, 1885-05-24

INC uuIoo-ullNn lOlu the UulleI llhI -
would DO tht Lords mussy if llttlo
master didn't 20 mad; he made her
blood stand on end and her hair run
cold with his queer ways"
But when he saw her that night and
looked his plea, for he had never spoken
to her, he saw that such a Relationship
was quite out of the question. She did
not mock him; she was not disdainfui;
she only looked at him through the
water with her wide green eyes, which
said "Wait.'
lie could not guess at il, but he nc
cepted the eason Of her refusal and
was quiescent. illi III EIDE
After all, one shouldn't have wanted
her for a mother, this strange woman
who was not old or young, and who had
not yet come up from the sea but still
looked through the wakes. Ono
wouldn't wish a mother who was wet.
d His life had centered SO much about
this painted Venus, that she was much
more real and living to him than his
father, who so rarely spoke to him, the
maids, or, later, the tutor who taught
him things. a great deal Of Grecian
history and mythology which he remem
bered, and a great deal Of science which
he forgot. For his life never changed
its course, but was each year as
shadowy, as grave and still as
he had always remembered it.
Every evening he was taken to the
library, and as he grew and learned and
wanted his pictured goddess to be his
mother. playmate. sister, friend, her
eyes said always wait" And he, not
knowing why, yet waited.
After he reached his majority his
father died, but that in no way affected
his existence, only now he lay in tho
great chair In the library alone, and 10
one read by the shaded lamp
Something strange had been growing
within his inner nature Of late for some
months past he had been experiencing a
change that he could not analyze, and
the painted eyes said nothing now They
repealed him. yet with a repulsion that
allured.
AS he lay there on this stormy No
Yember night he was very fair to look
upon, and yet
His head was rounded and covered
with the close thick rings of light hair
that the Greek athletes had, and his
face had n curious look Of faded
strength. With all the force of the
features thore was a wanness that made
1t seem almost like q ghost Of the face
OF a strong man. There was a transpa-
rent brown tint to his skin which looked
like paled sunburn, and even his hands
had the same strange likeness to a
flower that has begun to wither. His
throat was round and white, and his
shoulders broad, but below them, alas.
1t is not necessary to say more, you
will understand without all the coldly
qrnaI 1afufla In oil HE lfo ha haI
never taken a step.
Tonight he was sure. sure, with "A
deep, irrepressible excitement, that his
years of waiting were at an end. He
had been carried into the library and
left there alone, without the lamp to-
night, so that only he and those mad,
aspiring shadows wera there together
with the goddess. She fioated calmly
into that circle Of waving, rosy light
which made the painted water CLEAN
liquescent, and she seemed to be about,
after all these years, to emerge from her
foamy birthplace. Her eyes had now a
look Of promise, which said-what did
they sayi He could not quite tell. He
lay still and held his hand hard upon
his heart. What artist had painted her
he wondered no had put her there to
mix with all his life like this7 Why had
she followed him with her eyes all these
years, saying something with them that
he could not TRANSLATED
One thing he knew, he loved her; at
last he loved her, moi rs men love who
have loved many things, but with the
entirety of a soul that has been an hun
gered and athirst always, and is filed
full TO overlooking with honeyed sweet
ness and perfume at last.
At midnight there arose a great cry of
vast anguish and surprise, and when
the butler. and footmen came rushing to
THE room it was dark, the fire dead and
coldly white with ashes, n chill wind
blowing in from the open window, and,
what was very curious, by the side of
the empty chair where their master had
lain, were a few broken, crushed
anemones, which were crimson as blood.
P E e = - = >
It was hoped at first hat the wretches
who had kidnapped the unfortunate
young man would demand a reward for
his return, but lie probably died from
the shock and exposure, and they were
glad to be quiet about the whole matter,
though there was 1000 pound sterlings
reward offered by his lawyers for any
evidence leading to his discovery,
either dead or alive.
At all events, the grave, somber
house never saw again the fair Greek
head, but in the deserted, darkened
library the yoluptuous, oddly fore
shortened Venus still smiles through
the green water with the look in her
eyes of a woman who has triumphed
after long waiting.
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