The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1884-05-10
A ROMANCE OF BROADWAY.

A ROMANCE OF BROADWAY.
81 have earned three shillings, York,
this blessed afternoon - | exclaimed,
with Unsurpassed exultation, as
threw down my pen, which l had been
diligently using for four hours q was
penning ''an article" for a certain
monthly" dear reader), pushed my
closely-written manuscripts from me,
and complacently took a yellow cigar
from my hat, which | have made my
chief pocket since my fifth year; the
time, believe, when my discriminating
parents exchanged my infant cap for
the manly castor. Three York shiliings
have | made this blessed day, Heaven
be thanked, and now | can conscien-
tiOusly take q little lease in mine inn.n
Whereupon [ ignited my cigar with a
self-enkindling apparatus, gift from
my considerate landlady-pray Heaven
she charge it not in her bill-to save
her candles, and ascending the three
steps to my window. | seated myself in
my accustomed chair, and forthwith be-
gan to speculate on things external. 1t
was that calm, lovely time, which is
wont to usher in the twilight of the
summer evening. The roll of wheels
in Broadway beneath me was ceaseless.
Bright forms flashed by in gay car
riages! The happy, the gallant, the
beautiful, were all forth to take the air
on the fashionable evening driveL Why
was [ not with the cavalcade? Where
was my Rosinante? Where was nv
establishment" Echo answered
''where?" pulled away silently and
vigorously for a few seconds, as these
mental queries assaulted me; and, blessed
smoother of the troubled, oh, incom-
parable cigar! my philosophy returned.
Diagonally opposite to my window
stands one of the proudest structures
on Broadway. 1t is costly with stone
and marble, lofty porticos and colon
nades. This edifice first attracted my
attention by its architectural beauty,
and eventually fixed it by mystery
that seemed, to my curious eye, sur
rounding one of its inmates! But l
will throw into the story-vein what |
have to relate, for it is novelette, in
itself. l can unveil you the mystery,
lady!
A lady of dazzling beauty was an in
mate of that mansion, and, for aught
know to the contrary, its only inmate.
Every afternoon, arrayed in simple
white, with a flower or two in her hair,
she was seated at the drawing-room
window, gazing out upon the gay
spectacle Broadway exhibits of a
pleasant afternoon, | saw her the first
moment l took possession of my dor
mant nook, and was struck with her
surprising loneliness. Every evening
paid distant homage to her beauty
Dare poor scribbler, mere penny-a-
liner, aspire to a nearer approach to
such divinity, enshrined in dollars
and cents? No! | worshiped like a
publican, afar off. "'Tis distance lends
enchantment to the view" But she
was not destined to be worshiped by all.
One afternoon she was at her window,
with a gilt-leayed volume in her hand.
when a gentleman of the most graceful
bearing rode past my window. He was
well mounted, and sat his horse like
an Arabian! He was what the boarding
school misses would call an elegant fell
low! a well bred man of the world, a
remarkably handsome man! Tall, with
a fine oval face, black, penetrating
eye, and a mustache upon his lip, to-
gether with fine figure and the most
perfect address, he was, what | should
term, a captivating man. His air, and
a certain indescribable CONNIE IL tdut,
bespoke him a gentleman. AS he came
opposite her window his eve, as he
turned it thither, became fascinated by
her beauty! How much lovelier a
really lovely creature appears when
seen through plate glass!' Involun-
tarily, he drew in his spirited horse and
raised his hiatt The action, the man
ner and the grace were inimitable. AT
this unguarded moment the hind wheel
of a rumbling omnibus struck his horse
in the chest. The animal reared high,
and would have fallen backward upon
his rider, had he not with remarkable
presence of mind stepped quietly and
gracefully from the stirrupto the pave
ment, as the horse, losing his balance,
fell violently upon his side. The lady,
who had witnessed with surprise the in
voluntary homage of the stranger, for
such, from her manner of receiving it,
he evidently was to her, started from
her seat and screamed convulsively.
The next moment he had secured and
remounted his horse, who was only
Slightly stunned by the fall, acknowl.
edged the interest taken in his mis-
chance by the fair being who had been its
innocent cause (unless beauty were a
crime) by another bow, and rode slowly
and composedly onward, as if nothing
unusual had occurred The next even
ing the carriage was at the door of the
mansion. The liveried footman was