The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-12-12
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!. The HEhRT. 5 MEM0RY


The kingdom was in dcsolatlon. The
young king since DC bad lost his wife
give no attention 10 the affairs OF
state. but spent his days and nights
weeping before a portrait Of the dear
one. This portrait was the work OF
his own hand. lie had learned t0paint
for the express purpose Of executing it.
One day De few into q towering rage
and threatened TO kin one of his cham
berlalns who had dared to hint that it
would be well for him to think Of mar
rying.
"Monster~ cried the inconsolable
widower. NO woman viii ever seat
herself upon ny throne unless she is
in every particular like the wife have
lost"
And well he know THAT In saying this
he riskcd nothing. As she still lived
in her frame OF gold-dcad. alas!-the
queen was SO perfectly beautiful that,
search the world over. her equal could
not be found.
She was q brunette. with long, cliS-
tening hair. flowing down Ike liquid
ebony. forehead q lttle high and of
rich ivory tint. eyes deep and black as
night and lips parted in a smile which
displayed all her teeth
Many months Slipped oway. more
than q year without bringing any
change for The better in the sad state
OF affairs.
Once. hOwever-it was nj the hour
when the dawn paints the windows
with rose and blue--he turned toward
the window, listening to the song Of a
passerby, a song airy and fresh, pretty
and clear as the thrill Of a lark.
He stepped forward. astonished,
pressed his forehead against the glass
and looked out 4 cry Of delight al
most escaped him.
He had never in his life seen any
thing so charming as that little shep-
herdess leading her flock to the
meadow.
She was q blond, her hair so golden
that 1t seemed TO lend new brightness
to the sunshine rather than to borrow
luster from 10.
She had forehead n little low and
pink as q rose. luminous eyes, bright
as the morning. and q smiling mouth
so small that even when her lips part
ed as she sang they revealed only five
or six little pearls.
The next day. in admiring the por-
trait, the king received painful sur
prise.
he thought moment and said TO
himself: "Ih's is very strange. l. must
be that the bail is damp and that tn
air we breathe Is not good for pain
ings, for l remember perfectly that
my queens hair was not SO dark as It
looks now. No, surely, It was not
black. Ike liquid ebony. It shone here
and there with the t.uts of the morn
Ing, not Of the night
He called for bis brushes and pal
cite and hurriediy corrected the por-
trait. which had ben $50 injured by the
dampness. There, Behold now the
golden hair which l loved so desper-
ately, which viii always love"
Three days later he was compelled to
acknowledge that the picture had
again suffered great deterioration.
Why was that fc-ehead, like amber
ivory, so higat He had a good mem
DRY, thanks 10 God. He was sure that
the queen had q low brow. rosy and
fresh as the wild rose. With a few
strokes Of his brush he brought the
golden hair lower and tinted the brown
q clear pink, and his heart was full Of
an infinite tenderness as he gazed upon
the picture thus restored.
But the day following matters were
still worse. 1t was evident that the
eyes and mouth Of the pictured face
had been changed by some accident or
some mysterious power
His darling had never had those dark
eyes, black as the night, nor that
mouth. which opened SO as to show
nearly all Of her teeth. 10. On the con-
trary, the blue Of the morning sky
could not equal the azure Of the eyes
which sweetly looked upon her love-
and. as to her mouth, II was so small
that even when opened TO sing or for
kiss It disclosed only a few little pearls.
For an instant be could have de-
stroyed and cast at his feet the lying
image, but a second thought controlled
him, and be grew calm again as he re-
fected that the injury could be re-
paired.
Instantly he set himself earnestly at
his task. His brush was guided by his
faithful memories. and a few hours
later there smiled from the canvas a
young girl with eyes as blue as the dis
tant shy and a mouth so small that If
It had been a flower it would hardly
have held three drops Of dew.
The king looked upon his work in
painful ecstasy. 1T is she! All, it is
really shew he breathed.
And, quite naturally. he had no objec-
ton TO offer when one day the cham
berlain, who had taken observations
through the keyhole. advised him to
take for bis wife a little shepherdess
who passed the palace every morning
singing a song.
Surely, why not? For she resembled
IN every particular-except that she
was perhaps a little pretter-the por-
trait Of the beautiful queen.-COrnell
Magazine.