The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-03-03
Story of an Enchanted Rose,

Once upon time there was handsome
young man, who was so accornphshed
and good-natured that everybody IN the
| whole city liked him. and no bail or feast
was considered complete without him. Cna
evening, when ne was at a ball where ell
! the most beautiful young women had
| gathered, he noticed that one girl who
| was plain in the face and simply cress-
4 ed sat all alone and had no partners IN
| the dances. He took pity on her, and,
| approaching, he bowed respectfully and
asked If she would do him the honor OF
| being his partner in the next waltz
She was much pleased and readily con-
| sented. She danced well despite her usii-
ness, and she was so witty in her CONVEX
sation that the handsome young man took
even more pity on her.
Surely" he said to himself, ito this
| girl, though she lacked fairy godmotner
| to give her beauty, nevertheless has been
! given a bright mind. And ugliness is only
| skin deep, anyhow. So he took her down
to supper.
When the ball was over he asked the
ugly girl if he might escort her TO her
| home. for the hour was late and the
streets of the city after dark were fun
! of rough persons She was pleased with
| the young mans attention, because all
the beautiful young women at the ball
were green with jealousy. She thanked
him for his offer of escort, and when ne
would have telephoned for carriage she
| stopped him and said:
my own carriage is waiting for me at
| the door. We will ride in that"
| 1t was a beautiful carriage, with two
men in livery on the box, and It was
drawn by two prancing horses with long
IUails. When the carriage stopped at her
! house which was made of handsome red
| brick with steps Of white marble, he said
good night, and lifted his hat in courtly
| fashion.
| The ugly girl took red rose from her
hair and handed it to him, and as he
| placed it in his buttonhole she said, quite
| seriously:
Keep that rose carefully, for as long
| as you have ii you will be wealthy. and
whenever enemies annoy you it will put
them to sleep. ou only need to shake it
in their faces and they will fall into a
slumber so deep that only one thing will
awaken them
And what is that?' asked the young
man. He was much astonished, and he
wondered if the ugly girl was dreamer
of dreams.
eff you kiss them they will wake up"
| said the young girl and great red flush
|
white marble steps and into her house.
Her face was as red as the rose,
unused the young man, as he awlked to-
ward his club. "And she spoke from the
heart, / believe. 1t was heart flush"
| And when he had come to his club he sat
| down at a table with other young men
and drek to four hearts, until the milk
mans bell was rung in the streets of the
city. Then he went to his own home.
| He had forgotten the ugly girl and. the
| red rose and the strange things he had
! heard, but when he tossed the flower on
his dressing table 1t all came back to
him. Something rolled out from the petals
! of the rose, and when he picked 1t UP
and examined it he saw fireat white dia-
mond of the purest water.
at must have come from her hair" he
| thought, but when he picked up the rose
| and laid it down again another diamond
! rolled out Every time he repeated this
another diamond appeared, and when he
! went to bed there lay on his dressing table
a heap of pure white stones worth a
| Kings ransom.
at will never work again" he said at
noon, when he got up and saw that the
diamonds were still there. He was SEN
sible young man, as we'll as handsome
and clever, and he kept his word.
He spent so much money in the next
year that the report spread, and was be-
| lieved. that he owned the gas works and
| the trolly cars, and all the electric lights
! in the city. But the diamond merchants
| to whom he was constantly bringing rare
and beautiful white stones to sell made
| I'D their minds that he was a smuggler.
SO they hired detectives to follow him.
He saw two of these detectives one night
as he walked into a great hotel, and. while
everybody was running to see that the ice
| boxes were filed up, so that he would
not complain of a great and unsatisfac-
tory thirst he walked up to the two men,
whose names were Byrnes and McClusky,
and shook his red rose in their faces.
! They fell asleep at once, and the young
| man then ordered that all the French
wine in the place be opened.
He was weary the next morning, and
when he had breakfast on poached eggs
| he walked out on the street, full Of
! thought, and with a heart almost as
/ heavy as his head.
whats the use?' he kept repeating to
| himself. as he walked. whats the use
| of it alp" He came to higha building,
and the sign over the doorway caught his
attention and he stopped. He rang the
/ bell for the elevator. but ii did not come,
and he bounded down the twenty-siv pairs
/ of stairs like a schoolboy. Everything in
| the building was strangely quiet. As
| he passed out the door on to the street
| he saw the elevator man asleep in his
! car.
! And then a strange and wonderful sight
! presented itself 10 him. Every living
| thing was asleep. Men and women SUM
! bered as they stood on the sidewalk or
! rode in the cars. The horses stood still,
| their heads down and eyes closed, and
| their drivers slumbered at their seats. Di-
| rectly in front of the building he had left
! was the carriage of the ugly girl, and
/ she sat inside with her eyes closed, while
her horses and the men in livery were as
| sound asleep as she.
1t rather pleased the young man 10
think that by his act the whole city had
| gone to the Land OF Nod, but he knew
| there was a debt which he must pay to
the ugly girl who had given him the en-
| chanted rose.
So he made a WY face. and he kissed
| the horses. one after the other, on the
nose. and they woke up. Then he climb
! ed up on the box and closed his eyes and
/ kissed each OF the two men in livery
And they awoke. Finally he went inside
| the carriage. and he kissed the girl full
on the lips.
And 10! she was transformed into a
| beautiful Princess. with big blue eyes.
and long. golden hair. and teeth Ike
/ ivory. and cheeks like red roses. and as
the driver cracked his whip and the car
rage drove of he asked her 70 marry
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