Evening journal., 1899-08-26
HIS LITTLE LADY.
UNFY LITTLE LADY" used to cali
MI bor o,ri tho Siu,tn,,iiva sroapead


know how much / dilike any remarks about
my personal appearance II u quite mis- |
fortune enough TO be so ridicpiouay gmall
without being rem mindOd Of it constaHtlJs"
"Ah bst Qne 81 these days you wiz be
great," l would say, and she would Xngh
happily at the propheey-how that happy
child laugh Of hers rings IN my ears even
now-and would accuse me Of blind par
tiality, (which is, she would remind me,
quoting a favorte saying Of mine, which
was prone to occur often in our many lit
erary discussions, only another form Of par
tial blindness"
How shall l describe her, l wonder; how
put on paper all the ineongruous charm
which made her what she was.
No man could describe her and do her
justice He could not faithfully portray
the cloarness Of the beautiful eyes; the del.
icate color OF her cheeks; the distinct shade
Of her wavy hair that fell about her shepl-
dcrs in mass Of half ourls; he could not
picture in words the subtle f5fm or the at
traetiye grace that made her all the world
10 me.
To tell you Of her appearance is to belle
her character for the Outward being and
the inner self had no sisterhood, save when
now and again, at some chance word that
inspired a noble thought IN her, the wom-
ans glorious soul peeped shy out through
her bueseyes till they grew dark and deep,
and the warm glow Of her divine intelligence
permeated and shone through herclear baby
skin.
She loved poetry-true poetry-and re-
membeFed, all she loved in it. Ali If YOU
could have heard her recite poetry as havei
Al such moments she was beeutiful-more
than that, worshpful.
/ have seen young men and cantaukerous
old women rise spellbound to that bright
angel face, and listen breatlessly for the
words as theysfeil from those baby lips.
At such times the beautiful story Of the
Christ child in the temple, has scented to me
TO gain strength and reality, and have PEN
| dared wonaenngly over the power some NOR
/ tails have TO hold and enthrall othoSs, bind
ing them fsst.to good'or evil
must speak Of her as a child, suppose,
/ in order that you may see her as she ap-
peared to the physical eyei one hdd to know
snd 10 lovGher Cthe terns are synonymous)
20 see her with the eyes Of The nEnd. Those
| who knew her--they were not many-saw
her as child, but they loved her as
woman.
A woman to be loved hercely, hotly; a
| woman 10 Unto lolI W WIN ANAf ~
! sbr-if need be, TO die for-but to die hon
orably On Lies battlefield, 6Ghsng to the
last.
A woman Of whom the world sees but few,
bv far too few. A woman that brings ON
! the no5est traits OF nan. Such woman
was my littlc lady.
i A w1ran at whose feet a map's Successes
Siqht be lid, and whose ono word Of pra'ss
-.-,,fI ~ a1i.uuffoinnt u1priau
All, We womenl VIII ydu never under
stand your wondrous powers to make men
I to-mar theml
You laugh at this "high-aown nopsense
about a child" do you noty forgive you
for you never knew my little lady.
Until my kttle,lady came into my life
was alone. 10 you know what that means
Have you realized its Can yeu reasze II
To go out intofhs world, 70 eat and 10 dsins
, lis other people da, to sltake Your teNor
cpeatrnes ~ the baed Jwkne mgn&asS9pyo
Spqrn thani tlndep foot sz.d,vsisiyeur rhasil
) lson fhei,,. 70 gpsst ali men ann women wlri
I allie upon y5dr Hps-.a iie chat proiossss ln
I ,er5st IN their health and in thefR fof WHOM
yeu esre no more than h5r ths stareing NOS
orc which you GIivs fgon .your doorfte
, With a savage kick AMI an oath nutteret
through set teeth. To Ne without any low
for any living thing; nay, to hate tsle who'll
b7re human race because enc man and on
Woman have proved unwopthy-te hate an'
b Goathe yourself.Vven more than you detes
tha vilest thing Chat cIawls the earth-thi
is ts be alone. And 80 was ] until ny hi
tie lady came into my life.
How well remember the first time ne
. herl
A silly woman who theught.I might per
+, chance become the purchaser OF one OF he
C silly daughters, had>asked me to "come AM
q help amuse some children" thinl.ing, ~
2 doubt. that the juvenile setting would en
= hanoe in nay eyes the value Of the jewel fh
NJ intended for me.
; II did inst the fevorso. Save always love
z children, and the sight Of tneiF sweet inn'
cence made me hate the men end wome
there sin more IL sat in a corner an
watched the children play, wishing | eoul
d, be one of them again. My little lady va
(, foremost in the games, but presently sh
u left the others, and came To sit near me.
), Have you headache?" She asked in
y voice that struck me almost unconscious
y as too deep and full for 40 young a girl.
T. "No-a heartache." I answered, withou
p thinking Of what / said, and then, augr
'- with myself for self-bstrayal, tried
= Joke away my answer and to talk nohsens
y 20 the child.
q What happened after that hardly know
s only kuovsShat soon We were in deep COZ
versation, and gradually ] talked TO her
nj had never talked to living being sine
{. those two devils-but no matter! As J Tel
a the house / noticed two stains-tear stair
!. upon my glove. ], the misanthropel
n who almost boasted that nothing Ia
l. touched my heart for Is years.
Oh, my little lady, my little lady.
Il was her birthday, her eighteezaA tirtl
day. and had brought her While rosehr
- 20 put in her irswhich she put up that da
A for the first time.
It lay unnobced on the ground at her fee
now half picked 30 pieces by her nervol
l. fingers.
y Fool to have told>her then, and SO SUI
J. denlyl
3, How could child of her age love ma
~ Of mine?
ee How could she understand? Hsw eou
Of she--I went away and CURSED myself
pit IL is four years since left my little lac
Id with the pained lool, in her blue eyes az
n my rosebud at her Sect, and in half an hoi
5, 7 shall see her again.
e. She is p todoy-and hold her letter