;* >^ 
 
 
 « '^^^V^' •^^J^S^^\ ^^^rS O 
 
 
 ,-^" 
 
 ^oV" 
 
 • ^^^ 
 
 
 
 
 O^ ^^VV** v*^ 
 
 ^ 
 O. 
 
 0^ o"""". c 
 
 
 -^v.^^ 
 
 ^-u^^^' 
 
 
 -^^0^ 
 
 
 
 ^ -kVA'. "^..^ /^fe\ **..*^ -^.^Wa', v./.' 
 
. o " , 
 
 
 
 
 V -^^ '^<?' 
 
 f\» t • • . * 
 
 
 
 
 ^ ^^ A^ »'^%^a:^. '*<'. c'?^'^ •^f^K'. ^^ A^ /i.vl*'' 
 
MYSTERY 
 
 OR 
 
 THE LADY OF THE CASINO 
 
 BY 
 
 DAVID F. TAYLOR 
 
 39? 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 THE GORHAM PRESS 
 1916 
 
Copyright, 1916, by David F. Taylor 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 .'J.'^ 
 
 
 ^='.^;?' 
 
 SEP 18 1916 
 
 The Gorham Press, Boston, U. S. A. 
 
 ' CI, A4 38405 
 
TO 
 
 THE LOVERS OF FREEDOM AND PEACE 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED, FOR 
 
 YOUR SYMPATHY AND APPROVAL 
 
 BY 
 
 D. F. TAYLOR 
 
 "poet of the chaparral" 
 
MYSTERY, OR THE LADY 
 OFfTHE CASINO 
 
 CANTO I 
 
 Eternal love is not a dull symposer, 
 It is a feast that in the soul is wrought, 
 It is divine, how can it be a loser, 
 Living supremely in sweet silent thought; 
 It laughs to scorn the laws of petrifaction. 
 And ever will with failing time prevail. 
 The sentient gives but little satisfaction, 
 But this eternal thing will never fail ; 
 I wonder if the eyes that measure time 
 Are looking on while I indite this rhyme. 
 
 The dewdrops on the rose appear newborn 
 At early dawn, although they fade away. 
 They are ambassadors to greet the morn 
 That speak of love, and live in memory ; 
 And so I write of love — a maiden fair, 
 A handsome youth, intelligent and wise 
 She had the caste and the patrician air 
 And he had ways that won the maiden's eyes 
 So well they met, so well they stood together 
 Like golden links you would not wish to sever. 
 
Mystery 
 
 I saw them first at Santa Cruz; they walked 
 
 Upon the pier fronting the Casino 
 
 They were quite ardent, earnestly they talked, 
 
 Moving in measured pace, stately and slow. 
 
 And as they passed the crowd would look around 
 
 She was so beautiful, and he forsooth 
 
 So noble looking you hardly could have found 
 
 A finer specimen of noble youth. 
 
 I stood upon the pier, and looked that way 
 
 The evening shadows marked the closing day. 
 
 I watched them as they slowly walked away 
 
 I saw the sun sink in the sea 
 
 And something spoke so touchingly 
 
 Although they nothing were to me 
 
 And as I mused I saw a face 
 
 From out the semi-darkness come 
 
 A face that was devoid of grace 
 
 A demon face this is the sum 
 
 A man walked past; and if the devil drew 
 
 His likeness, then that picture was in view. 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 I marked his form ; the shoulders broad 
 
 The thick-set neck, the limbs so strong 
 
 The jerky pace, the steps so odd 
 
 (His side-view showed a nose quite long) 
 
 The marked projection of the chin 
 
 The heavy jaw, the sensual mouth 
 
 The piercing eyes, so filled with sin; 
 
 He stepped quite brisk, and went down south 
 
 I watched, but soon his form was lost to sight 
 
 And vanished in the shadows of the night. 
 
 That night I had a strange wild dream 
 A vision filled with phantasy 
 I sat beside a Lethean stream 
 It was the morning, and the gray 
 And mystic day began to break. 
 From out the entrails of a cloud 
 A form appeared that did betake 
 Angelic habitude, while others stood 
 Watching that form with marked intensity 
 I saw their eyes filled with malignancy. 
 
Mystery 
 
 And when I woke, the early morn 
 
 Looked lovingly upon the bay, 
 
 How glad I was to find the storm 
 
 Of love and hate had past away. 
 
