The west shore., August 01, 1889, Page 442, Image 35

THE WEST SHORE.
OLTVH : A REMINISCENCE.
If fn to write In U Idle Ui Un iUirj of th mio nr woman joa
Bat jaUrdaj, II wtwld b Mooted w U wildl; unnal.- T, H', lligginton.
MY ctutomary vacation had boon postponed a few
wecki by unforeseen erenU, and I wu prepar
ing, about the middle of September, to visit the moun
Uina in Coloroado, whon my intention! were sudden
ly thwarted by the receipt of the following letter:
Mv Dkai Cot iix:
I hare recently met with an exrience which ii worthy of
being told in (ha most glowing terms ; but after vainly trying to
begin In a way suitable to to lolly a theme, I have thrown my
anxieties behind int and proceed pell mell to " pluck out the
heart of my mytUrrj."
Know then, my dw Arthur, tint I nn in the Mine little
way.lde country village whom we were accidentally detained a
yrar ago, where you aid, you may remember, that the railroad
,,,lMl from the unprepc.Ming and maile a de
tour luf the lirnefli of remorleM ha. ku.cn. Here In thii old
town too commonplace and nionotonoua to he romantic, and too
lualnt too breed ennui, have I been linking for eeveral weeks,
staying at a .em.mhltc hou, where aeveral boarders are b
ai.lre myself. The houw Is an ancient, half decayed, compos
IU stnu-tur., some part, of which I haiard nothing in saying
will never U.e storms of t,er fiftieth Jw W Ul UnJ
hundred more, ll.it .11 th. has no more to do with my subject
than tl,e preliminary dh lfore lb. swimmer plunges into
the cold stream.
Ho. can I write the word ? What will my phlegmatic cous
o say when he Warn, that I, hi. ImperturUhle, nu.naulic Ma
llv.,.m.utTeflg the m,-t ,,,,,,1,1 ( from a pal, of
eye. that Wk down Into mine ,WJf ,Uy tl ,, ? ,
ov.T VrUl, the .bought! r.lon? Ah, no, my good a"
U,,r, a hundred tm.es ol A wk ago I would hav. UugheJ
U) l''.rilnim..U U..1 there 1M . mjZ
world who could a,,,,,!,. , i,,, , , Jj
day-do not Ugl, me when I ,fe , ,m
slave to on. pal, of eye.. .d ..vordlng M Um Jjj
ly. or shed s.xn or ln.hlT,reno. u.-n me I .m In T
lb. .Mlu( her eye. .J ...Ine .,, . ,,,k ' fl' " '
unb.nd.,.,.,b,lhM.gh .1, myU;1;':1
dining h..m, It was my fir.t n.e.l, inj ((, , 'Tm"
yon exclaim) she ... , '' br"" '
ahoo.lh. large h CU"J Mlo,'klll
Lead lrnl to o.,. .Id., tlllU u 'T ' '
Fo, an Initant o, eye. u 1 V n'
by lnvi..,U KU, and when ,h. ,
aa II , (runt a t ... , T,,UHHU,"lauk(.1
.yheight lJ'r'1'
otW Urn, and wt w " r'' - .,
nlllng a diaixmnet ted electrKrurtvnl k . V ' " ' 'Ul
IU dl.e. UU. U htftJ - - - :n
HHm.m, and . , " Ml,
rl of eUllJ aredarUn i),,.,., ... . ' 1
Kl-Une4.l,U.omlheUM.
"- ' r j
fully to look into my face, and I looked up into here so danger,
otiflly near; and while she repeated the call I lost myself intht
depths of such wonderful eyes as I had never imagined. I
could not remember a word she said, and stammered and hesi
tated in trying to auk her to repeat it. What an experiencs
that brief look wasl No, it was too brief for an experiencs
but it was long enough for a memory, and it went deep enough'
to stir up all the slumbering fires of love and passion. Adora
tion shone from my eyes, for my soul and body were deliriooi
with impassioned love, and the color mounted to her cheeks
and a self-surrender beamed from her large eyes which nearly
intoxicated me with bliss. From that moment I have bees
that woman's slave, following her with hungry eyes, jealous of
the slightest glance or word bestowed upon her by another, 1
toning for her step, plunged into trepidation and nervouinen
when she approaches, tongue-tied in her presence, and unable
to utter a word out of the most impassioned utterances that
tremble on the end of my tongue.
You will say this is the fancy of a moment, that I am be
witched by my pretty waitress. But you must wait till I have
done, for I have not said anything yet about the sylph that has
worked this charm. And it is out of the very confidence I feel
in the extreme beauty of the subject that I have purposely
made such slow progress toward this part of my confession
and also because if my pen is incapable of describing whit
witchery she has caused in my old, stony heart, how could I
but hesitate to try to paint the features of her in whose smiks
I bank?
As my eyes follow the point of my pen along the page, I can
not but wish that it was iris-hued, and guided by the hands of
a cherubim. Nay. my cousin, Bhe is beautiful. I do not think
could be snared so easily, if at all, by commonplaeenest
Her eye. are large like a gazelle's; I can not toll what their
most constant color is, but I believe they are of a dark brown,
with the gift of changing in hue and intensity at the dictate of
theowner's heart. They are deep, pure eyes, apparently with
out guile ; and yet, ah I I can not expresa that evanescent
gleam w hich now and then darkens over their depths ; but it ii
omethinghk, that faint, fugitive shimmer of lightning ona
Urhgl, night when there are no clouds. Long lashes shade
"mr wild light, nd seem to serve the two-fold purpose of pro-
mg them from the common gaze and of heightening their
ra hmg beauty as they languish underneath. They are not
jrent eyes, ,(,cb as highly endowed women have ; but a.
im meaning in their limpid wells they indicate the on
o of a lh? e u which m b fui
t Zt ! Ti ",y MJ 11,6 njt of the passion of
1 ( ; :r"r-To Mt ff ,uch woi.it-
found that was her name-has a face to which their
an 1 ' CWWB,,M " of Pricel0M kohinoors were set
10 Uke.my n 1 w were of peadiy texturs,
...... .unw tint upon them, and as I shot U.e glance
1 w in ,H,WIrfUl,y M 1 rudely I con-
uJul W unuMctingly open, the color of her
-i .. r z zt1 tnd nn down her " nKk
""M ,i M i ttim yu '""Id marvel at if yon
w .'v If r "imp!e W4' 01 dreMin il-
1. 1,, !, . ,Hing 01 ita Ruinous folds, but it rests
I u ' T!" 01 !-. which it perf.,tlj
ul w vJT.' m ,h U M& lhoir.
"- -antUull, moidded, and her hand, are small,