The San Francisco call., 1908-03-08

X -
presently he rose ard went ort-
The sacrtstan was still standing By
the same pillar
..Kyrios GulIabi is not in the church.
said Omobono. stopping again Il
must see him." he added. dropping his
voice. but speaking very distinctly. Il
beg Of you to direct me by four toes
and five toes. so that I may ind him
The sacrist1n's face and manner
changed at once. His snail eyes were
suddenly full OF Intelligence. his mouth
expanded In q friendly smile, and his
srub nose seemed to to draw Itself 10
point like the muzzle OF a hound on n
scent
why did .yor not say that at once
he asked. -GulIabI left ths church Q
quarter OF an hour before you came.
but he is not far away.
Go into that lane. Take the trst
turn to the left and the second to the
right again Before you havs gone far
you viii ind GuIIabi wafking up and
down"
walking up and DOWN. repeated
Omobono. surprised that tho Armenian
should select for his afternoon stroll
such a place as one might expect "a
md in the direction indicated.
Yes" The sacristan grinnsd ana
Tinked at the Venetian clerk II .
knowing way. "Ere IS devout man
up and down In that little lane
The man laughed audibiy. but fnris-
dIately looked behind him 70 see whsth-
er any one coming from within ths
church had heard him. for he consfd-
cred himself a clerical character. ONO
bono thanked him politely.
Going as the sacrIstan had fnstructs8
him. he came at last 90 tall, thin man
in a brown cloth gown sdgs4 With cheap
A - "A r
his head. He was taking win IN efd
beggar woman. and his back vas eurned
so that Omobono could only Sc that ne
had a long black beard. bat he reooE-
nized Gullabi, the Armenian dealer. Ths
house before which the two vsrs s<and-
ing seemed a. triie better than ths rsst
in the street: there were crazy shutt3rs
to the large lower windows, which were
open. however: there was door which
was ajar. and an attempt Rad been made
TO scrape the mud from the thrsshold-
In spite OF the prayer he had recenfiy
offered up against his besettin3 fAult OF
curiosity, Omobono could not help
treadinz very lightly as ne came up be-
hind the Armenian. and a. the mud was
In a pasty state. neither hard nor shiny,
his heavy boots made hardly any more
noise In trsading on it than be8Y4rs
bare feet. In this way he advanced until
he could see through an open window OF
the house. and he stood still and looked
in. but he made as II he were politely
waiting for Gullabi to turn round.
During half a minute, which elapsed
before GuIIabi turned round, the clerk
saw a good deal.
In the first place his eyes fell on the
upturned face OF a woman who was
certainly in the extremity OF dangerous
illness. and was probably dying. She
had been beautiful once and she had
Ho~
shadow Of coming death The wasted
body was covered with nanleless rags
n the pillow was white and clean: the
- lned face was the color OF pure wax,
"a the dark hair. gray at the temples.
lad been carefully combed out and
smoothed back from the forehead. The
woman's eyes were closed and deeply
shadowed By suffering. but her dslicats
nosfrils quivered now and then as she
drew breath. and her pale lips moved
a little as though trying 10 speak
A girl was standing on the other side
Of the sick wom11. hending down
very little and watching ner features
with look OF Infinite care and sorrcw-
One exquisite wdit= hand touched the
poor coverings OF the bed rather than
rested on them. as II II longed to be
Of some use and to rcIisve me vomans
suffering ever so little But me clerk
did not look at the GeIicate myers. for
his eyes were riveted on the young
girls face 1t was thin and white. but
lis lines wefv. beau. 'ful beyond COM
parison with all thas he had ever seen.
ey en In Venice, the city OF beautiful
wcn7en
/ think that true beauty is beyond
descrirtion:- you may describe the
changeless. faultless outlines OF
statue to a man who has seen good
statues and can recall them: you can
70 Ia
glow. and warmth. and deep texture
Of a famous picture, and what you
write will mean something TO thoSs
who know the masters work: you may
even eonjure up an image before IN
tutored eyes But neither minute DE-
! scription nor well turned phrase. nsfth-
er sensuous adjective nor spiNtual Bfm-
lie. can tell half the truth OF beau
: tifui living thing.
And the fairest living woman 10
twice beautiful when gladness or love
or anger OF sorrow rises in her eyes.
for then her soul Is in her face- As
Omobono looked through the window
and watched the begghr girl leaning
, over her dying mother. he hardly saw
the perfect line OF the cheek the dark
and sweeping Iashes or the deep brown
, eyes-the Arm and rounded chin, tns
very tender mouths the high bred nos
trils or the rich brown hair He could
: not clearly recall any OF those tlin -
few minutes later: he only knew that
2 he had seen for once something he had
heard or all his life
: Gullabi Grlbenkjan held out both
hands to Omobono. as IL he were greet
] ing his dearest friend, and he spoke
in fluent Italian He was young
:. man STILL not much past 80. with dark.
straight features. stony gray eyes and
a magnificent black beard
what happy chance brings you
a here?" he cried. Immediately drawins
i the Venetian in the direction whence
the latter had come. Fortunate. indeed,
h is Friday. the day OF Venus. since II
c brings me into the path OF smy hon
2 ored Sir Ornobono.7
D while ne talked he had drawn ONO
n bonos arm through his own and was
= leading him away from the house with
:. considerable haste The Venetian
looked back and saw that the old
e woman had disappeared
4 And now." said GuIIabi. drawin1
{ something like a breath Of relief "A
t they emerged into the open space b
t fore the church. pray tell me what ur'
: rArf hssfnpss brings you 30 far g