 I watched the sunlight's gentle play, 
 
 As in the distance brightly gleaming, 
 
 Lighting the hills of Monterey 
 
 Like love's caresses golden teaming 
 
 The day in splendor wore a summer dress 
 
 Giving to Santa Cruz a fond caress. 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 CANTO II 
 
 I left the mountain where I marked the flower 
 
 Shedding its odor by the winding brook, 
 
 I left the brush-land and the redwood bower 
 
 But ere I left I took another look 
 
 Of flowers and ferns and hazel bushes growing, 
 
 Of mossy banks where tiger lilies bide, 
 
 Of rock and dell and limpid waters flowing, 
 
 And bunnies that beneath the bunch-grass hide, 
 
 I dropped a tear and kis't my nut-brown hand 
 
 For love and nature sympathizing stand. 
 
 I stepped aboard the cars and fondly waved 
 
 A last adios to the nestling inn 
 
 Crossing the bridge where flowing waters lave 
 
 A toneing song to soothe the ear's loud din. 
 
 And on we went with serpentinian grace 
 
 Now entering where monster redwoods sever 
 
 The clouds above — then through a dangerous place 
 
 Where rock, and stream and trees blended together, 
 
 At last the sacred city came in view 
 
 And way beyond the ocean vast and blue. 
 
Mystery 
 
 I love the surging sea, and love bestows 
 Fond tho'ts that lead me into the sublime 
 The waste of waters with my memory grows 
 And does not lessen with the waste of time 
 My father took me o'er the Northern Sea 
 Full well I knew the wild St. Andrews Bay 
 The reckless waves make music unto me 
 And the rude notes stay with me to this day ; 
 And when I see the bay of Santa Cruz 
 No item of the welkin form I lose. 
 
 4 
 
 Among the fishermen upon the pier 
 
 One afternoon I whiled away my time, 
 
 Watching the boats come in and disappear 
 
 As they went out to meet the hyaline — 
 
 While waiting there a pleasure party came, 
 
 And landed at the wharf; my eyes did greet 
 
 "The lady of the Casino," for thus her name 
 
 Was known by those we call elite. 
 
 And by her side Adonis like was placed 
 
 The same young man our eyes before embraced. 
 
 lO 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 An auto was at hand and they and other two 
 Went off: "So they have friends," I said 
 And tried to think no more but still they grew, 
 And longing to know more I turned my head 
 And there before my eyes with face averted 
 Was that dread man gazing with ire 
 At the flying auto as if converted 
 Into a watching sphinx, with eyes of fire. 
 Beholding all, I could not stop my musing 
 This beauty, love and hate sadly confusing. 
 
 "Thou demon of the pier," I almost said 
 
 What caused thee now to come and go between 
 
 Hateful and rank and virulent — I dread 
 
 You spoil the very substance of my dream 
 
 If I can watch I may prevent 
 
 At least find the manner of your measure 
 
 And like a blood-hound catch onto the scent 
 
 If it costs days and nights, and needs some treasure. 
 
 I watched him to the city-front and soon 
 
 His bulky form entered a saloon. 
 
 II 
 
Mystery 
 
 The sun had sunk beneath the sea 
 
 Leaving the burning clouds behind 
 
 His cast-off fire is nought to me 
 
 Compared with that within my mind 
 
 This much I saw, thus much I see, 
 
 Tale of the twofold course of life, 
 
 The kind and beautiful to be 
 
 The direst form of direst strife; 
 
 And as I mused, the ocean murmured low 
 
 "I am the emblem of life's ebb and flow." 
 
 12 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 CANTO III 
 
 It is the evening hour, and fresh ozone 
 Is wafted on the gentle breeze that springs 
 From mountain side; I hear that buzzing tone, 
 A humming-bird is near, with active wings 
 From honeysuckle to the eglantine 
 He moves, and simply does it at the word 
 Conceived by instinct, answering every time ; 
 Great is the mind that formed the little bird. 
 I wish to drink fresh water from that fountain 
 So I will go and visit Hermon Mountain. 
 
 The song was sung, the prayer was made 
 
 And all the ways of grace were found, 
 
 Devotion had its every aid. 
 
