to the uncon 
 scious elements. Whence, then, came that 
 propelling force and the destructive design 
 originating it? Was it from priests, from 
 God, from the inert mass itself? These three 
 
130 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 hypotheses were taken into account, yet, to 
 this day, nobody has solved the enigma ; and 
 it is no wonder, for, without further evidence, 
 it were equally logical to infer that any one 
 of the three is the correct supposition." 
 
 At this juncture Said s legs relaxed as wax 
 under the influence of heat, and he crouched in 
 a heap upon the marble floor. 
 
 "Don t help me up, khawageJi," whispered 
 he, in a faint and singular voice. "Let me lie 
 here a moment. All I need is a little rest, 
 and then I ll be able to finish." 
 
 Eugene spread the burnous on the pavement 
 and his dragoman stretched himself upon it. 
 From hunger, fatigue, and overexcitation the 
 Frenchman also was unstrung, and felt anxious 
 to get out of that chamber which was begin 
 ning to invest a fantastical aspect in his fagged- 
 out brain. Knowing, however, that the Arab 
 would die rather than leave his translation un 
 finished, Eugene resignedly sat down upon the 
 floor to await the return of his guide s 
 strength. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 131 
 
 "I don t understand, under the circum 
 stances, how it would be possible for that 
 statue to fall in such a peculiar way, unless 
 man or Allah had a hand in it, remarked 
 Said. "How could a destructive motive reside 
 in an inert mass of stones? That seems a pre 
 posterous view. I am unable to comprehend. 
 Can you conceive of such a possibility?" 
 
 "I can. I am not sure to prove anything, 
 but I may offer my own answer to this seem 
 ingly absurd question, although, I am frank to 
 confess, no phenomenon of such a character 
 has ever come within the course either of my 
 reading or of my experience." He slowly 
 repeated the dragoman s query, "How could a 
 destructive motive reside in an inert mass of 
 stones?" scratched his head to call forth ideas, 
 and began : "In the first place, allow me to say 
 that, though a fact may not be within my con 
 sciousness, its absence does not prove its non- 
 existence, does it? I believe everything is 
 possible. The blind man calls the sun dark : 
 does his blindness disprove its light? After 
 
132 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 all, inertia cannot demonstrate death any more 
 than motion proves life. "Why may not there 
 be vitality in immobility ? In the final inven 
 tory of my reading, I throw aside all the 
 books, all save that of mathematics ; the others 
 are incomplete and generally misleading. 
 What do scientists of an epoch possess that 
 those of another century may not call worth 
 less? Exceedingly little indeed, if the phil 
 osophy of history teaches anything. I certainly 
 do not claim to know more than others : my 
 sole real knowledge is that I am ignorant. I 
 know I do not know, and that, by the way, is 
 a greater sum of learning than some scientists 
 ever attain, for they are too vain ever to see 
 their own limitations. Of course, you are 
 thinking I am digressing just now, talking at 
 random, and so forth. Well, if so, you are 
 mistaken. I can assure you I have never 
 thought more coherently, more lucidly than at 
 this instant. The hypothesis I am going to 
 advance is so odd, however, that I wanted to 
 claim a well-grounded right to my opinion, 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 133 
 
 though it be at variance with all science, and 
 though it be based upon no precedent. 
 
 Having warmed up to his subject to the 
 extent of being wholly absorbed by it, Eugene 
 went on without observing that the dragoman 
 had fallen asleep : 
 
 "Who knows the occult power and motives 
 of molecular forces? The tortuous brooklet 
 gurgling through the dale, the mountain peaks 
 struggling to pierce the sky, and the azure 
 firmament itself turning to a flat black speak 
 alike to poet and philosopher of dynamic, 
 preordained impulses. Time, space, matter, 
 and motion are naught without the mind that 
 is everything and everywhere. Mankind, 
 from time unrecorded, have accepted the notion 
 of life in incorporeal, intangible things in 
 disembodied spirits. Is it not as reasonable 
 to believe a mind might find a habitation in 
 inert matter, since it may exist in empty 
 space, in nothing? When a huge rock leaves 
 the mountain side and in its furious run de 
 stroys a hamlet and its inhabitants more 
 
134 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 effectively than the bloodthirsty tyrant who 
 descends with his cohorts, this certainly is not 
 a conclusive proof that the stone is animated. 
 Yet, let me ask you: Is not the result of its 
 mad course apparently planned by an infernal 
 spirit? Though a monolith may have been 
 lifeless during the millions of years it stood 
 motionless as an integral part of the hillside, 
 and until the very moment it broke its cyclo- 
 pean moorings, ami illogical if I suppose that 
 now it may be endowed with an individual 
 soul? It no doubt has the palpable attributes 
 of life time, space, matter, and motion. 
 Why, then, might it not contain a spark of the 
 universal, all-permeating mind? Man s narrow 
 insight has invented the word inanimate just 
 as it has created objective heavens and hells, 
 angels, griffins, virgin-mothers, satyrs, devils, 
 and ghosts; but, in reality, these are but delu 
 sions, illusions, or hallucinations, and they 
 exist only subjectively. No, my dear Said, 
 there is no death : annihilation is but a tran 
 sitory state, and so is immobility. Back of 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 135 
 
 all inertia there must be life; behind all 
 death, motion. An idea may dwell in the in 
 finitesimal atom. If the microbe kills a czar, 
 why may not a molecule have willfully knocked 
 down Klanrahd s gigantic statue?" 
 
 Noticing that the Arab was dozing, he 
 nevertheless continued his ruminations aloud 
 to keep himself awake, as he was feeling 
 extremely drowsy : 
 
 "Why should causes be hidden from man? 
 Is he doomed everlastingly to cry in vain, 
 Why, whence, whither? I suppose so. It 
 is perhaps decreed above that a mortal shall 
 not read the holy scroll of Nature s secret 
 lore; that, farther than the forward foot, he 
 must not foresee his narrow earthly path ; and 
 that, upon the inky waves of his shoreless 
 Beyond, neither sail nor beacon shall surge 
 forth to guide him. If so, let it be! After 
 all, it is best to content one s self with dark 
 ness, while hoping for light, and remain 
 ing fearless of everything, everything except 
 Ego that most dangerous enemy 1" 
 
136 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 The soothing waters of sleep were gradually 
 submerging the domain of his thoughts, and, 
 as happens when we approach Slumberland, 
 ideas grew incoherent and confused. He now 
 lisped: 
 
 "Thou art here, Zuleika, though far away. 
 Every object centers in me, all things are sub 
 jective: the universe, t is my brain, and there 
 art thou enthroned, my queen! In my futile 
 attempts to find the truth, what precious hours 
 of this span-long life I do lose! Wisdom is 
 misery : it were better to be a happy fool than 
 a sad sage, though I be the wisest. Silly 
 weakling that thou art to postpone the carnal 
 delights, though only for one hour ! To what 
 purpose? For more erudition? Have I not 
 the greatest, an unrelenting, conviction that I 
 am an ass? Yet, in spite of this light, human 
 inconsistency lures me over and over into 
 denser asininities through the glimmer of 
 will-o -the-wisp cogitations that make me 
 forget the knowledge of my stupidity my 
 sole intellectual harbor!" 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 137 
 
 The erratic monologue is brusquely stopped 
 here by an unearthly shriek from the drago 
 man, who points to the south wall, trembling, 
 horrified, hiding his face as if he beheld a hell 
 ish apparition. His somnambulistic trance is 
 over. "Yes, that s it! Put it down on your pad, 
 quick, quick!" he spasmodically shouts, then 
 slowly enunciates as if reading from the re 
 liefs and carvings in the wall : "In vain shalt 
 thou seek farther. Cursed be 
 He repeats these words, the while pounding 
 his forehead to accelerate the mental process ; 
 immediately afterward he howls at the top of 
 his voice: "Put this down! It s inscribed 
 there! Don t you see it? Don t you feel 
 the heat from these letters of fire saying, 
 Cursed be the translator? Oh! filthy 
 hound ! Why hast thou stirred the embers of 
 the past? How darest thou tear the veil of 
 eternal oblivion! Canst thou help man by 
 thy prattle? Vermin! The power of speech 
 shall be snatched from thee and thy carcass 
 flung to the desert s jackals!" 
 
138 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 xn. 
 
 EUGENE, more dead than alive, dragged his 
 terrified companion out of the pyramid with 
 out learning whether these last phrases were 
 on the wall or solely in the diseased imagina 
 tion of his guide. 
 
 It is noon. The fiery orb in the zenith 
 drops molten lead over two phantom-like riders 
 creeping silently along the sandy road to Cairo. 
 
 Said had awakened from his hypnotic state 
 ^vith an ominous premonitory feeling of great 
 depression. After reaching the city he passed 
 into a condition of stupor ; later, acute delirium 
 grew to a maximum of intensity. His head 
 became hot, his eyes wild, his skin moist, and 
 whitish saliva overran his mouth. He expec 
 torated incessantly while uttering ear-splitting 
 cries, exhibiting symptoms suggestive of hy 
 drophobia. In the hospital, where he -was 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 139 
 
 manacled, his acute mania turned into a 
 chronic state; his excitement moderated, and 
 the delusive ideas assumed fixedness and con 
 sistency : a sad, sad pathological sign. Two 
 weeks after, he was pronounced harmless, but 
 incurably insane. 
 
 The patient was so mild that his physicians 
 allowed him daily to wander about the grounds 
 adjoining the institution. One evening, at 
 supper, they missed him. As he was not dan 
 gerous, no serious search was undertaken. It 
 was believed he would return when hungry ; he 
 never did, however. The opinion prevails that 
 Said fell into the Nile or died of starvation. 
 
 Under such melancholy conditions, the idea 
 of benefiting from his guide s historical re 
 searches became repugnant to Eugene, who 
 thereupon resolved not to divulge the Ehonnou 
 records. 
 
 Zuleika heard of her brother s misfortune 
 through a formal missive the Frenchman sent 
 her. Let it be said to his credit, he had not 
 addressed this girl with an evil intent. Not- 
 
140 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 withstanding his frailty, and his penchant 
 toward her, he held himself in check through 
 pity for her unhappy brother. Once more, as 
 in biblical lore, was woman to be the tempter. 
 
 Only men were allowed to visit the patient, 
 and this gave the little flirt an excuse for writ 
 ing to the Framoid asking him to keep her 
 informed daily about her brother s health. 
 This request upset resolutions that had not been 
 very firm, for he was hardly capable of holding 
 a long siege against his senses. 
 
 The Mohammedan girl knew what the strict 
 etiquette of her religion implied, and was also 
 fully aware that writing to a stranger would be 
 regarded as reprehensible even in his own 
 country. She ought to have asked for news 
 through the hospital authorities. Intuition 
 said all this, besides warning her against the 
 possibility of repelling a man by making ad 
 vances ; nevertheless, these thoughts were cast 
 aside by the winds of her passion as are dead 
 leaves by an approaching storm. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. Ul 
 
 Carmen is right when she sings about 
 Cupid s disdain of law : 
 
 " I/amour est enfant de Boheme, 
 II n a jamais connu de loi." 
 
 After Said s case was declared chronic there 
 existed no longer any excuse for the correspon 
 dence ; in spite of this, it grew more frequent. 
 The Parisian s tone of condolence smoothly 
 drifted to one of admiration, while her grateful 
 phrases donned a coquettish dress. Woman 
 ever needs to lean upon some man, be he real 
 or ideal, and in hours of trial, either sex is 
 impelled to ask for sympathy. In the begin 
 ning, an unhappy sister had merely longed to 
 speak of her brother to a consoling friend ; to 
 day, goaded on by his gallantry, the budding 
 woman in Zuleika an organism that through 
 passionate ancestors had pent-up the energy of 
 an Egyptian sun needed much more than 
 flattering messages. She now desired to lay 
 her head upon her hero s bosom and breathe 
 there gently ; without knowing why, she also 
 felt an irresistible craving to see his eye rever- 
 
142 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 berate the flame that lit her eye, to hear his 
 voice echo the verses in her heart, to feel her 
 self entwined, helpless, suffocated in his mus 
 cular arms, and to burn of the fi/e in the blood 
 of his lips. 
 
 The opposite of such a feeling was develop 
 ing in Eugene, and her image grew dimmer 
 day by day. Solitude might have kept alive 
 his interest in her; his minutes, however, 
 were so well taken up with recreations that, 
 even had he been attached to this young in- 
 digbne, he could not have found much time to 
 think of her. From breakfast to five o clock 
 tea golf, lawn tennis, driving, riding, sailing, 
 and shooting; from dinner to bed hours the 
 opera, the cafS, a musicale at some hotel, and 
 a hop at the English Agency, successively 
 occupied him. 
 
 " Man s love is of man s life a thing apart 
 Tis woman s whole existence." 
 
 Had it not been for her ingenuous commu 
 nications, the violinist would have forgotten the 
 native songstress before this. Although she 
 reigned supreme in his soul but a fortnight 
 ago, another queen had already dethroned her. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 143 
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE new sovereign was Mabel Wilson, a 
 handsome and cultured English girl of twenty- 
 two. This tall and well-moulded young woman 
 usually wore a natty sailor hat over her mass 
 of brown hair. Tailor-made gowns fitted her 
 voluptuous form like a glove. During the day 
 all her jewelry consisted of two tiny pearls on 
 the man s shirt she wore. The blood of peach 
 blossoms seemed to course under her skin, so 
 rosy, so fresh was her complexion. Although 
 the smile upon her slightly curved lips was 
 somewhat disdainful when she addressed men, 
 they thought it bewitching. In color and 
 limpidity her eyes evoked in the memory the 
 waters of Capri s enchanting grottoes. 
 
 Miss Wilson s social status was all that could 
 be wished; her two maternal uncles were in the 
 
144 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 House of Lords, and her yearly income ex 
 ceeded twenty thousand sterling. This last 
 qualification had attracted Eugene ; without it, 
 he would have paid only the usual attentions a 
 distinguished woman inspires. His violin, 
 like the revolving mirror that draws birds to a 
 hunter, had so often brought him girls with 
 physical, mental, and social attributes equal 
 ing Mabel s that he might have found nothing 
 extraordinary in this additional acquaintance. 
 
 "Five hundred thousand francs a year, and 
 so well endowed otherwise ! Eugene, my boy, 
 here is a woman worth cultivating ! Should 
 you ever decide to marry, where could you find 
 a better combination? * Keflections of this 
 sort had influenced his behavior toward Miss 
 Wilson, and, at present, he was quite assiduous 
 in his attentions. 
 
