Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-09-14
CHAPTER |.

not De the mana 10 ruin lIb blHDllClty
by advertising It's beauties and adyan,
tages and directing the madding crowd
to It's sylvan retreat. At present the
golden sands which line the bay are In.
nocent Of the niger troupe, the timer
ant coniuror and the monster In HUI
man form who posters you to pur-
chase hldeous objects manufactured
from shells and cardboard.
A time may come when Portmaris
may develop into an Eastbone or a
Brighton, Scarborough or Hast
ings; but, heaven be praised! that
time is not yet and Portmaris, like an
unconscious village beauty goes on its
was stil ignorant OF It's loneliness.
At present there are about a dozen
houses, most OF them fishermen's cot
tages church hidden In n hollow a
mile away from the restless sea, and
an inn which Ii satisfied with being an
inn and has not yet learned to call
itself n hotel.
Two or three OF the fisherfoll let
lodgings, To which come those for,
tlnate individuals who have, quite by
chance, stumbled upon this out-of-the-
way spot; and in the sitting-room OF
tho prettiest OF these unpretentious
cottages was young girl
Her name was Leslie Isislo; she was
nineteen, slim. graceful. and more
than pretty There Is type OF
beauty which, with more or less truth
Is generally described Irish. 1t has
dark hair, blue eyes with long black
lashes, "A clear and colorIess complex
lon Of creamy Ivory and II chin that
would seem pointed but for the OK
quisle fulnesB of the lips.
1t Is type which Ii more fascinat
ing that the severe Greek. more hold
Ing" than the yoluptuous Spanish,
more splrituelle than the vivacious
r'rench; In short, II is the kind or
Seauty before which most men must
go down. completely and forever van,
aushed; and this because the wonder,
full gray-blue eyes are capable of an in
finlty of expressions, can DO grave one
moment, and beaming over with fun
tho next; because there turks, even
when they are most qulosceni, a world
of possibilities In tho way of wit IN the
corners OF tho rcd lips because the
face, rs you watch 1t, can, IN the course
OF few minutes, flash with spirit,
melt with tenderness, and all the while
remain the face OF a pure. innocent,
healthy, light.hearted girl.
The young men who crossed Leslie
Lisle's path underwent u sad expert
ence,
AT first they were attracted by her
beauty; In a few hours or days, MS the
case might be, they began TO find the
attraction lying somewhere deeper
than tho face, then they woro restless,
unhappy, lost their appetite, got to ly,
Ing awake Mt night, and lastly went to
pieces completely, and II they pos.
sessed sufficient courage, flung them.
selves, perfectly wrecked and over.
come ut the small feet of the slim
girltsh figure which had come to
them even as that OF the ono woman
~ WV Nbilh' anu w db l4SSllt JUalltN,
she was not only surprised burt dis.
tressed, She had said nothing, and,
what is more, looked nothing, TO on.
courage them. She had been quite
horself-a frank, yet modest English
girl with an Irish face and that In
lescrlhahlo sweetness which draws
mems hearts from their bosoms be,
fore they know what has happened to
them.
She WINS seated at the piano In the
sitting.room of the cottage, which tho
fisherman who owned II had chrstened
Sea View, and she was amusing her
self and particularly silent and
morose parrot by singing some of the
old songs and ballads which she hal
found In nrickety muslc-stand I'm the
corner, and for all the parrot glnred at
her disapproyingly with his CLASSY eye,
she had sufficiently sweet voice, and
sung with more than the usual
amount of feeling.
While she was singing the door
opened ami tall, thin gen leman en-
tered This was Francis Llslo, her
father. He was man this side OF
nifty, he looked older In consequence
perhaps OF hts hair. which was gray
and scanty, II faded face with a
dreamy, PARKWAY look In the faint hltrc
eyes and somewhat bent form and
dragging gait. He carried portable
easel In one hand and held canvas
under his arm
As he entered he looked round the
room ms II he had never seen II be,
fore, then set the easel up in n corner,
placed tho canvas upside on It, and
crossing his hands behind his back,
stood with bent head gazing AT II for
some moments In silence: then he said
In n voice which matched the dreamy
face,
Leslie, come here"
Leslie stopped short in the middle of
the most heart.breal<ing line OF
- n Ylt tai