El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-05
A Story of Mona Lisa

dirty stairs to the apartment OF
~ his three friends, the painter, the
poet and the musician. He never came
to Paris without paying them visit
No sooner was he admitted to the room
than he noticed a beautiful young
woman sitting on couch in the corner
He stood still, staring at the young
Fake off your coat. Sit down.
Make yourself at home his friend
cried.
what a strange resemblance" he
heard his own lips whisper, though it
sounded as if his voice came from far
away.
Resemblance Whom does she re-
semDle?' the others asked.
The painting Of Mona Lisa which
disappeared"
she not only resembles her, she is
Mona Lisa herself
Strangely enough ne did not for
moment consider these words a joke.
On the contrary, when the young wOm-
, an raised her head and looked al him,
she alone Mona Lisa. seemed alive and
real
He took off his coat hung up that
and his hat. and sat down on an old
wooden chair. He had eyes only for
Mona Lisa; her eyes, her eyebrows,
her nose and the mysterious smile
about her lips. They gave him a pipe
and he began TO smoke as If this were
a most commonplace incident. as if he
were used to sitting and smoking in
the presence Of Mona Lisa every
night
He saw the athletic figure Of the
painter. the little thin musician. AMI
the tall poet sitting or walking about
as if they were merely shadows.
The count felt as if his chair were
floating in the air. He felt as If he
must steady himself against the walls,
as if he must hold on to something,
so as not to drop into the immeasur-
able space Of the universe.
His heart beat very normally, but he
felt as If it might stop at any moment,
b. and his eyes were as hot as fire.
Mona Lisa quickly sorted the papers
which she had in her lap, into three
parts. laying the poems on the right,
the pictures in the center and the
music on the left. She ran her black
eyes quickly over the the three piles,
blushed a little when looking at some
Of the papers and then in her peculiar
tongue. half French and half Italian.
praised each Of the three friends for
that OF his work which had appealed
TO her. They stood in respectful dis
lance listening to her words with
bowed heads At last after looking
the papers over carefully once more.
she gave the prize to the painter. The
count saw him, mute with happiness,
kneel down in front of her and bury
his head in her lap while she tenderly
strOked his hair with her white slender
hands The poet and the musician
looked sad but their faces showed no
trace Of anger or Jealousy. They
moved their chairs closer TO the
counts, very cautiously so as not to
make the slightest noise, and began TO
tell him the story Of Mona Lisa in a
whispering voice
For two years they had been daily
visitors to the Louvre where they al
ways ended their visits standing in
front of the painting Of Mona Lisa
at HHn1 "a eli q
miratiOn until they actually adOred it
like a goddess One day the painter
remarked that the smile of the woman
had changed. It had been less human.
weeks ago. They compared IL with
copies and photographs which they had
at home and found that it was really
true but dreamers. as they were, they
saw nothing strange in this From
that day however. their whole exist
ence was changed They kept away
from the painting now. only during the
hours when the gallery was locked At
first the watchman eyed them sus-
pictOusly, but after a while they came
to the conclusion that they were harm
less cranks and left them alone.
Then one day Mona actually moved
her lips and before the three friends
had recovered from their Surprises the
canvas cracked. as if II were burning,
and the woman stepped forth from the
frame and walked towards them with
stiff movements as II she had yet TO
learn to walk She smiled more cor
daily. raised her hands to her lips
and let them drop again turning quite
pale as If the eXerUOn had been too
much for her She seemed on the point
OF fainting when the three friends
caught her. She was cold as ice so
the painter wrapped his mantle about
her and the color returned TO her
cheeks Then they led her away out
into the fresh air without arOusinS
anybOdy's Suspicion
From that day the three friends
felt as If bells We're pealing within
their souls necessarily. Tt was as II
all the Churchbels Of Paris had sud
denly come into their studio The
musician at once saw the bare floor
covered with flowers and told the
others to be careful not to step on
them. They always quarreled as to who
was to bring soup and meat from the
nearest restaurant for none of them
wanted to leave her presence even Tor
moment The woman Of mystery
sat on her sofa cOmbinC her hair,
tying bOquets Of flowers OF singing
quaint old songs. though she never
told them of bygOne days. She always
listened however whenever the friends
were talking of life in Paris and OF the
crowd and hustle Of the streets She
would never go near the window TO
look out She wanted nothing more in
this world but this room to which she
had fled to escape gaping tourists
staring eyes Why had she come back
to life2 Through the love Of three pairs
OF adoring eyes among the THOUSAND
Of cold curious gazes2 She did not
know and never spoke about It
From then on they all competed for
her favor. When she permitted the
poet TO take off her slippers one even
ing when he had written a poem that
pleased her particularly well, they al
most came to blows. She stared at
them in surprise. separated them and
kissed each Of them. After that she
gave her love to the one who pleased |
her best at the moment.
While the count was listening 20 !