 After a few conversations with this highly- 
 educated girl, he found still another reason for 
 his interest : for the first time in his career, he 
 had come across a woman he could not read. 
 Unable to guess whether she cared for him, 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 145 
 
 he felt both vexed and charmed ; at the same 
 time, he became curious to ascertain the result 
 of his machinations to ensnare her. When 
 especially piqued by her indifference and invul 
 nerability, he used to ask himself : 
 
 "Why should she not fall in love like the 
 others? I have met her every day during the 
 past month : would she have tolerated this if 
 she did not enjoy my company ? With her I 
 danced, drank, and most dangerous of all ! 
 with her I played Chopin. Yet, there she 
 stands as at the first meeting, simply an agree 
 able chum. Those English people are un 
 fathomable ! If her gaze were not so penetrat 
 ing and her form so appetizing, I might think 
 there is only a brain in that body ! * 
 
 Mabel Wilson was the personification of the 
 finer Anglo-Saxon type. Compared to a Latin 
 woman, she might seem undemonstrative and 
 overreserved, lacking in intensity and expres 
 sion ; but the wise physiognomist would soon 
 discover that her cold and dignified exterior 
 was exhibited only to better hide a generous 
 
146 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 and affectionate temperament. A French girl 
 might be more prodigal of sweet-sounding 
 phrases and eloquent gestures; Mabel, how 
 ever, was less avaricious of unselfish deeds. 
 If the curves and motions of the southerner s 
 form were more aesthetic, the roses on the 
 cheeks and the firm step of the northern 
 maiden indicated gifts far greater : health and 
 strength blessings peculiarly enjoyed by the 
 English mother who, alone, has contributed 
 more to the greatness of the British Empire 
 than have all its soldiers, financiers, and states 
 men. 
 
 This young lady had learned to curb the 
 soarings of her heart. It was with regret she 
 saw young friends give unrestrained play to 
 their emotions. More than once had she ad 
 vised a giddy lass thus : 
 
 " Beware, friend! Though I am not pessi 
 mistic, I can see the world as it is. My 
 opinion is that the enjoyments of life and love 
 are often but a cruel trap in an alluring garb. 
 Women fall too easily into such spangled nets. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. H7 
 
 Few men could look imperturbably into 
 those calm clear eyes and that unctuous face 
 while listening to her mocking lips replying 
 to their platitudes in an ironical, though suave, 
 voice. So excellent a logician was she, and so 
 incisively did her sarcasm cut when occasion: 
 required, that, though her discourse was 
 always refined, it disconcerted the numerous 
 flatterers a wealthy girl is bound to encounter. 
 In fact, her repartees had made her unpopular 
 with practically all the men she knew. Virile 
 mentality in a woman is rarely enjoyed by the 
 sterner sex. Although expressed in a soft 
 tone and gentle manner, her wit chilled fortune- 
 hunters. Even among the many worthy ad 
 mirers who prized her for herself alone, not 
 one had discerned that a fine mind and a broad 
 education w r ere no bar to truly feminine aspi 
 rations; and Eugene, like everybody else, had 
 been unable to perceive that this girl s dearest 
 hope was similar to that of her humblest and 
 silliest sister, which is, to love and be loved. 
 The college-bred young woman moderated her 
 
148 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSOc 
 
 laughter and tears so well by syllogisms that 
 no one could read beneath the frigid surface. 
 God alone had witnessed the awful inner 
 storms unchained by the repression of her 
 deep feelings. 
 
 This Frenchman s analysis of the capricious 
 sex had taught him that Mabel was of an un 
 usual brain caliber, and should be treated 
 accordingly. He, therefore, invariably ad 
 dressed her as a mental equal. That was the 
 secret of his success in this instance. Had he 
 used condescension and talked upon light 
 themes, as if she were a child precisely what 
 intellectual men are in the habit of doing with 
 most women he would not have had the 
 pleasure of her society two consecutive min 
 utes. Their conversation generally embraced 
 serious subjects, and, at times, it waxed quite 
 warm, for she fearlessly expressed her views. 
 
 To the query, "What do you think of my 
 nation ?* she frankly answered Eugene one after 
 noon, as they were about to go out horseback 
 riding : 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 149 
 
 "Your women are frivolous and your men 
 indelicate, below the varnish of their graceful 
 manners. I do not admire the character of 
 your people. Their modern literature and 
 private and public conduct border too much 
 upon grossness. The absence of impure sug 
 gestions in our diction, oral or written, and 
 also in our demeanor, is a proof of the moral 
 superiority of the English." 
 
 "Do you base your judgment of a race solely 
 upon a branch of its ethics? Accordingly you 
 might maintain that Athenians and Romans 
 were inferior to Britons. 
 
 "I think they were. Achievements, though 
 remarkable, cannot make a race s greatness 
 lasting without a sound ethical foundation. 
 I believe England is the moral paragon of 
 Greece and Rome, and I am certain that she 
 shall fall like them if she ever lower her stand 
 ards of living to the level of those ancient 
 nations." 
 
 "Allow me to observe, my dear Miss Wil- 
 , that appearances as regards peoples may 
 
150 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 deceive, just as they do with individuals. 
 During my short stay in England, it is possi 
 ble I have drawn erroneous conclusions ; what 
 ever be the case, my inference is that there 
 exists much cant and hypocrisy that passes for 
 morality in your country. The Frenchman is 
 a boaster, he exaggerates the evil he does, and 
 sometimes glories in adventures that took place 
 only within his quixotic cranium. Your Eng 
 lish chap, on the contrary, keeps mum about 
 actual facts of this character. Oh ! he may 
 claim to have got beastly drunk, or to have 
 imbibed maw than all the other fellows to- 
 gethah, but upon the theme of woman his 
 mouth is sealed. Does this prove higher 
 ethical ideals ? Is he not perhaps adding false 
 ness to greater sins?" 
 
 "Well, Monsieur Duprez, granting that your 
 premises are correct, you will admit that drink 
 ing is a lesser vice. If the Britisher also com 
 mits greater wrongs and is ashamed of them 
 instead of loudly advertising them, he is not so 
 contaminating as your coarse fanfaron. Bad 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 151 
 
 precepts are very censurable, for they may 
 affect the innocent quite as effectively as bad 
 examples. Consider, for instance, the flip 
 pancy with which your writers treat the rela 
 tions of the sexes. Can this be condemned too 
 sternly ? In such matters, the severity even of 
 the Puritans, though absurd as everything 
 immoderate is, would conduce to more 
 national well-being than your Gallic license, 
 your esprit gaulois. In your books, your 
 plays, your journals, and in your daily dis 
 courses you trifle too often with sacred objects. 
 The greater number of your geniuses make it 
 their main business to ridicule religion and 
 marriage the keystone of every nation! I 
 have misgivings about France s future, es 
 pecially on account of her irreligious tendency. 
 The State rests upon a spiritual harmony be 
 tween the government and the people. To be 
 lasting it must be founded, as the English 
 power is, upon a uniform faith and church. 
 The body politic, like the human muddy ves 
 ture, when separated from its spirit, decays. 
 
152 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 "I suppose, as a matter of course, you think 
 little of the grand impulse of 93 a civilizing 
 movement that had no religion whatsoever; 
 still, in spite of this, it did more to emancipate 
 humanity by establishing the lofty principle 
 of the Eights of Man, than have done all the 
 other epochs combined/ 
 
 "Religion beneath the better principles of 
 that revolution would have ennobled it and 
 made its good enduring. Do you not already 
 observe a crumbling away of the higher ideals 
 in those countries that disdain their fathers 
 faith? Do you not think France is making a 
 social and political blunder in alienating the 
 Roman Catholic Church from her an organi 
 zation that lighted Europe for twenty cen 
 turies, notwithstanding some bad popes? 
 Black sheep, you know, may be found in the 
 best of flocks." 
 
 "The church was not keeping abreast with 
 the advance and aspirations of my nation. 
 Had it ruled to this day its citizens would not 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 153 
 
 have their political prerogatives, pre-eminent 
 among which stands the universal suf- 
 frage." 
 
 "Universal suffrage! A pretty thing that 
 is! Do you really believe the best reforms 
 came through this blessing? I am convinced 
 that the most essential good subjects have 
 derived from governments has almost always 
 come from enlightened and benevolent states 
 men and rulers, in a word, from intelligent 
 minorities. I have no faith in the wisdom of 
 the will of the people. Les foules sont folles ! 
 Universal suffrage is a euphonious phrase, 
 nothing more. It is so well known to be 
 abused and powerless that the better citizens 
 where it prevails ofttimes abstain from vot 
 ing through disgust and discouragement, con 
 vinced as they are of the futility of their 
 efforts against the schemes of politicians. 
 Universal suffrage, when it is allowed free 
 play, hands the power not to the wise, not to 
 the worthy : under the guise of liberty, a 
 nation places a, commercial yoke upon its own 
 
154 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 neck for the benefit of a dozen unscrupulous 
 tradesmen." 
 
 " According to you, then, an absolute mon 
 archy would be the preferable form of govern 
 ment, and the sovereignty of the people with 
 their parliamentary rights ought not to be 
 granted. 
 
 "That is precisely my view. A wise and 
 kindly potentate is better than your political 
 freebooter. You may tell me that a king 
 might be of the freebooter sort. To this I 
 can answer there is less likelihood of a royal 
 ruler being dishonest and unpatriotic than 
 might be the case with irresponsible men un 
 trained to rule. Eesponsibility and hereditary 
 nobility develop character. A great personal 
 duty rests upon a king: he must answer to his 
 family, to his kingdom, and to the world for 
 all his acts. On the other hand, your deput6 
 seldom feels much responsibility beyond that 
 he owes himself of assuring his own re-elec 
 tion. And of that, you may be certain, he 
 takes precious care from the hour he enters 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 155 
 
 office. I would compare the members of a par 
 liament to the holders of stock in a corpora 
 tion. Shareholders never feel remorse, though 
 they may draw extra dividends through the 
 dishonest action of their company s officials. 
 The corporate body has no soul, nor have par 
 liaments. The framers of a legislative act 
 may know that their law is unjust, biased, 
 partisan, yet, gladly extract from it all the 
 personal advantages they can. Wherever 
 there are many heads, Monsieur Duprez, re 
 sponsibility must be divided, and, conse 
 quently, weakened. It is largely on this 
 account that I regard the republican form of 
 government as a failure." 
 
 "You are radical indeed in your conserva 
 tism, if I may be permitted the paradox. For 
 all that, it seems to me you ought not to allow 
 your enthusiasm about an ideal State to make 
 you forget facts advantageous to my side. 
 Take, for example, the right of discussion in 
 elective assemblies. Has it not more than once 
 produced incalculable good by giving oppor- 
 
156 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 tunities to special geniuses for the elucidation 
 of momentous national questions? * 
 
 "Theoretically, yes: in principle, parlia 
 ments do seem perfect. What is the actual 
 fact, however? The right of public discussion 
 is mainly used for the aims and interests of 
 the few individuals who participate in it, 
 mostly to gratify their vanity and selfishness. 
 There is little doubt in my mind that those 
 who reach the highest political posts are not 
 your best men. These would be modest and 
 studious while your politician must be the op 
 posite of this to reach his goal. The more 
 arrogant, ambitious, and unscrupulous is he, 
 the quicker he induces his sheepish constitu 
 ents to give him a role in the legislative 
 farce." 
 
 At this juncture a footman announced that 
 the horses were ready, and relieved Eugene of 
 the annoyance to refute additional arguments. 
 He loathed polemics with women, and had 
 entered the arena with this exceptional girl 
 solely to produce a favorable impression upon 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 157 
 
 lier, not, as she supposed, for mental gratifica 
 tion. 
 
 While they galloped toward the Khedive s 
 Palace, it was with satisfaction he noted that 
 Mabel s thoughts became trivial, and their 
 utterance desultory as the rhythm of the 
 Arabian ponies. 
 
158 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 T is night, the sweet and terrible honr that 
 lends its dark veil to lovers wooings or to 
 haters blows. The white rays from above, 
 intercepted by the foliage of palms, trace 
 fanciful shadows upon the yellow paths of the 
 Ezbekieh Gardens. Save an occasional tin 
 kling from a stagnant fountain in the distance, 
 and the faint hollow noise made at rare inter 
 vals by a lonely fish gobbling up a drowning 
 fly on the water s surface, the tepid air is still, 
 and all the fauna sleep. 
 
 All at once a vapory form appears as if 
 skimming swiftly over the road, like a small 
 sail-yacht over a tranquil sea. As it ap 
 proaches, a wide silken habarah is perceived 
 completely enveloping feminine curves that 
 terminate on the ground in sharply -pointed 
 slippers of red satin. It is an Arabian, 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 159 
 
 neither a,fellahin nor from a bey s harem; she 
 evidently belongs to the merchant class. Her 
 face is hidden from the middle of the nose by 
 a long piece of white gauze which grows nar 
 rower as it descends to the hem of her baggy 
 cloak. The lower portion of the forehead and 
 her large flashing eyes, made unnecessarily 
 wider by kohl, and shining like fireflies, are 
 the only visible parts of the head. She ad 
 vances rapidly and noiselessly on tiptoe, 
 feline-like, which motion, seen from afar, 
 causes her white mantle to resemble a boat 
 sailing over the earth. Straight ahead she 
 proceeds while hastily scrutinizing the benches 
 on each side of the roadway, as if looking 
 for some one. 
 
 Suddenly she turns to the left, whence a 
 voice in an undertone calls : 
 
 "Zuleika!" 
 
 According to her peculiar morality, woman 
 views right and wrong ; just because she is 
 weak, she may resort to cunning and treachery. 
 Like the slave or the child she prevaricates 
 
160 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 through naivet& or necessity. Zuleika argued 
 within herself before resolving to write Eugene 
 to meet her in these gardens. She decided it 
 was unbecoming to see him there; and was 
 ashamed to use the pretext of wishing to ask 
 about her brother s health ; yet, this was the 
 only course her light indicated, and she re 
 sorted to it to attain her end. 
 
 In the bad actions of women, it is nearly 
 always love that prompts : this ennobles her 
 vengeance, or, at least, palliates her crime. 
 When she flings vitriol at the face of her per 
 fidious lover, when she slanders a rival or 
 shoots the faithless father of her children, we 
 may curse her folly, her weakness, her abnor 
 mal instinct of self-preservation in the sphere of 
 the sentiments, but we should also pity her for 
 being so violently impelled by feelings that are 
 as natural to this impulsive, child-like sex, as 
 heat is to the sun. Back of her awful act 
 there was the genuine affection wounded to the 
 quick, and the anguish of dark despair may 
 have made her mad. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 161 
 
 If ever the dream of the emancipation of 
 woman become realized, then may she be 
 judged and condemned upon the same bases as 
 man ; until that day, her wrongs ought to be 
 weighed in other scales. Most of the purposes 
 of man center upon honors, fortune, power; 
 with woman, it is not thus yet : these are not 
 her sole aims. Having been kept as a play 
 thing or as a beast of burden, according to the 
 sensuality or sordidity of her master, it is no 
 wonder that her ethical principles now and 
 then startle him. 
 
