St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1909-10-30
THE JUDGES
LOVE

in his walk through the crowded bas
Ear and, glancing in the direction OF
the voice, saw just before him a pref
tily draped tent with q trio OF palm.
lists plying their art.
The speaker, Of whom nothing was
visible save a pair of large brown
eyes, the rest Of her figure being
carefully shrouded in lace, so ar
ranged as to conceal all identity, gave
him an earnest look in which be
fancied for q moment q CLEAN OF
recognition dawned. But the eyelids
dropped as he drew near, and seat
ing himself at the little table he exs
tended his shapely hand.
"Your life" began tie palmist, sis
a long and successful one; you have
overcome difficulties by a strong will
and indomitable energy, and are now
wealthy, prominent and beloved. Am
bition prompted you to marry a lady
of wealth and station, but death
claimed her after a few years; you
have never filed her place, but often
you are lonely and the memory Of q
boyish first love comes back TO you,
and the broWn-haired girl you left
gobbing in the distant eastern state,
as the train bore you away to seek
your fortune, brings a pang Of regret.
She waited long for him who never
came, but mark ye, sir, you will meet
again. Within a tWelve-month she will
become your bride, and the best
years of your life are vet to come"
In the library of his beautiful home
that night he gaze himself up to the
memory of his first love, sweet Alice
Holden. How dear she had been until
ambition had driven her image from
his mind. Twenty years ago, and now
he was a man Of 40, a w~ell-preserVed
man, with only a touch of gray show.
ing at the temples. and Alice was five
years younger. Only a slip of a girl
when he had left her, a woman of IS
now.
81 will find her." he said, and If
she is free she shall be mine"
Two days later saw the Judge
speeding back to his native town,
where he found only a few of his boy
hood friends remaining. From these
he learned that Alice, upon the death
Of her parents, had left. the country
village to earn her living as a teacher
in a western seminary, no n could
tell him where.
The week that followed was a busy
one. Returning one night from a day
spent at court, as he stepped from an
uptown car, a pocketbook slipped ap-
parent1y unnoticed from its owner
and fell at his feet. The a sped on,
and, STOPPING, he tucked it in an in
ner pocket, mentally resolving to adj
vertise it on the morrow. He dis
missed it from his mind until later
in the evening, in dressing gown and
slippers, he opened the pretty trife.
1t vas of Russian leather, and a
bill Of small dimensions, some silver
coin and an old-fashioned photograph
met his gaze. Idly he glanced at the
pictured face, then with an exclama-
ton of amazement he sprang to his
feet and looked again. It was his
own smooth, boyish face.
Unable to believe his eyes, he
turned the card over, and there, in
his own handwriting YER the words.
Robert to Alice-Mizpah.' "Alice,
sweet Alice; my first love-" whis.
pered the Judge. II have found you.
Fate has been kind to me"
On the lining of the pocketbook
was printed in small gilt letters Alice
Holden, the T~horndike, Radcliffe ter
ace. The next morning the Judge
boarded a a and sped on through
the great city out beyond, where COM
parative quiet reigned. He found the
Thorndike to be a modest apartment
house. His heart stood still; his
quest was ended, but how would he
be received after all these years? He
would soon know, for he advanced
and knocked.
"A sweet feminine voice bade him
enter, and the Judge never forgot the
picture that met his gaze. A simple
DON in it's appointments, but how
homelike! Plants blooming in the
windows, a bird singing in is cage,
bright colored mats, a writing desk,
a bookcase, and there, sitting before
an open fire, was the love of his
youth, b~rown-eyed, broEn-haired, the
same fair cheeks and red lips, only
more lovely. The girl had matured
into a most beautiful woman.
Alice" he cried, az have come
back to you"
The woman, who had risen,
stretched out both hands in greeting.
The hour that followed was a happy
one; each had much to relate, and at
its close the man pleaded humbly for
the love that now meant so much to
him.
Let the future years prove my de-
yotion," he said, and she whispered,
with trembling HIPS:
81 have loved but You"
Fate has been very kind to ne"
he said later; fate in the form Of =
palmist and a pocketbook."
"Twas not fate" she said, after he
had departed, "but he shall never
know that / was the palmist and
dropped the purse at his feet. / viii
make him happy. The end justices
the means"