 And benediction walked the ground; 
 
 The leader sang a solo, and the choir 
 
 Took up the burden with an ardent vim 
 
 It seemed to fill the tent with sacred fire 
 
 A little bird upon a madrone limb 
 
 Was listening — I wondered if its little mind 
 
 Took in some meaning that was fond and kind. 
 
 13 
 
Mystery 
 
 Love in a bird is love tho' undefined 
 
 And has some motive in the God of grace 
 
 Warbling evangel where one may find, 
 
 Precept and homily and that fond place, 
 
 Where it would seem the spirit waftingly 
 
 Can fill the soul with peace, not homily 
 
 Alone can reach, but that which graftingly. 
 
 Makes us alive to Him who made our day. 
 
 A little bird sitting upon a limb 
 
 May reach the heart, and bring us near to Him. 
 
 Among the choir fond love was measured in; 
 A lovely lady with her golden hair, 
 (For human is the object when we bring 
 Those graces that make summer in the air). 
 The first born flowers of April are of gold 
 I mean the crocus peering through the snow 
 And though imperfect is the form and mode 
 They typify this Lady of the Casino, 
 She sat there like a Scandinavian bride 
 I did not see her lover by her side. 
 
 14 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 But looking to the right I saw him placed 
 Beside a lady who I thought might be 
 The sister of the one we have ju§t traced 
 She had a portion of her imagery 
 Her face was not so perfect and her hair 
 Was what an artist calls a marigold, 
 So I concluded Danish blood was there 
 With a complexion that will not grow old ; 
 The noble youth, if we his place assert 
 Might be put down as young King Athelbert. 
 
 'Tis good to be acquainted when you see 
 
 An object that may better those who go, 
 
 Along the pathway in whose imagery 
 
 There is a quality of right bestow; 
 
 And so an introduction much I sought 
 
 And, truth to tell, I introduced myself 
 
 It seemed quite natural this way to float 
 
 For at a meeting there is no stiff spell, 
 
 I spoke unto them both and others too 
 
 And from that time a marked acquaintance grew. 
 
 15 
 
Mystery 
 
 The heart is fond and may recount this line, 
 When I, who wrote, and they for whose fond love 
 I place my garland that it may entwine 
 Their memory — leave for the land above. 
 How much does perfect beauty beauteous seem 
 When it has truth to guide it on its way 
 If we have nothing but our self-esteem 
 And deem the world is but a holiday 
 We lose that prize of endless heavenly treasure 
 We lose that grace the soul alone can measure. 
 
 8 
 
 I stood upon the steps and saw them leave. 
 The lady gave her hand. Adonis said 
 Some pleasant words — "it would him grieve 
 "If friendship thus begun should go to bed 
 "And fall asleep." He spoke to me with face 
 Honest and true, where I could find 
 His home near Santa Cruz, a little place — 
 A cottage with a Woodbine front entwined, 
 Adding these words, "We live like birds together 
 Within a nest to hide us from the weather." 
 
 i6 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 That evening in the cool and pleasant shade 
 Among the Sequoia trees I lingered, 
 Listening to sounds the sounding forest made, 
 For pensively my mind and riature mingled. 
 It seemed as if the trees, birds, flowers and all 
 Were listening to a pleasant evening hymn 
 And in its measured gentle rise and fall 
 The soul was speaking to a cherubim, 
 When all at once a figure to me neared 
 I started up — the devil had appeared. 
 
 10 
 
 He passed by quickly, glared like one posses't 
 And not a word he uttered as he went. 
 With dreadful terror was my mind impres't 
 Having no knowledge what was his intent. 
 The Lethean river can not be defined 
 It is a stream that evermore is cursed 
 Its waters tantalize nitrate combined 
 Preforms its slackless raging demon-thirst; 
 It therefore took the prayer I silent made 
 To speed along and leave the forest shade. 
 
