The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-05-01
LOVE WAS Not BLIND
BY GEORGE MUNsoN.

Juiia! ID tnat you, dear!'
The sick man stirred uneasily upon
the bed, and Julia Crothers ran out
to where her younger sister, Dulcie
waited upon the landing.
1T is terrible. cannot stay there,
she whispered.
Dulcie, who had been trembling
suddenly managed to pull herself to-
gether and entered the room with a
hrm tread. She went up to the bed.
side.
lis that you. Julia?" murmured the
sick man again.
YES" answered Dulcie bravely.
Two days before, Jim Ridgely, her
sisters fiance. had been struck by
lightning. His recovery, at first de.
SPARED of, now seemed assured, but
he was blind. and the doctors held out
no hope Of his regaining his sight.
The optic nerve is paralyzed," they
said. There is the barest chance.
but the cure must be a spontaneous
one. and it must happen within the
next two or three days. Unless by a
miracle that should happen. he will
be blind the rest of his life"
Julia Crothers was the belle Of the
town. and Ridgely rising young law
yer. Though Julia and Dulcie were
alike in speech and manner, and we're
often mistaken for each other, when
side by side 1t was plain that Dulcie
was only poor image OF Julia. She
was generally considered plain; the
difference, however, existed principal
ly in Julia's dashing ways and Dulcie's
unattractive and simple ones.
Poor Dulcie, whose tender heart
went out to Ridgely, knew that her
heartless sister would never dream of
marrying blind man. She could
trace the unconscious processes in
Julia's heart even now And it
seemed to her that she must do her
best to shield Ridgely until he recov-
cred. Possibly his sight would come
back to him, and then he need never
know that it was she, and not Julia.
who had sat at his bedside all those
long hours when he lay racked with
pain and fever.
"He is sleeping" she told her sister.
when at last she went out to her
What shall do, Dulcie?" moaned
Julia. II cannot bear to look upon suf-
fering. What shall I do?"
Then Dulcie told her her plan. And
1t worked surprisingly. A week
and at the end CT that time,
although the doctors announced that
there was now no hope Of Ridgelys
ever recovering his sight, he was able
to sit up. And he had not guessed
that 1t was Dulcie who had sat by his
bedside and read to him in her gentle
voice. He had thought 1t was Julia.
And in the midst of the pain Dulcie
felt to think of Ridgely's coming disil-
lusionment. there was a fierce exul-
tation In her heart.
For Dulcie loved Ridgely. She had
loved him from the beginning, and
now more than ever before her heart
went out to this blind man. doomed to
be dependent throughout his life upon
The help Of others.
Ridgely had been brought into the
Crothers home simply because he had
no one to care for him. Old Mrs.
Crothers. a gentle old lady. alternately
and petted by Julia, had
lssented to the plan with alacrity.
But when she understood Julia's inten-
ions she shook her head mournfully.
HE thinks I am Julia. mother"
Oulcie whispered to her 81 don't
know how to tell him"
The old lady flared up for the first
line in many years. III you ask me-"
The said, tossing her head, 81 think
hat Jim is well rid of her"
"Will you tell him. mother?" asked
)ulcie, eagerly.
mo. my dear. That is for you,"
laid the old lady.
And then, resolved to end situation
which had become unbearable, Dulcie
an up the stairs and into Jims room.
ie was lying on the sofa. looking out
II the window with his sightless eyes,
do you know, dear, that I have
leither asked nor received kiss dur
ng the whole of my illness?" asked
i'm patiently.
Dulcie blushed painfully.
Jim, there IL something that I
must tell YOU" she stammered, seat |
ng herself at his side.
rs 1t something terrible?" he asked
'ayly. Tell me, Julia. and let me see
whether I find 1t as bad as you think |
/ is"
"Oh. you don't understand" the girl |
'urst out, And yet l don't know how |
GU can have been so bli-so unable |
o understand am not Julia. I am
)ulcie. and Julia-Julia-oh, Jim, how |
an manage to tell you that she does |
ot care for you any more. and has
OF been near you since the second |
ay of your Illness? Oh, Jim, she |
oesnt care for you and never did
are. and 1t is hard to have to tell |
on. and-and-"
And Dulcie broke into a storm Of |
assionate tears.
Jims hand fell lightly upon her own.
| knew it was you, Dulcie." he said
oftly.
Dulcie raised her tear-stained face
You see, dear. you only deceived
ne for few hours" he said. "You
ee. Dulcie, love opens ones ears, and
have come to realize that 1t is you,
nd not Julia. and I have dared to
ope-"
He drew her toward him.
ITO hope that you might learn to
are for me. Dulcie And have dared
, fell Won hocauso-J have saor ,,o,, |