The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-25

the personal pronoun. How and when
did she arrive?"
I'm an old newspaper some fellow
unexpectedly fished from his chest.
There she was on the front page, pho
togravured to the life. Rare and ra-
diant she looked to us poor devils So
cially starving under the north star. A
Tlinook squaw from st. Michaels with
her hair done up in beads and fish oil
would have soothed our eyesight. I'M
agine the effect this ravishing vision
produced upon our esthetic sensibilities,
as we tackled her up on the wall and
worshiped. The golden calf of the Is
raelites was nothing by comparison.
Dear me- All this masculine
splutter over a mere picture?" And
such is the divine perversity of the sex
that she seemed vaguely disappointed.
Sure. But such a picture! 1t grew
upon us as a Botticelli Madonna is said
to permeate your very being if you
only look at it long enough. At least
that was the way I came to feel"
"Yes?" Miss Lamar's lip curled; for
little as she professed to care for man
in the abstract it did not seem right
that man as an individual should waste
his alteration on a picture, while the
real article abounded in other parts of
the globe.
Yes" he blandly continued, II was
the seventh man, 20 know. That is,
1 came into our mess as number seven,
which, being considered a lucky nu
neral sayr' he suddenly sat bolt
upright. Are you at all supersti
tious %
"Of course. I am" She shuddered
sympathetically IF you had been
No. 13 now"
II think I should have given up
right there; but being the seventh
man, said to myself: / will find
the original of this picture some fine
day"
"Aha!" with a chilling accent, as If
to show that her interest in the
Belle of Bear City would relapse in
to indifference if that aggravating
creature pushed herself beyond the
photogravure stage of existence.
Il kept on saying it all winter,
continued Sterling. astractedly.
Later on. when we struck it rich
and the others forgot, l would go up
to her ladyship. after a wash and
brush-up, and repeat my vow. Then
the boys would satirically intimate
that our belle had made at least one
permanent mash"
AS Sterling enthused himself over
his words, Miss Lamar became iron
ically skeptical.
This is good enough for a play. We
must consult Fitch" Fitch was her
manager. But when luck evinced it
self in a more solid way by making
you suddenly rich, suppose her lady
ship had to take a gallery seat"
ION the contrary, she became my
bright particular more than ever. /
had named my claim Bear City Bellies,
No. a. How the boys did laugh. But
when 1 began to sluice out ten dollars
to the pan, they said No. Z was all
right, and that the Belle was no f1irt-"
Here Sterling, with side glance at
the actress, meditatively added:
IT have often wondered If they were
right r
TT suppose you found that out long
ago. if there was an original to that
photo-or was it a newspaper? They
print anyone's picture nowadays; liter
ally anyone's. 1t is rather distinc-
ton to be let alone. Mine, you ask?
Look on the news stands. Such carlca-
tures!"
"Such divinities!" he interrupted.
eagerly. 81 loved your picture long be-
fore / saw you over the footlights.
Then I made myself known"
"By prosecuting poor Fitch until he
had to do something to rid himself OF
you"
"And now-am 1 not your slave?
Dear Gertrude, IL 1 may call you so;
have you not guessed my riddle?
Where are your intuitions? You know
1 love you deeply, devotedly-"
"Alasl Poor Belle of Bear City!"
She raised her arms in mock tragic
gesture HAS the magic seven failed
her. who brought luck to you? Oh,
faithless swami
hot cha mot 6iSnlaaSed
though it seemed likely that she had
guessed but half his riddle. Rising,
he made sudden dash through the
open window of a room near where
they sat on the summer hotel piazza,
but returning almost instantly, hold
ing out a battered-looking newspaper
print, framed in costly ebony, with an
inscription, in Sterling's script be-
meath, on which Miss Lamar studious-
" fixed her eyes, while the faint rose
tint on her cheeks deepened into
| delicate glow.
"The Original Belle of Bear City,
she read aloud. God bless her!
! Where shall 1 find her?"
When their eyes met again, Sterling
realized that she had guessed the
other half of his riddle.
"Where shall / find her?" he echoed
ct want to tell her 1 am not faithless,
but faithful-always."
Here" said Miss Lamar, adding to
her blush an even more convincing
smile, as she resigned both hands to
his eager clasp.
Foolish boy! You might have told
me weeks ago"
! "Old Omar Khayyam understood my
J feelings" returned Sterling. Listen
! to the Persian sage:
" Those whom with love we worship
! In love we also fear