 17 
 
Mystery 
 
 II 
 
 When evil comes along our joys may fade 
 But not the purpose kindled by love's flame, 
 Before the God of Peace my mind was laid, 
 And presently a gracious answer came. 
 I sat me down and wrote an ardent letter 
 Describing all the scenes that I had seen, 
 The demon man — I could not deem him better- 
 And how so often he had come between. 
 Told all I knew and how I deemed it right 
 To tell of it, when danger was in sight. 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 CANTO IV 
 
 The speckled dove has come from Arazome 
 
 The days are warm and through the night 
 
 The dew falls silently. Love and a home, 
 
 Livens the sanguine birds. The morning bright 
 
 Brings me a letter which now I ope, 
 
 'Tis from the woodbine cottage by the sea; 
 
 It is a goodly note and it brings hope ; 
 
 'Tis couched in gracious words ; the imagery 
 
 Has something mystic that I can not cope 
 
 Like leaves upon a stream you try to grope. 
 
 This noble youth, this lady filled with grace 
 Had come from Alsace near the Rhine. 
 The demon man, with his repelling face. 
 Had been a German soldier in his time. 
 He took a fancy to our lady's mother 
 But was refused; another wedded her; 
 This other was the demon soldier's brother, 
 And since that time it did his wrath incur 
 But why he followed them they could not tell. 
 They had no part in what before befell. 
 
 19 
 
Mystery 
 
 Again I left the woodland shade 
 
 And visited the ocean shore 
 
 I found the cottage love had made 
 
 Covered with woodbine o'er and o'er. 
 
 The charming lady of Casino grace 
 
 Gave me her hand and took my hat, 
 
 I surely found a resting place 
 
 And pleasantly began to chat. 
 
 It is a pleasant thing when thus you roam 
 
 To find Platonic friendship in a home. 
 
 And in this happy social mood 
 King Athelbertus op'ed the door. 
 There like a prince of blood he stood. 
 I did not eye him o'er and o'er 
 But like as I had been his friend 
 I rose and took his manly hand 
 And presently our talk did wend 
 Its way where genial thoughts commend 
 A real measure in that untaught way 
 That makes true life a pleasant homily. 
 
 20 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 They sang the songs I love to hear — 
 The Rhineish songs the Ritters bore. 
 Sometime their passion brought a tear, 
 Their swinging measure struck the core. 
 Then followed many a mighty phrase 
 Of Mozart with his liquid measure 
 And Handel with his song of praise 
 Op'ed up a sacred treasure; 
 The lady moon was shining on the bay 
 And still I drank in music's phantasy. 
 
 And there were measures of the sweet Mignon 
 
 And blending of heroic Aleaste 
 
 And Lohengrin came powerful and strong — 
 
 Love, hate and tyranny in stern array. 
 
 The night wore on, it was replete 
 
 Anon with dark abysmal time 
 
 And then like roses in a bower sweet 
 
 Their odor mellowing the thoughts of crime — 
 
 It was like winter when the stormclouds lower 
 
 Then fresh and fair like April's first-born flower. 
 
 21 
 
Mystery 
 
 'Twas late, the moon resignedly 
 
 Beneath the sea had hid her face 
 
 As if she said consignedly, 
 
 "The stars will occupy my place." 
 
 They sang a song that brought them near 
 
 To sunny scenes of Fatherland, 
 
 And in its burden dropped a tear 
 
 Holding each other by the hand. 
 
 Then each one smiled so courteous and bright 
 
 Entreating me to linger over night. 
 
 22 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 CANTO V 
 
 The summer birds have left the hill 
 Where chicken weed and peavines grow 
 In patches by the fructive rill 
 Or on the chaparral plateau 
 Their instinct and the future need 
 Find a refuge from the weather — 
 A warmer climate there to feed 
 And keep their families together — 
 And so they flit and find another home 
 Among the welkin wilds of Arizome; 
 
 The fructive autumn days are past 
 
 And from the south black clouds appear ; 
 
 The winter speaks out with a blast : 
 
 "I wish to tell you I am here." 
 
 I sit alone within my home 
 
 The fire is burning cheerily 
 
 The sun's gone down, I hear a moan 
 
 Among the trees so wearily. 
 
 I watch the blazing fire, its rise and fall 
 
 Making those changing shadows on the wall. 
 
 23 
 
JMysterv 
 
 O, listen to the wind and rain 
 
 Beating against my cottage wall, 
 
 Bespattering the window-pane 
 
 And singing 'midst the pine trees tall; 
 
 I wonder if the shepherd boy 
 
 Has taken care of all his sheep 
 
 Or if the man they do employ 
 
 To house the stock has gone asleep, 
 
 Or if the people in the woodbine cot 
 
 Are thinking thoughts that mean "forget me not." 
 
