The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-09-16
The Prince of
a Hundred
Years
A Love Story
Rx AGNES q. RROGAN
By AGNES G. BROGAN

A very young girl stood before a
mirror putting the last touches to her
toilet. A card bearing a mans name
Law on the dresser before her. She
] was preparing to 60 down to see him.
but the preparation was rather for de-
| lay than for her adornment
She knew very well for what he had
come. He had been to see her orten
before for the same purpose. He had
offered her his love. She had neither
declined nor accepted him. She had not
declined him because she was not sure
but that she would regret having done
so II she did, and she had not accepted
him because 1t did not seem to her that
she felt change which she considered
would come over her once she had been
stricken by the little god.
When she could think Of nothing
more to add to her toilet, when she
had for the last time adjusted the rose
in her hair, smoOthed away a crease
here and there in her costume, she
placed her hand upon the doorknob
and stood irresolute.
what shall say to him"
She could not decide. Turning, she
looked through the window and saw a
peaceful garden. And there. too, IN
the garden was a woman.
The very young girl burst tempestu-
ously into the peaceful garden. and
her eyes were bright with tears.
II came for sight of you, Felice,"
she said, ito calm my troubled spirit.
1t is Billie again, Of course, and he
will have his answer. Now, how Is a
girl to be sure of her heart who has
not seen the world? One might say
yes today and be filed with regret
tomorrow.
"Oh, for a sign by which we women
might know our own true prince when
he comes! You remember the olden
fairly tales, and your gift for making
different stories Of each to satisfy my
, demand for Just one moreT Always
found you here among your flowers,
Felice, understanding Of each rebel.
lious, childish mood.
"Well, I'm rebellious child again
today. and will rest my wayward
head upon your dear shoulder while
you weave for me new version Of
shall 1t be The Sleeping Princess and
the Prince Who Awakened Her After
Hundred Years?"
Musingly the woman smiled; then
low she told the story:
"The princess sat high on the garden
wall while her golden tresses streamed
out in the breeze like a shimmering
fan. Upon her cleaning crown was
perched saucily soldiers cap, and
from beneath it's brim she glanced
half shyly, half daringly, at the young
prince beside her.
An you wear my cap" he warned
L shall surely steal kiss!
with soft mirthful laugh the Cir
sprang to the ground.
"'Never in all your life,' she Knocked
shall you kiss me-
"For moment their eyes met stead
lily, his gravely pleading, hers bright
yet fearful; then the girl ran swiftly
down the path.
Charmed, intent, the prince gaze(
after her departing figure; then from
Its case came his violin, while the un
spoken longings which he himself hat
hardly known breathed forth in music
From her hiding place the cir
watched him, gloried in the sweet seri
BUSINESS Of his eyes, the firm cut Of hi
youthful chin, delighted in the straigh
forelOck which her theft Of his cal
left uncovered.
when as the music uuivered to
minor key, slowly the girl crept bacl
to sit at his side. Hand in hand the,
fingered, while the young, pale moo
rose in the sky.
Tomorrow you will come again
pleaded the prince at parting.
Overcome by a new and inexplica
BILE shyness the princess shook he
head. Tomorrow shall have duties
, she told him.
$50 while the roses bloomed and th
bees droned In the garden, there til
young prince waited his lady's plea.
ure, glad for a smile that she CAV
him, silent before her tauntings, speal
ing his love In music.
"And, as In teasing mood, the prir
Q cess danced from him one day dow
!. the winding path toward the river, sh
q came upon another youth, one wh
bowed low before her, as a subjet
salutes his princess, one whose eye
: ! were filed with worshipful ador,
g ton, which the princes eyes, In a
k their tenderness, had never shown.
r "The princess motioned to the yout
to rise from his place at her feet, an
her heart was filed with the spirit (
adventure.
.' Come she said, you shall teas
me to row your boat on the river an
;, shall gather for me lilies out far, whel
l cannot reach them
g "And as the youth bent eagerly
o his oars she was gay and friendly an
q kind as she had never been in IL
d presence of the prince.
n "'Your eyes, the youth reverent
!. told her, are blue as the sky at ear
y evening; your hair is like a cloth 4
~ gold; your lips have stolen their crir
son from the berries