The Washington herald., 1908-07-20
THE MAID OF ARTS
By NJ. C. SANFORD.

Unbroken blue the sky and sea-shifting
greens and browns the shore Along the
deserted beach and through the empty
streets autumn swished her rusJling
skirts. with no one 10 heed her passing
No one, at least. save a solitary man.
who. having escaped at length from the
stern dictates Of The law had come 70
Sc-fslde for q few weeks freedom Lean
/ ing over the fence which skirted the path
around the rocky coast. he gazed dreamily
out 70 sea following the ragged outline
I of the shore and breathing in the salt of
the ocean with the sweetness Of the earth
f beneath him
Suddenly a fresh cut in the weather
worn rail caught his eye H. T--W-
-Ci' Some one besides himself had evi-
I IDENTIFY sought out the shore late in the
season. '"w-'cae'' he Queried- 'WeIles-
ieyr' He had st. For was not g knife
blade broken on half short IN the wood,
an indIsputabIe evidence OF woman's
work?
so" he uused- = an not TO BE alone
with the natives and nature. after all
He started 10 move on Again he was
.arrested-thls tine By small bright OBJ
/ Jet az his feet Il proved TO be a Wei
lesley" class pin
Lost II while she was carving her
name with that dolls knife. I s'pose-"
Van Dyke argued TO himself, as was his
legal habit. fastening the pin meanwhile
10 his vest beneath his own Harvard
. pin
J StroIIIng on, he renewed his acQuai1t-
ance with one after another Of the favor
| Ion =
I Cave the rock that boomed like = cannon
at high tide. and innumerabIs coy re-
treats 70 be gained by careful climbing
. over the chaos OF big bowIders on the
. cliffs He whiStled ike a boy as he
+ went. and sang suatches Of the college
2 so1Es so fresh in his heart At last, IL
utter astonishment he curled up IN the
. lee Of an uverhanging rock. and, sOOthed
By the luIl Of the waves and the minor
wall OF the October wind. fell asleep
He was awakened in a curious man
rer Opening his eyes. Re found them
I covered with a soft transparent some
| thing that wrinkled when he wlnked- He
raised his hand 10 remove e and gazed
/ in astoaishment upon his sudden acCuisi-
I ton of a w0mau-s handkerchief mono
/ gram was embroidered in one corner His
! logical mind dsciphered It IN a fash with
I little expenditure Of eye-stra!n-
/ Exhibit c. he murmured. jumping
y1D eagerly. Now here's hoping for the
I lady herseif-''
| But the most searching scrutiny Of
1 rocky nests and inches failed 10 dis
/ cover her Indeed, after several days q
! faithful expI0rar tons Van DYKE began 10
thing his lady Of the monograuls teas
ing myth
/ Nevertheless he would have continued
70 hope for her realization- Il q letter
from his sister had not put q cruel end
I to his romance
Dear Richard It ran. 7 have Just
/ learned that Helen Tudor. a college friend
of mine. Is staying at SUrfside with her
/ mother she's a very clever Strl-has
lust written a remarkable thesis on some
/ learned subject and got an \ NJ degree
You ought TO Ike her She's your kind
Be sure 20 look her NJ. I've written her
you're going TO. She's staying at the Sc"
/ Cllr
I Trat d!shed the whole thing His
kind indeed, He abomiuated blue
stocking" So he fought shy Of the Sea
! CIir. and ceased 10 look for H T--W-,
'o4" in his daily rambles-
| But with the prOverbial irony accred-
fted 10 her. Dame Fate as soon as she
perceived Richards hack turned upon her.
bo5bed up in front Of him most uneXpect-
edIy. or TO be strictly accurate, Richard.
70 his own amazement bobbed up In
/ front Of her
/ with characteristics aIacrIty. he had
taken a handspring over q jutting rock
and landed in a secluded niche below
HIS sudden appearance 50 frightened the
young person curled up in It that she
dropped her book into pool Of water
7 beg your pardon" Richard bIurted
WmH
probably dry enough TO be proof against
a vetting-' was his mental comment) 7
hope it isn't injured fatally he added
aloud. handing the water-SOaked volume
TO its owner who he was surprised TO
notice. was a dimpled. rosy-cheske6
young woman with mischievous eyes
| Goodness. hope not" was her en-
lphatic reply I couldn't 60 to sleep TO-
might II I didn't ind out how the story
ended"
'.Fiction2'' queried Richard, cautiously.
''Yes. Of course What else does one
read on a vacation
| Vow here was an incongruity TO pom
der over-he had not fancied that H t
W. '0i." would Ike fiction But he would
not be misled. 'On vacation" she said
i-doubtless the rest OF the year she gave
lup to more solid literary accomplish
Iments-
Realizing that he was expected 10 say
something. although he had quite forgot
ten that her last remark had been IL the
form OF a question. Richard braced him
self for the ordeal
This IS my favorite haunt" he an
I nounced. unconscious Of displaying any
air OF proprietorshfp. as he established
himself comfortably beside her
The girl smiled nlysteriousiy-
''Yes. I judged So" she answered sim
ply
why. how did you guess asked Rich
ard, iu surprise I've never seen you
here before"
But I've seen you.
I He gathered his wits together at this.
It made no difference that she was pretty
and that she was fond Of love stories,
ike other girls-he knew her real self be-