Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1907-10-03


cling; n of those events that, looked
at retrospectiyely, are beyond all hu.
man understanding.
It was q beautiful July Saturday
noon and Bob and I had just packed
up" for the day preparatory to joining
Mrs. Randolah on my yacht for a run
down to our place at Newport. AS we
stepped out Of his office one Of the
clerks announced that a lady had come
in and had particularly asked to see
Mr.. BROMLEY.
who the deuce can she be, coming
in at this time on Saturday, just when
all alive men are In a rush to shake
the heat and dirt of business for food
and the good air or all outdoors?"
growled Bob. Then he said, "Show
her in"
Another minute and he had his an.
swer.
A lady entered.
"Mr. Brownley?" She waited an In.
slant to make sure he was the vir-
ginian.
Bob bowed.
Il am Beulah Sands, of Sands Land.
ing, Virginia. Your people know our
people. Mr.. BROMLEY, probably well
enough for you to place me-"
"Of the Judge Lee Sands'T" asked
Bob, as he held out his hand.
81" am Judge Lee Sands Oldest
daughter" said the sweetest voice l
had aver heard, one of those mellow,
ripping voices that start the magma
ton On a chase for a mocking bird,
only to bring it up at the pool be-
meath the brook-fall in quest of the
harp Of moss and w~atcrcresses that
sends a bubbling cadence into it's
eddies and swirls. Perhaps it was the
southern accent that nibbled off the
orner and edges of certain words
and languidly let others mist them
selves together, that gave it it's
luscious penetration - however that
may be, 1t was the most no-yesterday-
no-to-morrow voice / had ever heard.
Before l grew fully conscious of the
exquisite beauty of the girl, this voice
of hers spelled its way into my brain
like the breath of some bewitching
oriental essence Nature, environ
ment, the security Of a perfect mar
riage have ever combined to consti-
tute me loyal to my chosen one, yet
as | stood silent, like one dumb, alb.
sorbing the details Of the loneliness of
this young stranger who had so sud-
denly swept into my office, it came
over me that here was a woman in
tended to enlighten men who could not
understand that shaft which In all
ages has without warning pierced
mems hearts and souls-loye at first
sight. Had there not been Katherine
Blair, wife and mother-Katherine
Blair Randolph, who filled my love-
world as the monday August sun fills
the old-fashioned well with Nesting
warmth and restful shade-after this
interval, looking back at the past,
dare ask the questionable knows
but that I too might have drifted from
the secure anchorage of my slow Yam
kee blood and floated into the deep
waters?
Beauty, the cynic's scoff, is in the
eye of the beholder, or in an angle OF
vision-mere product Of lime-light,
point of view, desire-but Beulah
Sands was beauty beyond cavil, SUI
perior to all analysis, as definite as
the evening star against the twilight
sky. In height medium, girlish, but
with a figure maturely modelled,
charmingly full and rounded, yet by
very perfection of proportion escaping
suggestion of "plumpness." The head,
surrounded and crowned with a wealth
of dark golden hair, rested on a neck
that would have seemed short had its
slender column sprung less graciously
from the lovely lines Of the breast and
shoulders beneath. It was on the
face, however, and finally on the eyes
that ones glances inevitably fingered
the face rose-tinted, with dimples in
either of the full cheeks, entering
laughing protest against the sad droop
that brought slightly down the corners
of a mouth too large perhaps for
beauty, II the coral curve of the lips
had been less exquisitely perfect. The
straight, thin-nostriled nose, the broad
forehead, the square, full jaw almost
as low at the points where they come
beneath the ears as at the chin, sug.
gested dignity and high resolve cou
pied with a power of purpose, rare In
woman. The combination of forehead,
jaw, and nose was seldom cen Had
1t been possessed by a man it would
surely have driven him to the tented
field for his profession. But the great,
est glory Of Beulah Sands was he,
eyes-large, full, very gray, very blue,
vivid with all the glamour of her per.
scnality, full Of smiles and tears and
spirituality and passion; one instant,
frankly innocent, they illuminated the
face of a blonde Madonna; the next,
seen through the extraordinary. long,
jet-black eyelashes underneath the
finely ~penciled black brows, they ca
ressed, coquetted, allured. afterward
found much of this girls purely physi-
cal fascination lay in this strange
blending Of English fairness with An.
dalusian tlnts, though the abiding
quality Of her charm was surely in an
exaltation of spirit Of which she might
make the dullest conscious. AS she
stood looking at Bob in my Office that
long-ago noon, gracefully at ease in a
suit Of gray. with a gray-feathered
turban on her head, and tiny lace
bands at neck and wrist, she was very
exquisite, exceedingly dainty. and,
though southerner Of southerners, very