The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1880-04-08

reckoning to a shadowy Dante. Agnes
had concentrated the labor, ambition
and hopes of a years application in this
bold attempt, had entered the lists val
iantly for exhibition in the National
Academy of Design, and suffered the
cruel blow of rejection. Beyond was
an Ophelia with yellow hair, who had
shared . similar fate the previous wear.
These lovely heroines languished in the
obscurity of the glass piazza, without
ever having met the approving smile
Of an representative public. Oh. the cold
selfishness Of the world, and the win.
full blindness of hanging committees
and art critics! For the first time AGNES
found the smile of Beatrice insipid,
and her gaze vacant. A doubt chilled
FER heart Quickly she turned the
picture to the wall, and sought the case
ment, gazing forth into the night rath-
er than longer contemplate her own
work.
The piazza, located in the rear of the
noisy avenue, overlooked the houses of
the next street. These residences were
aristocratic in proportion as their neigh
bors were humble. A high brick wall,
bordered by vine of wistaria, inclosed
stable and garden Of the mansion oppo-
site, while brilliant lights within re-
vealed q conservatory to the observer.
The light came through curtains OF silk
and lace in q more remote drawing
room, where the chandelier was visible,
like great golden cone, and slanted
across the conservatory, resting here on
a frond of quivering fern, and there on
a mass of gorgeous blossoms. At the
same time the ripping melody OF q
piano. touched by skillful hand, reached
the ear of this lonely spectator, who
looked down on all this luxury, gayety
and life not so much with q sting Of
envy as a crushing, overwhelming sense
of personal failure.
The night was clear, stars sparkled in
the sky above, and the radiance of a
full moon began to illuminate the city
roofs.
A girl entered the conservatory. ap-
preached sash, and opened it, leaning
out to discover the moon. She wore a
pink dress, with soft white lace on neck
and arms; a jewel flashed in her hair.
Turning aside from the window, her
sleeve caught in the branch of flower
ing plant, she overturned it, and it fell
outside the window with crash OF
broken pottery. The girl uttered a
little cry of dismay, glanced down on
the wreck she had occasioned a moment,
then withdrew her head, and closed the
sash. The plant, an offshoot of the
conservatory's wealth of bloom and
fragrance, remained on the ledge where
it had fallen.
| Now the silk curtains separated, and
gentleman joined her. He was a.tall
and slender young man in evening
dress, with q flower in his button-hole,
and he tossed aside q cigarette as he
approached.
"There is one for whom life is for
tunate," unused the artist. "How
readily I can picture him attaining ma
turity, smiling and good-humored, and
growing old in that charming home,
surrounded by friends!'
The girl had clasped her hands on
the young mans arm, and gazed up
into his face. He responded to this
thoughtful scrutiny by touching her
hair lightly, caressingly, with his lips,
and then speaking, with a careless
laugh:
swell, I have consented to 90 to
Minnesota for the winter, May. Such
nonsense as it is! I should prefer Paris
or Italy,. A mere trifle of a cough, and
all the doctors looking so wise and
glum. They rejoice to secure case,
suppose.
May disengaged her hands from his
arm, and plucked a camellia. Her face
was as untroubled as his own.
81 shall return in the spring for our
wedding, dearest" he continued.
What a weather-roughened giant you
will have for bridegrOomr'
"Henry, take me with you," she
pleaded, softly. "Do not go away all
alone, dear. Let. US be married to-
morrow"
without the Worth trousseau, ma
,aignOsne, and a great receptionP' he
questioned, half mockingly.
"You should be gallant, and say
something about beauty unadorned,"
said May, tossing the camellia at him.
Then the brilliant eyes of the young
man clouded, the rich color in his
cheek paled with the emotion which
made his lip tremble.
"My noble girl! my good little
wifev' he whispered, folding her close
| ly in his embrace.
Agnes Clement witnessed this scene
without divining all its significance, and
tender smile dawned on her own face.
The homely devotion of Sister Anne to
her husband in her cabbage scented do
minions did not touch her. The meeting
of the two young people in the conserv-
atory moved her profoundly. Was not
her artistic taste gratified by their
beauty, the light shed through the silk
curtains behind them, the rosy simmer
of the girls draperies, and the shadow
of exotic plants meeting above their
heads? She remained there mOtionless
long after the pair had disappeared,
her eyes fixed on the fallen plant,
which still rested on the ledge. The
stone-wOrk blanched, in contrast, the
delicate white blossoms to snow, and
the moonbeams touched each petal with
a silvery luster, until the spray resem-
bled the lilies of the Medici chapel in
the Church of SIS. Annunziata at Flor
ence. The plant had been cast out into
the frosty night, to die and be forgotten
in the cold purity of the moonlight,
and beneath the cruel brilliancy of the
distant stars. If she could have res
cued it from such death by stretching
forth her hand, she would have done
so; but she was powerless to avert evil.
Slowly she returned to her room, ex-
tinguished the gas and sought forget.
fulness in sleep. The journal contain
ing the advertisement of Lang & Go.
remained on the floor, where she had
thrown it down at an earlier hour.
Next morning her first thought was