 A debilitating environment has lowered the 
 morality of many others besides downtrodden 
 woman. Servile classes of either sex wear on 
 their forehead the brand of their condition. 
 The stigma of a slave is impressed upon the 
 human conscience irrespective of sex. The 
 serfs of Eussia, the coolies of the Far East, 
 the Jews of the Orient, and the blacks of 
 countries where the whites rule, having been 
 oppressed for centuries, show foibles that we 
 condemn we, the very ones who made fawn- 
 
162 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 ing and lying necessary to the preservation of 
 those weaker human species ! 
 
 Zuleika s morality had been shaped by her 
 surroundings, and the idea of dissimulation 
 mastered her finer sensibilities. The desire to 
 possess her ideal mate had compelled her to 
 resort to a subterfuge, which, in her inexperi 
 enced brain, was the only means at hand. The 
 emotion of her soul desiring to unite itself to 
 what it deemed was best, that sentiment of 
 tenderness toward the creature inspiring it, that 
 limitless thirst for mysterious joys, in a word, 
 love! would have made this innocent girl 
 stop at nothing, not even at crime. 
 
 "What excuse did you give your servant for 
 leaving the house at this hour?" 
 
 "None. She does not know I left it. I 
 stepped out of the window of my room," an 
 swered she, almost inaudibly, fearing to be 
 overheard. 
 
 "I am sorry we must meet in this clandestine 
 manner. I ought not to have allowed it. 
 There is nothing concerning Said that could 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 163 
 
 not have been communicated to you by mail. 
 Your solicitude, I fear, was only a trick. 
 Tell me candidly, Zuleika, why did you 
 want to see me?" She looked steadfastly at 
 her pink finger nails without responding. 
 "Won t you tell me?" 
 
 This interrogation was unnecessary. He 
 knew the motive of this infatuated girl s con 
 duct. A long experience with her sex had 
 acquainted him with the signification of ambig 
 uous feminine signs. In a few cases he had 
 been misled for all his prognostications some 
 women are such clever actors ! In this partic 
 ular instance, however, he saw clearly that the 
 little Arab loved him. The serious risk she 
 ran in meeting a Christian here at this hour 
 would alone have proved that. 
 
 After vainly awaiting her reply, he con 
 tinued : 
 
 "You are a most seductive and beauti 
 ful being, but I feel too sincere a sympathy for 
 your brother, and therefore, I do not wish to 
 take advantage of his helplessness. You will 
 
164 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 never know what struggles this sacrifice costs 
 me. It is best thus, though ; so, go Zuleika ! 
 go away, my child! Eeturn to your quiet 
 home and forget me. For Said s sake, let me 
 act nobly once in my sinful life. Adieu! 
 Leave me, I say!" 
 
 "I wouldn t go away!" mumbled she, in a 
 sobbing voice. "Though you don t care for 
 me, I love you! Oh! how I do love you!" 
 
 "Zuleika, my dear girl, I insist you should 
 go home. You deserve a better fate than you 
 now foolishly seek. Don t be childish! Stop 
 your crying and go!" 
 
 "Kill me, my beloved! my king! but do 
 not reject me. Let me live with you, I im 
 plore! I ll be your servant, your slave, your 
 dog! I ll eat the crumbs that fall off your 
 table, but I must live and die near you." 
 Prostrate at his feet she was convulsively 
 weeping and ejaculating: "Oh! take me 
 along, or kill me. Death at your hands would 
 be sweeter than life without you!" 
 
 Mortals desire objects in proportion as they 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 165 
 
 are hard to get, and woman is peculiarly 
 affected by this weakness. Often the surest 
 means to win her tenderest regard is to scorn 
 it. Eugene s frowns had only served to make 
 Zuleika s flame burn the fiercer. The idea 
 that he did not share her attachment, though 
 maddening, acted as an additional spur to her 
 strong will. 
 
 This heartless deceiver did not need to pre 
 varicate to women, or make false vows, for he 
 knew that to seem better than he was would not 
 gain him the quicker a woman s affection. So 
 he was brutally frank and outspoken. Upon 
 various occasions he had told a loving girl whom 
 he might wish to enslave : "I am undeserving of 
 so good a woman as you. There are many 
 men wiser, handsomer, richer than I who would 
 be proud of your love. It is best to fotget 
 me. You know, anyway, that I cannot feel 
 deeply, that my soul is but gross and cold, 
 whilst the purest sentiment should inspire me. 
 
 Some of Eugene s acquaintances believed 
 that his success with the unreflecting, flighty, 
 
166 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 contrary sex was largely due to this 
 diplomatic candor, and they agreed with him 
 that to win the earth s most precious jewel 
 woman s love scruples are not invariably 
 required. 
 
 Aside from the fact that indifference fre 
 quently charms and attracts Eve s daughters : 
 are not the frivolous and lewd dandies often 
 their chosen-elect? In the chase after a fair 
 one does the virtuous man always outrun the 
 impostor? 
 
 The submission of instinct to reason is the 
 grandest human victory, but this sensual 
 Frenchman was improperly armed for so great 
 a conquest over himself. In the beginning of 
 Zuleika s outbursts he was moved only by pity 
 mixed with pride at being worshipped by so 
 beauteous a being; later, his agitation grew 
 almost uncontrollable, and everything tended 
 to enfeeble his resistance. Again he appealed 
 to her Koran, to her brother s affection ; once 
 more he depicted the bitterness of the days of 
 inevitable separation : twas all in vain. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 167 
 
 "And if Said recovers his reason what will 
 he say?" 
 
 To all his pleadings she simply murmured, 
 eagerly looking into his eyes : 
 
 "I love you. Oh! how I do love you!" 
 
 When planning to dissuade her, he had 
 reckoned without that extroardinary stubborn 
 ness and his own propensities. Now close to 
 her, the fascinating physical charms attracted 
 his weak flesh as an immense magnet would 
 draw stray bits of steel. With trembling 
 hands he held her doll-like face while his 
 cheeks were aglow and his eyes bulged out, 
 shedding their steel-cold rays; and at this 
 supreme instant, with lips embalmed by the 
 honey of her lips, he caressingly sighed : 
 
 "Divine angel! Ineffable Venus! Am I 
 dreaming? Lives there another so entranc 
 ing? Yes, my pet! my little darling! come, 
 come with me!" 
 
168 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 XV. 
 
 THE two French visitors Lad prolonged their 
 sojourn in Egypt beyond the original inten 
 tion. The young man s days fled so pleasantly 
 in the cozy Villa des Palmiers, on the out 
 skirts of Cairo, where he had installed Zuleika, 
 that he induced his old friend to take per 
 manent quarters in that city. One year had 
 passed agreeably, and the Parisians made no 
 plans to return to Europe. They were satis 
 fied with their "sweet do nothing" in a land 
 where the long balmy winters more than repaid 
 for the disagreeableness of the midsummer 
 months. 
 
 At this juncture the colonel found himself 
 obliged to go back to France, owing to business 
 interests requiring his personal supervision. 
 Notwithstanding the fact that every incident 
 had but tended to make his life the more 
 blissful since he arrived in the Delta, Eugene 
 
THI-: vicious VIRTUOSO. 169 
 
 felt joyous at the idea of being soon again in 
 Paris. His enthusiasm, it is true, was slightly 
 dampened by some remorse at the thought of 
 leaving his affable indigene, but he easily dis 
 pelled such effeminate notions. 
 
 Her affection had been too deep, she became 
 too devoted, too thoughtful always anticipat 
 ing his every wish and. as a natural conse 
 quence, he had grown tired of this lingering 
 sweetness. Yet, how could a Mohammedan as 
 sume aught except a slavish attitude in the pres 
 ence of her traditional master, be he husband or 
 paramour? The quarrels which season love s 
 morsels in the West might poison in the East. 
 It is sad to relate that Zuleika s greatest 
 enemy was her self-abnegation and her idola 
 try which, having lost the charm of newness, 
 fatigued this blas6 fellow, making him long for 
 a rebellious, yes, a treacherous mistress, in 
 short, for "Anything for a change!" as he 
 often exclaimed. The puerile desire to have 
 what he had not, what might prove difficult to 
 obtain, was gaining the ascendency over his 
 
170 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 regard for a being too easily enslaved. Besides 
 this, he had been harassed lately by the belief 
 that he was neglecting his great opportunity, 
 Mabel Wilson, whom he felt he could marry if 
 he wished. 
 
 "My talent," mused he many a time, "un 
 less backed up by wealth, will not enable me 
 to reach the summit. Gold ! gold by the hand- 
 fuls : there is the talisman that can open all 
 portals!" 
 
 When the colonel announced his purpose to 
 pack up soon, his friend said to himself: 
 
 "Thank heavens! I was beginning to have 
 enough of this purposeless existence. I shall 
 soon see Mabel and tell her how much I have 
 languished in her absence, and what a fool I 
 was to remain in this forlorn country one 
 minute after her departure." 
 
 "Now that we must leave Egypt," remarked 
 Colonel Bon, "I must speak seriously to you. 
 Until this moment I hesitated to unload myself 
 of an oppressing thought, but to-day I cannot 
 remain silent any longer." 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 171 
 
 The young man, slightly puzzled, asked : 
 
 "Why should you hesitate to tell me any 
 thing, my. dear colonel? I am mystified to 
 think there could be one fact, however signifi 
 cant or insignificant, that you would keep from 
 me a single hour. 
 
 4 The case is this, Eugene: in Paris you 
 should not live with a concubine. You may 
 say to me that scores of men do so without 
 being ostracized by any circle. No matter 
 about what others do. I tell you for your own 
 sake, for the sake of your future welfare, you 
 should not follow such examples." 
 
 "What made you think I would jeopardize 
 the good opinion of our friends? Moat as 
 suredly not. I resolved long ago to change 
 my mode of life after leaving Africa." 
 
 "Oh! bravo! my boy! Then you intend to 
 marry her, eh?" the old gentleman applauded. 
 
 A glass of iced water thrown in Eugene s 
 face would not have shocked him more. 
 
 "What? Marry her? You are joking. 
 Marry her ? Certainly not ! " 
 
172 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 "Would you then abandon the poor creature 
 and her little one? That s not possible. I 
 must have misunderstood you." 
 
 "You have understood me perfectly. I do 
 not intend to take Zuleika along. 
 
 "You would leave her! Is it possible? 
 Have I all these years nourished a viper in my 
 bosom?" and shaking his head very slowly 
 while looking into his friend s face as if to 
 unfathom the spirit behind it, the philan 
 thropist continued : "Is she not an ideal wife, 
 though no man has united you? Are you net 
 the father of her babe?" 
 
 "She is all that could be desired, colonel, 
 and I feel sorry ; nevertheless, I must abandon 
 her. I ll give her several thousand francs and 
 the villa : that is more than most men would 
 do. Marry her! The idea! Preposterous! 
 She " 
 
 "And why not?" dryly interrupted the 
 count, whose jovial physiognomy had now 
 assumed a fierce air. 
 
 Because I am ambitious. Thanks to mj 
 
 i i 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 173 
 
 professional reputation, I may find a wife in 
 the best set one with a dowry, too. This 
 Egyptian, notwithstanding her goodness and 
 beauty, would drag me down. She is certainly 
 very lovety, loving, lovable, and may God 
 grant her the happiness she so richly merits. 
 I do not expect to find another woman so ten 
 der, so charming as this pretty African. But, 
 dear friend, my career is in the balance, and I 
 must silence maudlin sentiments. I am am 
 bitious, I tell you, very ambitious ! It is bad 
 enough to have started from a low origin. 
 Would you have her pull me back there 
 again? Why should I contract a vulgar union 
 and miss the opportunities for which I 
 struggled since my miserable infancy? For 
 what, pray, tell me? For sentimental rea 
 sons? Tush! I am not going to ruin my 
 future by such idiotic considerations. Let the 
 weak-kneed and soft-brained do that. I have 
 not forgotten the lesson that those who love 
 must suffer, and I intend to keep aloof from 
 the debilitating influences of tenderness. 
 
174 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 After all, I never felt a serious passion for 
 Zuleika, however much I may have been fasci 
 nated by her in moments gone by." 
 
 "My boy, your words belie your true nature. 
 I cannot believe you would be so ignoble as to 
 leave this child-mother. I know full well that 
 you and your parents have endured cruel hard 
 ships, and it is but natural the remembrance 
 should bring forth a bitter taste, making you 
 momentarily misanthropic. Yet, I am certain 
 that you are just and gentle when in your nor 
 mal condition. Would you make this poor 
 creature and your own daughter suffer because 
 Destiny has been merciless to others? That 
 were bad logic and worse morals. She ia 
 beautiful and devoted, and with a few more 
 years of training she will shine in the most 
 select drawing room. You are fully aware 
 what an apt pupil she is. You, yourself, have 
 more than once told me that, already, one 
 might take her for a European. Don t you 
 recollect, also, how often you have spoke feel 
 ingly of your affection for her, how many 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 175 
 
 times you said that life without her would be 
 a dismal night? Many, many a time have you 
 sworn to me you loved Zuleika with all the 
 intensity of your soul. Remember that even 
 ing when, arm in arm, we walked back to my 
 hotel. I shall not soon forget how excited and 
 frightened you were, how violent was your 
 emotion, through sympathy for the young 
 mother and apprehension for her life and that 
 of her offspring. You vowed that night you 
 would kill yourself should Zuleika die. You 
 loved her then, my boy, and don t deceive 
 yourself : you still love her to-day !" 
 
 The young man stood mute and sullen. 
 
 "In less than a year, pursued the old officer, 
 "no house of the Faubourg Saint-Germain 
 shall receive a more accomplished and fascinat 
 ing lady than your sweet little Arabian, and 
 I ll be proud to think I made you marry her. 
 You cannot plead poverty ; your art enables 
 you to earn a comfortable income, and at my 
 death you shall inherit my fortune." Patting 
 Eugene on the shoulder, he added: "Now be 
 
176 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 a good boy, be a gentleman! I knew you 
 would do the right thing by that girl." 
 
 The colonel s voice had become soft and 
 persuasive, and the kindly twinkle in his moist 
 eye told of the noble emotion which he at this 
 moment felt. In his inborn goodness he was 
 deluding himself with the idea that his plead 
 ings had been effectual, but this false notion 
 was quickly removed by an explosion of angry 
 impatience from his well-mannered protg, 
 the like of which he had never before wit 
 nessed. 
 
 "I have heard enough of this! You were 
 good to me, very good : a father could not 
 have been better, and I owe you more than I 
 can ever repay. For all that, though ex 
 tremely appreciative I be, you cannot induce 
 me to marry against my wishes. Not even my 
 father could have done that ! Let me tell you 
 once more, and for all time : I shall not marry 
 that woman!" 
 
 " Very well, " quietly said the colonel, while 
 he drew out a bulky document from a srarJl 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 177 
 
 strong box in his desk. "Do you see that? 
 it is my will ;" so saying he tore it into pieces. 
 This action seemed to revive all his anger, and 
 now thoroughly incensed, he shouted: "You 
 cowardly brute! Don t you ever speak to me 
 again !" 
 
