Smyrna times., 1901-09-25
CATARlNA.
A SKETCH.

hans because of such surroundings. |
Genius will flourish anywhere, and |
genius has the happy faculty of bend |
ing every difficulty to it's own advan-
tsge At any rate, though genius it.
self is apt to be very dubious respect
inc this comforting doctrine, 1 cannot
hit think that Princes road made Cata-
rina. Yet, truly, what a setting for
such pearl!
Her mother was an Italian, her IA
tber had died while she was still a
child, and from that day Catarina was
marked by fate. The mother had
bought a greengrocer's shop in that
very unlOvely Princes road l have re-
terred to. and there, ensconced in that
little fOrtress-it might be truly said
hardly ever quitting guard-she had
begun and carried on through long
years one of those terrible, grim, silent
struggles with poverty. disaster and
death with which London is replete.
She had survived, she had been always
able just to keep her head above wa
ter, but heaven only knows at the cost
Of what herOism, of what intelligence
and of what privatiOns In that little sea
Of troubles in which her lot was cast!
The older inhabitants of Princes road
still remember her as a buxOm and
high spirited young woman, speaking
English very badly, but shrewd enough
withal. But the years had gradually
robbed her of every trace of her for
mer beauty. and from the first day 1
knew her she was q prematurely old,
quiet. carewOrn dame, her face sallOw
and withered her cheeks drawn and
sunken, her hair dry and dusty, and
if any hint remained to give assurance
10 the memory of her charms it was i'll
her Italian eye. sad, but deep, lustrOus,
blazing up at times with some inward
fire or occasionally revealing the
strange, yearning, hunted look of q
poor child of the sunny south wearing
out her life in q somber cline and
among an alien people.
n No; there was another testimony to
Der former beauty-Catarina! She was
most children are pretty at that age,
but no one with the eye of an artist or
with insight into character could once
gaze upon Catarina's countenance
Without inwardly resolving that that
strange, foreign looking creature was
predestined to career"
Catarina was often to be found in the
shop about that time or in the little
'parlour" that served for everything
at the back. She was generally to be
found there, in fact, for, though she
avoided school and was not a particu
arly shining light in the paths of learn
q ing, the girl was devOured with rage
4 for reading. There she was to b'
q found as often as not with a smudgC
4 upon her short nose from having han
3 died dusty potatoes, perched up o.
A pOuched down with n novelette,.
B story book. q book of travel. Of az;
d venture. She was extraordinarily pre-
q cocious in her understanding Of tn
q world. Just as much as she was back
4 ward in physical development. for sh
q vas small for her age. Even then sh
vas ambitiOus-she was more than am
bilious; she was fiery and resolute
4 One saw it in the flash of the wonder
iul eyes as she glanced up quickl,
rOm her book. seeming in one earnes
Dart to look through your own eyes IL
% something, possibly the soul. bt
hind.
She was delightfully."- shy, though COZ
hdent; timid, though fiery; rape
though tender. When she dropped ht
eyes, there was a fascination that d'
pended on no mere occurrences. thu
must indeed have been something III
conscious, for it seemed really to
Que to the lashes. with their long an
PECULIAR fanlike sweep.
Catarina had resolved even to be q
actressv BY sort of instinct she pc
eelyed That that was the only aven'
Oy which she could escape from q
surroundings of Princes road. whi'
d the same time she loathed and q
qulesced in with a natural and ev
suectiOnate familiarity.
Catarina would weigh out a pound
potatoes with EAST Lynne" in h
1ahd. She would haggle over an o.
aaHpenny with the asparagus ma
Gleaming-fOr she was always drea
ng-of the most brilliant conques
Me most illustrious situations of
boards"
Oatarina had been six months in 81
p'OlessiOn." By dint of what ex
SOns' of what energy, resolution, b
sue carried her point! 1t was hero
"u' OF that kind of heroism which
eriy unconscious to the doe-. Ca
ua Knew a world Of things, and
su nerves Of STEEL She had succe
And then her chance came.
,S' as one tosses a ball Of wors
IN kitten they had given Catarina
., rpoiated ''song and dance"
he could not sing a little bit"
nOuga her voice had a quality
'@Ough the sense Of touch had so