The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1888-04-21
MY FAIR. UNKNOWN.

The quaint, old-fashioned little town
of Deal is one OF the quaintest places
on the Kentish coast. True, 1t pos
sesses tiny stone ietty, at the extrem-
ity Of which a beacon flashes through
the night, but no gay prcmenaders pace
1ts asphalted parade, no cockney chill.
dren dlsporG themselves upon It's beach,
and the burnt-cOgk minstrel is there
genius almost unknown.
Here found myself three summers
ago whilst on sketching tour. had
"done" tho town, washed in the sea
In every mood, smeared, sketched,
daubed, and spattered until there was
not stick or stone in the place that
had not found its way into my sketch
book.
On the last day Of my stay saun-
tered down to the beach with the lazy
gait of a man who has done his duty,
my camp.stool under my arm, my box
Of tools In my hand-nOt that l set out
with any distinct purpose of using the
same, for had exhausted the sea and
my own capacity, but simply for the
sake Of comIanionship. l confess /
was growing trifle lonesome. Nature
sometimes bored me.
AS stIolled along, rejecting with
satisfaction that 1 would leave the
field with clear conscience and empty
paint-tubes. a rock lying in peculiar
position struck my fancy. AMI stopped
to sketch it. ~
I unfolded my little camp-stoo,. and
set 1t down on tho hard, level sand.
The tide was low, but the stool stood
unevenly, and. glancing down to ascer-
i 1>nk
tilted down into q footprint; and,
looking ahead, I noticed that the foot
prints went on and on, ZigZag, along
the beach, disappearing in the distance
marrow, dainty footprints-a woman's
Feelings akin to those experienced
by Robinson Crusoe rushed over me as
gazed. Remember that had been
for several weeks in this out. of. .the.way
place without another human soul with
whom to commune except my land
lady, and our communlngs were mostly
of sOrdid nature; and here were deli
cate prints OF a personality that might
lead to the most delightful conse-
quencesl
could sketch no more. Gathering
up my baggage, I prepared to- follow
the trail.
am somewhat of a philosOphic turn
Of mind, and as walked along lapsed
into train Of thought worthy the
great Darwin himself.
In the first place, I measured with
my eye the length OF the slender foot
prints, and calculating by the proper
proportions that the foot should be as
long as the distance from the wrist to
the elbow, concluded, about five feet
flve-a good height for woman.
That 1t was woman / knew by the
iringe.like marks where here and
there the long dress made it's delicate
trail. Then she must be slender for
such a narrow foot to support her
weight; besides, the footmarks were
lightly pressed into the sand. They
wefe rather far apart. She took long
steps for a woman, and nothing gives
more grace to walk, to my mind. I
detest these tottering, tripping women.
With the astuteness Of a detective
noticed that the distance between each
two Of the points was Of equal length;
that indicated alertness and tho poise
OF elastic strength, for dreamy woman
would have walked all over the beach,
and 8 weak woman would have taken
uneven steps.
All along beside the Footprints were
other marks. which. after close lnspec-
ton, / knew to be punctured by the
end Of q parasOl. Another good feat
ure, for 1t showed that the unknown
female whom was tracking was not
over-careful of her complexion, and
argued @ commendable absence of
vanity, and q corresponding presence
Of good sense. Bat, nlasl the imprint
or the heel was exceedingly small, and
more sharply cut into the sand than
the toe, making the unmistakable i'm
preston Of the French heel. SO my
fair unknown was a damsel of clvilizt..
tlon--.a slave to fashion, possibly.
AS pursued the tail round the
point at Walmer Castle 1t turned in to
tile white glistening beach above hi 1h.
water rnark, and there discovered
impressions in the toft sand as If
chiselled In stone; the square mould Of
book, small--a novel; there were the
lines Of garment, and the long,
straight line where the umbrella or
paras oil had lam, each neat fold of silk
reproduced perfectly, and the marks at
tile handle where Gngers had clutched
it--lOng, fine marks--a delicate hand.
From this knew she had stopped to
put down her book and paras0l--she
did not throw them down, therefore
she must be gentle land then she must
have stood there and gazed out ct the
sea for a long time.
How did know th,sp From the