 Before these words were pronounced Eugene 
 had disappeared. At the tearing of the testa 
 ment, knowing all was ended between himself 
 and guardian, he had shrugged his shoulders 
 and dignifiedly walked out of the apartment. 
 
 The kindness of Colonel Bon was quite un 
 like that of many advocates of charity whose 
 lives are unbroken chains of petty selfishness, 
 for all their benevolent maxims, either tacit or 
 expressed. It is astounding how many there 
 are who, though weeping sincere tears during 
 pathetic scenes in a play, and though preaching 
 eloquently about our duty toward the poor, 
 yet carefully refrain from doing a good deed, 
 if that involve the slightest personal sacrifice. 
 
 The goodness of Count de Danvre was more 
 than theoretical and subjective : it extended as 
 
178 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 far as his wealth and the occasion allowed. So 
 lofty a nature could not leave this wretched 
 young mother to the future that, in similar 
 straits, awaits a good-looking and helpless 
 woman. Eugene had no sooner left than the 
 colonel started to right the wrong. Fearful 
 that the outraged, though still infatuated, 
 Arabian might commit suicide, he immediately 
 drove to her villa. Had he understood Zuleika 
 he would not have entertained that fear. The 
 determination to reconquer her lover sur 
 passed her despair at losing him, and the im 
 perious will that had remained in a state of 
 lethargy while he was near, at this awful hour 
 reasserted itself for the excellent purpose of 
 checking her suicidal impulses. 
 
 After reading the farewell he had lacked the 
 courage to bid in person, she determined to 
 follow the father of her babe to the ends of the 
 earth, not with a feeling of anger, not to 
 revenge herself as Christian women often do 
 an Oriental could hardly be actuated by such 
 motives toward one whom she regarded as the 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 179 
 
 slave does his master Zuleika merely planned 
 to be near him again at any cost. During the 
 joyful months passed with Eugene she had not 
 given up the hope of striking a responsive 
 chord in him, although he never abandoned 
 himself fully to transports of affection, although 
 he had never said to her: "I love thee!" 
 Her disappointment, her heart-sinking at the 
 realization of his thinly-veiled apathy, always 
 increased the faith in her own power to ulti 
 mately win his tenderest regard. 
 
 Man, in spite of his logic, gropes in the 
 dark as to the morrow, but, when a girl loves, 
 no matter how young or ignorant she be, her 
 insight into the future of heart affairs is often 
 startlingly prophetic. Intuition opened to 
 Zuleika one hopeful page in the book of Life. 
 Having observed more than once a glimmer of 
 tenderness in her idol s eyes, an ineffable ex 
 pression telling more vividly than words and 
 acts that he was vulnerable to some thing, what 
 ever that might be, she now felt certain of in 
 spiring his love, if she could but discover the 
 
160 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 right way to that end. Like a flash the 
 truth lighted her soul : clear as the noonday 
 sun she, at this despairing crisis, foresaw that 
 pity, gratitude, or remorse, mayhap these 
 three sentiments combined, would one day in 
 stil the most exalted affection into his hard 
 and impervious heart. 
 
 The ardor of this hope, fanned by an intense 
 grief, strengthened her will, but could neither 
 soothe the spirit nor stem the flow of tears. 
 Time alone might do that. After the perusal 
 of his cruel though courteous message, uncon 
 sciousness, like a heaven-woven veil, softly 
 descended upon the forsaken. 
 
 When she reopened her eyes, the maid and 
 Colonel Bon were at her bedside. Brave and 
 good man ! He had come to satisfy her dearest 
 wish. 
 
 "You are young and pretty, and you will 
 soon forget him. There will be no dearth of 
 better and richer suitors when you are the 
 educated woman I intend you should be. To 
 begin with, you may henceforth regard me as 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 181 
 
 a father, and I am going to have little Eugenie 
 baptized as Vicomtesse de Danvre, if you don t 
 object to my adopting her. 
 
 Smiles and abundant tears expressed 
 Zuleika s joy. Fortunately the colonel did 
 not know the exact cause of her happiness, and 
 his pleasure remained unalloyed for he believed 
 she was virtually reconciled to her situation, 
 thanks to the honors and material comforts he 
 proffered. The fact was, her bliss resulted 
 solely from the belief that his magnanimity 
 would enable her the swifter to regain her 
 beloved. 
 
 She recalled vividly that he had once told 
 her while holding her head in his hands : 
 "If you could add to this beauty the refinement 
 of Mabel, I might love you to desperation!" 
 And she resolved, while Colonel Bon spoke : 
 
 "I shall not rest until I acquire the manners 
 of a European lady." 
 
 Women do not forget a lover s words. 
 Though they be ejaculated in jest or during 
 irresponsible moments when the boiling blood 
 
182 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 obscures the brain, those devoted beings store 
 away such empty sounds in their memory as if 
 they were priceless jewels. "Without wasting 
 an instant, gentle voices harmonize with this 
 passing chord, but man is so inconstant, so 
 inconsistent, that the tones in his soul have 
 nothing of music, save its saddest quality its 
 transitoriness. No sooner has he sung his 
 verse than he forgets it while, alas! within 
 eome woman s heart it must ring on undying. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 183 
 
 XVI. 
 
 A WHOLE year has dragged on its weary way 
 without bringing news of Eugene. In vain has 
 Zuleika written to opera houses, conservatories 
 of music, and theatrical agencies: "Poste 
 Restante, Cairo," is the only address of 
 Maestro Duprez they know. 
 
 She is certain he has not succumbed to a 
 disease, for he was very strong and healthy ; 
 and the notion that he might have committed 
 suicide through remorse is absurd, because, 
 should he regret his conduct, all he need to do 
 is to return and be welcomed and forgiven. 
 
 Having lost track of him from the day she 
 received the brutal notice of his departure, she 
 concludes he is hiding his identity to escape 
 her importunities. Zuleika feels sure Eugene 
 lives in France under an assumed name, per 
 haps not far from Paris, and the bitterness of 
 
184 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 her life is attenuated by an exultant hope of 
 seeing him soon again. 
 
 Musical and literary studies, elocution, 
 riding, dancing, and fencing leave her but a 
 few hours each day for the care of her child, 
 which scarcely needs its mother, thanks to a 
 thorough nurse the colonel has hired exclu 
 sively for the little one. The absorption of 
 Zuleika s time is a blessing especially at this 
 period; were she idle, the fixed idea to find 
 her lover would unbalance her reason. Even 
 though much occupied, she is often obsessed 
 by thoughts of him. It frequently happens 
 that, in the midst of absorbing studies, her 
 mind suddenly becomes a blank, and she finds 
 herself incapable of concentrating her ideas 
 upon the subject in hand. The hero of every 
 book is then Eugene, about him every poem 
 sings, and no frame encircles an image, save 
 that of his features beautifully idealized by 
 her love-sick fancy. 
 
 She carefully abstains from mentioning his 
 name in the colonel s presence, although no 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 185 
 
 theme of conversation could be sweeter to her 
 and to him, too, for that matter ; but she does 
 not know he still loves that boy. The dignified 
 silence he has invariably maintained upon 
 questions relating to his former protege led 
 Zuleika to believe it would be distasteful to 
 him to hear her speak of Eugene; and, at 
 times, this self-imposed prohibition to ex 
 change views regarding the only subject that 
 interests her, a leit-motiv upon which the wind 
 sighs, the stream gurgles, and the birds 
 twitter, drives her poetic soul to paroxysms of 
 anguish. 
 
 In the solitude of her boudoir this disdained 
 Venus, during climaxes of insane rage, tears 
 off her costly velvet peignoir and silken under 
 garments ; then, majestically as a Eoman Em 
 press, Zuleika poses before her mirror in the 
 celestial attire God Himself made, and calmly 
 surveys the beauteous reflection. Slowly and 
 admiringly glides her glance over small ankle, 
 projecting calf, sensuous hip, undulating torso, 
 and voluptuous neck; when it finally lingers 
 
186 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 upon the cherubim head crowned by wondrous 
 waves of lustrous jet black hair, the abandoned 
 charmer haughtily queries: "Could another 
 offer him more?" After that, she clothes her 
 divine form and sinks upon her couch : pray 
 ing, moaning, cursing until, exhausted, she 
 sleeps. 
 
 Every day Zuleika scans the journals expect 
 ing to find some clew. At his Paris debut, a 
 new violinist may always depend upon two 
 auditors : a maid and her pretty and stylish 
 young mistress, "a mignonnette woman with a 
 skin of strange hue, and with eyes that could 
 melt steel." Thus was Zuleika described in 
 Gil Bias. 
 
 Dreams of Eugene frequently disturb her 
 sleep. Each time he seems to appear in flesh 
 and blood. Upon awaking she tries to dis 
 sipate the idea that he has manifested himself 
 in person, but she cannot: it clings to her 
 mind as burr to the hair. 
 
 "It is absurd. This apparition was only an 
 hallucination," thinks she, "and yet, Eugene 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 187 
 
 appeared just as real to me as if be actually 
 stood within the reach of my hand. I wonder 
 whether it is possible to behold realities during 
 dreams." 
 
 Intelligent and quick of perception though 
 she was, this young woman could not be ex 
 pected to stand in advance of most psycholo 
 gists; and these certainly deny the possibility 
 of clairvoyance and telepathy. Thus to Zuleika 
 these dreams at first were but meaningless 
 states of consciousness; now, however, owing 
 to their frequency, their vividness, and their 
 logical sequence, they influenced her opinion 
 until she became convinced her nightly visions 
 portrayed actualities. 
 
 The central figure in the imagery is always 
 Eugene, and facts revolve about him in a 
 natural order. Each night brings him into a 
 different scene, the incidents of which seem 
 rational and plausible ; many of these are 
 commonplace, just as is our daily life. 
 
 In the beginning of his absence she dreams 
 he sails for Marseilles under a pseudonym, 
 
188 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 intending to hide from her during one year: 
 time enough, thinks he, to enable Zuleika to 
 forget him. Arriving with very little money 
 he gives concerts under the appellation of 
 Giovanni Parodi ; this name being unknown to 
 critics and public, the receipts barely cover 
 expenses, and his manager leaves him penni 
 less. A gifted artist, whose name alone would 
 have filled a concert hall, plays to empty 
 benches and is unfavorably criticised. The 
 world must be given the cue when to applaud ; 
 if the aspirant after its laurels come un 
 heralded, he is usually hooted, however 
 worthy he be. 
 
 Later, she sees Eugene giving violin lessons 
 to the young son of a titled woman, a despica 
 ble creature who induces the virtuoso to elope 
 with her. Having no means of subsistence, 
 he yields, though he loathes this woman. 
 Her husband, a fellow without nerves, simply 
 seeks a legal separation. 
 
 Only last night Zuleika beheld her beloved 
 at the window of his library which looks upon 
 
THE vicious VIRTUOSO. 189 
 
 the Champs Ely sees. He puffs out white 
 clouds of smoke and lazily watches the fantas 
 tical evanescent silhouettes they trace in their 
 tortuous ascension. 
 
 She hears him muse: 
 
 "When man is resting from his labors 
 smoking is an excellent pastime : it acts like 
 a Turkish bath to the mind and soothes it by 
 diverting the ideas from their habitual grooves 
 into empty space. This is not your case, 
 though, you loafer! Nothing to do day in 
 and day out. Smoking simply to dispel bore 
 dom,: I, whose life has always been active and 
 hopeful. Oh ! it is horrible I should be con 
 demned to this idleness! It will drive me 
 mad, if it lasts much longer. Yet, what am I 
 to do? I have no money and must obey : she 
 does not want me to study." 
 
 He feels heavily the burden of his soulless 
 existence. This coarse woman has told him : 
 
 "I don t want you to play any better. You 
 will always do well enough for me, and, any 
 how, you know very well I would not let you 
 
190 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 play in public. Do you suppose I long to 
 have you attract rivals?" 
 
 Her large fortune, the commanding position 
 she held until this latest brazen escapade, and 
 twenty years of domination over a namby- 
 pamby, silly-nilly sort of a husband have de 
 veloped in her an arrogant, imperious, and 
 tyrannical character. Eugene realizes that, 
 though she is infatuated with him, he has no 
 power over her. 
 
 In Zuleika s dreams the puffs of smoke con 
 tinue to rise, but they do not seem to alleviate 
 his deep disgust. The dear image is still at 
 the library window reflecting : 
 
 "In a sumptuous house, with a long retinue 
 of servants, and yet, lonely and depressed as 
 a caged sparrow, though his roof be of gold 
 and his floor of pearls. What an end to my 
 career! The toy, the puppet of a Lucretia 
 Borgia! Was this the great future for which, 
 against the dictates of my better self, I aban 
 doned poor Zuleika and her child? Yes in 
 deed, the colonel was right : I am a cowardly 
 brute!" 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 19} 
 
 As he utters this sentence, his head is tightly 
 drawn to the left by an automatic muscular 
 contraction, and he looks frowningly and sus 
 piciously toward the heavens as if a big 
 threatening eye up there had just glared at 
 him. The upper lip rises while the nostrils 
 close, although there are no offensive odors 
 about ; between the expression of moral pain 
 and of physical suffering exist many analogies. 
 Contempt of himself gives him the appearance 
 caused by wounded olfactory nerves, as if 
 nauseating exhalations from a decaying soul 
 had crept into his very nostrils ! 
 
 After this vision Zuleika remained pensively 
 awake for hours, and finally yielded to sleep 
 at the birth of day. 
 
 Eugene reappears to her, this time in the 
 magnificent hall of his residence, which he 
 jerkily paces up and down like a captive 
 hyena. She hears him exclaim excitedly : 
 
 "Because my parents left no money, I must 
 carry their cross with the rest of the human 
 herd. What can I do without that modern 
 
192 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 Juggernaut ? Though filled with great aims 1 
 am treacherously stabbed in the night of a 
 moneyless Fate, and I must cringe before this 
 revolting female. So great is her perversity, 
 her effrontery, her shamelessness that she finds 
 a ghoulish delight in exhibiting me. The 
 nymphomaniac wants to drive me every after 
 noon through the Bois de Boulogne to fling me 
 in the face of her former friends as if to say : 
 That is mine, even though I have to pay for 
 it. Can a cocotte or a high-born lady beat 
 this? Foul cur that I am! The worms 
 themselves are better off: they at least can 
 crawl and hide into the earth! Perhaps I 
 ought not to chafe under this humiliating yoke 
 for millions of others on this planet are, like 
 myself, crushed in one form or another by the 
 indignities the hand of gold can inflict upon 
 the starving. This poverty makes of me a 
 slave, even more miserable than a negro born 
 in bondage, because through his density and 
 inexperience he may regard his condition as 
 natural, while I, having tasted and lost the 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 193 
 
 sweet fruits of wealth and liberty, can but rebel 
 with all my might against an outrageous 
 Providence. Thank heavens, the time is fast 
 approaching when my incognito will become 
 needless : the little Egyptian must have met 
 another man before this. In fact, I often 
 think I was a fool to hide at all : women are 
 so changeable, so easily consoled ! Before the 
 end of the month I shall leave this execrable 
 house and find Mabel again. Everything is 
 purchasable nowadays. Love is commerce, 
 statesmanship is business, and many men sell 
 country, wife, and child. Why should I hesi 
 tate to barter away my own self? With 
 Mabel s wealth, I shall be able to lift my head 
 quite high among the world s Mite, and in 
 this sordid " 
 
 Zuleika s dream was interrupted here by her 
 maid bringing, at the usual hour of ten, a cup 
 of thick chocolate, a crescent, and a copy of Le 
 Figaro. 
 
