Louise Closser Hale

“ On the way to Oxford they missed several landmarks, or came upon them suddenly as though the objects had run down the road to welcome their return; but when the spires of Oxford shot into view a full four hours earlier than they had once before, the couple realized that this rushing age had very little time for roadside acquaintance, and that the horizon was the only bit of scenery a motor car could not devour in its mad haste. ”

“ AFTER the visitor to France goes into the war zone and returns to Paris safely, he, or perhaps I should say she, is not so fearful of going again. It is not the expectation of high explosives descending on a woman's frail hat of straw that filled me with dread on my first visit in the direction of Meaux and Château Thierry, but an uneasiness over my own conduct that might unwittingly transgress the rules of the Army and bring down a high-explosive wrath with a penalty for which there is no mediation. There is no carrying your case to a Supreme Court, no appeal to the Governor or the people. ”

“ It was but the reflection of a passive moon upon well-polished motor lamps, a silent cry, hut the possibilities of darting through the white lanes once more before they slept laid hold upon this couple who talked of simple living. Within the hour they were in Stratford, somewhat ashamed, laughing a little craftily at that old-fashioned bridal party they had left ten years behind in Broadway.
As the tin bridegroom said in Stratford, there is little profit in growing old unless one's made of china or of some such stuff. In a measure it must placate one to increase in value with one's years. ”

“ I grew fond of Cremona, basked in the sunshine, dozed a little perhaps—being a very ancient person—and was just dreaming that I heard the sounds of the far-famed violins, when an amazed signore called my attention to the unpleasant truth that the music—noise, forsooth—was the voice of the Illustrator, deserted by his body-guard, rendered helpless by the throng around him, and calling for assistance.
I endeavored to calm him. "All young people are alike." ”

“ WE had not taken Cassy, into consideration when we invited the biologist, Gregory George, to motor with us into the Tunisian desert. Our wanting him to go at all we felt to be a sort of intellectual development on our part of which we were rather proud. As a rule, while idling through foreign countries we shun the erudite, and derive our enjoyment by sopping up understanding through the agency of the senses rather than through the cells of the brain. ”

“ The car throbs responsively to the right or left, and our "Grazie" reaches their ears faintly, so keen is our engine to show its paces. The sun set clearly, as suns should when one has a long way to travel in the morning. The jagged teeth of the Dolomites shot up disappointingly.
The Illustrator took a hand from the wheel to wave toward them with all the enthusiasm of personal discovery. Gazing at them, Rabby and I dwelt bitterly on the false prophecies of colored postal cards. ”

“ The noise is unvaried and endless, and any plot from the undermining of a nation to the breaking of a young woman's heart could be discussed at full lung power. But the Illustrator enjoyed intrigue and kept his voice down, hissing platitudes at me like a stage villain.
On this especial evening he gave utterance to the mighty novelty that, as one nail drives out another, the best plan for us was to find a nail that would be of sufficient interest to Mary to drive out all recollection of the charming one, and to prove to her that a girl can be happy even if she doesn't marry an ineligible. ”

“ One remembers Compiègne gratefully after visiting these towns through which the Germans passed, for it tugs less at the strings of pity in our hearts. It still has an air of prosperity. The palace is no longer visited by tourists; the best hotel no longer serves a precious dinner to those irregular couples motoring out from Paris for a holiday. The antiquity-shops have bars across the doors. ”

“ The approach to Jativa (which, with Alcoy and Jijona, although inland mountain towns, were firmly included as three of our cities of the Riviera) was across a fertile valley brilliant with vineyards, and very welcome after climbing the usual steep range of hills which is part of every day's motoring in Spain.
Seen from the plain, the site of the town was astonishingly high. The village itself was blocked from view by a line of wall at the top of the mountain, flanked by turret towers, and impregnable in appearance to all living things but birds. ”

“ But Italy will never fail one emotionally if he limits himself to street scenes. After the Young Woman and the Young Man had taken a regular walk (and as darkness softens the lines of this rectangular town, the lights are alluring, museums closed, and there is music in the air, the walk could not have been dangerously instructive) —and after they had returned they found us peering into the lives of other people from the rear windows. ”

“ One will notice that they do this when a car goes up a pass. Not that they think there is any danger, or that they care, but it delicately compliments the guests who suggest that they are attempting a risky thing with so much courage. We put on brave faces and pressed forward, as conscious as they that the grades in the Alps are seldom as steep as those of the hills in America, and that the roadbed is infinitely better.
Half-way up the pass slouchy Italian officers, humming their war song, "Tripoli," returned to us the modest sum that bonds an automobile into their country ”

“ As we entered the purely Arab town in the blue of the early night, white forms rose up around us like lost souls. They wailed in concert as we made the wrong turning, and guided us, as one man, to the market-place. Once there, we waited to be seized by kindly varlets from rival hostelries. It is the Illustrator's plan to sway with the most amusing runner. There were but two inns in the village. The representative of the Hôtel du Désert addressed us in polite French, but the other tout, an attractive Arab bursting with knowledge, welcomed us in his idea of our own tongue. ”

“ This is a comforting thought to a tin bride and bridegroom, grown a little anxious. From the Cotswold Range across the valley is a view that brings a pain to one's nose if he attempts to hide his emotions, and forces the tears down one's throat in a surprising manner. But the middle-aged couple, remembering the days when they were unashamed, bathed in the flood of sentiment.
The Shakespeare Hotel, Stratford
"We can't grow old," he cried to her, "so long as we can feel so." ”

“ Possibly the next in order was my insistence that a girl who a man thought was good enough for him generally was—the mere fact of his wanting her defined the man himself—and I was inclined to insist that she was generally better, but the Illustrator induced me to retract this. Besides, my dormant sympathy had gone out to the Cassy who had crept to her room, and who, in the warm blackness of the desert night found herself softly weeping from an experience which was the inevitable portion of her charming womanhood. ”