Los Angeles herald., 1909-11-28

back in grove of trees 1t looked very aged and sadly
in need of paint yet about was air of comfort and
solidty.
"Vain boaster" it called to me, it is all very we'll
to be proud of your beauty. You young now; you
talk of the spirit Of love and beauty but that is only
the beginning. I have had that too and something
still greater for have seen the depths of suffering, and
know that the only real nobility when one has
passed through these shadows, and still hold himself
erect and smiling
At this I only laughed, for I knew that old houses
always grumbled,
It was in midsummer when evening he was late
in returning home. She was waiting for him in the
garden When he came I read in his face that great
trouble had fallen upon them. He whispered the words
to her gently and aerward she wept through that long,
miserable night A week later they locked the door
and walked away, the child between them
At the crest of the hill she stopped and looked back
at me longngly; her eyes embraced in their great
love- and heard her murmur Don't forget us, dear,
dear Haven. We are coming back-some day"
Then was I alone SO utterly alone, with my blinds
closed tight and my rooms darkened that the walls
began to mold and the smooth CLASSY floors deep
with dust. But this was as nothing to in my grief
over their departure I felt that I deserted and
left the mercy Of those who thought worthy to be
bought
Each morning I bathed my gables in the early sun,
would glow with the hope that perhaps that day they
might return but the lonely shadows of the twilight
clustered about me, knew it was not to be-
In my grief and loneliness I believe aged more in
those few months that I empty than in the many
years spent with them. At the end of three dreary
months was awakened from my lehargy by the sound
of heavy carriage rolling up to my gate The jangng
Of the chains the restless prancng of the horses, the
smart glitter of the carrage-all told that the
comers were rich. They were accompanied by the
heartless man who had bought me, and he unlocked
the door and showed the strangers in ray OF happ
ness passed over me-the hope that I might pass from
his hands forever.
The two women-they were mother and daughter, 1
learned when I had come to know them-held their
dainty gowns high as they stepped lightly over my
dusty floors and criticized me-deta by detail
a brick Aoor-how absurd, mamal We must have
a wood floor laid here at once. And how plain the
walls are! They will have be papered And all this
white woodwork is so tresome, but we have it
stained mahogany Yes, 7 believe we can make it pre-
senabe by spending money. Papa, do send for deco
rator at once"
Finally they took possession of me, and with them
came a horde Of workmen I reverberated with ham
merng my walls hung with heavy, dust-catching
cloths; massive unsuitable furniture was crammed all
over me- until felt that I was myself no onger-that
...-
DONE rang with the sound Of music, Of laughter, Of
endless rivolites. There was peace quiet self
communion left any longer. All hubbub and
careless merrment.
Thus I lived for decade There were alternate
periods of rest when the daughter and mother would
leave on their and visits. At such times felt
almost happy agan-and the old man. the husband and
father almost his way into my heart by his lonei
ness and homecssness. In way he represented
thing similar to myself, for at heart he craved real
home and yet was continually forced to live in what
was nothing but thin imitation. But the friendship
between us never grew for he did not know how to be-
gin to love me- and before he learned the daughter
married, and they moved away. Again l found myself
alone
Years and years of Misunderstanding out into
eternity OF drearness An endless changing OF faces
and FORMS some remaining with me for several years.
others only few months Some OF them sweet
children, one particularly-a little girl with SOFT brown
hair and gentle eyes, who sat in my garden
afternoons reading fairy tales and naming the flowers
after her many dream friends She seemed to feel my
presence in such moments, and the only happy expert
cnce in the desert Of my years-and that moment
was the happiness of sorrow-was when they took her
away. The others were calling her to follow them and
she slipped out into the garden before leaving, and laid
her head against the big door, kissing the broad panel
which the weather had blistered and cracked
Good b,,o III 0eba ubis-