The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-02-11

am poor, paralyzed fellow who for many years past has been confined to bed or sofa. For the last six years I have occupied a small room, looking on to one of the narrow side canals of Venice, having no one about me but deaf old woman who makes my bed and attends to my food and here I eke out poor income of about thirty pounds 8 year by making water color drawings of flowers and fruit (they are the cheapest models in Venice), and these I send to a friend in London, who sells them to dealer for small sums. But, on the whole, l am happy and content.
 It is necessary "that I should de- scribe the position of my room rather minutely. It's only window is about five feet above the water of the canal, and above it the house projects some six feet and overhangs the water, the projecting portion being supported by stout piles driven into the bed of the canal. This arrangement has the disadvantage (among others) of so limiting my upward view that 1 am unable to see more than about ten feet of the height of the house immedi- ately opposite to me, although by reaching as far out of the window as my infirmity will permit can see for a considerable distance up and down the canal, which does not exceed fif- teen feet in width. But, although l can see but little of the material house opposite, can see it's reflection up- side down in the canal, and I contrive to take good deal of inverted inter- est in such of it's inhabitants as show themselves from time to time (always upside down. on it's balconies and at it's windows.
 When first I occupied my room, about six years ago, my attention was directed to the reflection of little girl of thirteen or so Gas nearly as I could judgc), who passed every day on balcony just above the upward range of my limited field of view. She had a glass of flowers and a cru- cifix on little table by her side, and as she sat there in fine weather from early morn until dark, working assid- uously all the time, I concluded that she earned her living by needlework. She was certainly an industrious lit- tie girl, and as far as could judge by her upside down reflection, neat in her dress and pretty. She had an old mother, an invalid, who on warm days would sit on the balcony with her, and it interested me to see the little maid wrap the old lady in shawls and bring pillows for her chair and a stool for her feet, and every now and again lay down her work and kiss and fondle the old lady for half minute, and then take up her work again.
 Time went by, and as the little maid grew up her reflection grew down, and at last she was quite a lit- tie woman of, l suppose, sixteen or seventeen. can only work for couple of hours or so in the brightest part of the day, and 30 had plenty of time on my hands in which to watch her movements, and sufficient imagin- ation to weave little romance about her, and to endow her with a beauty which, to a great extent. I had to take for granted saw-or fancied that 1 could see-that she began to take an interest in my reflections (which, of course, she could see as I could see hers); and one day, when it appeared to me that she was looking right at it-that is to say, when her reflection appeared to be looking right at mel tried the desperate experiment of holding to her, and to my intense de- light her reflection nodded in reply. And 90 our two reflections became known to one another.
 It did not take me very long to fall in love with her, but a long time