 The abnormal mental state in which, without 
 the use of the five known senses, one may ap- 
 
194 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 prehend a fact at any distance, is understood 
 by a handful of psychologists. The nervous 
 tension bordering on hysteria under which this 
 excitable Arabian had labored during months 
 of torment, was peculiarly apt to induce, while 
 asleep, the exalted condition of somnambulism. 
 Her unscientific mind applied the popular 
 term, dream, to the inexplicable phenomenon 
 of her nocturnal experiences. But, though 
 she could neither prove nor explain this occult 
 faculty, yet she was convinced of having dis 
 covered the existence of a sixth sense. Zuleika 
 to-day felt sure that her night visions had been 
 real occurrences. 
 
 Upon this subject she questioned her phy 
 sician, a man widely known for his scientific 
 knowledge and common sense. 
 
 "Doctor! Don t you believe one might see 
 actualities in dreams?" 
 
 In view of the limited comprehension of 
 psychic phenomena prevalent among physiol 
 ogists it is not to be wondered at that this 
 doctor of medicine laughed at her notion, pro 
 nouncing it absurd ex cathedra : 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 195 
 
 "Tour idea runs counter all common sense 
 and scientific data. You should relegate such 
 cobwebs to superstitious old women, and to 
 spiritists and other lunatics!" 
 
 Common sense and science, of course, were 
 infallible with this schoolman. He had for 
 gotten that, a few centuries ago, it was com 
 mon sense to say the earth was flat and 
 Columbus continents a myth. He perhaps 
 did not recollect that only some years since, a 
 scientific man of common sense exclaimed, 
 "Fraud! T is ventriloquism!" when he first 
 heard the phonograph. Consequently, from 
 his common point of view, Zuleika s physi 
 cian had doubtless talked common sense. 
 
 Kare indeed is the scientist who ever keeps 
 before him as a guiding star the axiom : My 
 ignorance of a fact is no bar to its possibility. 
 To perforate the accumulated accretions on 
 truth s integument formed by centuries of 
 crass ignorance, unrelenting prejudice, and 
 misleading books needs a strong and coura 
 geous lance. Zuleika s doctor was hardly that. 
 
196 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 This learned man simply typified the average 
 scholastic mind which, though teeming with 
 learning, may yet be absolutely lacking in the 
 essentials of genius wisdom and intuition. 
 
 After swallowing a mouthful of chocolate, 
 she looked at her morning paper and read the 
 following item, worded in the usual flippant 
 tone, when conjugal faithlessness is the theme 
 in France : 
 
 " The high life will have something spicy to 
 talk about for the coming fortnight aside 
 from the Dreyfus affair. 
 
 "Baroness X - , already notorious for 
 similar indiscretions, recently left her sweet 
 (sic) hearth. This time the Romeo is an 
 Italian violinist by many years her junior. 
 His musical gifts, some aver, are the cause of 
 the baroness folly. Those, however, who are 
 au courant maintain that his ruddy cheeks 
 deserve all the blame. Whatever be the cause, 
 not having consulted the lady, her momentous 
 reason must remain conjectural. 
 
 11 Instead of shooting the father of his own 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 197 
 
 children, the baron has simply sued for a 
 divorce. Next!" 
 
 Dropping the journal she shouted gleefully : 
 "I knew my dreams were true! Thank 
 heavens ! I shall soon see his dear face again. 
 Except for the omission of some insignifi 
 cant incidents and the haziness of all the 
 details, this hysterical woman s visions had 
 portrayed Eugene s life from the moment he 
 embarked at Alexandria some twelve months 
 ago. 
 
198 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 THAT afternoon a messenger brought an 
 anonymous note to Eugene addressed to Signer 
 Giovanni Parodi. The stationery indicated 
 good taste, and its suggestion of heliotrope left 
 little doubt as to the writer s sex; the cali- 
 graphy, also, was feminine. 
 
 "Ah! ah! another conquest perhaps. Let s 
 see what this one has to say," remarked he, 
 and then read : 
 
 "A lady wishes to meet Monsieur Eugene 
 Duprez in the Salon de Lecture of the Con 
 tinental Hotel to-morrow at eleven in the 
 morning." 
 
 "That is odd ! This handwriting is entirely 
 new to me. "Whose could it be? It is proba 
 bly that of some romantic young girl who has 
 heard me at a concert. But how on earth did 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 199 
 
 she know I was at the baroness hotel 
 under an assumed name ! I am also curious 
 to find out why she did not sign her note. I 
 see, now. Maybe she is married. No mat 
 ter ! h demain, then, ma cMrie / 
 
 At the appointed hour, the virtuoso, dressed 
 exactly like an English gentleman, which 
 means like the best-dressed man that treads this 
 earthly globe, entered the glass inclosure in 
 the court of the swell hostelry, and made a 
 bee-line for the place of rendezvous. In a non 
 chalant manner he thumbed foreign reviews 
 while glancing occasionally at the few women 
 in the room, and thinking: 
 
 "It cannot be this one: she ought to know 
 better than to flirt at her age. Oh ! may be it 
 is that blonde over there. No, impossible! 
 Her eye met mine twice, and she gave no re 
 sponse. Could it be a joke? What acquain 
 tance have I that would dare do such a thing? 
 Enemies? Preposterous! They could not 
 find enough pleasure in so tame a hoax. By 
 Jove! I wonder whether the baroness laid 
 
200 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 this trap for me. What a row when I get 
 back if that s the case!" 
 
 While he was racking his brain with other 
 suppositions, a miniature gloved hand, light 
 as a rose leaf, reposed upon his arm. He 
 turned, exclaiming: 
 
 "Zuleika!" 
 
 "Hush! don t talk so loud, Eugene; we 
 might attract attention. My coupe is at the 
 door; follow me, won t you? While riding 
 we shall not be disturbed. I must speak 
 with you," she hastily whispered. 
 
 The dress she wore was stylish and of dark 
 cloth; the skirt rather long and full at the 
 bottom ; above, it fitted tightly, except behind 
 where it was set in little pleats that widened as 
 they descended. It was embroidered on each 
 side with designs in black velvet, inlaid on the 
 cloth in the form of branches. Her corsage 
 was of the polonaise style, independent of 
 the skirt ; it had one pointed lapel on the right 
 side, and was, like the apron of the skirt, em 
 broidered with branches. Her neck was en- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 201 
 
 circled by a wide velvet bow with a big square 
 buckle in the center studded with diamonds, 
 and a belt of gold thread and pearls clasped 
 her slender waist. Near the left lapel of her 
 corsage, dangled a watch hardly larger than 
 the nail of her little finger, and covered with 
 small rubies. Upon Zuleika s well-poised 
 head rested a toque draped with white tulle 
 spotted with silver spangles. This coquettish 
 hat arose rather higher on the left side, under 
 neath it laid a black feather drooping over her 
 abundant, overflowing chignon, while on the 
 right, another black feather stood proudly per 
 pendicular. Around the shoulders carelessly 
 hung a cape of Kussian sable. But for the 
 odd tint of her skin, this high-toned woman 
 would have been taken for a member of the 
 very ultra select Parisian aristocracy. She 
 carried herself with such ease and grace that 
 no one could have fancied the lady had ever 
 stepped except over thick carpets across splen 
 did drawing rooms. Her language harmonized 
 with this gracious presence. The peculiarity 
 
202 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 of her idioms and pronunciation, divulging 
 their Eastern origin, added piquancy to the 
 rigid syntax and strangely chosen diction that 
 characterize the well-educated foreigner, be he 
 in Paris or Tokio. 
 
 After entering the carriage, Zuleika briefly 
 related her past since the day Eugene left her. 
 Their baby had died months ago, but she was 
 so happy to be with him that the remembrance 
 of this maternal grief cast no shadow over her 
 present bliss. Although she had adored the 
 little one, Zuleika resigned herself easily to 
 the loss of a daughter born under such sad 
 conditions. "Considering these circum 
 stances," believed she, "Eugenie is better off 
 in heaven." 
 
 "I cannot help wondering at your marvelous 
 progress in the art of savoir-vivre. It is a 
 complete metamorphosis, and in so short a 
 time, too! You cannot conceive how much 
 your beauty is enhanced by the charm of your 
 manners." In brief, he was captivated. "Will 
 you forgive me, Zuleika?" 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 203 
 
 "Certainly, I forgive you. But you shall 
 never leave me again, will you?" 
 
 "My darling! you were and you still are 
 the sweetest, the loveliest woman I know!" 
 
 "Yes, you have told me that times unnum 
 bered, but oh ! do say to me that you love me, 
 that you will always stay by me!" 
 
 "If I were rich I would marry you to-day 
 and never, never again pass another hour with 
 out my dear, dainty Zuleika. " 
 
 "Pshaw! Why don t you do as I say? 
 Why won t you vow never again to leave 
 me?" asked she impatiently while stamping 
 her tiny boot. 
 
 Dearest ! you should be reasonable. I may 
 truthfully assert that I care more for you than 
 for any other woman. Notwithstanding this, 
 I cannot marry you, I cannot even promise to 
 live always with you. We are too poor." 
 
 "What of that! A piece of rye bread in a 
 hut with you were paradise to me. I ll make 
 you happy, though we be penniless. You ll 
 forget your poverty. I ll be so good to you!" 
 
204 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 While speaking she had gradually tightened 
 her clasp around his neck, and now was cover 
 ing his eyes and lips with ardent kisses. 
 
 Delicately loosening the plump little arms 
 that nearly strangled him, Eugene waited an 
 instant that she might regain her composure 
 after this immoderate outburst of passion, and 
 then said : 
 
 "Let us love again without that fearful 
 compact, Forever ! If one of us were wealthy, 
 no joy could be comparable to ours. I assure 
 you, under such conditions, I would not seek 
 happiness elsewhere. Life is so stern, how 
 ever, without money that, sooner or later, I 
 would regret having wedded an impecunious 
 wife, no matter how good she be; therefore, I 
 have decided to marry a wealthy woman, if I 
 should ever give up bachelorhood. I value 
 your affection, my beloved, and I know I am 
 unworthy of it. But, dear Zuleika, all the 
 love in the universe would not buy food and 
 clothing nor pay house rent." 
 
 The two had left the vehicle some minutes 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 205 
 
 since and were slowly entering hand in hand 
 the woods of Saint Cloud. 
 
 While he was speaking an inward voice told 
 her: 
 
 Futile are thy entreaties, thy alluring 
 charms and fine education. In vain hast thou 
 toiled day and night to become a lady. Gold 
 alone can win that man," and she mentally 
 responded with terrible emphasis : 
 
 "I shall find him the gold then!" 
 
 While these thoughts zigzagged her brain, 
 Zuleika s demeanor grew calmer; meanwhile, 
 Eugene s ardor increased visibly, but she 
 gently repressed his effusions, and using the 
 feminine prerogative, flatly refused to let him 
 kiss her unless he vowed to abide with her for 
 ever. 
 
 "I cannot deceive you. It is impossible to 
 agree to this. Since I was born I have been 
 unable to support myself in the style I wish; 
 still less can I support two. I am ambitious 
 and must have wealth at any price. With me, 
 as you already learned to your sorrow, the 
 
206 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 heart always receives a secondary considera 
 tion. I cannot promise what you ask, 
 Zuleika." 
 
 "Is that your final word?" 
 
 "I am sorry, yet it must be." 
 
 "Au revoir, then, Eugene!" and hastily 
 entering her carriage, she was driven off alone. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 307 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 His incognito being no longer necessary, 
 the musician reappeared as a violin virtuoso. 
 Fame kept pace with his singular merit, and a 
 short time after the preceding interview with 
 Zuleika, having severed his degrading liaison, 
 he found himself, as of yore, petted by the 
 opulent and the great. His fees invested at a 
 low rate of interest would have enriched him 
 in a few years, had it not been that, following 
 the example of the majority of artists, he was 
 a spendthrift. An elegant apartment in the 
 Avenue do 1 Opera, and a pretty villa at Monte 
 Carlo, ate up the princely receipts faster than 
 they came. After concert tours bringing 
 larger and larger returns, he yet was in debt. 
 
 At this period he stood in dire pecuniary 
 straits. A note for five thousand pounds was 
 about to mature and his latest bank statement 
 
208 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 showed less than two thousand. To complicate 
 matters this occurred in August, precisely 
 when the musical season is at a standstill. 
 Perplexed, tantalized, and foreseeing no escape 
 except in marriage, he decided to offer Mabel 
 his hand. So cavalier-like a solution when a 
 bachelor is confronted by a serious financial 
 problem is not very uncommon in our utili 
 tarian age. 
 
 Without further elucidation, Eugene s plan 
 might seem absurdly presumptuous in view of 
 Miss Wilson s discernment; the circumstances, 
 however, warranted him fully in looking at 
 this union in the light of an accomplished fact. 
 In every mail came long and affectionate 
 letters from her. It was not yesterday either 
 that she had revealed the state of her feelings. 
 Time had gone by when reading between the 
 lines was required, for, to-day, this proud 
 young lady unequivocally wrote that she could 
 never be a happy woman without him. 
 
 An unusual mind had not unsexed the 
 highly-endowed girl. Though she had a 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 209 
 
 clear perception of his malignant character, she 
 still loved with all the warmth and sincerity of 
 her noble soul. Her affection led her to be 
 lieve he was not beyond redemption, and an 
 unspeakable tenderness inspired the lofty hope 
 of making a model husband of this satanical 
 rake. 
 
 Where is your logic now, Miss Wilson? 
 Where are your reasoning powers? It is much 
 easier to reflect and argue calmly and wisely 
 about the love affairs of others, is it not? 
 
 "I will reform him," resolved she. * I will 
 bring to him what he lost with his mother : 
 that is a task well worth the most strenuous 
 effort of any wife. I know that underneath 
 his badness there is a layer of good which only 
 needs unearthing. I wonder whether he shall 
 prove the exception to the awful rule of recidi 
 vism: Once a criminal, always a criminal? 
 No matter! I shall gladly suffer for him so 
 long as I can suffer near him. Ah ! I begin 
 to understand why intellectual men may fall 
 into the snares of the silliest girls. 
 
