The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-01-04
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A Thief by Accident. :
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and then | knew was in love. I
sought my amiable hostess, who greet
ed me with that very expressive word
! of interrogation:
| "Wel7"
Madam, it is very well. never was
so charmed before"
"And?"
Dear madam, | shall win her IL I
can"
! AYE, there's the rub-if"
Madam, shall rub very hard, and
am convinced that If will disap-
pear"
''Are you so very sure?"
| /"You told me, dear lady, that Miss
| Venners age is near thirty"
81 will amend my statement; she Is
! thirty-one."
| "And | am thrty-five, and"
| "As I perceive, the mirror informs
you. that you are very good looking"
You take a lady's privilege, mad
am, always the last word"
"It belongs to me. Go and conduct
Miss Venner to the conservatory. /
give you permission to pluck the fair
est white rose there. No reply; CO."
Returning to Miss Venner after an
absence suitably long, I said: Miss
Nenner, / have our hostess permission
TO conduct you to the conservatory,
and to pluck the fairest white rose
there. Will you go? And will you Sc
lect the rose for me?"
| "The hostess must be obeyed, or the
feast and all else will fail" she replied
as she took my arm.
In my stupidity 1 expressed admira-
ton of a rose that was full blown.
NO. she said: "in choosing a rose
take one just between the bud and the
fun blossom. 1t will unfold; and on
enc of the inner petals, if the fairies
have whispered to 1t, you will read
your fortune. Take this And she
gave me bud whose outer leaves were
half opened.
Now, Miss Nenner,'F said 7, as l
handed the bud back to her, II cannot
read fairy language. You can, 1 am
convinced: therefore, l beg you to keep
the bud which will expand during the
night, read my fortune and permit me
20 call tomorrow and hear the transla-
ton"
She could not refuse. l dreamed that
night that the bud had expanded fill
ing the whole room with it's fragrance.
| Nv dream was most wonderfully and
singularly verified for on awakening
the next morning an odor as of a gar
cen in Cashmere greeted me. L found
that had arisen in the night and emp
tied upon the carpet bed and table
every one of my perfume bottles,
whereat my landlady, l have no doubt,
greatly wondered, but she was accus-
toned to my eccentricities.
In one of the rooms adjoining mine,
with an inner door opening and thin
partition between, there had been for
several months a lodger whose musical
proclivities sometimes annoyed me, cs-
pecially as he was in the habit of hum
ming an operatic air at most unseason-
able hours of day and night So little
of my time, however, was spent in my
room that ! had borne the affliction
| with equanimity and tolerance, which
| probably encouraged him in varying
mis- musical performances TO the extent
| Of practicing on the guitar. This, too,
| had borne patiently, until the night Of
my return from the party where l had
| met Miss Nenner. / heard the tWang-
twang of his guitar as | entered my
room. He seemed to be practicing u
new tune, one strain of which had evil
IDENTIFY struck his fancy, for he dwclt
rlpon it with a persistency that was
positively eXasperatng. Filled as was
my soul with thoughts of the fair one
whose soft accents had so thrilled me
when she sang, or when she conVersed
in tones whose cadances seemed mod
ulated by the. varying phases of her
theme, my equannlity was seriously
disturbed by the efforts Of my neighbor
TO evoke harmonies with unskillful fin
gers from strings not in tune. I en-
deavored, but in vain, to fix my
thoughts and shape my pre-sleeping
dreams upon the fair being and the de-
lightful emotions which her remember
ed beauty had called up. l simply
could not endure such an interruption
of my high thoughts and fancy lights.
Feigning a violent headache. i raped
upon his door and politely asked him
10 desist. He stopped his musical per-
Torrance directly and offered suita-
BILE apology, only once breaking the
monotony of silence as he evidently
prepared for his couch by low whistle
of the abominable strain. His whistle
was worse than his guitar, but, as it
ended with the strain, l forgaVe il and
retired to my own couch and to dream
dence of Miss Venner, which was in the
same square as my lodging house. If
beauty had thrilled me when Miss Ven
ner mingled in the throng ~ the recap
tiol. how much more pleasing was the
charm when j saw her So ounded by
those whom she loved, th- father and
mother, whose declinig years she was
beautifying by solcitous attentions and
the brother who evidently adored her,
All! bachelor that | was; bachelor that
] had so often declared / would re-
main; what wonder that a new soul
seemed given me by picture of home
happiness so complete. Was / in love
when | retired TO dream of her? Now /
was in the realm Of enchantment. I
gave myself up; I was more than a
captive, for / longed to kiss and bless
my chains.
Was l loved i'm return? That was the
rub" which my lively hostess of the
previous evening had predicted.
Was l pleasantly remembered? A sin
gle rose in a tall, slender Venetian
flower glass attracted my attention. 1t
was full-blOwn, pure white and il eX-
hailed "A fragrance that seemed TO in
toXicate me. l pointed toward it.
Did the fairy whisper to the bud?" /
asked.
II cannot tell yet, for its inner petals
still remain folded" she replied
"Will they always keep their secret?"
Perhaps. But we cannot penetrate
the designs Of the good people i'm whose
care are the roses and all other flowers
of special significance"
What is the secret in which the rose
bears so prominent a part?" asked Mr..
Venner, while his wife remained dis