The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1905-05-27
Selett Story.
LOVE IS BLIND.

CHATTER l.
Il wish, Nora Desmond cIlorej ever
;, slightly. one Of you would tell me
shat Mr. l.e Strange Is ike
Mrs. Desmond and Nancy Desmond
boxed at one another sharply soneihlng
hike = warning glance passed between
them.
Like Mrs Desmond repeated faint.
".
"Yes-hke, Nera returned. n know
be tall aud bag. know he has pleas
an, voice. a merry laugh, know her
strange, pretty ewes grew shy though
,hey saw nothing, never had seen any
thing iace her foarth birthday he
= the kinds~s man in the whole wide
World. but | want to know what his face
j hke-that's natural. isn It. since "A
trae dehantly since We are such good
friend-s'
quite uatursl, Mrs Desmond an
swercd What woald you like to keow 49,
the color Of his eyes,
Once usoTs she lnoked at Nancy the
girl shrugged her shoulders, and made a
helpless sort Of gesture
'sOf course. Nora said. ''ihc color Of
bis eyt-, hts hair. what sort Of nose and
mouth he has. whether he wears mus
iache should ike word picture Of
hitn. You knoE. she sighed softly, ia :
al the yieiuFe can see
For >ou.e reason ~ other. both Mrs aad
MIS- nssuond looked relieved.
John le Strange has very Cood feat
ure-. indeei. Mrs Desmond answered
a straight no~e. a god mouth aud really
beautiful eyc. His hair Is brown. with
a natural ware init. dna'l think there )
anyoBe Ia the soyli who coald deny John
has good features As for the nature Of
the man, it : absolutely the sweetest | have
ever known
4 very pretty smile cTu-,ed Nora hp-
tender expression catered the s'ghSless
eyr-
The sweetest nature sou have ever
known, she reapeAiei. One eoaldn' {
have a nicer thing said than that Looks
are 4 great deal. of course 80 love ey
eryshing beautiful, bu, lovely nature Is
even more than lovely exterior /
why, that's Johns foo's,ep; he's EARLIER
than usual today, isu', heg
Joha IL Strange boarded in the house
of Mrs Desmond had lived iu her house
nOw for tern yeArs almost ever since the
death of Terrence Desmond, leaving his
widow no, very well provided for.
4 look If pleased expectancy shone upon
the girl lace then. as the footsteps passed
the door. went slowly upstairs, il died
away
His footfall sounds tired tonight. she
said, more TO herself than the Others, as
though some trouble Is upon him wish
mother it was curious how directly she
seemed To look at her muther-''you
would 20 up TO him just to see that moth
Ing Is wrong Hes been an inmate OF
your house So long now, you mus; feel al
most ike a mother to him
Once more Mn Desmond glanced at
Nancy,
Il dare say he's tagged out, she an.
swered. Men mostly are when they
come home from their work Why not
20 and ask him yourself, Nora? You re
his favorite
4 smile flashed into the girl face, in
her eyes, on her lips, dimpling her cheeks.
She had been beautiful before; she was
absolutely lovely now.
His favoritel she repeated. "Moth-
er, do YOU really think 50? OF course, he
pities me-eyeryone does; everyone is kind
10 me-but, apart from that, do you real
Is. really think am his fayorite-iu spite
of my blindness
Mrs. Desmond rose, crossed the room, put
her hand upon the girl shoulder.
Il don't think know, she re-
turned. s'He thinks more of you than he
thinks of anyone in the wide, wide world
That's something to be proud Of, Nora.
She rose slowly, her little hands tightly
elasped.
Something to be very, very proud of
| she returned. But how wonderful that
is, mother!
| She moved across the room without
stretching out her hands No one who
did not know would have supposed her to
| be blind
''She will marry him, of course, Nan
cy said. when she was ont of hearing,
''because she is blind; she never would ii
| she could seer'
| CHAPTER II.
just as quietly as she had gone from
her mother sitting room. Nora mounted
the stairs, knocked at the door, and, in
answer to a quiet Come in, uttered in
a singularly beautiful voice, entered.
By table, with the full glare Of a lamp
shining upon him, sat man. So far as
his features went, Mrs Desmond 5 descrip-
ton had been accurate. The eyes that
softened so wonderfully as he saw the girl
were beautiful for all that, the man was
not pleasant to look upon. Smallpox OF
the most virulent type had scanned and
scared his face, making what should have
been very fair almost terrible.