The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1883-09-05
PEARL WYLEN.
Ry GUssrE E. WORD.

the chords tremDle anu Nlo."'0
der the touch of the nimble white
FINGERS Pearl Wiley, the young
coyerness. forrets her littls charges
Standing motionless by her side, and
sitting with her dreamy blue eyes
fxed on the glimmer and glisten OF
tba waves out on the beach below,
She nlavs as one entraced with the
Wild witching symphonies OF heI
own creation, that seems to rise and
fall svmpathetically with the WIG
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 color
;nos on sea and sky. A shaft from
the sunset strikes through the lace
curtains. and circles the queenly
head a coronal of gold.
"Iisten. Alice; who ever heard
ANYTHING 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 Efie's goyerness and just
think. Paul. she is only Is, whole
wear younger than | am, and has to
teach for a living And yet almost
envy her. for she has the lovellest
face in Aylmer's Rest
"Come in and introduce me; you
have aroused a great curiosityito
see.this paragon of loveliness."
@Oh Paul. / dare not" and there
Is genuine dismay in her tones
Mamma would indeed be very
angry"
arm through his, fairly draws heI
into the room.
Miss Wyley, my brother, Paul
Everson. :,
Pearl looks up from her suddenly
aroused day dreams to encounter
nair of the blacklist eyes she has
ever seen: but her confusion is only
momentary, and arising with a hall
naughty grace she bows ever SC
slightly, entirely ignoring the out
stretched hand.
Only a few commonplace remarks
mass between them. when Pearl finds
some trivial excuse for taking hersei
and her young charges from tht
room. Paul's eyes follow her will
a strange light in their dark depths
The poor child So young, Sc
lovely, and so lonelyW
The tone is exquisitely tender, anc
strikes Alice as something more thar
pitiful. :.
.'Oh, Paul, don't firt with her Y
she says, half pleadingly. Mamma
would dismiss her instantly from
the house" !,
"Flirt?" There is an angry fast
in the eyes now. "Who talks of tiirt
ing with her ?"
Some hours later Pearl Wyley goes
TO her room, her heart beating
strangely, and on her way she passed
the library. The door is ajar, ano
reveals a full length portrait of Pau
Everson.
How often she had stood befor,
that gilded frame, gazing on the darl
handsome face and the flashing eyes
that seemed restless even on canvass
till every line and feature was as ia
miliar as the face of her dead moth
er. And now her ideal has come il
flesh and blood, infinitely handsome
than the picture +; what wonder tha
her young heart beats fast, anc
paints its blossoming roses on he
pure white cheeks?
There is to be small social gath
ering that evening, and Pearl is Il
play a long, weary round of waltze'
and quadrilles. As she goes up t.
dress she finds a bouquet of exquisit,
white rosebuds, their creamy petals
half unfolded.
"Hnw kind of Alice"
Three of the smallest find a nest
ling place in the waves of her COLDER
hair, and after donning a dress o
same soft gay material, she placeI
another cluster in the lace at be
throat.
The delicaete pink tinge is still il
her cheeks, the sparkle in her eyes
as she entered the parlor by a side
door and takes he seat by the piano
which faces the conservatory, and i:
half hidden from the dancers by tai
vases filled with ferns.
Paul soon wearies of the dance
There is only one face there he care.
TO see, and it has been before nj
vision all the evening, though th
tail vases have been so artfully ar
ranged to conceal it. After awhil
he slips away from the dancers anC
enters the conservatory and standing
behind a branching azalea tree
watches the face that shows abov
the top of the grand piano. Th
flush and sparkle is gone, and Pearl
face is as white as the rosebud at he
throat.
How tired she must be :" h
murmurs with yearning tenderness
and he stretches out his strong arm:
as though the impulse is strong t
clasp her in them for all time
Is his gaze magnetic? Just the
the weary player looks up and catch
es sight of the dark face framed il
the branches of the azalea tree, an,
catches, too, all the eyes expires;
There is a crash upon the plan
keys, and Pearl slips down upon tn
floor, upsetting a rare vase in be
fall.
How thoughtless of me to fright
en- her sol"
Paul rushed from the conservatC
ry, but Others are there before hin
1T is only faint, says Mrs. Ey
ersan, "the room is warm, and sh
has played too long. Alice, ca
John and let him carry her too he
room.
Call John?" echoed Paul, sarca.
tically. Are there no men her,
that you must call a hireling?" Anc
disregarding his mothers frown,
gathers the slender from In h
arms and strides off like an angr
giant.