Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1913-11-12

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that these persons saw her through
eyes that interpreted her differently.
| Not getting strength as rapidly as
! could have wished. determined not to
| 60 back TO business for awhile. but
! take a trip abroad. At least this is
what l tried to persuade myself was
the object of my going. My doctor
helped me in the matter. for. having
| discovered that l was bent on going.
he gave me many good reasons why I
should do that very thing. He advised
me TO go to a bracing northern climate.
but did no such thing. Having learn
ed that the Carleton family We're in
Italy. determined TO go there. I could
not discover what part OF Italy they
were in, but 1 had been there before
and knew that I should find them in
one of three or four OF the large cities.
l hunted through all the registers "
Americans at Naples and Rome with
out finding them. but was rewarded by
seeing their names in the register of Il
| hotel in Florence. / Immediately en-
gagged a room at the same house and
felt that the goal. so far as reaching
the girl I had come to seek. was won.
But a sort of stage fright took posses
sion OF me. 1 had travelled several
thousand miles 10 find a girl l had
never seen. and when 1 should see her
might find her altogether unattractive
in my eyes.
1t was not long before at the table
d'hote near where l sat | noticed n
family. father, mother. daughter and
son. the latter two in their teens, and
heard the elders addressed as Carleton.
/ had looked at the daughter without
any especial admiration for her comel-
ness, but the moment I knew her for
the object of my dreams / thought
/ could see a kindness In her face.
At any rate, my attention being fixed
upon her countenance, l noticed that it
was very expressive.
Americans abroad are unlike Ameri-
cans at home. They are rather Ameri-
cans of the early part of the last -
century, when they travelled I'm stage
coaches. canalboats and the like. ThHy
don't trouble themselves much al ut
introductions. 1 soon fell to chatting
with the family sitting opposite me at
table and in few days found myself
as well acquainted as if l had known
them for years. I. being young man.
fell in naturally with the daughter,
whom very soon after meeting them
heard called Edith. She was fond Of
pictures and spent most OF her time in
the galleries; Consequently I became
fond of pictures too. We would start
in the UffiZi gallery, cross the Arno
by the picture hung passageway to
the Pitt gallery and after wandering
through the rooms of the latter re-
cross to the UffizI. And all this time
/ kept my secret, the evidence Of
which remained carefully folded in my
pocketbook.
defy any young man to go dawdling
about with n young girl, attractive or
otherwise, especially in the land so
suggestive of dreams, of romance, so
full of the fine arts as Italy, without
falling in love with her. And what is
true of the man is liable to be true OF
the girl. One evening Edith and 1
were sauntering on what they call in
Florence the Lung, Arno, which in
England they would dub the Arno
The river is crossed by
several bridges. and the streets on
either side of these bridges are at
night lighted by numerous lamps.
There Is no more beautiful city scene
in the world than the Lung. Arno at
twilight, when these lamps divide the
day and the night.
At this witching hour, leaning over
one of the bridges beholding this en-
scene, l took out the scrap
torn from the newspaper, on which
was written the message that had
so comforted me while in the hospital.
and handed 1t to the girl who had
on her face. She saw a message writ
ten in her own handwriting. Whether
Or no she remembered having written
It. mylpIoduction of it far from where
t Md been scrubbed was too confus-
Hg for her to understand.
I enlightened her. j pictured my
self lying I'll in a hospital when the
PAPER she had donated was handed
% me; it's effect: my efforts to read
what had been erased. and my final
success. Then. inspired by the scene
,bout US, told her that had follow
d across an ocean and would follow
lround the world the girl who had by
hat one little act of sympathy for one
who to her was but a creature of the
without sex, form or indi
OF any kind.
There are few girls who could resist
UGH an Offering Edith was of an Inn
reasonable nature and Was made
eeply sensible Of the power Of kindll-
less by her one kindly act, an act par
aking Of the divine work commemorat-
d in the galleries on either hand.
More than this, that scrap Of paper.
r. rather, what is represented, has
Influenced our lives since. We have
iven onetenth. and often more, OF
ur time and one-tenth OF our income
0 those who are In need OF aid and
omfort And our deeds Of charity
hall 10 on down through the ages
Nov. IL in American