Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1906-06-01

figure had exposed about three inches
of q pink. delicate, ineXpressibly human
arm.
| stood aghast, afraid to touch,
afraid even to " the skin of my
head creeping, all thought absolutely
paralyzed. then I went back to the
settee and sat down by the side OF
Foulard. feeling more thai a trife
faint. He touched m arm pathetically.
Am lam l mad, old chapT' he
whispered.
no. no." 1 answered, pulling myself
together; you're all right"
Presently, without a word, Toulard
went up to the statue, which we had
hardly dared to glance at. 1 followed
him. watching intently. Very gently
and with the utmost care he began
scraping and cutting away at the chalk
until the whole of a perfect. beautiful
~ symmetrical hand and arm was re-
vealed up to the shoulder. His nerves
were steadier. but his excitement and
]exultation were tremendous; as for me.
more Ii once l was compelled to
look round the room at the familiar
objects-the chairs. the magazines, that
mornings Telegraph-to convince my
self that l was not plunged into some
Notwithstanding fantasy-o-sleeD.
The face-the face" Foulard eager
ly whispered. Little by little the Shout
der was disclosed to our wondering
gaze. the White mask removed, until
in an hour the face was uncovered. and
we stood back, awe-struck and silent,
as before some profound, unearthly
mystery.
My friend clutched my arm.
'The woman of my dream" he said.
1t was the form of a woman with
face infinitely calm and sweet. n sad.
bending slightly forward. Her W.
were closed. Coiled high upon her
head above Ii pure, creanl-tinted oval
lose 4 shining mass Of jet-black hair.
But the beseechinG, appealing gesture,
and the straining Of her head, as
though to catch the thrill of a passing
angels song.-it mad us boil listen
in]voluntarily, too, for what music
might be waited through the night The
flesh was firm and cool to the touch,
with none of that repulsive chill one
associates with death. and it seemed
as though at n moment the woman
might lift heavy eyelids and speak. If
she did,. what dead worlds should we
behold III the deeps of her eyes? What
wild tragedy of past ages would be I'M
folded to us?
Strangely enough, now the face was
-:.:lI, r-o falt M FAM ca lt,chnJ on
exquisite was the enhancing beauty
disclosed and for long we sat talking
in whispers over the marvellous thing
which had happened.
When l left the studio, Foulard came
with me to my rooms, for the sake OF
company it would never have done for
MIN to be alone-he looked Ill with the
shock and the excitement; and we
agreed to lock the room and come again
in the morning.
OF course, my friend copied his
world famous statue Of THE Song Of
the Siren" which made so great n
sensation not long ago, from the wom-
an Of his dream so suddenly given to
him-by what means it is impossible
for us as yet to say
In the morning when we re-entered
the room Ct had hardly left his side)
he began upon the fine statue in mar
BILE, and labored necessarily, almost
day and night, hardly would he allow
himself time to eat, and on many days
1 used to force him away from the
half-completed figure to partake of a
hurried meal with me. The woman
what else can l call her-he has
stripped Of all her white easement Of
chalk. She had been partially robed
by a fbrous garment thrown across her
bosom and dropping to her feet, made
cracked when touched. And, day after
day. he worked ardently, passionately,
at this labor Of love.
At last it was ended, and with many
q hope, many u fear. the reverent fin
ishing touches were added. 1t is need
ness to describe the statue as it stands
in the hall of sweet sounds; everyone
knows of it, how that more than n
has said that it has a soul; how that
the great musician has made it doubly
immortal by a composition directly in
spired by it. Foulard was famous, and
urgent commissions poured In upon
him from all sides. .
But-the woman? Was she dead, or
was she alive in some marvellous secret
way unknown to modern scientists as
the Indian fakirsh are supposed to have
the power of suspending animation for
months or years together? How long
had she been in her cerement Of chalk
years? All these and many more
questions we discussed, and then, not
knowing what else to do-for it was
impossible to keep the exquisite form
In my friends studio, or, in fact, it
seemed anywhere else-we called in a
mutual friend-the curator Of the
Cranston man Of some skill
In medicine and ancient lore. After his
first utter of surprise and incredulity,
he ventured many hypothesis, both
plausible and futile; and then, in or
der to preserve more fully the secret
from prying eyes while attempting a
solution, he made a tentative sugges-
ton which we carried out. In his
building he had a complete suit of
armor of olden times. Carefully we
built this round the impassive figure,
and conveyed it back to its place in
the museum.
.= IL = III %I>1 ornx0,1 J1r1 ond Io1-#