Evening journal., 1903-07-13
HER BEAUTY
Ioriginnl.l

people who caught a glimpse Of her
exquisite face started and looked back
Wien she entered ballroom there
was hush. Those Who were permitted
to look upon her marvellous features
soon became lost in a dream. Artists
begged permission to paint her as an
angel, but when their work was fin
ished they had failed to give that
thrill Which passed through every one
who looked upon Lanouette herself.
That her beauty was mortal was La-
nouette's skeleton. 1t was the one flaw
in her otherwise perfect happiness.
But this only came TO her when she
grew older.
'Lanouette," her father said to her
when he saw that she was not uncon-
scious Of her beauty, remember that
If you live the day will surely come
when you will be either a fat old wO-
man or a skinny one"
To which she replied, "Yes, but that
is ever so far away"
Lanouette's friends were so en-
crossed with her physical beauty that
If there was In her a beauty of soul
they took no account of 1t, or If they
did It was not expressed TO her. Con-
sequently she grew into a belief that
her charms Of body were her only gift.
She dreaded lest when 1t faded her
friends would drop away from her.
This troubled her more and more as
she grew older and approached the
point when she knew that her treasure
must begin to pass from her.
One day-she was twenty -nine-she
stood before her mirror enjoying the
sight of her marvellous gift when she
noticed faint streak under her eyes
denoting that the process of decay had
begun. It was as If she had heard the
first stroke of a bell announcing her
execution. 1T is the light" she said,
with blanched cheek and throbblng
heart. ut comes from above and
casts a shadow. / VIII lower the shade
and open the blinds below" She did
so, but there was still that pencil
brush line directly under the lower
lashes of each eye. She mOistened her
handkerchief and rubbed It on the
skin. hoping to find that the lines were
an artificial discoloratlon, but when
she looked again they had not been re
moved
Never to haye possessed is not e
know the agony of losing. Only one
who'fias Seen floh knows the blight OF
appR8h8hfhg poverty Only one whC
hassseiectrinedg the world with Il gift
caniknonr the intense grief thatnccom
panles its loss.s But8with Lanouette 4
was the loss of love that she dreaded
rather than the beauty itself. She re
solved that those who had loved he
should not look upon the deepening d
those lines. She had seen them; n'
one else should see them.
She sat in her room till the twiligh
came and they were gone. She turned
on all the light about her dressing cas-
and they reappeared. When the cloc
struck 10 she was still sitting befor
her mirror The perfection of he
beauty had vanished, and she say
only the imperfection. Then when Al
were asleep she arose and went dow
to the river bank. Below swirled tn
flood. She would use it to concea
those lines; she would die before th
imperfection of her beauty was know
A hand was laid on her arm. Sh
turned, and there stood n young clel
gyman. The heads of hundreds of me
had been turned by the mere sight Q
her face, but this man had looked upo
II and had remained serene. He. tO'
possessed an unordinary degree c
physical beauty, though of the intelle'
tual and spiritual kind. It may be tha
beauty of soul was to him what beat
ty Of person is TO others. Be this as
may. he was the only man whose d
votion Lanouette's gift had not wo
for her.
'Ianouettc," he said.
His voice was pitched in low tor
and musical Some said he had caugl
it from the deeper notes of the orgal
There was that in it which brougl
her to her better self and made h'
tremble
"What are you doing here|
"AIy beauty-it is beginning TO fad
can never bear to have others see
imperfect"
'.Not even IT'
Your
eyes, your beauty has never been
supreme value to me. 1t is not yol
chief gift"
'eNot my chief gift? Ihaye no other
The man smiled. you have at lea
one delightful gift = that of unco
sciousness Of your best traits"
"Traits? What traitsT
"Should 7 impress you with them
would cancel the gift of unconsciou
ness"
"I have never been anything but
beauty" she said gloomily. "and nc
that is going do not wish to live"
"Llve for my sake"
Many years have passed. The lin
under the eyes Of the clergyman's wi
have deepened, her skin is netwo
of wrinkles, her hair is white as sno
her check is hollow, but times effaci
finger has no terror for her. Whe
thousands worshiped her for her bea
ty thousands now bless her for /
charity. Her daughter, Lanouette
nineteen. She has the former beau
- to,. mother, 10 which Is added I