Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1899-09-14

'sMY EYE WAS ARRESTED BY A FACE
was free and wild and healthy; and
then | mad my luck and became rich,
and am now. suppose. an envied man,
for | am young still and as sound as a
bell.
Ten years absence from home marks
many changes. How altered my little
villagel The old church still nestles UNI
der the wolds, the quiet hamlet still
sleeps as of yore: but there is new
town on the land once farmed by my
dear old father, and some modern
graves in the churchyard record, 1t
seems to me, the death of a whole gen.
Grafton of friends.
The few hearty handshakes and
heart-moving greetings, the few loved
voices, served only to accentuate the
sorrow felt at the changes that had
made my old village home desolate.
And | came away sadder than l had
been for years, without news of Alice
except that she left Brigdon not many
weeks after | did and went to Lon
don.
Alice, In her name is contained the
one true love story of my life. She
came from the West Of England to be
governess at the Rectory very Few
months before / went to the Cape, |
had fallen in love with her literally
at first sight.
And then came the breakup of my
life-the Leger OF 1888. l backed the
wrong horse for much more than | was
worth. and ruined my father and my
self and the love that might have been.
Before | left the country l sought
Alice. but she would have nothing
to say to me except to upbraid me for
my fathers grief and my own folly.
But when / got to the Cape | wrote
letter after letter to Alice, for there
had been a kindness even in her re-
proaches. sent them through my
Aunt Deborah, whom thought could
trust. To these Alice did not reply, and
il was not until years afterward that |
discovered that my aunt had With
held my letters from her.
saw Cyllene win the Cup. and then
went under the chestnuts at the back
of the stand, where the ladies We're
promenading to the strains of the Roy
al Artillery Band.
Near the gates, beneath the great
rhododendrons, which, though ablaze
with purple bloom. seemed neutral in
hue through the radiance of the ladies
who clustered about the base OF the
plants, my eye was arrested by face
as healthy and as pure as lily, Won
derfully fair, and perhaps with some
thing of a lily's languor, but little in
terested in the gaiety of the picture of
which it made a part.
She was quite near to me, and of a
beauty so striking that was compelled
to gaze upon her weary face and to
look into her mild. her gentle eyes.
Suddenly my heart came into my
mouth. A great thrill of excitement
dazed me utterly. Did l sob? cannot
tell: nor what | did, for before me was
Alice. my Alice.
But when the sudden seizure which
momentarily eclipsed my senses had
passed, she had risen from her chair
and was staring into this sunburnt
face of mine In her curious intent
read during these moments of ecstacy
the gradual vanishing of establishment,
the slow dawn of recognition. and the
thrill OF fearful joy and happiness
which suffused every feature of her
beauty when she saw me and knew
me after long years.
Did, she love me? Was she free?
There was no need for me to ask.
knew saw. Love lit up her face and
told me all. She. too. had endured the
years of heart-emptiness that had been
mine Her face was aglow with unim-
aginable joy
Our hearts, void so long, are full
Alice is pledged to me. My Alchemy
own for evermore'