Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1895-09-05
y White Rose.
BY 3 MONROE.


She was very young in spite OF her
nineteen years; very young and Of UNI
measured innocence. Yetit was a whole
ear since that day most radiant in her
in her m~emory-the day vixen she had
graduated from the little boarding school
up in the Connecticut hills. She dreamed
It over often now-the golden morning,
enriching the young green meadows that
curved against the sky; the troop of girls
In white-her friends, marching into the
hall aud awaiting the proud expectancy Of
MANY faces; the tremor Ut her heart when
sae arose to read her essay about Happy
Queens" the cruel tears that got into her
voice at the valedlctory climax Of the paper,
as she turned to pronouce the long farewell.
It Wa . great day. good to know and dear
to remember--would she ever again have
8 o much glory?
For the world seemed large and vague,
and she could not find her place in It.
Every one wa kind to her, she did all
that wa appointed of work or play. and
lived gently through well ordered days.
Yet, when she walked out under the deep
sky, her heart would open wide with won
der that could not find words-wonder
about b meaning of Ii, about the cold
vastness Of the world and her own little
ness, about the strangeness of being alive;
or sven . deeper wonder whether she was
really alive a. all, whether this seeming
world was not . panorama Of illusions.
And 60 her first season." as her mother
called it, passed as vaguely as . dream.
She talked and laughed and danced like
in their absorbing dramas, and felt aloOf
from the heroes OF them.
And now 1t was over, and she could have
q quiet summer In the country, and look
out urOn imperious Lake Michigan. while
the sands of its shores slipped through
her fingers. On the whole, it wa pleas
anter to be alone, though she tried not to
feel uncomfortable when her solitude was
invaded. There was Q melancholy gentle
man not far away down the bluff who
seemed to like to talk to her while they
wandered back and forth on the sand. She
scarcely knew what to say to him, he was
80 much older: but her heart went out IN
sympathy to o who was manifeStly an
happy, SO she screwed up her courage and
tried to forget that he Was . man and
an alien. He would look out over the deli
cate waters and sigh, while . far-away
look would come into his dark b rOwn eyes
and then he would tell her that some per-
sons are as deceptive as yonder lake, for
they would be fair and sunny to-day and
tomorrow black and cruel. And she would
wonder why his mind looked out for dark
ness. and tried to make him feel that surely
most people in the world are good.
At last he told her q sad story to explain
his s,ghs, be told her OF thoughts and feel
Jugs which had thrilled her In books and
on the stage. but which none of her friends
| al ever before confessed. Somehow. they
did dot seem natural in the new guise-it
was as though she had crossed the foot
lights to assume q role. There was an aw-
full excitement in the change, but it made
her suddenly aware of rouge and powder,
OF trap-doors and painted scenery. Did
real men and women really suffer such
she to hear of them, watch them, feel them
in the faces of her friends?
They were sitting on the sand together
as he confessed his sorrows. and the wan
ing moon shown full on his face and sill
vered his curly hair. He told her how lie
had beeh in loye, and her heart beat fierce
ly to hear that thrilling phrase from the
lips of a living man. He had been In love
with a false-hearted southern beauty. one
of those m~arauding creatures whose lot
hitherto had been to prey upon heroes of
romance, but whose existence In the flesh
had never been proved to Rose before. 1t
appeared that this unworthy being had
vowed she loved him, but after a week or
two of rapture her ~loyal-hearted lover had
discovered that she was engaged also to
another mana pulling little Creole with
q plantation in Mississippi and a bank &C.
count in New Orleans"
II went to her In q rage, told her she
had wrecked my life-and she laughed at
me-" the blighted lover concluded bitterly.
but did you care for her any more?"
said Rose.
DO you think 1 could get over such a
feeling in q minute?"
Rose felt the injured tone In his voice,
and said, II suppose no. with a wistful
wonder at the power of passion to conquer
reason. ''6he claSped her hands behind
her head" he went on, ..and looked at me
sideways and laughed. And then she said
II can hear her little drawl now But
you know l like you both, Arthur Dune
why don't you fight II out?'"
"Why--she was wicked" said Rose,
horriied. "You should never think Of her
again."
"There is a spell about such women,'
said the stricken hero. .She is my evil
genius / suppose
Rose looked at him with awe tor his
deep experience of life. His sorrowful
face looked handsome IN the moonlight,
darkly beautiful and almost boyish. Surely
he was too young to have suffered so much
perhaps twenty-seven was not such a
great age after all. She dropped her eyes
with q swift shyness, the silence deepened
around her, and she could not think how to
break 1t. What could she say to console
him--a little insignificant thing, ignorant OF
grief!
Suddenly she became aware of two
figures appr0aching-her naighbnr's coach
man and housemaid, out for q stroll. They
would pass In front Of her--what could she
sayP Her point Of view shifted In IN In
slant She was sitting in the moonlight,
alone with . man-what would thew think?
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