Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1879-10-23
JACQUEMlN0T ROSES.

object to Adrian, in whom there was
neither spot nor flaw? The man selfish.
~ wanted to keep the child himself, and
after him the deluge! Yes, it came
about in this way. He had adored he1
so long. At first at such an awful dis
lance" the desire Of the moth for the
STAR" her uncle Redmond used to call it
in his evil way; but another person
mig ht have said it was the pure and ar
dent passion of a young soul for its
counterpart. And certainly that ex-
quisite being, so fair, so frail, half hui
man, half seraphic, was only the coun-
terpart of this fiery, turbulent boy, 50
strong, SO tender, too, for all the vehem-
ance of his impulses, so noble and so
lofty in his ideals. OF course no Young
girl of Elias age could have looked at
his face, could have heard his voice, and
not have felt strange attraction, for
his beauty was as extraordinary as the,
sweetness of his tones.
"Beautyl" growled the uncle Red
mond, when some one said 90. "He looks
like the child of IN organ grinder.
Doubtless he was f!ched by some pa
drone from some peasant"
"And what of that?'' said the aunt
Redmond, fully in favor of the affair
Some people might prefer to be the
children OF Roman peasants, with all
their Roman history ond ancestry be
dren of parvenus here"
:Tooral-looral!' was the reply-a
customary one in such cases.
But little Ella did care whether those
long black lashes darkened the eyes of
Roman or Saxon-they were Adrian 8
eyes, her lovers, the only eyes that had
ever looked into hers, and the light of
the world was in them. 1t was not her
beauty after all, that touched her heart:
it was his 9ersonality-himself.
As for Adrian, he had seen the girl
coming into church, had met her at
college festivals, had watched her walk
ing in the gardens. He knew her name
and often strolled under her windows;
once, indeed, he sent band there to
breathe out music in the soft dead dark
of the night, and Uncle Redmond growl-
ed something about throwing the Revis-
ed Statutes at their heads, till the aunt
propitiated him by wondering if the
serenade was on account of his great
work on the Civil Code. But ali this
was at q distance. He had not dared
approach her; had not dared to speak to
her; had not dreamed of following her.
But one sunset, in crossing a public
square, with the shadows of trees dark
eniug The walks almost to twilight, he
saw her moving hurriedly along Just be-
fore him, themselves the only people to be
seen in the square. "She does not
touch the earth, she floats" he said.
But as he though t it, drunken creature
started from the shadows and reeled up,
leeriug into her face, while she shrank
back with slig hit, sudden cry. With a
bound Adrian was there; his arm fell,
and the offender assuredly touched the
earth, whatever Ella did. Then he bent
with bare head before her half an instant,
stood aside for her to pass on, and follow
ed again, only at respectful distance.
She was coming down the steps from
the presidents reception when he next
saw her, her uncle waiting for her below
her aunt seldom going out in the COL
lege society. President Rex always gave
rather gorgeous receptions, though, 80
far as flowers and music went; he feast
ed the spiritual part, at any rate, and fol-
the rest, let weak tea and lemonade 20
az far as they would. Towering plants
lined the passages and stairways; and as
in her early causes she descended all
alone into the dark, she looked to him,
ascending, like the spirits of the flowers
and of the music behind her. She held
a spray of white roses in her hand. She
never knew what made her-she thought
OF it afterwards, shocked and Mortified
at herself, at her want of maideuliness
and modesty, and her face Redeemed, and
her tears started in the lonely night
but she held out the spray of white
roses, and gave it to him with an en-
chanting smile, and went down as he
went up. And he-he also never knew
what brazen boldness, what wild daring,
possessed him when be stepped to hel
side as she walked home from. church
next day, and said: May 1 give you
my name in exchange for your rose p
And although he bad but introduced
himself, he somehow took to heart the
literal Interpretation of her words, and
in wild, eager, silent way, considering
himself engaged to her from chat mo.
ment, whether she were engaged to
him or not; and grown bold thence forth,
he always called her in his thoughts his
Rose. One day, speaking with her for
after that they often met-he called her
so aloud, and she was in no wise startled ;
it came go naturally, as if she had known
OF course, that the SUN was going to rise,
and this was the first rosy CLEAN of
dawn. Yet following it came little al
formations Of, Joy and terror. "Perhaps
he wound not have dared to call me &C"
she thought, in her shame.faced humil-
iaton, If | had not. been 20 forward.
Perhaps he does not respect mo, after
ALL" And then, in spite Of her trouble,
her heart would bound with gladness
to think that she had given him the
spray, to think he had called her his
Rose.
It was winter az they came to that,
and the skaters were making merry.
She had come down to the Lake with her
uncle, who was Z famous skater; had
bound on her skates, and slid away with
him; had left him to tighten . strap,
had lost him, and had been found by
Adrian, and together they had glded
sway: and then the late afternoon red
dened into sunset and purpled into twi-
light, and they we're skating up the
stream, and leaving al the cries and