Sacramento daily record-union., 1889-09-01
4 RANDOM SHOT.

'AS santa NANH -uOuuldluS. Ear from the
haunts of men and noise of work, these
campers, known as society folks, sought
rest and quiet, and mountain air that filled
the lungs with nealth-giving ozone. In
the winter they "folded their tents like
the Arab" and stole away, not silently bv
any means for more chatty lot conductors
of the narrow gauge never heard. But
this was only August, and those in the
city were being grilled. The mercury
stood in the shade one hundred and odd.
and if Mercury sat in the sun he would
surely so up and over. So the tents of the
fortunate ones were all occupied by those
who wanted to lie down in green pasture
or beside still waters" ard cool off,
On this fair night, from the open door
way of tent, came sounds of mandolin
music, mingled with the light tinkle of Il
guitar, accompanying a sweet soprano
voice singing, Love, | will love YOU
ever The sweet voice, echoing through
the aiSleS of the dim old forest reached
the ears of pretty, slim maiden who was
standing, disconsolately, near tent further
down the glade. She was the niece Of the
wealthy Mrs. Tarquin of the Bay city.
who, with her two daughters Pet and
Lollie, were doing the Bohemian, but
mingling with it as much of city pleasure
as the seaside resort of Santa Cruz afforded
Paula was dependent on their bounty,
and being pretty girl, Mrs. Tarquin
| thought it best for her to remain at home,
most of the time, while Pet and Lollie
| were in the market, anyhow. To her
| frIn lSHS ha 10 % sE l. !
lcate to mingle in the dissipations of So
c1ety like my two ruddy, healthy Great
ures. Paula was so like my dear fragile,
dead sister Viola, must of necessity keep
her hothouse plant" Her friends only
! thought how kind and considerate she
was.
Paula listened to the merry chat and
| laughter and music from the other tents.
But it all only made her feel more lonely
and sad, and as if life held no good things,
not even love, for her.
Her auntS and cousins were In Santa
Cruz without thought of how lonely she
might be. The tears weled up in her
pretty black eyes and rolled down her
cheeks. She brushed them aside impa-
| tlently and entering their tent she picked
up her bow and arrows thinking the night
was so bright she might practice firing at
the target on a redwood near. Her light
step made no sound on the soft-moss carpet
or fallen pine needles. When she reached
the tree the moon had risen over the pines
and made this sylvan spot Eight as day.
The curves and windings of the hills were
cast in rich, dark shadows. or thrown into
shining relief. The trails and paths seemed
| paved with silver.
Paula stood, fair Diana, her hair hung
in curly mass over her brow. Her ewes
| were bright from the recent shed tears. but
! soft and dark as purple pansies; her form
shapely and wiLlowy in the simple blue
flannel, the full sleeves of her blouse fall
ing away from the round white arms as
she held her bow in position.
viii Leslie was returning from town
along the trail, whistling merrily as he
| came. His tent was half mile below the
Iarquins, but he usually took the short
cut past theirs, and often stopped to talk
with Pet and LolIle. He had never even
caught glimpse of Paula. He was a
young lawyer, with n large practice in
Merced county, and his father was a
wealthy resident of Oakland. So Will
was an eligible party for any fair, fortu-
nate one he took fancy too. As he came
| through the chaparral he heard the whiz
of the arrows and caught sight of Paula.
lie stopped and said to himself, glove.
what lave we here; wood nymph, or
what Will, she is beauty, and what a
steady hand, and her pose is perfection"
He was right. The man in the moon
and the man out of the moon seldom saw
prettier picture. Unconscious of her az
dlence of one, she stood, her cheeks GRIM
| son, her lips parted oyer the white, even
teeth asAshe bent forward to adjust her ar
rows, anxious and eager to hit her mark.
Arrow after arrow sped away, till one
started aside, fell wide of the bulFs-eye,
hit VIII and fell with a soft thud at his
feet. He picked it up and stepped in the
shade as Paula came to hunt for it. A
vain search; and he heard her say, "Weu
/ old arrow, | will find you by daylight !:
you can't hide then" After which she
returned to the tent, followed cautiously
by Will, who wanted to see what tent held
all'thIs lately hidden beauty. He gave a
low surprised whistle when she entered
the Tarquin tent, then resolved to call the
| next day on Pet and Lollie He did so,
but to his immense disgust no one but the
girls were there. Before he left Mrs.
Tarquin came in gushing and motherIy in
the extreme. Dear Mr.. Leslie, how glad
| am to see you"
But Fate was kind, for, before he left
Paula not knowing a visitor was in, came
from her walk Reluctantly Mrs. Tar
quin introduced her, and VIII had eyes
and ears for no one else.
After this it was plain sailing; walks
and drives to the great trees, moonlight
strolls TO where good view of Iona
Rieta" could be seen, and the little spring
that bubbied over the rocks often reflected
two happy faces as they bent over to dip up
the cool draughts. Fourth of July Will
invited Paula to the ball at the Pacific
Ocean House" 1t seemed like fairyland
to Paula. The music, the flowers, and,
above all, the light in Wills blue eyes,
was dazzling to innocent Paula, who was
the personitication of youth and beauty in
her white dress, with pink roses in her
belt.
When resting after the dance VIII took
the little hands in his and said: "Who
would think these hands would wound
friendw
"What do you mean ?" said Paula, try
ing unsuccessfully to withdraw them.
Then VIII told of the fatal shot that had
missed the mark but hit his heart and
made a wound that only her promise of
love and life with him would cure. Paula
was too happy to speak; her love was his
from the tirst but when Will pleaded for
an answer the roses and lily in the recep-
ton room were the only ones who heard
it, except Will. But he was satisfied. Her
aunt gave an ungracious but apparently
willing answer to Wills proposal for
Paula.
"Who would have thought Paula better
than Lollie or Pet" she murmured to her
self; she must have fshed for him hard"
But VIII says ooh no." But
Full many shaft at random sent,
Finds mark the archer little meant"
The wedding was last October, and last
week Mr.. and Mrs. Leslie swan out to the
raft in Santa Cruz bay, so they must be
getting on swimmingly along life's troubled
sea.