The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-06-09

.Aor. Tie tops o. sone black ana
-xr-a ceSsrs OF . distant hill and u
r1-H - some tine before It's slIsef
avs to-ched the surface o. the axe
- awaken into lie the closed BUDS o.
lie Eooc io-rz-
u-s ~s the chirr1p q countless
Insects II the garden grasses tHe cEF
an ouL the slipsiipptng Of sCfs
ssrtaisd feet OF the uz-lsd lools
within As tie servants vent 10 AZ.
70. After : While those sounds oiea
away Il burst Of happy lsnzn'a
from TIE kitchen ertrzrce and cisap-
reared down . hedzed lane
The uooc rose rapidly R1sseA
E--uret do-u TO the shore Of tie 'ase
.-S threw himself On white marble
ssrch. IN his white clothes ne o.
cane par. Of the snovy bench
TIE magic Of the noon lotus "as
working
There cane q whispering rustic -
:, tie opening Of hundreds OF ao-e
ce.ais. but lie derited the fancy "ira
o-e idle hand he could have touched
tie nearest loxus had De wished
he noor flooded the lake. and even
hs zzrs5 tie DARK patches o,
yea7ss and buds stirred and almost
tnpercepsfbIy their appearance cnsns'
81 Where al had been darkness vas
ror . eeh OF pink bloom and there
vas . heavily sweet fragrance on the
air.
4. that moment Russell Lane de-
cla-sd - would believe anything be
saE-snt yet, almost instantly, lis
crsdutiry vas strained 10 its utmost
There cane a soft sigh near at hand
HIS eyes shifted from tie lake to The
back beside his bench
4 girl was standing there. ham
poised on the shore Of the lake, one
foo. on the low stone coping, her
hands cIssped loosely before her She
vas slender and dark-haired and garo-
ed n : loose japanese robe OF some
rale shtunering fabric that seemed
zoven Of the white moonlight and the
pale pink OF the lotus blooms. Rus
sell could see her profile. for she, too.
was gazing in rapt delight az the
phenonenon Of the urclosing Of the
uoou Iotus-
She had not seen hin-she vas en-.
rtrely oblivtous OF his presence.
Who vas She The spirit OF the
moon lotus made visible for one magic
hour. Russell looked at the pale
robed form and then at the pink glory
Of the blossoms.
In the second that his attention vas
diverted she saw him and shrank back
with Z startled exclamation and he
knew that she was flesh and blood
and Of his own race Instantly be was
upon his feet and apologtzing for
frightening her.
1t was too beautiful to disturb BY
mere words" be explained. The
Whites are away this evening and told
ne Of the opening Of the flowers; IL
is rare sight"
Yes, indeed she said In soft,
deep voice that matched the dark
beauty Of her eyes and the creamy
loneliness OF her skin. 7 live next
door to the Whites and I have Just re.
turned from Toxic. thought the gar.
den was deserted, and I could not re
sist coming over to see the lotus
blooms"
They tell me that there is legend
connected with the opening OF the
moon lotus"
Il was on the tip Of Russell's tongue
to give utterance TO this daring re.
mark, but at that moment the girl
turned and her foot slipped on the
stone coping She would have fallen
in among the lotus flowers II he had
not caught her in his arms
For an instant they looked In each
others eyes, and In the brief interval
each one realized that the fate meted
out TO every maid and bachelor who
looks upon the unclosing o, the moon
lotus was theirs