Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1908-05-29

summer morning. 1t was just o'clock
as Claude Graham stepped out upon the
terrace that skirts the south front Of
the palace; the last musical chime from
the guardroom tower had that moment
ceased, leaving the warm air still hum
ming like a great top. But for this.
though, and the chattering of birds in
every bush, the place lay before him
silent and deserted, flooded with sun.
shine, and full of an unbelievable fresh
ness. 1t was world of fairyland into
which the boy seemed to have stepped
all at once
You imagine him, please, tiptoeing
ever so softly along the terrace. as If
fearful to break the enchantment with
a human football, and, finally, at the
head of the broad marble steps that lead
downward to the fountains, hating in
mere delight of contemplation
And to think" he said under his
breath, that two days ago / was in
England, and all this merely name on
the map!"
There was plenty of excuse for his en-
thusiasm. The private gardens of the
lcarian Royal palace are a sufficiently
enchanting sight at times more prcsaic
than even on June morning. Even the
stolid Baedeker pays them the supreme
compliment of double star. and Bae-
deker, | suppose, was not written by an
impressionable boy of 20 on his first
visit to the country. He adds, however
that admission for a stranger is very
difficult to obtain; but as Claude era
ham was staying in the palace itself
| (where he had arrived the night before
as guest to the English tutor of the
Kings brothers), these obstacles in the
way of less favored tourists did not af-
feet him.
On the farther side of the paved
square in which are the fountains and
separated from it by tall hedge, is the
/ Queens rose garden. From his position
ON the steps Claude could see right over
this hedge and into the paradise lin the
proper sense of the world beyond And
in the paradise behold Eve herself, hat
less and dressed all in white, standing
] tiptoe to snip roses from the top of a
/ pergo'a arch into the basket at her fesT
i For a moment astonishment, as / say,
| held him at pause. Then he ran lightly
down the remaining steps, passed round
the great stone basin, where the goldfish
were enjoying a shower bath of dia-
nonds, and so came to the gap in the
oleander hedge through which you pass
to the rose garden. There he stood hest
| tating, a little at loss tas we'll he
might bel for an excuse to enter but
with never a thought but that he would
! find means somehow for a closer sight
OF her who was within. You perceive
from this what she was like to look at, a
circumstance which saves me the trou-
bic of attempting to describe her
which / couldn't do at all satisfactorily
to myself.
He had not to wait long, for Provi-
dence, which watches over the senti-
mental, had decreed that just beyond the
hedge small and grossly overfed dog
should be basking in the sun, lazily
swapping at flies. 1t was a quite horrid
little dog, so ridiculously covered with
hair as TO be practically the same at
both ends, except for a huge bow of
pink ribbon with which someone had
very thoughtfully distinguished its neck,
and no sooner did it detect the presence
of Claude than it launched itself upon
him in fury of yapping resentment.
So fierce commotion breaking the
quiet of the rose garden naturally
fstartled her. She looked round in alarm,
and seeing first the dog, then an UNI
known young man gazing up at her
through the gap in the hedge, "0h!"
said she, but by no means in an un.
friendly manner, and after moments
htsitation she added more slowly, "I'm
so sorry; he won't bite at all, really"
"In that case" asked Claude boldly,
would you very much mind putting
your monster under spell again? You
see" he explained. Il can't in honor
fight anything so disproportionate, but
he'd be awfully i'll if he were to eat me-
! She smiled with IA air of polite
amusement. "And if / call him off 7"
she asked ''What then?''
Then. of course" said Claude, Il
shall be able to enter the enchanted gar
dem"
] | fancy her eyebrows went up ever so
slightly at this. He was certainly a
most self.confdent young man. How
ever. she summoned the dog, which
came unwillingly, still emitting rum,
bling protest against the folly of per-
hitting the intruder to remain alive.
BE quietl" she commanded it reprov-
ingly, adding in explanation to Claude,
| 'sYou see l can't scold it properly, be-
cause | don't even know its name"
| "No?" said Claude, standing beside her
now and pretending to look at the dog
NO 1t isn't my monster at all, real
| ~. l believe it belongs to one of the
ladies in waiting"
oh" said Claude, Il see"
"Well?" He started to find her regard
/ ing him critically.
Il beg your pardon"
Il said 'Well,'s she repeated What
meant by that was that you seem to
have remarkably little conversation, con-
sidering the informality with which you
managed your introduction"
Il am more than sorry, your ma
he began, and checked the words, re-
memhering suddenly that his only pos
sible course was TO affect to continue the
mistake
More than sorry" he finished, If l
appeared rude
you certainly did said the lady
frankly. But I'm afraid it's little