The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-04-02
VANDA'S CHOICE

dS>ne listened 10 the WoruS Oh hdSAiiiiii
uttered in a low tone.
oh. the year l have spent in the city
his had its influence over mel she re-
pied, after a brief pause. "Now~I can
distinguish between what is decorous and
What is indecorous; l know how to please
gentleman in a frock coat, and how to
spulse him; / know what is becoming
70 my face and what is unbecOming. On
y sometimes 1 forget all this When l
saw you l Immediately recalled the past,
and i have become what l was then. All.
Fan kasimir, how sorry, how sorry l am
that time is no more,'
Sorry" he repeated, like an echo. But
how can you feel sorry for that time?
You who are so beautiful and adored by
so many?"
Wanda REDEEMED still more, lowered her
head, and remarked sadly:
Il thought you were better than 9TH
ers; and 4 was so glad that today we
would speak sincerely. frankly-and yet,
it seems. all men are alike" She heaved
a deep sigh and went on bitterly:
Beautiful, beautiful, always nothing
but beautiful. One can thus grow tired of
ones own face! It is really possible that
a girls significance in the eyes of people
Is only in proportion to her beauty? Here
no one tries TO find out whether / have
soul at all. and what sort OF soul it is No
one cares to know what l am, what | de-
sire, what love, am good-looking, and
that settles it But, pray. listen to me at
tentively; When / fell into the pond in
Olshevl1a, you rushed in after me, not
withdrawing that you had fever at the
time. Consequently, you love me. There
no one old me that 1 was beautiful, and
yet everybody loved me there-father,
mother all the children in the village,
the cats and the dogs. And / imagined
at thai time that the whole world existed
but fo the purpose that all shall be kind
and sail love one another. Do you re-
membr my old nurse? She once told me a
story. But you are not listening. Do L
bore our
''Vslda. go ahead. l beg you, tell me
the sorry of your nurse.
Th girl smiled, and amidst the sounds
of til waltz amidst the laughter of the
crowi, and the rustIing of the silk dress
es, ihe went on:
This is what my nurse told me: When
the world and the human beings were
creaed there were not enough souls to
suply every body with one. So it was re-
sole in heaven to split each soul in
tw. One half of a soul fell TO the lot Of
a nan, and the other half of the same
sol, was given to a woman. Then all
hsnan beings were scattered on earth;
al every woman is seeking for the man
possessing half of her soul, and every
nan for the woman who wanders about
fl the world with half of his soul. And,
rlturally when these half-souls meet
fley must love each other. But when
ne wrong souls meet and unite then I'M
ortunate matches occur. They say that
peoples wisdom is told in its folk stor-
les. Is it not true. Pan Kasimir?"
Indeed. it is a beautiful story!''
The girls eyes flashed. She moved her
chair closer to his.
"Now, tell me. Pan Kasimir, ought not
the people who are to go through life to-
getlier try to learn each others soul?
They ought to. but here no one cares
abou. that; all they want to know is
whether a girl is good-looking and we'll
built. and if she has no dowry beauty is
woman's only capital. All this is very
sad; and that is why it is hard for me to
make a choice 1 do not know myself
whom love. because know no one, nor
do / know who loves me-
/ Pan Kasimir maintained silence, not
eithstanding that Wanda, too, was silent
Tor several minutes.
Pan Kasimir.'' she began. gazing into
bis eyes Tell me. pray how can love be
recognized? But tell it to me tonight, /
now Mamma wishes me TO give Pan Ar
thur a definite answer tonight, and I don't
know anything don't know what to do
The music struck up a quadrille. y
wave of white. pink, and blue. and yell !
low dresses began TO move about in the !
room, and the encircling coats cf the men
looked as though encircling the parti- |
colored picture in a frame of black. Pan !
Kasimir removed his hands from his eyes. /
and gazing at the girl. said softly: |
: .lank you. Wanda. for your confidence |
in me; but cannot give YOU any advice. /
Ask your heart; it alone can give you an |
answer. When your heart Will start to |
speak, then you Will understand-without |
my advice"
Thank you" and Wanda walked over 1
to Pan Arthur Kasimir kept watching 4
her all the while she spoke and danced /
with Pan Arthur
Is it not strange that only tonight he /
looked into the depth of this transparent I
heart? He had known her so long He .
had often laughed at her questions and /
naive remarks. How many times he en-
joyed her childish confidence and her faith /
n everything he. hasnir. told her. HOW /
beautiful she was aow, Only now he no.
ticed how she has changed-how She has /
grown up. Her e-es alone remained the .
same What wonderful eyes, 1t is evil /
dsntIy true that eyes are the mirror of 1
the soul, for rer soul remained IN
even a. her eyes. Can Arthur
read her eyes. He always held that n
woman was as sn open book: that there
was nothing enigmatic nothing mysteri-
Gus about her: that man. knowing life.
knows woman aad how to win her How
Will Arthur win her? But what is that to
Kasimir? He ~ longer took any interest
in this crowd. in life at large. II he
were weelI. or + he at least. had hopes
of ever recove ing. then. perhaps. some
thing would haze Interested him on earth
Nothing but misfortune teaches real phil
osopnS' anu oitS d man i 4 philosopher
all is over. Tie physicians told him that
he would recover this time. but that the
next stroke viii be dangerous. Now /
he is poor AMI sick. while she is youth it
self beauty. hope. kindness. and purity
She always loved the most
the poorest the forsaken
children. just because no one else loved
them; she retted the sick dogs and cats
because they were sick. helpless and dis \