The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1901-02-22
The Finding Of
Sheila'S Soul.

He saw her first on the brow Of the hill
standing In the sunset there, on the sky
line, her hair yellow as ripe corn" in the
brilliant evening light, while he was still
In the shadow of the wood. All was quiet
save for the soft sounds which rose from
the strings of the violin she held pressed
against her chin. Nature herself seemed
listening to the strain. Two wood doves
were perched upon a bough above her
head, their breasts matching the hue Of
the farthest cloud; the rabbits close to
her were unafraid; the very sun seemed
to linger, unwilling to lose the gentle
harmony. Then, as II tired with its wait
ing, 1t fell suddenly behind the hill; the
clouds turned from silver to gold and
from gold to gray; the shadow Of the
wood spread till it touched her feet. And
then she ceased playing. the pigeons few
away. and he stepped forward on to the
heather by her side. When she saw him,
she smiled, changing as she did 50 from
the fairy player in fairy wood to girl
attractive and conscious Of her charm.
She picked up the hat that lay beside her
on the ground. and after the common
places of greeting had been exchanged
they went down together to the house be-
low. And then, during dinner, she show
ed him another side Of her nature still
like a mischievous child, proud Of its
power to torment. told her father with
glee of his surprise at finding this mad
musician on the hill-and when In the
evening he asked her to play gave him
nothing but airs which seemed to laugh.
too. at his discontinue. for Ronald Gre
willie was both astonished and discounted.
When after repeated invitations he had
at last proposed himself for a visit to
the man who during his (Ronald's) uni
versity days had been known rs the "mu-
steal don" at Oxford, the fact that his old
friend was not only a widower, but had
daughter, had almost slipped his memory.
And now it was certainly something Of a
shock to find this girl, brought up In the
boys of Ireland" as he put It to himself,
not only possessed of rare beauty and
rarer gifts, but also of perfect social con-
fidence and humorous perception Of his
own surprise. He said something Of her
talent to her father when she had gone to
bed. "Why, I don't know much about
music myself, but do know that never
heard anything in my life that gave me
such intense pleasure to listen to. She is
a genius, sir. She would be famous wher-
ever she went. And she actually told me
she did not remember what she had been
playing; that she was only strumming.'
"Ah, yes, Greville." Mr.. O'Neill an
swered, at is all true enough what you
saw up to a certain point When Sheila
Ia aying there out of doors, when she is
alone with the nature she loves, giving
out music like the song of the birds or the
- hn u-,nA tho froo9
there Is no one like her. But bring her
indoors, give her some human emotion to
interpret. some human longing to express.
and it is failure. just failure"
As the days of his visit wore on he saw
how true his hosts words were. Sheila
was like n sunbeam about the place. as
bright and as careless. The oldest and
grumpiest of the villagers would cheer
up at her approach, the crossest Of the
farm dogs wagged their tails as she drew
near, the wild animals were tame with
her and the tame followed her es her
shadow. 1t had been so, her father said
from her babyhood. Then when some
boys from the garrison at the neighbor'
ing town came over, as they often did, to
spend the day at Clonellon it was clear
that she could twist them, too. as the
yet all the while she seemed not to care
very much for her power. to have very
little love for all those people who loved
her so well. She laughed and talked with
all alike and seemed happiest when alone
with her dog and her violin on some quiet
hillside. for her music she really loved
| and though sometimes she would throw
down her instrument like child In 6
rage. declaring that as she could not play
what she wished she would never touch
| It again, five minutes later she would bt
| playing her vexation away by brigh
melody or some grooming Irish lullaby
| And it was in those latter softer mood:
that Greville liked her best. He fell
nearer to her then, and 1t was In one o.
them the day he had to rrjoin his regi
ment at the Curragh that he found cour
age to tell her his whole mind. "Yor
have seen me every day. practically al
day, for the last four weeks, Miss Sheila,
he said. "You must have seen what IN.
feelings are for you, although It hal
| pleased you to play at ignorance. ant
you have had plenty of time to show mi
that you did not want my love If tina
was so. To keep me like this may b.
pleasant to you. but cannot stand It an!
longer. l am not going to waste my lif'
like some of these boys l see. You know
that l want to give you the best thing
however bad 1t may be, that have to of
fer. Will you take 1t or not? II not, thi
must be goodby."
It was not like most lovemaking, which
= supposed to transport the lovers into