The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1891-08-11
eager was he to develop this, his latest and,
IL. 4. LII. E.,naA sui....ss-

the water, the sheen of the lilies, the snowy
beach, all, all were perfect He gazed at 1t
long and earnestly, this devotee Of nature,
but suddenly uttered u startled exciama
ton, and held it close to his eyes. There
was look Of excited amusement on his
handsome face. Snatching up powerful
reading glass he continued the scrutiny.
Good hsavensi" he calculated, "whRt
can 1t. meanW
For there in among the beautiful bios
SONS was the perfect imprint of a face. A
woman's face, with wide open, dark eyes,
moeking light in their depth, their gaze
seeming to be fixed upon his face. To the
casual observer ii would seem but one of
the white flowers, it was so tiny, but by
the aid of the powerful magulfying glass
every feature was distinctly visible.
Amazed, perplexed, Kershaw could but
gaze and wonder Suddenly bethinking
himself, however, he laid aside the picture
went down to the beach, entered his boat,
and rowed quickly to the bay. A minute
search revealed no trace of his "liiy maid /"
nor signs of human presence, save few
marks In the sand, which might have been
those of human feet or might have been
those of an animal
He, WINS convinced, however, that he had
surprised some bathers, and one of
them had hidden herself among the lilies,
little dreaming TINT her face would be visit
BILE in his picture. Returning to the house
he questio ed his hosa as to the inhabitants
on that side of the lake, but found there
were no houses for miles. She must have
been a member Of some picnicling party,
and there was no use of further question.
ing.
After that Kershaw's interest in pho.
Biography began to wane, and in a short
time he returned to Chicago. He half
ruined his eyesight In impressing every
! feature OF the beautiful face upon his
minds eye, and began a persistent search
for this original
/ A year went by. and everybody, that is
among his friends, had come to notice the
quick, searching glance he would always
| give every new face presented to his notice.
He had therefore always said he was too
busy to attend public gatherings, but now
| he went everywhere. When he could get
away for few days he ran over to New
| York and commissioned a first class artist
| to paint an enlarged copy of the photo.
| graph, caueioDings him iealously to let no
one see the work until he himself had
| viewed it.
I Six months passed before he was again
In the city, then his first visit was to the
artist Van Alstyue's studio. cry of de-
| lighted surprise escaped Kershaw,s lips as
his eyes rested on the exquisite production
'Persecti perfectl' be cried, to the artists
unqualified satisfaction.
| Every feature of the cold looking photo.
graph had been reproduced in living colors
and with marvellous faithfulness But the
face was the masterpiece, and Ronald
| heart throbbed with n lovers rapture as
he stood entranced before it.
"What can say9 he asked after long
silence. -.
! ."Tbat have succeadadT
ever repay YOUR
by letting me hang the picture at the
! approaching art exhibition
| For an instant an indignant refusal trera-
bled on Kershaw's lips. Then the thought
came, Might not such a course result In
/ the discovery Of the original lily made,
and he gave a cordial consent to the plan
I Then, having ascertained the exact date oil
the exhibition, he gave one more long, 10y
ing glance Mt the sweet face and returned
to his tiresome lawsuits.
I These he prosecuted with such vigor thai
he fonnd himself free In time to reach New
| York the day Of the art. opening, The pic
ture had been given the most advantageous
position, and from the first attracted much
attention,
j have told how the scheme had been
thus FAR failure. OF all the thousands
who had viewed it up to the last day nc
one had shown a sign of recognition, NJ
one had seemed to have ever seen 10 before
Disheartened and railing at himself for tn.
fierce love he had come to own overmns
tered his sense of Judgment, Kershaw enter
ed the gallery ON the Last daV
This should be the last attempt, he was
firmly resolved, II today afforded no clew
to the mystery he would take the picture
go home and wait, trying by hard work tc
dull the pain OF wasted affection. The
reader cannot be more Disguised with the
man of law than he was himself Why
could he not have fallen in love in a natu.
raj way with some pretty girl of his ac
quaintance. instead of waiting all these
years to lose his heart over face so mys
teriously produced by the camera2
He asked himself this last question many
times that day as he watched the surginu
crowd, and was mentally pronouncing it
unanswerable when. as he was leaving the
building, he slipped at the top OF the steps
/ and came down most ungracefully at the
feet of his lilly maid.n Dazed by the dis
coyery, he was gathering himself up slowly
when two pairs of hands seized hun and
quickly set him on his feet, while well
known voice exclaimed, Nov, Ronald, II
you are only blessed with broken bone OF
some sort you can see this precious city,"
No broken bones, thank you, uncle, y
he replied shaking hands with the fins
looking elderly man who had spoken, and
also with a younger man whom he called
cousin John.o
] 'Area't you going to speak to your
other cousinfn demanded his uncle, iudi.
eating the fair girl. who had been an
amused spectator of the scene.
"Other cousinf" in a bewildered tone.
! "Well, not strictly SO, because she be.
longs to my wife's side of the house. Lois
this is Ronald Kershaw, of whom yol
have heard US speak SO often. Miss Lois
Hunt Ronald, by the way, we are just
going into the gallery to see painting
which friend tells us has Lois face in it, y
: Turning, Ronald re-entered the gallery
with his new found relatives and piloted
them at once to the pictures. A cry of sur
prise escaped Lois Hunts lips as she
scanned the scene.
81 was wondering where had seen you
BEFORE" WINS her only comment as she