 That night the wind blew strong and fierce 
 
 As on my couch I listened to 
 
 The beating rain, that seemed to pierce 
 
 The boards and shingles through and through ; 
 
 The rain came tumbling down the hill 
 
 And in the creek the sand and drift 
 
 Was moving onward with a will 
 
 While sticks of timber got a lift; 
 
 Lorenzo river soon will have a rising 
 
 If this continues that will be surprising. 
 
 24 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 Next morn the storm king did not cease 
 
 Throughout the day it kept on raining 
 
 A famous time for ducks and geese 
 
 Or aqua men that needed training. 
 
 I stood beside the bridge that day 
 
 Watching Lorenzo booming big 
 
 I saw the driftwood borne away 
 
 Old roofs and hencoops and a pig 
 
 That had been boarding near the stream 
 
 With too much water with its board I ween. 
 
 Tempestuous storms have their time 
 
 And sunshine follows in their wake, 
 
 The changing nature is sublime 
 
 Subdued and fashioned for man's sake; 
 
 I walked abroad to view the land 
 
 Old Phoebus shining on the hill 
 
 I felt the comfort of his hand 
 
 And listened to Ahithophel, 
 
 For e'en the blue-jays made a gladsome call 
 
 Mingling with blackbirds, robins, quail and all. 
 
 25 
 
Mystery 
 
 The little globule on the leaf 
 
 Spoke to the sunbeam in its eye 
 
 "My term of life is spare and brief 
 
 But love and light will never die;" 
 
 And the brown leaflets drifting by 
 
 Like waifs upon the yellow lift 
 
 Seemed with the stream to heave a sigh, 
 
 Commingling with the passing drift 
 
 I mused upon the homily of time 
 
 And lingered with my thoughts that were sublime. 
 
 26 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 CANTO VI 
 
 I love to see the mist at break of day 
 
 And powerful Phoebus coming with a gift 
 
 Of glory in his face, drive it away 
 
 His flaming chariot riding o'er the lift — 
 
 While the young morning sings a pulsing song 
 
 Of joy with prestanola touch, 
 
 The scene is masterly sublime and strong 
 
 And graced with beauty of an arder such 
 
 As hands divine can handle and control, 
 
 Awakening the music of the soul. 
 
 The scenes around Lorenzo have the air 
 
 Of fairyland, the spreading maple trees 
 
 That rise upon the sloping bank so fair 
 
 And the green bay that perfumes every breeze 
 
 The graceful birch, the willows growing rank 
 
 The river formed in nature's wanton chasing 
 
 The Sequoia rising on the nether bank 
 
 The jutting point with tiger lilies gracing 
 
 The flowing stream. The rushing storms are past, 
 
 And fishermen begin to make their cast. 
 
 27 
 
Mystery 
 
 Time has its turn and nature great and vast 
 Revivifies. I'll visit where the ocean laved 
 Its melody. I linger with the past, 
 And wonder how the stormy king behaved 
 With those I love ; the little cottage bright 
 With incident within my soul revives 
 And I am anxious more to see the light 
 Shine in the Lady of Casino's eyes, 
 And see again the cottage by the sea 
 With woodbine covering and music's melody. 
 
 I longed to see the ones I love 
 With blest compulsion in my heart 
 Wishing the pinions of a dove 
 Would give me a prophetic start ; 
 But lacking pinions large enough 
 I simply used my horse and cart 
 And took the road, though rather rough 
 Avoiding stones with all my art, 
 And after making quite a muddy drive 
 This child beside the cottage did arrive. 
 
 28 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 I looked around; the blinds were down 
 The storm had reached the cottage door 
 The woodbine looked so sere and brown 
 And naught seemed as it was before. 
 I rang the bell without response 
 It was a lone, deserted place 
 My footsteps made the only sound 
 And no one's presence could I trace 
 Nor find what to me had been so sweet 
 The Lady of Casino and her cheering greet. 
 
