The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-03-31
THE ANGEL OF THE FOUR CORNERS.
of
Sword

though; were burning with look hard
/ to read.
dreadful story she said.
"Once upon time, at this they all
laughed-'Once upon time" she re,
| peated very lightly, there was a girl, ana
she thought herself beautiful. She USED
to dream of a great prince who would
come one day, and tell her that his
houses, his lands, and ali the riches OF
! his kingdom were for her. She only lived
in a cottage in a village,-but that dion I
matteri She rode in tiny cariole, ana
! she had only a little Indian pony TO take
| her to mass and to market-but that
! didn't matter She was a woman, and a
woman is like a bird, she has WINGS ana
/ she flies where she will in the dreams OF
! the night, and in the quick hours or
! the day, when her hands work ana ner
! tongue is busy. A man may stoop. but
a woman always soarS-tiil man breaks
her heart.
''And SO this girl watched for her prince
/ and when the mist was sweet and nasheu
| in the violet light of summer upon the
river, he did not come that way and when
/ the fields were white with snow IN WIN
/ ter, and all the world was waiting ike
/ the girl, he did not come that way.
And since he did not come to her she
! would go to him. So one morning she
! filled a bag with meat and honey and
dried fruits, and she put on her thlckest
mittens and her little fur cap, and her
great coat of dog-szin fur, ana WOODEN
cloud about her throat-under which was
the little brooch given her by her mother,
which she would wear before the prince
when she found him. that he should see
she was born for the fine things of TINS
world. She had braided a hand with
bow and arrow on one moccaSln ana d
hand with a sword upon the otner
She started forth all alone. she
travelled on and on through thick woods
and the wild hills, and over plains. and
when the winds blew hard she laughed
back at them, and when at night some
thing cried in the trees like spirits beg
ging her to speak to them, sang the song
of the Scarlet Hunter, and the chant of
the White Swan, for she had no fear.
The birds are not afraid till shot from
the hunters gun, or an arrow from ms
bow, strikes into the heart.
She paused and stood looking straight
before her, repeating. the phrase still
again, as though having learned the
tale by heart, she had forgotten some
thing. But she was merely lost for a
moment in scenes which were HaShlnS
before her mind, having for the time,
passed beyond her audience, to the world
where, in despair, ones own soul ices,
and the Angel of the Four Corners can
show US no right of way as We travel
Some girl in the crowd giggled nervous
ly. Another, she knew not why. gave a
quick, gasping sob. Babette, who was
next her, said, You goose, it's only
story
the thread again, lightly, but plaintively,
too.
''By and by she came to a city. It
a
did houses churches and palaces, and
beneath, there flowed a fine, wide river:
Every stone of that city was made OF
gold, and every drop OF that river was
looked at the city. she knew 1t was so.
Whenever she looked at the river, she
knew that 1t was SO. And when she
looked in the eyes of her prince, she
knew it was SO; for they were all gold
and wine, also, and she could have lived
just ever and ever. looking AT those eyes,
Il ltd @1f Ir1 how
and led her out on the lonely Trail of the
White Valley, from which no man re-
turns. Yes, she had found her prince.
1t does not matter where she saw him
first; in palace, or a house, or church,
for she saw him; that was enough.
She was only poor peasant girl, put
he was great man, so wise, so splen-
did, so kind. He said that she was beau
tiful, and she believed him; he said that
he loved her, and she trusted; but when
she threw herself on his breast, and
there came into his face, a strange, pitt
full look. That look broke her heart, for
it couldn't bet couldn't be! She was
only foolish peasant girl, or she would
have known that a prince could never
be her husband. Yet she knew that ne
loved her.
'"Then there came a sad, terrible day,
when all of the great men of the king
dom came together, and decided that she
must go away, or the prince would lose
his kingdom as well as lose her. What
the palace gates. She could not defy all
the great men, who were so strong and
who could make happy or destroy S
they wished. What could she do? But
she saw him once again. 1t was at the
altar of great church. Oh a church
like none any of you ever saw; with
beautiful Calvary above the altar, and
angels with large flaming wings and a
thousand candles burning, and such Won
derful, sweet music. 1t was so she saw
him, and that was their good-by. She
l<O bad into h
same look as when she first heard him
tell his love; and she got up on her feet,
and called out to him, but he raised his
hand at her as though to say, No
never-neverw
The strange searching pathos Of her
voice filled the room, like the eerie music
flush and his fingers tingle, for he was
reading the story of a girls life in the
allegory. Perhaps only he and one other
understood. and that other was the sim
pie Babette. She pinched Antoine's arm.
Cant you understand" she said.
Antoine shifted from one. leg to the
other. ran his fingers through his hair,
and said only. ITS a good story-very
good Bien, she could go on the stage.
Ali Once when I was in Montreal 1 saw
a play. Viola. that was a good play.
We'll. she could act in such play. that
Babette sighed, shrugged her shoulders,
lifted her eyes, and caught Medallion'S
and each knew Of what the other was
Marie now almost breathlessly hur-
ried her story.
80, the poor girl came back over the
plains and over the hills, to her little
cottage home. But she was never the
same again. She laughed when others
laughed, and she was gay, and she dane
ed and everybody said that she had
good times in the world. But you-do you
think that she had? Because, when she
thought of the City now, it was no
longer of gold, and when she thought Of
a,-fx- md xr-iQl al
when she remembered the man, she saw
the great rulers of his kingdom frown-
ing at her, and the hand of her prince
raised as if it said. 'No-never-never!'"
When she finished there was silence for
a moment, so deep. that only the breath
ing of her audience was heard. They
could not read the thing. They took her
story literally, and 1t did not seem so
strange to them, for they were a simple
people; but they were romantic, too,
having in their veins-nor did they know
this-the feeling of an antique time. So
they applauded heartily. grandly. They
one in the parish, not in ten parishes,
who could tell q fine true love story like
Marie. And Alphonse looked at her with
his hungry eyes as though to say were
he that prince, he would have followed
her from that city, and have lost his
kingdonl-and his soul-for her.
The Coming of the Fiddler.
The dance of the Little Wolf had been
a success, and now Medallion hustled in
and out among them, breaking them up
into erroups while they kept calling for