210 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 Come forth! thou poisoned Flower of Love. 
 Wither another heart in thy petals of death 
 and pour into a new cup thy inebriating phil 
 ter. Thou hesitatest ? Tis but one more self- 
 immolating victim that naively asks to inhale 
 thy sweet toxic. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 211 
 
 XIX. 
 
 THE leaves are returning to Good Mother 
 Earth and swallows hasten south. It is the 
 time of the year stray patches of green give the 
 country in northern zones the aspect of a vast 
 leopard skin. It is autumn, when living 
 vegetation still struggles against the advanc 
 ing hosts of decay which, obeying Nature s 
 stern law, trample over variegated fields, 
 bruising fruit and flower, while they daub 
 brook, hill, and dale in one single mournful 
 color. At this period, Fate s favored few, 
 volatile as the dwellers of the air, fly with 
 them to softer climes, and the sunny azure 
 shores of the sea consecrated by Petrarch be 
 come enlivened by human humming birds, a 
 sociologist more precise than polite might 
 label, Mosquitoes. 
 
 The winter stations along the Biviera, out- 
 
212 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 doing one another in splendor, are supremely 
 overshadowed by a heavenly diadem in their 
 center Monte Carlo ! that fairy -like nook of 
 France with the flora of Persia, that paradise 
 for mortal souls. 
 
 Mohammed s worldly heaven itself offers no 
 more than is here for the well-filled purse: 
 a symphony orchestra, the opera and the play 
 with galaxies of stars, gambling in its most se 
 ducing forms, sybaritic cooking and rarest vin 
 tages, sumptuous residences and palatial hotels. 
 Then most interesting of all! resplendent 
 pea-hens, frivolous as beauteous, and made 
 even more bewitching by aesthetic milliners and 
 lapidaries, may be seen strutting and crowing 
 about the atrium, the concert-hall, and the 
 gorgeous gaming rooms, dropping their feathers 
 around the suicide-breeding tables under the 
 escort of males more courtly than learned, 
 who, in the conventional, solemn, lugubrious 
 dress coat, suggest turkey -buzzards. 
 
 This, and much more than one would dare 
 tell, is observed in the midst of a natural 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 213 
 
 scenario, surpassing in its picturesque reality 
 all the inventions of the idyllic poets. 
 
 On the veranda of the Cafe de Paris, facing 
 the Church of Sainte-Roulette, Eugene is leis 
 urely taking his noon bitter. A splendid 
 equipage draws up within a few feet of his 
 table, and a footman in severe black livery 
 with a crape cockade on the tall hat opens the 
 carriage door to a young woman in widow s 
 weeds who advances, offering her hand, while 
 saying: 
 
 "My dear Eugene, how happy I am to see 
 you again!" 
 
 "I am also very very glad to see you. 
 How came you to wear this veil, Zuleika?" 
 
 "I am a widow. Can t you see?" 
 
 "A widow! this is certainly news, And 
 whose, I pray?" 
 
 "Alas! it is a long and pathetic story; but, 
 I shall be brief. You doubtless remember why 
 I left you at Saint-Cloud ; it will be two years 
 Monday. I have a good memory, have I not?" 
 
 "At Saint-Cloud. Why ! to be sure!" said 
 
214 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 he, wonderingly, for he had absolutely for 
 gotten why she left him there; forgotten! 
 while in her heart that reason was branded 
 with a red-hot iron. He went on : "Of course, 
 now I recollect. We had a little quarrel, had 
 we not?" 
 
 "Yes, and when you told me that you could 
 not marry me because we were poor, I set out 
 there and then to get rich." 
 
 A fearful truth at these words flashed upon 
 him. His rosy complexion turned livid, 
 cadaverous, and icy _centipedes crept across 
 his shoulder blades. His teeth chattered : had 
 he wished to speak he could not have pro 
 nounced two syllables. His right leg resting 
 upon the toes moved up and down at a fright 
 ful rate without leaving the floor, indicating an 
 uncontrollable state of nervousness. That un- 
 relaxing iron will appalled him. Filled with 
 shame and remorse he, at this moment, envied 
 the roaches : they could hide in dark crevices, 
 while he was forced to faoe his conscience and 
 that martyrized woman. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 215 
 
 "I made the colonel think I loved him and 
 he offered me his name, Zuleika pursued. 
 "To postpone the date of our wedding from 
 week to week, I had to resort to much trickery, 
 I can assure you. One night, finally, the 
 physicians informed me he could not last 
 until morning. Then only did I accept his 
 title and fortune, that I might come to you 
 wealthy and still faithful, a widow only in 
 name. We are rich now, Eugene. Nothing 
 in this life can keep us apart. Aren t you 
 very glad?" 
 
 "Zuleika," stuttered he tremblingly, "let 
 us take a short walk towards the railway 
 station. I cannot speak here." 
 
 Silently they followed the cemented path 
 ways lined with aloes, palms, magnolias, cac 
 tuses and other exotic plants. Through the 
 smiling garden on the rock that holds the 
 magnificent Casino, and faces the castle of 
 Monaco s prince, they advanced oblivious of 
 their lovely surroundings, wholly unconcerned 
 with a scene in which Nature and Art have 
 
216 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 wedded to create ineffable beauty. To see this 
 mournful couple puss by one might have 
 fancied they were on their road to the gallows. 
 Measuredly, Eugene and Zuleika descended 
 the easy steps, their eyes, the while, vacantly 
 staring at the stupendous shell of mother-of- 
 pearl formed by the sea at their feet and its 
 opal dome. 
 
 At last, his courage returning; he broke the 
 painful silence : 
 
 "I am the worst of men. "When I recall 
 your devotion and the tortures endured for 
 me, I wish a tribunal would sentence me 
 to death : the punishment might atone in 
 part for my crime. Zuleika ! I may have been 
 incapable of loving, but not of suffering, and 
 here stands before you a soul in agony." His 
 eyes obscured with honest tears, he pursued : 
 1 The hour of retribution has already sounded. 
 I shall never know another restful day. Let 
 one more sacrifice proclaim your divine hero 
 ism : I too am heroic just now, far more than 
 you may ever know. Promise me never again 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 217 
 
 to tempt me. I do not ask this for my own 
 sake: I deserve nothing at your hands. I 
 implore it upon my bended knees for an inno 
 cent being, for my wife!" 
 
 I promise that, Eugene, but I keep eter 
 nally the privilege of praying Allah to send 
 you back to me." 
 
 "Good-by, poor Zuleika!" 
 
218 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 XX. 
 
 MABEL attributed to her benign influence the 
 fact that her husband had become a better man. 
 It is true she regretted he was growing a little 
 too serious. Of late she had had frequent 
 occasions to suffer at the sight of his melan 
 choly, the cause of which she could neither 
 trace nor remove. Her sympathy forced her 
 many a time to share his inexplicable depres 
 sion ; nevertheless, she usually consoled herself 
 with the conviction that no other woman 
 reigned in Eugene s heart. Mabel s fear that 
 he might return to his customary dissipations 
 was allayed. The noisy pleasures and the 
 thoughtless women had lost their empire over 
 him. He, formerly so gallant, so eager of new 
 conquests, now barely noticed the bevy of 
 feather-brained coquettes who fluttered about 
 him. He managed his wife s estate with judi- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 219 
 
 cious care, and spent upon himself much less 
 than he earned. The desire to shine as a social 
 meteor had vanished, and instead of struggling 
 to that end, he divided his attention be 
 tween a cherished wife and his congenial 
 studies. 
 
 Alas ! it requires more than the wisest and 
 most devoted love to make a dear one happy ; 
 thus, in spite of Mabel s tactful and generous 
 affection, her husband was far from satisfied. 
 She often queried : 
 
 "Why such a big sigh, Eugene? You work 
 too hard, I fear. I do not ask that you re 
 sume your former extravagances that were 
 going too far the other -way but I do wish 
 you might be more jovial. You seem so dis 
 tracted: what ails you? Is there anything 
 I may do to make you more contented with 
 your lot?" 
 
 "Nothing, dear. I am as well off as I can 
 be, and certainly I am more so than I deserve. 
 Have I not your love? I should not let you 
 see me, save when in my best moods ; unfor- 
 
220 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 tunately I am not always able to control my 
 morbid mental manifestations." 
 
 "No matter about me, Eugene. It is of 
 you that I think. I wish I could know the 
 spring of those melancholy spells. Might not 
 this present depression be a reaction from your 
 tempestuous past?" 
 
 "Possibly. Whatever be the explanation, 
 it is well not to linger upon this theme. 
 
 She discreetly sat down at the piano, im 
 provised a few measures, and after modulat 
 ing into the dominant seventh of the key of 
 F hummed in a dreamy mezza-voce a bit of 
 song she often sang to him far away in Egypt 
 from the loneliness of her Sussex country seat. 
 
 As the final lingering organ point impercep 
 tibly died away, she said : 
 
 "Before leaving you for the last time, as 
 you then thought, do you remember how 
 apparently indifferent I was, how trifling were 
 my parting words? I was trying so eagerly 
 to conceal the tenderness I felt toward you 
 that I must have seemed feelingless. Oh ! my 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 221 
 
 beloved, could you have read within my soul 
 the day I left you in Cairo bound for England, 
 I might have escaped the two horribly dismal 
 years T passed in Glemnere away from you. 
 Our estate is charming, as you know, the 
 shooting fair, the horses excellent, and our 
 modern house as convenient as a home can be ; 
 in addition, agreeable friends from many parts 
 visit us in rapid succession, and famous lit- 
 tSrateurs and musicians seldom come to London 
 without breaking bread at our board : yet, 
 for all that, my only pleasure during those 
 unhappy years came from reading and re-read 
 ing your letters. 
 
 "While she sang and spoke he remained 
 in a profound reverie, a state habitual to 
 him when she made professions of affec 
 tion; then he abruptly broke the thread 
 of her thoughts by an irrelevant suggestion, 
 as he was wont to do in analagous instances : 
 
 "By the way, have you mastered that 
 passage in sixths in the finale of Kubiustein s 
 sonata for violin and piano? I mean the 
 
222 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 sonata beginning in so fresh and exhilarating 
 a way as to make the players feel they are 
 entering woodlands together on a perfect May 
 morning, while the air is pregnant with the 
 odor of violets, lilies, and hyacinths, and 
 nightingales in the tall trees blend their rou 
 lades, appogiaturas, and fiorituras to the 
 pedal notes of the crawling things that snore in 
 the damp grass. Let us try that entire work 
 again, what say you?" 
 
 And for the hundredth time this couple dis 
 pelled their sadness by the aid of that innocu 
 ous art. 
 
 " Music, of all earthly pleasures, is the only 
 one that leaves no after-taste. 
 
 "You are quite right, Mabel. Everything 
 with time turns insipid, all sensations pall 
 upon our blunted palate, and regret or re 
 morse treads over the heel of each joy. 
 Music, on the contrary, grows keener, more 
 delicious as we advance in years. Perhaps it 
 is thus to compensate us for the loss of other 
 delights. The gentle muse, instead of scat- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO, 
 
 tering shame or sorrow on its way, as most 
 pleasures do, generally fills us with loftier 
 aims and nobler aspirations. Nowadays, 
 aside from you, my good wife, there is le.ft to 
 me only music to lighten the chain I must 
 drag to the sepulchral shore. 
 
 This was not exact. Something else besides 
 Mabel and music could have invigorated his 
 blighted soul, but that was a thing he dared 
 not speak of. It was an object dearer than 
 life itself, grander than all the earth and the 
 seas it contains, vaster than the scintillating 
 heavens of a perfect night in June it was 
 Zuleika! Zuleika whom he now loved to 
 perdition. 
 
 From the hour of the bitter parting at 
 Monte Carlo a feeling of inexpressible pathos 
 had invaded his being. No day went by with 
 out a violent inner struggle tearing him asun 
 der. He wanted to fly to Zuleika, yet hesi 
 tated to commit another infamy by abandoning 
 a loving wife. His brain incessantly Cached 
 with these conflicting motives. Only on Sun- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 days, at church, did he find rest: there the 
 weight upon his chest seemed lightened. He 
 knew no prayer, having forgotten the one his 
 mother taught him; nevertheless, the rever 
 ence he to-day felt towards an Infinite Un 
 known found eloquent expression in his dumb 
 humility. Had he not been bound to the 
 world by his marital ties he would long since 
 have entered a monastery : a life of privations, 
 thought he, might stop the abominable and 
 unending gnawing at his soul. Like other 
 mortals when in despair he, too, looked above 
 for consolation and found a merciful God. 
 
 Though Eugene lacked the moral strength 
 to go to his adored Egyptian, he could not 
 refrain from seeking information relating to 
 her. One memorable day he got the follow 
 ing report from his agent : 
 
 1 CAIRO, March 28, 1898. 
 
 "Sin: The Countess de Danvre was carried 
 this morning to the Yilla des Palmiers which, 
 I am told, she owns since about four years. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 225 
 
 One of her servants said to me that the coun 
 tess formerly lived there with a European she 
 was very fond of, and the reason why she 
 quits her extensive suite at Ghesireh Palace 
 for that less comfortable place is in order that 
 she may die among suggestions of a past sweet 
 to her. Dr. Mathews, our leading specialist 
 on pulmonary diseases, thinks she will not 
 see the end of the winter season." 
 
 Immediately after reading this, Eugene left 
 the house, while his wife was momentarily 
 out. When she returned, the maid handed 
 hex this note : 
 
 "DEAR MABEL: lam unable to explain my 
 miserable conduct and I shall not endeavor to 
 excuse it. You are a perfect wife, and though 
 I have never felt for you what is termed love, 
 I would have stayed near you until the grave, 
 respecting and appreciating your noble woman 
 hood. But I have now a great reparation to 
 make an ugly sin to expiate and for that I 
 am obliged to abandon you. There is no 
 other means. Were I to remain wit! ^ this 
 canker on my conscience, I could but make 
 
226 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 your life intolerable and, in any manner, I 
 would soon do away with my worthless self, 
 
 "You lose nothing in losing me. I am a 
 vile beast any one should be glad to get rid of. 
 
 Adieu! Forever! 
 
 "May God watch over you! 
 
 "EUGENE DUPKEZ." 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 227 
 
 XXI. 
 
