Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1904-06-29
A WHISPERING
ROMANCE
iOriginal.1

mere WAS u lOt VI lTOuDic uuIiHS oAci-
mans attentions, lot more when he
declared himself and perfect ava.
lanche of distress when Isabel declared
that she would marry him willy nilly.
The truth is that Mr.. and Mrs. Reese
wanted their daughter to marry to suit
them instead of herself.
"Ill take you to the sources Of the
Nile" said Mr. Reese, "if it is necessa-
~ to get you away from this whipper
snapper"
Now, Dexter Sherman was no whip.
persnapper. If he had been, he might
have been easily discouraged, thus
avoiding the necessity of taking Isabel
abroad. When he learned from her
that the Reese family were preparing
to sail for Europe, he made his own
preparations to do likewise. Isabel
gave him a clew to their route, and he
followed in the next steamer. But the
foxy papa had purposely given his
daughter a route to mislead her lover
intending to change 1t as soon as they
reached foreign shores. When Sher-
man supposed they were at Nice, they
were at Dresden. When he supposed
they were at St Petersburg, they were
in Paris. However, he had taken the
precaution to give Isabel certain ad-
dresses where he could be found, with
instructions to mail him duplicate or
triplicate letters, as the case might re-
quire, and 1t was not long before one
of these missives informed him that
the Reese party were IN Florence,
Italy.
He knew that the parents would keep
a sharp watch over their daughter and
not permit her to stay away from them
long enough for any one to communi-
cate with her secretly. Isabel had
warned him not to write her, as she
was not permitted to receive letters
that had not been inspected. All he
could do was to take up his abode in
Florence and wait an opportunity.
The first time he caught sight Of the
Reeses was in one Of the galleries of
pictures and statuary with which Flor
ence abounds. He came upon the par
ty so suddenly that he had only time
to change his direction, dart down a
side corridor and out Of the building.
Luckily he was not discovered by the
parents, nor did Isabel see him. Then
he came upon them strolling by the
river Arno, but this time they were
sufficiently distant to enable him to
beat an easy retreat. After these two
meetings he began to fear that he
would surely run against them with
out an opportunity to escape. If he
did, the daughter would be taken away
and watched so carefully that she
| might not be able to give a new ad-
dress.
One morning he concluded to watch
| their hotel, observe when they went
out sightseeing and follow them with
the hope of communicating with Isabel
He saw them get into cab and drive
to the railway station, taking a train
southwark. He boarded the train, and
| when they got out at Pisa he got out
himself. He Swallowed them till they
went into large building and up into
a great dome. He stood on one side
Of the dome while they stood ON the
other Presently the father and moth
er strolled to little distance and were
looking down over the railing; the
daughter was leaning against the wall
Suddenly she heard her name spoken
softly:
"Isabelv'
They were in one Of those whisper
| rt-hi
| domes. 1t did not require much time
for Isabel to recover from her first
| start and come to the conclusion that
It was her lover who spoke
Dexter
| How can we elude your parents and
| secure an interview?
| Impossible. There is no time. We
| are to 90 to London tomorrow. will
| write you-where? oh, dear, what
| shall we do? l have it. Go every day
| next week to st. PauPs. In the dome
there we can whisper as we do here.
Papa is coming"
This ended the interview. Sherman
| went to London and for a week hung
about ST. Pauls. On the last day he
saw the Reeses coming and began the
ascent to the dome. Half an hour later
| he saw Isabel in the gallery alone, but,
| fearing that her parents were near by,
stood off and, placing his lips near the
wall, called to her:
isabel, I am here"
Papa and mamma are below" she
replied. ''They were too tired to climb
up. / insisted on coming. You can
safely join me-"
Sherman made his way around the
gallery and in few moments was be-
side his beloved. The presence of 9th
er visitors kept him from yielding to a
lovers transport, but in the great dome
| far from the ground he persuaded Isa-
bel to leave her parents and cling to
him. Mr.. and Mrs. Reese were waiting
for them below, but Sherman bribed
an attendant to show him a way out Of
the building by which they would not
be noticed. AS soon as they reached
the street they took cab, went to the
American embassy and were married.
There is no record of how long Mr..
and Mrs Reese waited for their dauph