The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1897-06-19

AAuo " euJOy, DuC the granting VI my
desire had come in such a fashion that
1t gave me not the smallest pleasure.
was desperately tired, and my nerves
were in a state that rendered all en-
1oyment impossible. I used to lie late
IN the mornings, for there was nothing
to do but wander idly on the prone
made, and the trivial pleasures of the
crowd vexed me u%nutterably because l
could not share them. It was only at
night l realized that possibly this irk-
some time of rest was bringing me
nearer to the recovery of my health.
Then I used to wander until all but the
latest Of the visitors had left the prom
enade. It was impossible not to be at
rest.
l had been perhaps a fortnight in the
place when first I saw the lady of
whom I would tell you. 1t was only
for a moment, as she drove past in the
company Of an older woman, but that
moments sight was enough to fill my
thoughts until I saw her. again upon
the morrow. She vas beautiful beyond
all words; I fancied she could hardly
have passed the age of twenty; and
speech and hearing had been denied
her. She had the innocent gladness
that remains while they are yet young
with some who are thus afflicted. She
looked upon the world with beautiful
bright eyes, and. in spite of fate, was
we'll pleased to be alive. But she was
talking with her fingers to the elder
lady, her companion, in whose eyes as
they looked OF the girl I saw an in
finite pity expressed.
That pity instantly invaded my own
heart, though its object was gone out
of my sight within a few seconds of
her appearance; and, despite the fact
that I knew not so much as her name,
there was mixed with the pity a
of angry rebellion against the fates
who had thus afflicted her, wantonly
robbing of its value a generosity that,
through her, might otherwise have
gladdened the wide world. I could not
refrain from laughter at the emotions
SO suddenly aroused in me. l might
have been her lover, and this inability
W uCd4 VI W SpCdh q N01OA4AIy AuAIC
newly fallen upon her.
Now, more than ever, I regretted my
loneliness, for I had no one from whom
I might expect to gather any informa-
ton as to her identity, nor was there
any hope Of my gaining the privilege
of her acquaintance. I made some fu-
tile inquiries at the hotel, and only got
so far as to be almost certain she was.
like myself, a visitor.
On the next day, at about the same
hour, the carriage passed along the
length of the promenade. She was
still i%nnocently glad to be alive, con
tent to accept her burden as If it were
no burden at all; it vas with smiles
she looked into the plying eyes of her
companion, and I could fancy that the
messages she was conveying with
swiftly moving fingers were humorous
appropriations of what she saw around
her.
My earlier questions had been ad-
dressed to a quaint, elderly waiter at
the hotel; a man who had in some sort
made it his especial task to see to my
well-being, and who was the nearest
approach to a friend I possessed within
a hundred miles of the place. 1t hap
pened that I was lunching at the open
window one day when the carriage
passed, a little earlier than usual.
"That is the lady of whom I was
speaking" I said to him.
He looked out of the window with
quick interest. "a dear little maid, If
1 may so. Yes, and the poor dear is
deaf and dumb; she's talkin' upon her
fingers. Well, to pass along the prom
enade, and so my thoughts were al
ways busy, whether with anticipation
or remembrance.
Never once did she fail me: never