Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1910-06-10
n.m9 &mm mwmnomamuI.
In THE VALLEY
OF DECISION.
By Miss Ella Kenney.

~
The pale shadows of departing
day are creeping over the earth. the
last lingering rays of the setting sun
cast a golden light on church spire
and roof and the bluebird chants
forth in melodious voice the last
sweet notes OF his evening song
High up in her room among the
stars face sits a girl. whose face and
figure are thrown into strong relief
against background of scarlet and
gold. She sits at the open win1ow,
and the soft mellow rays of the set
ting sun cast gentle shadows that
seem to accentuate her isolation. In
her face is expressed the remotehess
of the spirit that will ever see visions
and dream dreams. while In her
dwelt In sweet accord all those
qualities, those subtle elusive ele-
ments of perfection that we esteem
but can never wholly fathom.
As she raises her eyes her glance
takes in the room-the open fire. the>
easy chair. the table on which rests
bundle of manuscripts, and soft
smile creeps over her .countenance.
children of the MIST" she muir
murs. and lays caressing fingers on
the neat pile Of papers. Her fancy
waAGers in and out through the vista
of departed years and she sees her
self young and happy girl embark
ing on the sea of literature. A brief
and Woodworking period of novitiate
found her at the height of fame. Her
books became household possession
and her presence was sought at many
a gathering, not only for her fame as
a writer, but because her sweet. SYM
pathetic nature drew humanity to-
ward her, and her charity and sweet
helpfulness cheered many an unsuc-
cessful follower.
One window of her room looked
out on many a roof garden, but
one little opening that caught the
first sweet flush of dawn and the last
lingering set OF sun. She loved the
wide glory of the purple sky. its
loneliness and its mystery. A sleep
ing princess. waiting for her prince"
she designated herself. This little
world had at time fairy brightness
that contrasted with its occasional
loneliness and the dark hour when
frost and snow shut out her view of
sun and moon and stars. 1t made
one side of her life, one part of her
existence The other half of her
consciousness belonged to the world
outside, to the ostentation and vani-
ties that characterized her fellow
men. She found that standing on
the outskirts of the dim multNudes
she could view here. as we'll as In
her high window, rising cnostella-
lions, fleeing eclipses and intermit-
tent silences.
The view fascinated her, and when
at last the prince came, her whole
heart had leaped responsive to the
great happiness; she was carried
along in the whirl; utterly swept OF
her feet, robbed of all volition. There
seemed no leisure hours to spend at
her high window, and she felt blind
ed and deafened by the clamor Of her
| heart. But at last there came =
quite moment when, seated in .her
nook among the stars, ner thoughts
resolved themselves from chaos and
she could survey calmly and logi-
cally her position. AS she glanced at
the solitaire he had placed upon her
finger she seemed to see In its place
a chain that bound her in rivets of
steel.
my wife," he would cay In one
of their plans for the future, must
not be public woman The life of
a woman in the public eye is utterly
distasteful to me-" That she should
give up her writing was the sum of
his desires. At first in the poignancy
of her grief she had tried to elimin-
ate him from her life, but the long
stretches of loneliness and the insis-
tent cries of her heart rendered fu-
tile all attempts at separation, and
she realized with pang that she had
come to a parting of the ways.
Now once more seated at her high
window in the clouds. her hands ca
ressingly, lingeringly laid upon her
manuscripts. she feels that some
thing she had begun to live for has
gone for nothing; something sweet,
ardent and keen must come to an
end. ~
She crosses the room to the open
fireplace, where the fitful darts OF
fame cast fantastic shadows on wall
and floor, and kneeling. she stirs the
dying embers into a bright glow
Then gently. tenderly. she places the
! neat parcel on the Goals. Children
of the MIST" she whispers, fare
WE'LL As the papers catch the glow
they quicken into flame, then die
out: q coal becoming detached from
its security falls with a sibilant. hiss
ing noise and in the rosy glare Is re-
fected a subtle change in the face Of
the kneeling girl-the old look OF
surprise In the brown eyes has gone;
the old afr of enchantment has de-
parted; she seems to have gained in
equipoise: she had lived through
something.
The sleeping princess had come
into her kingdom.
Steam Plant Accidents.
During the IL months ending June
80, 1905, IA persons were killed and
40 injured from British steam plant
accidents; in the United States 38a
persons were killed and 5S5 injul ed
The number Of steam boilers in the
United States does not exceed by
more than so per cent. those II
Great Britain, SO that, in comparison
the actual percentage is ten tfmel
as great In the United States as In
England.
During the last six months theirs
have sailed eastward from New
York city 1853 passengers.