The Washington times., 1920-02-01

your heart, I think. Oh! do not /,
trouble as to how I know II who
have many spies here, as he
guessed we'll enough. So a woman
who has lived two thousand years
must be hideous and wrinkleo,
must she? The stamp Of youth and
Ioveliness must long have fed from
her; of that you, the wise man, are
sure. Very well. Now you tempt
me to do what had determined !
would not do, and you shall pluck
the fruit of the tree of curiosity
which grows so fast within you.
Look, o Allan, and say whether /
am old and hideous, even though !
have lived two thousand years upon
the earth and mayhap many more"
Then she lifted her hands and
did something to her veil, 80 that
for a moment, only one moment,
her face was revealed, after which
the veil fell into its place.
looked, l saw, and IL that chair
had lacked a back believe that.1
should have fallen out of It to the
ground. AS for what / saw-weli,
It cannot be described, at any rate
by me, except perhaps as fash OF
glory.
Every man has dreamed Of per
feet beauty, .basing his ideas Of 1t
perhaps on that of some woman he
has met who CHANGED to take his
fancy, with few accessories from
splendid pictures of Greek statues
thrown in, plus a garnishment OF
the imagination. At any rate
have, and here was that perfect
beauty multiplied by ten, such
beauty, that ut the sight Of 1t the
senses reeled. And yet ! repeat
that 1t is not, to be described. do
not know what the nose or the lips
were like; in fact, all that can re-
member with distinctness is the
splendor Of the eyes, Of which ]
had caught SOME hint through her
veil on the previous night.
Oh! they we're wondrous. those
eyes, but I cannot tell their color
save that the groundwork Of them
was black. Moreover, they seemed
to be more than eyes as we under
stand them. They were indeed
windows of the soul, out of which
looked thought and majesty and
infinite wisdom, mixed with all the
allurements and the mystery that
we are accustomed to see or to
imagine in woman.
Here let me say something at
once. II this marvellous creature
expects1 that the revelation Of her
splendor was going to make me
her slave, to cause me to fall in
love with her, as It is called, well,
she must have been disappointed,
for Il had no such effect. II fright
ened and in a sense humbled me,
that is all, for l felt myself to be
in the presence of something that
was not human, something alien to
me as a man, which / could fear
and even adore as humanity would
adore what is Divine, but with
which | had no desire to mix.
Moreover, was II divine, or was
II something very different? I did
not know, only knew that Il was
not for me; as soon should l have
thOukuI VI hohihk III a bIal W SSt
within my lantern.
l think that she felt this, felt
that her stroke was missed, as the
French say, that is IL she meant
to strike at me at this moment, of
which l am not certain, for II was
in a changed voice, one with a sus-
picion Of chill In II, that she said
with a little laugh:
do you admit now, o Allan, that
q woman may be old and still re-
main fair and unwrinkled7"
II admit" I answered, although
I was trembling 30 much that
could hardly speak with steadiness,
shat a woman may be splendid
and lovely beyond anything that
the mind of man can conceive,
whatever her age may be, Of which
/ know nothing, and I would add
this, o Ayesha, that I thank you
very much for having revealed to