The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-08-05


under the ashes.
ono night he went into q concert
room, drawn thither by some impulse
that he did not understand then. But
he believed afterward that 1t was the
subtle influence Of soul upon soul that
drew him through the doors of the con-
cert hall. 1t was that-or fate.
Fair faces cleaned from box and gal
Iery, and diamonds flashed like fireflles
on soft white hands, and the air was
sweet with the scent of dying flowers.
But among the faces that smiled down
upon him he saw not one that was like
'hls face"
The orchestra was playing the over
ture Of Dlnorah when he went in and
took his seat. The sweet, weird strains
took possession of his soul and wrap
ped him in a trance Of ecstncy.
The sea Of faces all about him faded
away, and for the time he was alone
with the wonderful music that no man
seemed to be making. Then the unrest
of 1t, the stress of it. seemed to draw
near to its end, and that end came in a
long, low chord that trembled into Sc
Iencs without breaking the spell that
was on him. A feeling of peace that he
had never felt before stole over him. It
was something to wonder at. What
did 1t mean?
Suddenly, through the thoughts that
busted his brain, face shOne down
upon him as a star trembles into. sight
through a haze Of sunset vapors. A
sweet, pale face. with a record Of sor-
row written in It. His heart gave u
great throb. and his breath came quick
and fast. for it was the face he had
seen so long ago,the face he had dream
ed about SO often, the one face in the
world to him.
Then she sang. He never knew what.
He only knew that 1t was something
sorrowfully sweet. that hushed the
house to silence and brought a shower
OF flowers to her feet when the song
was finished. She bowed her thanks,
and then 1t was that her eyes met the
eyes of Archie Dare. and her memory
went back over the dead years in that
instant Of time, and she saw the boys
face. instead of the face of the man
who was looking at her With such
strange hunger in his eyes. Then she
bowed again, as one does an act uucon-
sciously. and vanished from the scene
A great fear came over him. He had
found her only to lose her again? M,
mol He would not lose her now.
He gathered from the hum of the con-
versatlon that sprang up about him, af-
ter her song. that she was the only
daughter of a man who had been
wealthy, but had lost everything By
some turn Of luck, and the girl, who had
been singing had looked the matter
brayely in the face. and was earning
by her voice, living for her father and
herself.
There Is but little more to tell. Next
day Colonel Dare sought out the woman
whose rose he had carried so long. Arf
their meeting was mot like the meeting
of strangers.
81 have kept the rose you gave me,
he said to her. "see." as he showed hei
the faded flower out of whose heart th'
fragrance had not died In oil thes'
years.
And before long he said another thInl
to her. At have kept the memory O.
your face In my heart ever since firs
saw It. want you in my life. VII
you come into 1t, and be to my future
what your face has been to my past7'
And she did not say nay. Her hear
had gone out to him with the flower shi
had given him. and 1t had been hi
through all the years when their life
paths ran apart. Now and hencefortl
two paths were to be one.
This is the romance of two lives
There is nothing wonderful about It.bu
It's pretty little romance for all that
and like to think that there are other
like 1t Of which we know nothing.