Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1891-04-03

out, and where could 1 see her again?
for see her / felt 1 must.
1t is a strange confession to make. but
before t%wcnty-four hours were over I
was des porately in love with the un-
known original Of my prize. That we
should meet egain some day 1 had nos
the slightest doubt. Kismet!
But after all would it DO right to
send this picture-her picture-iuto tho
competition 10 be criticised. admired
freely. passed from hand to hand, then
reproduced and sent broadcast over the
length and breadth of the whole coun-
try?
Why not, when this might he thevery
means Of bringing rs together? Ard
then / thought how I should persuade
her that my wish to find her out had
overcome all %scruples, and that with tho
seeming liberty which 1 had taken l had
shown myself ready TO surre2der myself
her prisoner and await her sentence
for life or deGthl
could hardly waitfor Saturday after
noon to come, and was ia a fever until
the few clouds of tho morcing had dis
appeared and left me The golden sun
shine needed to print tho prize picture.
l watched the frst print with breath
less attention, lest it should be too dark
or ashade too light. And when it seemed
exactly right l removed it carefully and
put it III n dark place. aud laid another
piece Of freshly fumed paper upon the
negative. Then l put The printing frame
ont again on my winjow sill and beg@1
TO f1gs with another ppfrnffva
How it happened I never knew, but
there was a Grassland when 1 turned
to The window the printing frame was
gone.
[ picked it up on the sidewalk-fo~ty
feet below-with my precious negative
shivered into a thousand pieces.
All my hopes now conferred on the ono
print which fortunately / had secured
And oh, the agony Of anxiety that I Went
through in the toling, mounting and
furnishing of that n priceless print!
But it was safely fnished at last and
perfect in every way-beautiful, artistic,
beyond question tho best piece CT photo
graphic work that l had ever done.
SO, in spite Of the irreparable loss of
the negative, l felt almost happy, for
with this | would surely accomplish my
double purpose. 1t could not fail to win
the prize-a small tribute to pay to my
unknown darling's beauty. And it
would also be the means of bringing US
face to face. For the picture must GER
tainly find its way into the hands of
some Of her family or friends, aud she
would hear of it, see it, be u little indig-
nant perhaps. But her father CT brother
or guardian would he certain to resent
the supposed liberty, and might even
write to the successful amateur to take
him to task for his presumption; that
was my most ardent desire-the very
clew | wanted. Once l knew where to
find her. and then | could manage all tie
rest.
was radiant with satisfaction, and
was now only keeping the finished pct
ure until | should have n chance to take
a copy OF it for myself; FOR l could not
make up my mind to part with it alto
gether until I had found the original.
L was coming up town the next after
noon, my mind full Of the beauty and
winsome grace Of my fair unknown,
when l ran across my old chum Fred.
1t was the first time I had seen him
since his marriage, and we each had
much TO say.
81 want You to meet my wife, Tom;
I know you'll like each other. She was
as disappointed rs l WAS that your i'll
ness kept you from coming to orr we'd
ding. Are you all right again now?
You look well. Can't you drop in upon
us tonight? We are stopping at the
Buckingham until our house il ready"
Il shall be most happy to-" I answer
ed. And accordingly l presented myself
that evening at the door of their private
parlor.
Fred welcomed me cordially, and his
young wife dropped the roses she wa
arranging as 1 entered, turned and came
forward smiling and with outstretched
hand.
1 staggered backvard-I believe l
should have fallen if Fred had not
caught me by the arm-for the beauti-
ful unknown in my prize picture with
whom l had fallen so desperately in
love was no other than Fred's wife!
what is the matter? You are ill., she
cried, while she LASTLY brought me a
glass OF VINE.
1T is nothing-nothing, I stammered.
81 believe I'm not yet quite strong. l
beg your pardon for being such a fool"
The wine restored me somewhat, and
1 stayed long enough to remove the feel
ing of embarrassment that naturally fol-
lowed after this awkward scene.
When az last l got back to my room l
looked at uly picture eagerly. The same,
beyond the shadow of a doubt. And
then l began to realize the full extent Of
my double loss. Impossible to continue
my alteration Of the far unknown
since now l knew her to be the wife of
my friend, and impossible to send the
stolen picture Of another maI'swife into
. public competition.
l turned the picture to the wall, and
sat for a long time lost in thought. Then
1 seized a pen and wrote:
DEAR FRED-Truth isstranger than fiction. With
this send you the photograph of a fair stranger
who deliberately and unconsciously walked into
my picture when l was or on a photographing
trip two weeks ago. This viii also explain my
peculiar collapse this evening. 10 takes a smaller
thing than such q queer coincidence TO upset a fel-
low when he Is still below par. / know you will
prize the picture, for II is the only one in exist
ence, and the negative unfortunately is broken.