Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1904-04-06
HER BEAUTY
(Original.1


exquisite face started and looked back.
When she entered a ballroom there
was hush. Those who We're 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 fat old wo-
man or skinny one"
To which she replied, Eyes, 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 it, or If they
did 1t was not expressed to her. Con-
seQuently she grew into belief that
her charms Of body were her only gift.
She dreaded lest when it 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 throbbing
heart. 1T comes from above and
casts shadow. | will 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 discolOrat ton. but when
she looked again they had not been re-
moved.
Never to have possessed is not to
know the agony of losing. Only one
who has been rich knows the blight Of
approaching poverty. Only one who
has electrified the world with Il gift
can know the intense grief that accom-
panies it's loss. But with Lanouette 1t
was the loss of love that she dreaded
rather than the beauty itself. She re-
solved that those who had loved her
should not look upon the deepening Of
those lines. She had seen them; no
one else should see them.
She sat in her room till the twilight
came and they were gone. She turned
on all the light about her dressing case
and they reappeared. When the clock
struck 10 she was still sitting before
her mirror The perfection Of her
beauty had vanished, and she saw
only the imperfection. Then when all
were asleep she arose and went down
to the river bank. Below swirled the
food. She would use 1t to conceal
those lines; she would die before the
A hand was laid on her arm. She
turned. and there stood young cler-
gyman. The heads of hundreds of men
had been turned by the mere sight of
her face, but this man had looked upon
it and had remained serene. He, too,
possessed an unordinary degree Of
physical beauty, though Of the intellec-
tual and spiritual kind. 1t may be that
beauty Of soul was to him what beau.
ty of person is to others. Be this as it
may, he was the only man whose de-
votion Lanouette's gift had not won
for her.
"Lanouette," he said.
His voice was pitched in low tone
and musical Some said he had caught
1t from the deeper notes Of the organ.
There was that in it which brought
her to her better self and made her
tremble.
what are you doing hereT'
"My beauty-it is beginning to fade.
I can never bear to have others see 1t
imperfect"
"Not even I?'
"You"
"Yes, your beauty has never been Of
supreme value to me. 1t is not your
chief gift"
"Not my chief gift? Ihave no other"
The man smiled. You have at least
one delightful gift that Of uncon-
seriousness Of your best traits"
Traits? What traits"
SHOULD l impress you with them l
would cancel the gift Of unconscious
ness"
II have never been anything but a
beauty" she said gloomily, "and now
that is going do not wish to live."
"Live for my sake"
Many years have passed. The lines