Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-07-13
PEARL WYLEY.
BY GUSSIE z. WORD.

the twitter of a timid bird; but as
the chords tremble and vibrate under
the touch of the nimble white fingers,
Pearl Wyley. the young governess,
forgets her little charges standing
motionless by her side, and sitting
with her dreamy blue eyes fixed on
the glimmer and glisten of the waves
ont on the beach below, she plays as
one entranced with the wild, witching
symphonies of her own creation, that
seem to rise and fall sympathetically
with the wild throbbings out on the
yellow sands of Aylmer's Rest.
As she sits there in the blaze of the
sunset. her face is all aglow with
beautiful thoughts born of the music,
and blended with the grand colorings
on sea and sky. A shaft from the
sunset strikes through the lace cur
tains, and circles the aueenly head
with coronal of gold.
Listen, Alice; who ever heard any
thing SO beautiful, and yet so weird
Who in this place can play like that? ?"
Have you been here two days and
have not seen her yet? 1t is Eva
and Effie's governess: and just think,
Paul, she is only eighteen, a whole
year younger than 1 am, and has to
teach for a living! And yet / almost
envy her, for she has the lovilest face
in Aylmer's Rest"
''Come in and introduce; you have
aroused a great curiosity to see this
paragon of loveliness."
"Oh, Paul, l dare mott" and there
is genuine dismay in her tones.
Mamma would indeed be very
angry"
He only laughs, and slipping her
arm through his, fairly draws her into
the room.
'Miss Wyley. my brother. Paul
Everson"
Pearl looks up from her suddenly
aroused day dreams to encounter a
pair of the blacklist eyes she has ever
seen; but her confusion is only mo-
mentary, and rising with a half
naughty grace, she bows ever so
slightly, entirely ignoring the out
stretched hand.
Only few commonplace remarks
pass between them, when Pearl finds
some trivial excuse for taking herself
and her young charges from the room.
Paurs eyes followed her with a
strange light in theft dark depths.
"The poor child! So young, so
lovely and so lonelyw
The tone is exquisitely tender, and
strikes Alice as something more than
pitiful
"Oh, Paul, don't flirt with herr she
says half pleadingly. Mamma would
dismiss her instantly from the house. "
"Flirt" There is an angry flash
in the eyes now. "Who talks of hirt-
ing with herr"
Some hours later Pearl Wyley goes
to her room, her heart still beating
strangely, and on her way she passes
the library. The door is ajar, and re-
veals a full-length portrait of Paul
Everson.
How often she has stood before
that ghded frame, gazing at the dark
handsome face and the flashing eyes,
that seemed restless even on canvas,
till every line and feature was as ia
miliar as the face OF her dead mother.
And now her ideal has come in flesh
and blood, infinitely handsomer than
the picture; what wonder that her
poor young heart beats fast, and
paints it blossomjng roses on her pure
white cheeks?
There is to be a small social gather
ing that evening, and Pearl is to play
a long, weary round OF waltzes and
quadrilles. As she goes up to dress
she finds bouquet of exquisite white
rosebuds, their creamy petals half un
folded.
"How kind of Alice!"
Three of the smallest find a nes-
Ting place in the waves other golden
hair, and after donning a dress OF
some soft gray material, she places
another cluster in the lace at her
throat.
The delicate pink tinge is still in
her cheeks. and the sparkle in her
eyes, as she enters the parlor by a
side door and takes her seat at the
piano, which faces the conservatory,
and is half hidden from the dancers
by tall vases filled with ferns.
Paul soon wearies of the dance.
There is only one face he cares to
see. and it has been before his vision
all the evening, though the tall vases
have been so artfully arranged to
conceal it. After awhile he slips
away from the dancers and enters the
conservatory, and standing behind a
branching azalea tree, watches the
face that shows above the grand
piano. The flush and sparkle is gone,
and Pearls face is as white as the
rosebuds at her throat.
"How tired she must bew he mur-
murs with yearning tenderness; and
he stretches out his strong arms, as
though the impulse is strong to clasp
her in them for all time.
Is his gaze magnetic? just then
the weary player looks up and catches
sight of the dark face framed in the
branches of the azelea tree, and
catches. too, all the eyes express.
There is a crash upon the piano keys,
and Pearl slips down upon the floor,
upsetting rare vase in her fall.
How thoughtless of me to fright
en- her So"
Paul rushes from the conservatory,
but others are there before him.
1T is only faint said Mrs. Ever
son; ''the room is warm, and she has
plsyed too long. Alice, call John
and let him carry her to her room"