 ON the steamer that carried him at too slow 
 a speed to Ismailia, this wretched man was 
 constantly assailed by sorrowful reflections. 
 While the other passengers peacefully slum 
 bered, he nervously paced up and down the 
 deck, glaring at the black opaque waters below, 
 symbolic of his future, thinking : 
 
 "Ah! you sought the chimera of ephemeral 
 fruits and now your mouth is filled with ashes. 
 For moments of earthly bliss you must pay 
 with an eternity of torment. I am glad 
 my senses shall not harass me much longer. 
 I have floated far enough as a moral derelict 
 upon life s ocean. Vigor of mind and muscles 
 has departed and in my hair are traces of 
 snow at twenty -six! If she die, my martyr 
 dom will be that of the damned. Forever 
 phall I wetp in my impotence to dry the tears 
 
228 HE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 I caused. My life without her will be a liv 
 ing death. Who knows but at this very in 
 stant she is expiring ! Oh ! no ! that could 
 not be ! I shall see her again and in the glow 
 of my love revive that frail tropical flower. 
 She is so good, so young too ! Grant her life, 
 O God! Let me undo the wrong I have 
 done." 
 
 Since the last meeting on the Riviera, 
 Zuleika s spirit had been like a bee blown by 
 a sudden gust of wind from a fragrant clump 
 of pomegranates into a dreary waste more dis 
 mal than the Sahara. Arid lands have their 
 green confines, their dazzling canopies, and 
 here and there cool oases, but this poor child s 
 hopeless soul now floated through sunless days 
 and starless nights #ver a mournful plain 
 without horizon. 
 
 Until the announcement of Eugene s marriage 
 she had nourished the hope that some sacrifice 
 or other would bring him back. To-day, the 
 last air-castle had crumbled away, leaving her 
 heart crushed and bleeding. 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 229 
 
 In spite of all her sufferings, at no time did 
 she entertain the slightest feeling of resent 
 ment. She felt only a boundless love and a 
 profound gratitude for having reigned in his 
 fancy, though her reign had lasted but the 
 length of a season. 
 
 To-day, this beautiful Mohammedan was 
 succumbing without complaining, owing to 
 her fatalistic religion. As she was about to 
 expire, Heaven, pitying her, portrayed a celes 
 tial imagery : the soul no less than the 
 desert has its illusive mirages. In the final 
 paroxysm of delirium she sees her idol approach 
 the house through the alley of orange-trees, 
 his horse bleeding from spur wounds. Close 
 to her sunken cheek now lays his cheek, be 
 smeared with the dust of travel and the tears 
 shed for her; and through the vapory cloud of 
 her last agony, he and she sit side by side 
 apon the verdant banks of the Kiver of Love. 
 
 As the nurse and the physician conclude the 
 end has come, they are astonished to behold 
 the moribund s eyes reopen, staring at an in- 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 visible object in front. The hectic flush reap 
 pears through a new impulse given the slug 
 gish blood, and dying Zuleika looks supremely 
 happy. Slowly raising her desiccated arms 
 and crossing them upon her breast as in the 
 act of enfolding the sweetest being in the 
 whole universe, she babbles in a soft mono 
 tone, high-pitched and sounding as an echo 
 from the tomb : 
 
 1 I knew you would come back. From the 
 first hour we met a voice whispered we were 
 made for each other, and though divided, yet 
 united by indissoluble ligaments that distance, 
 years, yea, crimes! could not sever. My 
 youth, my babe, my education, my fortune 
 all was in vain ! T is pity, pity for Zuleika 
 dying to gain your love that touched your 
 heart. Oh ! I am so happy ! so happy ! be 
 cause, now you love me " 
 
 Alhih had answered her prayer too late. 
 While a servant was tenderly lowering the 
 silken black lashes over ghastly protruding 
 eyeballs, Eugene rushed into the room 
 
THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 231 
 
 like a madman and in a heart-wringing tone 
 cried : 
 
 "Am I too late, doctor?" 
 
 A nod answered him. 
 
 Before so profound a grief, to offer consola 
 tion would have been grotesque. The specta 
 tors in the mortuary chamber simply looked 
 in respectful silence upon this wretched 
 man who, in a heap on his knees, piteously 
 moaned : 
 
 1 I alone should have died. Be merciful to 
 her, yonder. She has suffered so much here 
 below! Oh! cruel God! why did you not 
 allow me to see her once more!" 
 
 After pressing his blanched lips upon the 
 rigid face, Eugene Duprez solemnly walked 
 out into the night air. 
 
 By the time the faithful were summoned 
 to another ; Corning prayer from the top of 
 Cairo s minarets, the news of the virtuoso s 
 tragic end transpired in the European quarter 
 of the city. 
 
232 THE VICIOUS VIRTUOSO. 
 
 In the garden of the Villa des Palmiers v 
 near the hedge of prickly pears, his body had 
 been found with a Damascus poniard still 
 stuck in the right temple. A hasty examina 
 tion revealed also two frightful gashes in the car 
 diac region. Maestro Duprez was not known 
 to have enemies, and no valuables were miss 
 ing; furthermore, the loss of a woman he 
 dearly loved easily proved a case of suicide to 
 the local authorities. 
 
 In this sultry climate, the dead are quickly 
 buried. Perhaps it is best thus in this par 
 ticular instance, for, had an autopsy been 
 made, it would have electrified everyone : the 
 corpse was minus its most vital organ. 
 
 And the mystery might still remain un 
 raveled because, on the night of Zuleika s 
 death, no mortal eye saw her maniac brother 
 leap the prickly fence, grinning like a drunken 
 monkey, while in his bloody jaws he crunched 
 ; human heart. 
 
 THE END. 
 
EVEN AS YOD AND I 
 
 By 
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 greatness is to take the common things of life and 
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 every man, woman, and child will pass under the 
 control of the State. Utopia" is winning new 
 friends every day. 
 
 For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price* 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street* London 114 Fifth Avenue, New YOffe 
 
The Passing of Alix. 
 
 By MRS, MARJORIE PAUL, 
 
 Neely s Popular Library Paper, 250; 
 
 Newspaper comment may in some minds 
 count for little in settling the value of a novel, 
 but it at least shows the drift of public opinion. 
 Nothing but praise has been spoken of "The 
 Passing of Alix." To show the general trend of 
 this commendation we beg leave to publish a 
 single literary notice from a prominent joarnal: 
 
 <c A capital little book, that of Mrs. Marjorie Paul, just the light, 
 breezy sort one delights in reading when swinging idly in a 
 zephyr-tossed hammock in the early fall days, or before the crack 
 ling wood fire of the winter hearth of a country house. Doubtless 
 many a copy will find its way into the satchel or handbag of 
 tourist and commercial traveler, to whom the weighty novel, writ 
 ten with the evident intention of reforming this wicked and 
 ignorant world, seldom appeals. 
 
 " It is a story of a sensational character, but clean in thought 
 and pathetic in its conclusion. It is the story of a woman, and a 
 good one. It contains nothing that is sensational, but is full of 
 human interest, and holds the attention of the reader from start 
 to finish. Besides telling the story, it teaches a lesson, but does 
 not sermonize. It is a book, in fact, which will interest all, and 
 furnishes the very best sort of light reading." 
 
 For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. 
 
 F. TENNYSON NHELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New Yorfc. 
 
Works by the popular young American 
 writer. 
 
 Edward S. Van Zile. 
 
 Mr. Van Zile s novels are a boon to those 
 readers who delight in fresh fields, stirring scenes 
 and crisp dialogue. He has already won a place 
 among the leading American authors of the day. 
 Newspaper criticism of this work has been 
 almost unanimously favorable, and we have no 
 hesitation in recommending his books to those 
 in search of clean, yet stirring literature. Mr. 
 Van Zile is also a versatile and pleasing poet, and 
 his latest book, "The Dreamers," is one of the 
 most artistic volumes published this season. 
 Mr. Van Zile s poems cover a wide range of 
 topics and bear the imprint of an assured literary 
 touch. Their popularity has been established 
 by the reception with which they have met upon 
 their appearance in magazines and weeklies. 
 
 THE DBEAMEKS, and Other Poems. Clo;h, $1.25. 
 
 KINGS IN ADVEHSITY. Neeiy s Prismatic Library, gilt top, 50c. 
 
 THE LAST OF THE VAN SLACKS Naely s Prismatic Library, Papr, 26* 
 
 for sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, London 114 Fifth Avenue, New Yorlb 
 
NEELY S HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Parliament of Religions and Religions Congresses 
 
 AT THE 
 
 COLUflBIAN EXPOSITION. 
 
 Authentic, O A Fascinating Story. 
 
 UU<ihl;> C.^mnl^ti* A Book of Universal Interest. 
 
 KeliaDIe, Compute, A Companion of the Scholar. 
 
 Impartial, Non=Sectanan. * Of the Greatest value for reference 
 
 Illustrated with full-page half-tone engravings. 
 Complete in one volume of over 1000 pages. 
 
 \J i.-.rul i ifiiii o. ui.i.i! manuscripts and stenographic reports. A thorough 
 history of the grandest achievement and the most important event in modern 
 
 religious history. 
 
 THE WORK EMBODIES 
 
 Origin of the Parliament of Religion. 
 
 Biog.-u.i.-iL .1 sk-tches of Dr. John Henry Barrows and President C. C. Bonney. 
 
 Proceedings of the meetings of the Parliament. 
 
 Speeches .ind addresses delivered and essays and papers read at the sessions of 
 
 the noted gathering 
 
 A lucid explanation oi the Great Religions of the earth. 
 The beliefs of the various Religious Denominations. 
 
 Narrative as to many g.i.th.viru;s held in connection with the Parliament. 
 A general review of the Religious Congresses, with a condensed report of the 
 
 various daily proceedings, addresses, papers and speeches during the entire 
 
 denominational sessions, both day and evening:. 
 Opi:ii .ins of eminent Divines in regard to the Parliament. 
 In;lu3;i>:e of tin Parliament u > m the Religi -us Thought of the world. 
 A complete index, rendering all subjects at once available. 
 
 JOHN P. V/JVi^LH. Governor of Illinois. This is one of th highest 
 achievements of human civilization. 
 
 FR- OSPfCK O B:*OTBFRG Commissioner from Alabama to the World s 
 Columbian Exposition. It is invaluable as presenting a body of statements of 
 religious beliefs and creeds. 
 
 M VOEJJNJl V!\TON D \HI.GREN, Washington, D. C.-The Parliament of 
 Religions, who e soirit and purnose was the study of all beliefs, presented aspec- 
 tacle of unequalled moral grandeur. Your work is of superior interest. 
 
 WIUJAn DRVSOALH. Cranford, N. J.-The Parliament of Religions 
 strengthens one s faith in the real brotherhood of man. But without your report 
 of the proceedings its influence may have been woefully limited. No thinking 
 man should be uninformed of the opinion of so important a representative body 
 and on tnis great subject the man who does not think must be incapable of 
 thought. 
 
 Complete in one lar^e volume of over 1000 pages. Fully Illustrated. Two volumes in one! 
 Octavo Cloth, Gold Side and Back, $2.50. Full Sheep, Library Style $4.50. 
 
 For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 
The Honor of a Princess. 
 
 By F. KIMBALL SCRIBNER. 
 
 Neely s Prismatic Library. 
 
 Gilt top, 50c. 
 
 A new novel, "The Honor of a Princess/ by 
 a new writer, F. Kimball Scribner, has easily 
 won the approbation of the lovers of romance, 
 dealing as it does with the adventures of two 
 Englishmen during- the latter years of the reign 
 of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 From first to last the story is filled with ac 
 tion. Falling under the displeasure of the Virgin 
 Queen, Harold Martant, an English Catholic, 
 makes his escape to France, accompanied by an 
 old retainer of his House, a veteran of the days 
 of Drake and Frobisher. On the advice of a 
 certain Captain Von Francius, a former leader 
 of a Free Company, the refugees accompany him 
 to Schleswig and enter the service of the young 
 king of that country, whose title to the throne 
 is disputed by a nobleman of the kingdom. 
 
 The story, which is charmingly told in the 
 simple language of a soldier of the period, treats 
 of the adventures of Martant and his compan 
 ions while in the service of the Royal House of 
 Schleswig. Though a new writer, the author s 
 name is not unknown to the literary world, he 
 being a member of the well-known family of 
 Charles Scribner s Sons, publishers. 
 
 Fof sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, Lontlon. 114 Fifth Avenge, Ne-w York- 
 
The 
 
 Invasion of New York. 
 
 A Romance of the Coming Conflict with 
 Spain and Japan. 
 
 By J. H. PALMER. 
 
 NEELY S POPULAE LIBRABY. 
 Cloth, $1.00; Paper, 25 cents. 
 
 No one could have written this startling little volume 
 but an officer in the United States navy, or at least a citi 
 zen of Washington thoroughly at home in all naval 
 matters. With prophetic vision the able writer has seen 
 what would be the probable early moves upon the chess 
 board of war, should hostilities open between our own 
 country and those of Spain and Japan ; and while 
 weaving a romance he takes occasion to point out the 
 weakness of our defenses both on the Atlantic and 
 Pacific coasts. If it serve no other purpose than to 
 arouse the people to the necessity of prompt and ener 
 getic action in rendering their great ports invulnerable 
 to an attack from hostile battle ships and cruisers, the 
 mission of this marvelously interesting little volume will 
 have been fulfilled. The destruction of San Francisco 
 by Japanese war vessels is vividly portrayed ; and the 
 description of the appearance of the formidable Spanish 
 Armada before New York, while our fleet is hunting 
 along the coast of Cuba for the enemy, will doubtless 
 cause a shiver of apprehension to creep over timid read 
 ers, since the prospect is, they may some fine morning 
 awaken to actually hear the thunder of hostile guns 
 beyond Coney Island. It is a very readable book and 
 bound to meet with a heavy sale. 
 
 P*r Bait everywhere, or ment post-paid on receipt of prie*. 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York, 
 
PAOLA CORLETH, 
 
 THE FAIR ITALIAN. 
 
 By ALICE HOWARD HILTON, 
 
 Author of "A Blonde Creole." 
 Neely s Popular Library, paper 250. 
 
 This is a charming romance of life in Italy 
 and New Orleans of a pretty Italian maid, 
 daughter of a Neapolitan nobleman, who elopes 
 with the lover of her choice, a poor musician, 
 and being hounded by the emissaries of a disap 
 pointed suitor, in conjunction with her angry 
 father^ they start for America, settling in the 
 famous French Quarter of New Orleans. 
 
 The story is sweet and pure, and full of ex 
 ceeding pathos the descriptive bits of old New 
 Orleans, with its Jackson Square and St. Louis 
 Cathedral, opposite, are clever pictures of the 
 Creole City of the past. Since Cable has ceased 
 his admirable novels of these interesting people, 
 the public will undoubtedly welcome an addition 
 to Creole literature from the pen of one so 
 thoroughly conversant with the subject as 
 Hilton. 
 
 For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New \orte 
 
IN THE QUARTER. 
 
 By ROBERT W. CHAflBERS, 
 
 Author of " The King in Yellow." 
 
 Neely s Prismatic Library. 
 
 50 cents. 
 
