The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-09-19
the ROMANCE OF THE ROSE.

| her son should enter the ministry. but
John would not have il Sc he was the
only son. and his mother was widow
Moreover he was a devoted son, but he
believed that as il was his own future
that he must carve out he must take that
for the carving which he though: was
fitted for the cunning Of his hand So il
vas that John Ledyard, a years old and
JUST twelve months out Of college. told his
mother one day that he was going on the
stage.
Mrs. Ledya-d was a woman Of sense.
She listened TO what her son had to say
ana then without one word Of reTnor-
STRANGE she asked him simply 70 think
over his decision for month, then 10 see
if he still chung 10 il and If so. my son. %
she said. though you know what my
heart is set on simply will wish you a
godspeed and say not one word 10 turn
you from your purpose"
A month passed and John Ledyard went
to his mother. kissed her gently on the
| forehead and said: Mother, I'm going
or the stage and I am going 20 try 70
deserve well OF the public and 70 make
you proud Of me"
John Ledyard was big. handsome fell
low, an athlete and a man whose very
appearance Won adniration. HIS mother
| knew this. John" she said. you are
going into a life of tremendous tenpta-
ton. Not from the members Of the pro-
fessiOn you have chosen, but from the
outside. l do not share the feeling to-
| ward the stage Itself SO many people
! seem to hold. but il is from the outside
tl-at your danger will come. If you sue
coed as an actor I know that you viii be
fattered and courted, and sometimes fiat
terry and what goes with it are veritabie
pitfalls
John Ledyard smiled little. 1T is be
1 cause I am your son. mother, that you
int 10 Sc I'LL
try 70 remember your teachings and
then he kissed her once again and this
! time il was gOcd-by.
John Ledyard had been on the stage
| just one year. He had not found much OF
the counting and fattery that his mother
/ had spoken Of. but that was because he
/ was in minor parts most Of the time.
/ though the managers had been watching
him. and now at the end of year he was
a leading man and in stage parlance held
! the center" Then the fattery and the
/ counting began. From the moment that
/ he took his place as q star this big. ath-
! letic and competent actor found himself
deluged with letters, and not many Of
/ them were from men. Flowers We're sent
| him with delicately perfumed notes. He
/ was what laymen call the matinee girls
| idol. 1t takes d strong character not TO
/ be affected by Z thing Of this kind. and
/ John Ledyard, though he had strength
/ % mind with his strength of body. found
/ that he was becoming a bit affected by
| the homage.
One morning at his hotel there was de-
| iivered by a messenger a long. narrow
! package tied neatly with a blue ribbon.
John Ledyard opened it. He found within
a box containing q white rose OF exqui-
site beauty and fragrance. Just one white
rose with enough of the fresh green
leaves to frame its loneliness. One rose,
nothing else; not a line to show from
whence il came. The rare loneliness Of
the flower attracted Ledyard, and while
/ scores of blossoms had come within a
week, he took this one rose and gave it
q place Of honor in a vase on his man
tel s center. The next day there came
another white rose the counterpart of the
one deceived the day lore. and like its
predecessor 1t was given the place OF
honor.
When John Ledyard had received daily
for two weeks a single white rosebuu
fragrant and beautiful beyond al the
other roses that came to him from what
ever source, he felt a stirring of his Curl
Osity to know something OF the giver. But
trace the roses back of the florist he could
not. The other presents that came 10
him lost their interest and he thought on
~ of the unknown sender of the fragrant
white blossoms.
John Ledysrd left Chicago and went to
another city for a long engagement. The
morning of his arrival there came to him
a. the hotel breakfast table familiar
package. 1t contained white rose. For
q year. wherever John Ledyard success
ful actor and idol of the matinee girls.
appeared. he received his daily white rose.
Time after time had he attempted TO
trace it to its source. but time after time
he failed He thought of this present.
and of this only. That single white rose.
soft though its petals and slender though
its stem, shattered many an airy edi-
flee mentally built by the matinee girl.
John Ledyard found time 10 go a little
into society. He was welcome in what
people called the best society. There in
a great city he met a woman rich and
resplendent, and the second word is used
advisedly. There was something about
her that both attracted and repealed. In
John Ledyards heart he felt, with feel
ing he could hardly define. that in some
way Helen Traverse did not ring true
He knew. also. anO this without conceit
that he could marry Helen Traverse and
be rich beyond all his dreams yet the
word was never spoken. He knew she
was of the world worldly, and then-he
thought of taking her home to his
mother.
One day there came 10 his room a great
bunch Of roses. They were as red as the
il was from her they had come She was
a woman Of sense in some ways. and on
the card which came with these roses
OF battlefield red she had written a
tribute to YOUR acting last night"
At the moment of tAe arrival Of the
red roses there had come the white rose.
Ledy2Td lifted il gently from its ribbon
tied box and placed IL side by side with
the cluster Of gorgeous red blossoms. He
looked upon the red and then upon the
white and ne thought Of Helen Traverse
and instantly there flashed into his mind
the exquisite lines Of John Boyle O'Reuly. I
The red rose whispers OF passion.
The white rose breathes Of love,
The red rose IS a falcon,
The white rose IS a dove"
What would he not give 10 learn some. I
thing Of the unknown donor Of this white I
rosei That daily gift had steadied MS
heart ard his head IN times OF trial.
One night. just as the curtain had been /
rung down for the last time. John Led (
yard received a telegram calling him
home. He left the city at which he was
Playing within an hour, and at noon the I
Dext day he was at the old familiar horne /
% his hoyhood. He was was met ~ the
door by nurse Your mother had a
stroke Of paralysis sterday. she said /
Eou must De brave. for she cannot live [
He went 20 his mother room She could
speak and could move her arms and +
hands. 4 smile cf love came fnto her f
face as the son entered the room. r 4
feared I would have 20 fan YOU today. .
JCh IN she said. but here Is the last .
rose. my son, ard she held toward him /
ore % the exquisite blossoms which he 4
had learned 10 know and 10 love.
John Ledyard nent over his mother and .