Wichita eagle., 1888-07-08

she prettyf
had walked for soma distance unde1
the cliffs toward Dover. when lol fasi
OF color caught my eye Could it be {
bird of brilliant plumage or a chile
dressed in red, OF young lady with {
crimson hat? 1t was the latteri
She reclined upon the beach. her head
resting upon little bank of sand, and al
neared her l noticed a parasol and {
novel Constancel
| hesitated as to what l should do
Should pass her, and thus turn my bach
upon those artistic footprints forever
No. could not do that.
l slackened my pace, and politely re-
Trained from gazing too rudely until
almost reached her, when turned to have
good look at her face.
Judge my disappointment. however,
when | found that the pretty crimson
sailor hat. with its poppies and plush.
was tilted over the face, obscuring it com
pletely l stopped short and gazed at
her, and was seized with an intense de-
sire to snatch Off the hat, and unmask the
face at whatever cost. But could not
nerve myself to do it.
Ny unknown appeared fast asleep.
What if she should be wide awake. star
ing from under the bewitching little haiti
There was something awful in this
thought; and though am not a coward.
I confess quailed before the mere idea Of
two staring, glazing eyes in ambush under
the hat.
After contemplating such desperate
onslaught. it seemed quite tame and civil,
quite delicate and unobtrusive, when
| down and sketched her as she lay, wash
/ ing her ia grays and crimson
Scarcely had l finished when a sudden
panic seized me- What if she should
awake and come out from under the hat
| like hideous vision! | shuddered at the
thought. and. bundhng nay. paints into
the box. caught up my stool and hurried
away, retracing my footsteps and hers,
rejecting ruefully that, though had seen
her in the flesh. knew no more than ]
did before.
The problem as to her age and beauty.
alas! was still unsolved-
Twelve months later lad painted two
pictures, which l intended to send in to
the academy One of them had desig
mated Day Dreams" 1t was. as you will
have guessed. an exact reproduction of the
fair one whose footsteps l had traced
along the sands at Deal The central
figure was that of fashionably dressed
young lady reclining at full length upon
the golden sand. her hat pulled down over
her face to shade it from the sun. She
was asleep. indulging in day dreams.
while the pale green waves sighed softly
upon the shing}e. md tie white sails of
yacht relieved the broad expanse of blue
Ny friends generally said that the pict-
ure was fantastical, but they all prophe-
sled it would be a success, and some art
critics, whose acquaintance | had made.
thought well of it My friend and col
lege chum, Jack Barrett. though an artist
himself. was ecstatical over it. What
sport he and had in our studio about it,
We always spoke Of it as Dreamy Con
stance. and we made hundred gnesses
at what sort of facial expression was
under the sailor hat
The lst of May had come and gone My
pictures had been accepted. and. what is
more important. Day Dreams" was hung
On the line
Walking leisurely about among the
throngs of people. his hands clasped be
hind his back and trying to look like one
of the crowd Of commonplace young men
who bad not picture accepted. was my
self For the greater part of the first
week could not help hanging about my
pictures and listening to what the public
said about them.
one day as ! was standing in the vesti
tule. just on the point of leaving, car
rage drove up and from it alighted a
young lady. accompanied by a gentleman,
perhaps ten years her senior
As they were passing | caught the
words Day Dreams. and turned to hear
what they would say about it
The face of the gentleman struck me as
having resemblance to some one | had
seen before. and the LADY was very beau
tiful-jUst the sort of creature whose
grace and beauty would drive men dis
tracted.
In the crowd at the entrance lost
them, but making my way to where my
picture hung. found them before it. The .
nan was evidently no lover Of art, for hs
he w&s staring about the room in an alb
sent minded manner but the lady was
bending forward intently. with her eye
fixed upon my canvas in manner that
caused me to feel delighted.
was just noting certain points in her
girlish fgure-for. of course, her back
was turned to me. and could not see her
face-noting casually that she was tail,
slender and graceful, with certain pi-
quaint dash about her stylish dress. when
2 man whom took to be d clerk stepped
briskly up and whispered something into
the eur of her companion.
"Oh, yes: III be there Immediately he
ard turning to the lady, said.
Constance. must run away on a matter
Of business Don't move from this place
until l return. SO that shall know where
TO find you
He was walking quickly pas. ms, when
touched him on the shoulder.
why. Musf:ravn. old fellow, can it be
your l cried. for | remembered in mo-
c,ent where | had seen his face before.
We had studied together in Paris Can
DO anything fer you. orr l glanced
toward the stiA averted figure.
Coed heavens Ray. who'd have
bought of meeting your said he. hur
'-S'v Thanks. yea. I'm called away OF
IN important matter: inssoduce yourself.