The Cairo bulletin., 1907-04-04
NnKMnnnu nnmuun IL
| IN THE VALLEY
OF DECISION. |


Ht pare sHduoWS VI utndTLln
day are creeping over The earth, the
last lingering rays OF the setting sun
cast q golden light on church splrc
and roof and the bluebird chants
forth in melodious voice the last
4 sweet notes OF his evening song.
| High up In her room among the
stars face sits g.rl. whose face and
| figure are thrown into strong relief
| against background OF scarlet and
gold. Sac sits at the open window,
and the soft mellow rays of the set
ting sun cast guntle shadows that
seem to accentuu1e her isolation. In
| her face Ia expressed the remoteness
of the spirit tina, will ever see visions
| and dream dreams, while In her
dwelt In sweet accord all those
! qualities, those subtle elusive ele-
ments OF perfection that we esteem
i but can neves wholly fathom
As she ra'sea her eyes her glance
4 takes in the roam the open fire, the
easy chair, The table on which rests a
bundle of mcnuscripts. and soft
| smile creeps ayer her countenance.
Children Of the MIST, she MUIR
murs, and lasn carcssing fingers on
the neat pile OF papers. Her fancy
waLGers in atl out through the vista
| OF departed Years and she sees her
self young md happy girl embark
Ing on the sen of literature. A brief
and Woodworking period of novitiate
| found her at the hei .,ht Of fame Her
! books became a household possession
and her presence was sought al many
gathering. not only for her fame as
writer, but because her sweet. sym-
| pathetic nature drew humanity to-
ward her, and her charity and sweet
helpfulness cheered many an unsuc-
cessful follower.
One window OF her room looked
out on many roof garden, hut
one little opening that caught the
! first sweet flush OF dawn and the last
| lingering set Of sun She loved the
wide glory Of the purple sky its
loneliness and its mystery. A sleep
ing princess, waiting for her prince"
she designated herself This little
world had at time fairy brightness
that oontrasted with its occasional
| loneliness and the dark hour when
frost and snow shut out her view of
sun and moon and stars. It made
one side of her life, one part of her
existence. The other half of her
consciousness belonged to the world
outside, to the ostentation and want
ties that characterized her fellow
men She found that standing on
the outskirts of the dim multitudes
she could view here. as well as in
her high window, rising cnostella-
lions, fleeing eclipses and intermit-
tent silences.
The view fascinated her, and when
at last the prince came, her whole
heart had leaped responsive to the
great happiness she was carried
along in the whirl; utterly swept off
her feet, robbed of all voition. There
seemed no leisure hours to spend at
her high window, and she felt blind
ed and deatened by the clamor Of her
heart But at last there came
quite moment when, seated in her
nook among the stars, her thoughts
resolved themselves from chaos and
she could survey calmly and logi-
cally her position. As she glanced at
the solitaire he had placed upon her
finger she seemed to see in its place
a chain that bound her in riyets of
steel.
MY Wife" he would say In one
of their plans for the future, must
nc - public woman The life of
a woman in the public eye is utterly
dist steful to me" That she should
give up her writing was the sum of
his desires At first in the poignancy
of her grief she had tried to elimin-
ate him from her life, bat the long
tent cries of her heart rendered flu
tile all attempts at separation and
she realized with a pang that she had
come to a parting of the ways.
Now once more seated nj her high
window in the clouds. her hands ca
ressingly. lingerinsly laid upon her
manuscripts, she feels that some
thing she had begun to live for has
gone for nothing; something sweet.
ardent and keen must come to an
end
She crosses the room TO the open
fireplace, whore the fitfuI darts OF
flame east fantastic shadows on wall
and floor, and kneellng. she stirs the
dying embers into a bright glow
Their gently, tenderly. she places the
neat parcel on the Goals. Children
of the Mist" she whispers. fare
we'll As the papers catch the glow
they quicken into Hame. then die
ont: a coal becoming detached from |
its secufit5 falls with d sibilant, hiss |
ing roise and in the rosy glare is re-
hected a subtle change in the face Of |
the kneeling girl--the old look OF |
in the brown eyes has gons: |
the old air OF enchantment has de- |
parted she seems to have gained In
she had lived through |
something
The sleeping princess had come
into her kingdom.
Cfaav,a plant A1rid..,,t.