The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-06-06

r,sntiy aysreou,e hs shyness to venture On ,
tone II ma pleasantry. and some infinit.-imsl
portion of thu animation whieh he felt found
IL way into his eyes
PROM no one more fairy-hke than Mrs
Wilton herself, | am winterinc i'm Florence
with friend, the laiy opposite US David
glanced aer,ss the table towards a poupous
booking dame. in plum -colored silk dreSS
and have cap, and know YOUR aunt well
MY frs-nd ant | are in venice for short
holiday. Mrs Wilton told us that YOU were
coming 10 the 'Angleterre.' and determined
% look out for YOU You wonder al INV
interest. Well. Mrs. Wilton told me. too in a
tone Of nock s,lemnity--about Miss Baifour.
and Mis- Balfour and happen Ia lie great
friends
What about Mis- Balfourf' askei David,
Auskily. Joyce hal retirei into the back.
ground Of his memory, h. was almost angry
with this beautiful stranger for bringing her
again into prominence. He hal sent away
bis soup plate, half empty, AMI he waved an
impatient refusalto waiter who aIir,arhed
with fish.
oh, you know with gay laugh You
are going To Floren,p in the character II a
conquering hero. Ia carry OH our heiress,
Joyce Balfour,"
The laugh nettl~i David. He colore,l
crimson 1t plea>~ YOU" he sail, crumbling
his bread linpatiantly, AMI speaking under
his breath, ito make merry at my expense.
but You are wrong in your statement.
don't think myself a conquerer hero. am
going 10 Florence a, Mrs Wil,on's request.
to make her nieces acIuaintancs,-n nothing
more. Probably shall not like Miss Balfour;
very probably she will not like me. Mrs.
within has NJ right to make schemes for
9th isolle, without their consent, and then
10 prs'laim thOse s'heins rs crrtainti.s Ia all
the worht'
"lsar, dear she DOESN'T pr,rlaim her
s'henes 10 all the world How fiery YOU
are am, rs sail, friend u the family
it's only natural that Mrs. Wilton should b.
little confidential to me-"
Then the subject Of Miss Balfour wss
allowed 10 drop hut other subjects pre-
sentsd themselves and conversation was well
sustained through the long dinner When ut
last the girl rose, turned 10 her ncishlor
with bright little motion Of the head o.
irtween bow AMI u mol AMI passed out ~
the roonn, in the Company Of the lady in the
plum colortsl silk, who honored the yuun,.
man with searching glance, David was
astonished To remember how yolublc he hal
been, Now that his exertionS were over, he
wondered what 10 do With himself, ami when
he should as the friendly stranger again.
lie hung about the reading rom; she was
not there. He toilesl up a. his bid room
booked up paper and Isncil, and began a son
net Oh pair VI blue eyes, left il unfinished
and wandered out The moon was shining
on the open water before the Riva ,lesl
Schiavoni; the fishing boats with their pictur-
es.lue sails stUL out in silver light. But
David dill not lnger-as he once would have
fingered over the scene, he hurried on To the
frequentssi Piazza Of 81 Mark There he
watched the crowds passing up AMI down.
He did not tell himself that il was in search
Of one face that he scanned each group Of
prOmenaalers or oilers. But, a. in mssinv
one VI the tables before the Cafe Florain"
he caught sight Of the lady who hal accosted
~
coffee and talking with her friend, hc felt
somehow a. II long search hal been ~.
waraed. He raised his hat, and passed on,
bl,,shing like girl when h. received r..
sp0nsive how AMI smile. Then he walked
slowly back down the Riva to his hotel, sat
up late over his sonnet, tore II up in angry
discOntent and fell asleep to dream of AN ami
mated faGe, and pair of bewit,hing, bright
blue eyes.
The days passed quickly II was glorious
autumn weather. Every morning David
visited, in obslience to directions in hi, guide
book, NOME famous churches or palaces, or no
made his way to the studio If a mrlern art
lit. All day long David looked forward 10
the tete a-tete Of the dinner hour. Every
evening he went to the Pazza, and marched
up and down in solitary state, bis eyes con
tinually travelling in one and the same djrec.
ton, or he sought table at the cafe where
he could furtively watch his new friend, who
was pretty sure to IN In sight. When speak.
ing to her, David hal often had at his
tongues tip downright question concerning
her name, hut he hal hitherto b'cn too shy to
utter it. He fully intended To- h. bol,ler,
one day. Meanwhile, in bis Verses
she hal found her way into most IT his
verses written at this periodhe chose, for
some fanciful reason Of his own, TO call her
"Hera."
II turned out that the length Of the girls
stay In Venice was identical with Dayid's;
they were both to leave on the same day
On the last evening In Venice David and
Hera found themselves walking together
and actually unaccompaniel, along tho
Piazza. A strange silence came over tho
young man. lntently almost breathhssly-
he wat,hel his companion. She had drawn
Oh one Of her gloves on one of her fingers
was ring, with forget me not in tur-
Quotss. Davhl wondered, with touch Of
utterly unreasonable JEALOUSY, whose hand
had placed il there.
The silence seemed oppressive 30 the girl.
"Iet IN hurry toward the kiva, and Se the
moonlight on the water she said. MOON
light on water Is the most correct Of all Vc-
netian BEAUTIES
Certainly David tried to shake Of his
tacituinity-t emulate his companions gay
ETY. But the attempt ended in failure; he
was obviously dull and miserable
Oh, the beauty of the evening AN evening
never to pass from David's memory How
grand and solemn the ducal palace luokei in
the moonlight how still was tbe water, how
sweetly came the sound Of singing voices
from the grand canal On the top Of the
steps OF one Of the many bridges on the Rya
both walkers came simultaneously b. stand
still.