Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1899-03-15
THE ARTISTS DREAM.
cTWO souls with but a single
thought,
Two hearts that beat as One.'

thought,
Two hearts that beat as one"
Ralph Thorndyke was possessed Of
a dreamy, poetic nature, far beyond tine
ordinary. He owned a pretty photo
graphic studio, and his business was
congenial to his artistic temperament;
there was so much in it to cultivate
love of the beautiful.
He had reached the age of %, heart
whole and fancy free" or apparently
so to his friends. To-day is his birth
day, and he is thinking intently of a
realistic dream of the night just passed.
Just year ago a vision came to him;
a face not beautiful, but strong and
earnest and sweet. She appeared to him
in a portrait which he seemed to be
looking at. The little brown hair was
in natural waves over q smooth fore
head, and the calm, steadfast eyes
were of a deeper hue.
Now, a year later. the same face had
again appeared, and Ralph is thinking
of the message that came to him. Pa
tience. one more year, and l will come
to you" He finally awOke from his
reverie and started for his studio; on
the way he picked up a package from
the sidewalk Soon reaching his cOzy
little office, he opened 1t, to find two
photographs by Sarony in a folding
frame; one was a draped figure, the
right hand raised to the forehead. the
face profile, the other, ah! the same
true brown eyes which haunted him
FOR a WOO Tho hroxvp hofr urith ooldou
tints in the high lights; the fair COM
plexion, deepening into wild rose
pink on her rounded cheek. The photo
was beautifully painted in water color,
and life-like. The artist soon made
copies Of both pictures and took his
plates into the darkroom to develop.
with good results.
Toward night a little urchin stuck his
head in at the door and shouted: Jour
nal!'
Here, boy" said Ralph, never mind
He read the news, then glanced at the
advertisements. Under Lost and
Found appeared the following:
Lost-Two photos of lady, in a folding
gold frame, between Wellington street
and postoffice Finder please send to d
$40, The Journal.
Ralph sent them to the address
named, cOngratulating himself that he
possessed such satisfactory copies, and
resolved to enlarge the profile for him
self. 1t was a labor of love, to work
on it day by day, and most beautiful
work of art it was when finally finish
ed. Time went on apace; another year.
with its pleasures and trials, has
passed.
About II o'clock next day the electric
bell rang three rings" signal that
q subject was ready to be posed; it was
the work of a moment to put the mega
tive for exposure into the plate-holder.
As Ralph walked toward the camera
what he saw took his breath away. The
vision of his dreams! The same wom-
anly face, the graceful form!
The pleasant voice of a well-known
society woman broke in: ALLOW me.
Mr.. Thorndyke, to present my friend,
Miss Marion Beane, to you and your
best effort in art" The artist bowed,
expressing himself the best he could,
with such q whirling brain as pleased
to favor them.
He posed her, then she went to the
dressing room to don another costume;
her friend, Mrs. Claremont, chatted
with Ralph, saying: I'm SO glad that
you two have met to-day, Marion is so
romantic; would you believe It? She is
waiting for an ideal; she believes that
every one possesses half a soul, that
somewhere in the world the other half
is waiting to be recognized and claim
ed; If the two halves join, then is the
union perfect and two lives made hap
py, otherwise unhappiness and discord
result from the ill-assorted union of
two people.
1.-TWO years ago she went into a
trance or sleep at midnight while at
Newport, nearly frightening every one
out of their wits. She came out Of 1t,
however, In a few hours; q year ago
the same thing occurred at the same
hour, while she was visiting me. She
returned to her home the next morning
and lost two photos of herself, made in
New York. l advertised the loss and
received them the next day." Marion's
appearance at this time put stop to
further confidence, and Ralph had all
he could do to control himself to be the
artist
When the ladies' were about to go he
said: Il would like to have you ladies
visit my sanctum sanctorum," to which
they gave a glad assent.
When they entered the door Marion
gave a violent start, for, facing the en-
trance, was her own figure in life size;
under the portrait the words. Looking g
into the future She blushed, then
turned pale, and her eyes met Ralph 9
with something like recognition. Mrs
Claremont saw that there was some
thing in the air and retired gracefully
from the office with a remark about
some errand that must be attended to
Immediately.
Ralph advanced toward Marion, and,
taking her hand, said: Il was the for
tunate finder of your photos and have
had this portrait for my daily compan-
ion a year May l hope in the future
to possess the original? We have in
reality known each other two years
and need not measure time in the con-
yentional way; l feel that l possess
your souls mate Is it not trueT
Marion gave him a glance full OF
faith and trust, saying: Even 50, my
heart is yours" 1t is needless to add
that Marion never went into another
trance. What could 1t bet DID her