 A new novel by the author of that wonderful book, " The King in Yellow, 5 * 
 is an event of considerable importance to the reading public ; nor will a perusal 
 of " In the Quarter " disappoint those critics who h we predicted such a glorious 
 future for Robert W. Chambers. As the title would indicate, the story deals with 
 life in the Quartier Latin, in Paris, where the merry art students live and move 
 and have their being, and over which the halo of romance ever hangs ; a pecul 
 iar people with whom we have spent many an entrancing hour in company with 
 such volumes as " Trilby " and " A King in Yellow." 
 
 PRESS NOTICES: 
 
 BOOK BUYER, New York :" It is a story of a man who tried to reconcile 
 irreconcilable facts. . . Mr. Chambers tells it with a happy choice of words, 
 thus putting to proof the art alien to the artists. . . It is not a book for the 
 unsophisticated, yet its morality is high and unmistakable." 
 
 BROOKLYN CITIZEN : " Full of romantic incidents." 
 BOSTON COURIER : " Interesting novel of French life." 
 
 BOSTON TRAVELER : " A story of student life written with dash and surety 
 of handling." 
 
 BOSTON TIMES: "Well written, bright, vivid; the ending is highly dra 
 matic." 
 
 NEW YORK SUNDAY WORLD : " Charming story of Bohemian life, with its 
 bouyancy, its romance, and its wild joy of youth t> . vividly depicted in this 
 graceful tale by one who, like Daudet, knows his Paris. Some pages are exquis 
 itely beautiful. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA BULLETIN : -" Idyllic charming. Mr. Chambers story is 
 delicately told." 
 
 ^ NEW YORK EVENING TELEGRAM : " It is a good story in its way. It is 
 |ood in several ways. There are glimpses of the model and of the grisette all 
 iainty enough, ihe most of it might have coire from so severe a moralist as 
 George Eliot or even Bayard Taylor." 
 
 NEW YORK COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER : " A very vivid and touchingly told 
 story. The tale is interesting because it reflects with fidelity the life led by cer 
 tain sets of art students. A genuine romance, charmingly told." 
 
 CONGREGATIONALIST. Boston : " Vivid, realistic. There is much of no 
 bility in it. A decided and excellent moral influence. It is charmingly written 
 from cover to cover." 
 
 For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, London. . 114 Fifth Avenue, New Yorfc 
 
AT flARKET VALUE. 
 
 By GRANT ALLEN, 
 
 Author of "The Woman Who Did," "The Duchess of Powysland," " Thl* 
 Mortal Coil," "Blood Royal, "etc. 
 
 Cloth ,$1.25; paper, 250. 
 
 Harriftbnre Telegram " Interesting and well told." 
 
 Indianapolis "The story is an entertaining one. An American gentleman 
 
 Sentinel plays an important part, and gives the author occasion to payus 
 
 a compliment by saying that Where women are concerneJ there is no persom 
 so delicately chivalrous than your American gentlemen. " 
 
 Post Intelligencer " The mere announcement of a story from Grant Allen s 
 pen is sufficient for those who enjoy the work of a masterhand." 
 
 Hw York Independent "A right charming style of story-telling, and every 
 thing he writes enforces attention." 
 
 Chioieo flail " Excellently planned, and entertainingly carried out " 
 
 Boston Idea* " The depth and sincerity of its suggestiveness forms a valuable 
 novel. Its manner is very frank and clear." 
 
 Commercial Appeal " Mr. Allen s English is vigorous, and his characters are 
 very strongly drawn in the main. We find a charm in the book we did not 
 expect to find." 
 
 Daily Kepister " Mr. Allen has constructed a remarkably clever story. Its 
 characters are interesting, and there is action throughout to keep up the in- 
 
 Penny Press " The book contains both bits of modern philosophy and love 
 episodes of decidedly romantic nature." 
 
 In Strange Company. 
 
 By GUY BOOTHBY, 
 
 Author of "On the Wallaby. Six Pull Page Illustrations by Stanley L. Wood. 
 
 Cloth, $1.25; paper, 250. 
 
 Cincinnati Tribune " It is a novel with a purpose that is, to entertain and 
 
 interest, and it certainly succeeds." 
 
 The World " A capital novel of its kind the sensational adventurous. It has 
 the quality of life and stir, and will carry the reader with curiosity unabated 
 to the end." 
 
 The Pall Mall " The best of them is In Strange Company. . . . The book 
 Budget is a good tale of adventure ; it has plenty of astonishing inci 
 
 dents which yet have an air of versimilitude." 
 
 The Yorkshire " One of the most successful novels of its order we have recently 
 
 Post seen. Its general resemblance is to what may be called the 
 
 buried treasure class. . . . The story hangs well together ; its villains are 
 
 picturesque and almost engaging people; its dialogue singularly free from 
 
 the melodramatic element." 
 
 The Glasgow " Mr. Boothby gives the reader no chance of skipping. In Strange 
 Herald Company is full of strange adventures to the end. ... A 
 
 thoroughly exciting story told with considerable ability." 
 
 The MormiBft " Will prove far more interesting to him who is past his first 
 
 Post youth than the majority of tales of adventure. Its incidents ar 
 
 as exciting as is the rule in books of this kind, but they remain fairly withta 
 
 the bounds of the possible, and there is a picturesque vigor in the authors 
 
 description of Chili and the southern seas." 
 
 For sale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of price. 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, London. 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 
PetroniHa, the Sister. 
 
 By Emma Homan Thayer. 
 
 Cloth, $1.25. 
 
 Mrs. Thayer s art books have made for her a 
 world-wide reputation as a writer, and an illustra 
 tor of the wildflowers of America. " Petronilla" 
 is her first novel, and we can honestly recommend 
 it as a most delightful story indeed. The gifted 
 writer paints human loves and vanities with much 
 the same dexterity she has exhibited as an artist in 
 delineating the delicate hues of the modest wild- 
 flowers she so fondly worships. We take pleasure 
 in recommending so chaste and interesting a story 
 to the public. In this day of erotic literature such 
 a book is doubly welcome, and Petronilla" is of 
 such a character as to hold the reader s attention to 
 the last page. The scenes are laid in New York 
 City, with a bright and spicy visit on a ranch in the 
 mountains of Colorado, a region in which the writer 
 is evidently at home. The illustrations, some forty 
 in number, partly by the author, and ably abetted 
 by the well-known artist, Remington W. Lane, add 
 piquancy to the letterpress. 
 
 For tale everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of prioo. 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 06 Queen Street, London. 114 Filth Avenue, New Y< 
 
Thomas B. Connery s Novels. 
 
 From many flattering press notices those 
 given below will indicate the favor with which 
 Mr. Connery s writings are received by the 
 public : 
 
 44 ALL THE DOG S FAULT is a capital book to pasa away an hour 
 or two, full of incident, love, and huinor. The author has long 
 been known as a substantial figure in New York banking circles, 
 and occupied a prominent position in politics during the Garfield- 
 Arthur dynasty, his name being mixed with the Conkling im 
 broglio at the time the Empire State senators withdrew so dra 
 matically from the United States Senate. Mr. Connery has given 
 us a delightful romance, which will be read with pleasure by all 
 those who desire to be entertained without the necessity of hav 
 ing some musty logic generated for the reformation of the world 
 thrust down their unwilling throats. He writes to amuse- and 
 certainly fulfils his mission to the Queen s taste." 
 
 " BLACK FRIDAY : A STORY OF LOVE AND SPECULATION, by 
 Phos. B. Connery. When a man as promt nem. as Thos. B. Con 
 nery has shown himself in the financial world takes up the pen to 
 write a romance of love and speculation under such a significant 
 title as * Black Friday, we have a right to expect something out 
 of the beaten track. Nor does the book bring disappointment 
 It is fresh and vigorous. The financier wields a trenchant pen. 
 His pictures are excellent, and the love passages worthy of com 
 mendation. Some men excel in one field, but Mr. Connery bids 
 fair to make a name for himself in literature as well as among 
 the bulls and bears of Wall Street." 
 
 "THAT NOBLE MEXICAN, Mr. Connery s latest book, even 
 excels the preceding volumes m interest and must adc 1 to hi* 
 already enviable reputation." 
 
 Neely s Popular Library. 
 
 ALL THE DOG S FAULT. Paper, 25 cents. 
 BLACK FRIDAY. Paper, 25 cents. 
 
 THAT NOBLE MEXICAN. Paper, 25 cents. 
 
 For sal* everywhere, or sent post-paid on receipt of pri*, 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, London. 114 Filth Avenue, Nw York, 
 
Remarks by Bill Nye. 
 
 THE 
 FUNNIEST 
 
 OF 
 BOOKS. 
 
 "It will cure the bltHfc 
 quicker than the doctor and 
 at half the price." Nevi 
 York Herald, 
 
 Over 500 Pages. 
 Fully Illustrated. 
 
 Cloth, $1.50 ; Paper, 
 
 LAUGH AND GROW FAT. 
 
 A collection of the best writings of this great author, most 
 profusely illustrated, with over 500 pages. It is the funniest of 
 books. Bill Nye needs no introduction. The mention of th 
 book is enough. 
 
 " I have passed through an earthquake and an Indian out 
 break, but I would rather ride an earthquake without saddle of 
 bridle, than to bestride a successful broncho eruption." Bill Nye, 
 I * Age brings caution and a lot of shop-worn experience, 
 purchased at the highest market price. Time brings vain re 
 grets and wisdom teeth that can be left in a glass of water ovef 
 ttight" Bill Nye. 
 
 SPARKS FROM THE PEN OF BILL NYE. 192 PAGES. PAPER, 25* 
 WIT AND HUMOR. BY NYE AND RILEY. PAPER, 26o. 
 
 Por sale everywhere, or ssnt post-paid on receipt of price. 
 
 F. TENNYSON NEELY, Publisher. 
 06 Queen Street London, 114 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 
NIL. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 BY FREDERICK A. RANDLE. 
 
 CONTINENTAL LIBRARY. Cloth, $1.25 ; paper, 50 cents. 
 
 Competent critics have pronounced this book the most elabofc 
 fc.%e and interesting work of the author. Mr. Randle comes hon. 
 jtly by his literary ability, his mother being a Powers, and 
 Closely connected with that family so famous for its sculptors and 
 artists. His present work, A*/, abounds in quick action, and may 
 be classified with that delightful and humorous line of fiction so 
 eagerly sought by the lover cf travel and adventure. 
 
 Nesta Storovski, a young Polish lady and belle of Kazan, 
 Russia, Vala, a noble Aleut maiden of the Island of Unalaska, 
 Laila, a beautiful Ayan girl whose home is on picturesque Upper 
 Yukon, Jmla Van Xen, an Imperial Guard of the Winter Palace, 
 St. Petersburg, are characters in the story commanding highest 
 admiration ; so also Michael O Finerty, a verdant son of Erin, 
 and Jacob Schmidt, an unsophisticated young man from Holland, 
 both sc> unaffected in their ways that they fairly dispel serious 
 ness, take a leading part in the thrilling scenes that mark the pro* 
 gress ^f the romance. 
 
 The renowned city of Amsterdam on the Zuyder-Zee, Utrecht, a 
 city of the Netherlands where lived the old Dutch aristocracy, Lake 
 Wener ana the River Klar, Sweden, the Aleutian Islands, and 
 Alaska are places of importance in the story, made fascinatingly 
 interesting by a wizard pen. 
 
 One feature of this novel may cause reviewers to classify it an 
 extravaganza, since to an excessive degree the author amusingly 
 portrays the ofiknousness of the police world to arrest people on 
 the merest resemblance to fugitives ; ridiculous blunders of mis^ 
 taken identity illiing the history of such official activity. In this 
 portrayal, Nil is almost as " far fetched" as " A Comedy of Er 
 rors " and as amusing as " The Merry Wives of Windsor/ 
 
 The story in a traique manner concludes at Nokomis, Illinois, 
 a little city noted for romance and chivalry. 
 
 For sale everywhere, or r^t post-paid on receipt of price 
 
 F. TENNYSON N2ELY, Publisher, 
 96 Queen Street, LOK^O. ^14 Fifth Avenue. New York* 
 
NEELY S TOURIST LIBRARY; 
 
 Paper, Twenty-five Cents. 
 
 1. The White Company. By A. Conan Doyle c 
 
 2. The Deemster. By Hall Caine. 
 
 3. A Romance of Two Worlds. By Marie Corelli. 
 
 4. Treasure Island. By Robert L. Stevenson. 
 
 5. The Sign of the Four. By A. Conan Doyle. 
 
 6. Kidnapped. By Robert L. Stevenson. 
 
 7. The Bondman. By Hall Caine. 
 
 8. Michael Clarke. By A. Conan Doyle. 
 
 9. Sport Roval. By Anthony Hope. 
 
 10. The Man in Black. By Stanley J. Weymaik 
 
 11. Uncle Tom s abin. By Mrs. Stowe. 
 
 12. Beyond the City. By A. Conan Doyle. 
 
 13. Webster s Pronouncing: Dictionary. 
 14L Cosmopolis. By Paul Bourget. 
 
 15. People s Reference Book. 
 
 16. Around the World in Eighty Days. By Jules Verne* 
 
 17. In Darkest England. By General Booth. 
 
 18. Ships That Pa^s in the Night. By Beatrice Harradeu 
 
 19. Nance, a Kentucky Belle. By Miss Greene. 
 
 20. Mark Twain, His Life and Work. By Will M. 
 
 21. Tom Brown s School Days. By Thomas Hughes. 
 
 22. A Holiday in Bed. By J. M._Barrie. 
 
 5y R ght, Not Law. B 
 24. The Child of the Ball. By De Alarcou. 
 
 By R ght, Not Law. By R. H. Sherard. 
 
 Health and Beauty. By Emily S. Bouton 
 
 26. Lydia. By Sidney Christian. 
 
 27. Rose and Ninette. By Alphonse Daudet. 
 
 28. A Tale of Two Cities. By Charles Dickens. 
 
 29. The Last of the Van Slacks. By Edward 8. Van Zile. 
 
 30. Love Letters of a Worldly Woman. By Mrs. W. K. Clif?0i 
 81. Claudea s Island. By Eame Stuart. 
 
 39. At Love s Extremes. By Thompson. 
 
 33. The Minister s Weak Point. By Maclure. 
 
 34. Rivehel Dene. By Robert Buchanan. 
 
 35. Social Etiquette. By Emily S. Bouton. 
 
 36. The House of the Seven Gables. By Nathaniel Hawthorne, 
 87. At Market Value. By Grant Allen. 
 
 38. Her Victim. By an Indian Exile. 
 
 89. When a Man s Single. By J. M. Barrie, 
 
 40. A Daughter of India. By An Indian Exile. 
 
 41. Dream Life. By Ik. Marvel. 
 
 48. Reveries of a Bachelor. By Ik. Marvel. 
 
 43. Christopher Columbus. By Franc B. Wilkie. 
 
 44. Dodo. By E. F. Benson. 
 
 For tab everywhere or sent postpaid on receipt of price by thi 
 
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY