New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-11-22
PARADISE
BY ISABELLA GRANT MEREDIrIf.

Overheard, dazzle of cloudless sky; be-
meath, sunshine glinting on blue waters, and
white, glstening sands: yOnder, a solemn
company of oaks. gray.bearded and tat.
TERED; never shone u more pitiless light on
. lOnelier shore.
numbered the wharf Eat the adjutant, his
eyes~protected from the glare by pair of
uhbecoming blue glasses-ixed on a black
speck tossing on the waves. his senses uu.
touched by the lnonotonOus swash OF the
tide rs he bent an ear to listen for the
first sound of oars rafting in the rowlocks.
He was lazily enjoying his halt-smoked
cigar. and calculating his chances for I'm.
ishing it before the cOlonels boat yOnder
should pull in.
A boat hook struck the wharf; the adiu.
tant tossed away the cigar and FASTENED to
pocket the unbecOming glasses.
Touching his cap gallantiy, he descended
the water stairs with an alacrity that
strongly contrasted with his previous list.
lessness, and offered the assistance OF his
hand to Sylyie Kent, the coloners daugh.
ter.
The young lady stepped lightly from the
RunwsIe, gave a direction to the orderly,
who had charge Of the big basket Of com.
missary stores. and passed mp the wharf
with the now animated adjutant. who con.
graduated her on the beauty Of the day.
Sylvie shook her head.
Il don't know how it is." she said; "but
no day is beautiful to me here"
circumstances T. suggested the adjutant.
.'Perhaps; though have the best home
with me. 1t is certain that the sunshine is
dazzling. and gold and white and blue are
an over. gay combination of colOrs: but, un.
der il ali. l feel conscious of such a sense Of
profound sadness in everything here, that
it saddens me, suppose. If the shore is
white, it is desolate, and strewn with
wrecks; and how melancholy is the dry,
sOmbre green Of the live oaks! Who would
ever guess it is spring time Think how,
ut home, all the fields are flushed with
tender grass. and starred with houstOnias;
how the mountain streams are babbling,
and the wild white violets are all in bloom.
oh! there one has joyous sense of new
life, a prescience Of the resurrection: here
"all things always seem the same.'"
This flight was quite beyond the adiu.
tant, who could only took sympathetic, and
lit is dull for you here. Miss sy1vie.
There is no society: no wonder you find it
lonely! We must endeayos to be gayer for
They strolled slowly up the sands, among
the bleaching ribs Of old surfboats, passed
n ruined ambulance or two. fitting reck.
lesslv ON q short allowance of wheels.
~
that had q history and y prim row Of NOR
fars smart in fresh coats OF lacquer.
Az the end Of the wooden causewsy
frowued the gloomy fortress. from whose
grass grown parapets rows Of irOn.thr0ated
Columbiads silently menaced. and the bayo.
net OF blue-soated sentinel cleaned sig
hifcantly. The dark. raulte0 gateway
yavned before them. and from it advanced
an orderly. wis halted and saluted the ad'
jutanto
Sylvie waved her hand as her attendant
began an apology: and. with = civil hope
that she should see him later at her fathers
quarters. che turned aside into deep. shift.
ing tostpath that branched away from the
fort, over white sand dunes. painful to the
eyes. and scarcely relieved by occasional
sparse grcwths of tall. coarse reeds.
Scattered rather than clustered, beyond
the glacis, were dozen OF more huts, rudely
built Of dirt.woOd and old timbers wrenched
from dismantled wrecks. Two or three Of
these were distinguished by an attempt at
adornment. which showed itself in glaring
Whitewash on the outer walls. garden-plot
fenced in with stick and stakes OF all Sorts
from the condemned swab-stick to the blade
of a broken garland a trellis of strings
about the door. up which beans were being
cOaxed to climb.
Past the most remote of these white.
washed huts Sylvie was. proceeding idly
enough, with no better affair on hand than
to visit . nest she knew Of among the
bushes half Q mile further on. to inspect
brood OF callOw mOckingbirde, when the
fancy to stop and chat with the inmate OF ]