 And wond'ring thus with sinking heart, 
 
 A man's voice called and did me hail, 
 
 I turned about with sudden start 
 
 And listened to an untold tale 
 
 He said that some great mystery 
 
 Had happened on the old cliff drive 
 
 And how to find its history 
 
 The officers of law did strive, 
 
 We got aboard my cart and drove along 
 
 My brain was burning, but my heart was strong 
 
 29 
 
Mystery 
 
 We drove along that old cliff drive 
 
 We reached the arch made by the sea 
 
 And there a lonelj' auto stood 
 
 Deserted by its company 
 
 And by this auto on the ground 
 
 Was found the footprints of a man 
 
 And searching round they also found 
 
 A lady's necktie and a fan; 
 
 A crowd had gathered by this time 
 
 For crowds love mystery and crime. 
 
 About that auto, where it stood, 
 
 And the lone cottage by the sea 
 
 There was collected livelihood 
 
 Drawn thither by this mystery; 
 
 The sheriff in his legal way 
 
 Removed the auto from the cliff 
 
 He held a conference that day 
 
 Proposing questions rather stiff; 
 
 And last some good detectives made their stand 
 
 And took the strange set mystery in hand. 
 
 30 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 The sea, the beach, the sounding waves, 
 Are consciousless of what we feel 
 They sing a requiem o'er the grave 
 When they our precious treasure steal, 
 They sing for joy, they know it not. 
 They cry for victims every day. 
 Whether the victim does a crime 
 Or is out on a holiday. 
 Or in despair commingles with the wave, 
 Seeking repose where angry waters lave. 
 
 lo 
 
 I tried to sleep, and through the night 
 
 A vision came before my soul 
 
 It was not dark, it was not bright 
 
 But strangely marked with parabole 
 
 I saw the fair Casinian Queen, 
 
 The demon man I sure did see, 
 
 I saw her face with lustrous sheen ; 
 
 The demon man seemed strange to me 
 
 I thought I saw his form encased in foam. 
 
 And in his hair sea-urchins made their home. 
 
 31 
 
Mystery 
 
 CANTO VII 
 
 Next night I stood upon the cliff 
 
 Watching the moon and one lone star 
 
 It did appear to me as if 
 
 Within my soul there was debar 
 
 Of reason — will and motive slain 
 
 They had no force because my mind 
 
 Could not the Alchyminian gain ; 
 
 Clouds and eclipses can not be defined; 
 
 What made the pious moon with borrowed light 
 
 Kiss with her golden lips the sea so bright? 
 
 While looking on my mind would burn 
 
 And then take on a milder cast 
 
 Assuming the prophetic turn 
 
 That grasps the earth and ocean vast ; 
 
 Whether it was a vivid dream 
 
 Or trance that lifted me away 
 
 I do not know, nor do I deem 
 
 It good to know it normally, 
 
 But this I know I left what did appear 
 
 This earth and was conversant in another sphere. 
 
 32 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 Time laughs at us, poor wanton time 
 That brings our penalty in view 
 It may kill beauty in my rhyme, 
 But grace is ever fresh and new, 
 It places one within the sphere, 
 That gives to life its comely face 
 Bringing celestial pictures near 
 So bright is this celestial grace — 
 What's beauty, grace, or energy or wit, 
 Unless we have the soul to live with it. 
 
 A voice that sounded like a flood 
 Of waters breaking far away 
 Came near to me and o'er me stood 
 And then I heard a clear relay 
 Of trumpets and a voice spoke out 
 "Come to the feast, ye birds of prey 
 "Touch not the meek or the devout 
 "But eat up those that mar the way." 
 A host of angels made reply 
 To Him who had the allseeing eye. 
 
 33 
 
Mystery 
 
 "Mention the name," the foremost said. 
 "What name?" I said — my heart was still. 
 "The name of Him who raised the dead 
 "And ruleth when and where He will" 
 (I said the name, then all was changed.) 
 'Twas not the sun that brought that gleam 
 That in and out my being came 
 With its deep joy it did not seem, 
 Of earth but was a heavenly flame. 
 Earth has its joy, that time may wed away, 
 But this is joy that links eternity. 
 
 6 
 
 Then Came the Summons: 
 
 "Stand forth, strong angel, with man's fate 
 
 "Sound on the earth the fatal call 
 
 "The flesh of captains must be ate 
 
 "Stand in the sun and on the wall 
 
 "Let buzzards sit, they have their store." 
 
 Remorseless is the tiger's jaw 
 
 The fatal savage waj's of yore, 
 
 That kings are wont to call God's law — 
 
 This is the penalty. When done release 
 
 The blessed Jordan dove of peace. 
 
