The Washington herald., 1911-07-03

In the summer or 1I16 young woman
one day came to a village near Bristol,
England, and asked for a little milk to
refresh herself with. She had something
pleasant in her manner and speech and
attracted the attention of all those who
saw her. She was evidently stranger,
alone and in very poor circumstances.
but her youth, her more than ordinary
beauty, her elegant and graceful bearing,
Enthusiastically showed her to be more
than a tramp or beggar. And yet in all
that she said and did she gave signs Of
abnormality, OF eccentricity, If not OF
actual mental alteration. The whole day
she used to roam about in fields and
meadows and nights she slept on a
hurdle. The women of the village took
pity on her and more than one of them
offered her shelter in her cottage, but
this the stranger always refused.
She accepted from the kind-haarted
villagers the barest necessaries of sub
sistence, but could not be prevailed upon
to sleep under a hospitable roof. To pro-
tect her against the dangers to which
her mode of lifo necessarily exposed her,
it was at last decided to take her into
custody. But the loss of her freedom 20
deeply affected her and threw her into
such a state of unhappiness and prostra-
ton that she was set free again. She at
once rushed back to her resting place
in the fields and her JOY in feeling her.
self free once more was great. Pri-
vations, illness, cold, and misery had
exhausted her strength, undermined her
health and greatly diminished her
beauty, but she was still very attrac-
tive and there was an indescribable
delicacy and sweetness in her counte-
nance. She obstinately refused to give
any explanation as to her past life, her
origin and her birth. Although her
memory seemed to have suffered great
ly. she answered quite coherently and
sensibly all questions. except those
which she believed were put to her
with view to learning the story of
her life.
An efforts to lift the veil from the
mystery which shrouded her identity
proved futile. Her mode of life was
simple and innocent. When the wealth
er was fine she used to walk from one
village to another. conversing with the
them small presents of articles she had
received from kind strangers and her
self accepted some nourishment, such
as tea and milk. The ladies Of the
especially a certain Mrs.
Atking, who had never ceased to be
her benefactress and to take q kindly
interest in the mysterious stranger. did
their best to persuade her to accept
their hospitality and sleep in a house.
To all their entreaties she invariably
replied: In the houses misery and
trouble dell; real happiness is only to
be found IN freedom and fresh air"
Although she spoke English with
fiuency, It was evident from her accent
and expressions that she was of foreign
birth. People tried to define her ma
tionality and one gentleman addressed
her IN different foreign tongues. She
seemed uneasy, embarrassed. and even
frightened. but when he spoke to her
in German, her emotion was so great
that she could scarcely hide It, she
burst into tears and ran away An
other gentleman, who spoke German
fuently, followed her and tried the ex-
pertinent a second time. He asked her
in German; she blushed and
at first replied In English to his ques-
tions, but then, checking herself, as
II suddenly aware of her imprudence,
she said that she did not understand
what he was asking. At last Mrs. At
King succeeded in placing her with a
physician at Bristol.
Whenever he questioned her about
her life previous to her arrival IN the
of Bristol she used to put
her finger on her lips, as If imposing
silence and indicating that this was a
subject never to be discussed. She still
refused to sleep in a bed and mattresses
were placed for her on the floor. 1t
was noticed that often she found pleas
ure in draping herself in her bed
clothes as in royal robes. One day =
drawn by four horses was
passing through the street and every
body rushed to the window. On learn