The Southern herald., 1913-04-18

4N& CIblly lhCu NlOi ChNS
Y " y Raimund, the best of
her two hundred girls, for
three years; and, sometimes,
she suspected that Florence knew it.
Miss Wing sat at her desk. 1t was a
large desk Of oak, always kept in
blameless order No one could recall
seeing more than one letter at time
lying on the blotter. Any others, yet
unread, lay In the wicker tray to the
left; the letters read but not answered
were In the wicker tray to the right;
the answered letters were in appropri
ate pigeonholes or in ashes, Miss Wing
being a firm believer In fire as a conf
1ential agent. About the desk hung
the most interesting object in the
room, to the schoolgirls; In fact 1t
would be hard to gauge justly the in
huence this one, mute and motionless,
had over their young imaginations;
or how far 1t was responsible for the
Eose-tinted halo that beyond doubt,
glorified the principal for them. The
object was a picture, the picture Of
young man in the uniform Of captain
IN the German cuirassiers. His thick
light hair was brushed back from a
fine and candid forehead. A smile
creased his cheek under the warlike
curl Of his mustache. 1t was a smile
so happy and so friendly in its hap
piness, that 1t won the beholder. The
eyes were not large, but even in the
black and white Of photograph (the
portrait was an ordinary cabinet
carte) they seemed to sparkle. The
young fellows figure was superb, and
held with a military precision and
1auntiness. One said looking at the
whole presence, This man is good
fellow" Viewing him more closely,
one might add, And he is in love. "
The picture was framed handsomely
an a gilded frame. On the desk below,
an exquisite vase of Venice lifted a
single, perfect rose. For Is years a
flower had always bloomed thus. Miss
Wing had hung the picture herself, Is
years ago. Then, she was the new
principal, and the school was but half
its size; and the village people ex-
claimed at trusting such girl" with
30 much responsibility. During those
Is years the new building had been
built, the school had grown and -four
ished; and the gray had crept into
Margaret Wings bright hair. She had
80 often put on mourning for her near
kindred that she had assumed it as
her permanent garb. To the certain
(and ecstatic) knowledge Of the school,
she had refused divers offers of mar.
riage from citizens Of good repute
and substance, But during all the
changing years, the picture had kept
its place and the fresh flowers had
bloomed below. No girl could remem.
ber the desk without the picture; and
when the old girls visited the school,
their eyes would instinctively seek II
in its old place; always with a little
moving of the heart. Yet no one
ever alluded to 1t to the principal;
and no one, not her most trusted
teacher, nor her best loved pupil, hat
ever heard the principal speak Of it
The name of the pictured soldier, his
story, his relation to Miss Wing; Miss
Wings nearest kindred and friends
knew as much about all these as the
school-and that was nothing. Never
4heless, the school tradition reported
part Of a name on the authority Of {
single incident. Years ago an acci
dent happened to the picture. 1t was
the principals custom to carry it will
her on her journeys. however brief
always taking 1t down and putting 1
back in its place herself On this oc
casion the floor had been newly pol
ished, and In hanging the picture he
chair on which she stood slipped ant
she fell, while the picture dropped ou
of her grasp. One Of the girls, VIII,
was passing, ran to her aid; but sh'
had crawled toward the picture an
would have It in her hands before sh
allowed the girl to aid her to rise
circumstance, you may be sure, no
likely to escape the sharp young eyes
Neither did these same eyes miss tn
further circumstance that the jar ha
shifted the carte in the frame and
line Of writing, hitherto hidden. wa
staring out at the world. The han
was the sharp, minute German hant
but the words were English; the gil
took them in at an eyeblink, as sh
handed the picture to Miss Wing
"'Thine for ever, Max" Miss Win
made no comment; perhaps she SUI
posed that the girl had not seen, pc
haps-in any case she was silent.
OF course, the new light flooded th
school gossip Immediately. But ther
never came any more; every new gi
was free to work her own will on Mis-
Wings romance. Was Max" dead
Had they parted because Of any act 0
the woman's part? Surely he coul
not have been false, to receive thi
daily oblation Of flowers. 1t was moi
likely that she thus expressed an in
perishable regret. Youth, ever fanC
full. played with all manner Of daint
and plaintive variations on the them
It's very mystery was its poignal
charm; since each tender young Sol
created a new romance and a new a