 34 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 CANTO VIII 
 
 Love keeps no reckoning of wasted time 
 
 E'en tho' vile hate contaminates its way 
 
 And yet I hold that all abortive crime, 
 
 Can not prevent its all efficient sway 
 
 So time went on some two weeks from the day 
 
 The mystery took place upon the cliff 
 
 The ocean opened up its progeny 
 
 The demon man was found both stark and stiflE 
 
 His swollen out body lay upon the sand 
 
 He held a picture in his clasped hand. 
 
 I gazed and said "O, my prophetic soul 
 "The picture is the lady's sainted mother" 
 I nursed the secret, kept it in control. 
 The man who married her is this man's brother 
 But why and wherefore he had come to this 
 Was mere conjecture, why he followed up 
 The Lady Casino with a serpent's hiss 
 And he himself had drunk the bitter cup, 
 I leave it to detectives to unwind the turns 
 Men of research like the detective Burns. 
 
 35 
 
Mystery 
 
 They questioned me, I told them what I knew 
 They wrote it down, they called on me for aid. 
 As time went on, time with the mystery grew 
 And kept its sway at last was laid 
 The case upon the shelf as autumn's gain 
 Is laid in store till rugged winter comes 
 Waiting for consummation of the same 
 That hidden things might come out true and plain. 
 The cottage home, the cliff, the restless sea 
 Were music uncompleted, that would be. 
 
 36 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 CANTO IX 
 
 The spring is past, the flowers of June have come 
 The fruit birds hop around on every bough 
 Youth and the day comminglingly are one 
 And the rich roses say, "Look at us now^." 
 I have a letter from a far off friend 
 A castle on the Rhine in old Lorraine 
 There is music in its vi^ords for they portend 
 The mystery made very clear and plain; 
 On it are placed both strength and love 
 A lion in protecting a white dove. 
 
 The Lady of Casino and her friend 
 The duke of Athelbert are now made one 
 Like double cherries they are now one end, 
 One purpose and one will. — This is the sum 
 The demon man had watched them day and night 
 They deemed it prudent, so they made a plot 
 They could not keep far from his searching sight 
 They left their auto in the very spot 
 Where it was found, leaving a necktie and a fan 
 That they might mystify the demon man. 
 
 37 
 
Mystery 
 
 He came along, saw what had been done, 
 And in his frenzy leaped into the sea. 
 They were quite sad to think it run 
 This way; and Athelbert and she 
 Left secretly, and landed in Lorraine 
 And there they were united ; the news came 
 Of the fell tragedy, and although not to blame 
 They enjoined secrecy, because their name 
 And what took place if published would create 
 Sorrow on others for the poor man's sake. 
 
 Life may be tragedy, but there is One 
 Who holds the secret of the way of living 
 Who guides the elements as does the sun 
 W^ho pardons our misdeeds, whose heart is giving 
 Life love and strength to every willing soul, 
 Who turns our passions, leads us on the way 
 Who gives us power to practice self-control 
 Who gives us hope, and turns our night to day 
 And if we place our daily life within his sway 
 Demons may follow but cherubims will lead the way. 
 
 38 
 
The Lady of the Casino 
 
 EPILOGUE 
 
 Gerrnana 
 
 Land of the beautiful and free, 
 This double tale is meant for thee. 
 Sweet maiden with the golden hair. 
 Land of bright youth, without compare; 
 The demon man who breathed thy air 
 Will die with urchins in his hair. 
 But as the bud springs from the tree. 
 Sweet flowers of troth will come to thee. 
 And He who marked the sparrow's fall 
 Will give thee songs Ahithophel. 
 Then shall the Rhine resound thy praise. 
 Deeper than songs the Ritters raise. 
 And warbling birds upon thy banks. 
 Will symphonate a note of thanks. 
 The wafting air ivill give a tone 
 From God's life-giving rare ozone. 
 And nations luith their hand and heart 
 Extol thy life, thy love, thy art — 
 Will live with thee, — while time's increase 
 Will chase out time, for time will cease. 
 As the strong angel merging sea and land 
 Gives out his counsel, and extends his hand. 
 
 39 
 

 
 
 o V 
 
 ^0 
 
 . o > 
 
 
 
 
 O > » J