Show mi 9 M 1 0 A M T t M r kat 4 am L wt w ig t tam 31 3 1 W iba vak L I 1 24 n RIP 1 11 ac THE UNSEEN t I 1 WAS alone to in the latue e seaside town I 1 the solace of lot work bei being denied ed me bemuse because of the illness that h had a d brought me there n to seek for health I 1 A for a year past I 1 had longed for a period of license such as was no now W mine to enjoy but the granting of my desire had come in suc such h a fashion that it gave me not the sinal smallest lest pleasure I 1 was desperately tired cured and my nerves were in a state that rendered all enjoyment impossible I 1 used to lie iotte in the mornings lor for there was nothing to do but wander idly on the nade and the trivial pleasures of the crowd vexed me unutterably because I 1 could not share them it W was as only at night I 1 realized that possibly bly this irksome time of rest was bringing me nearer to the recovery of my health then I 1 used to wander until all but the latest of the visitors had left the promenade it was impossible not to be at rest I 1 had been beeb perhaps a fortnight in the place when first I 1 saw the lady of whom I 1 would tell you it was only for a moment as she drove past in the company of an older woman but that moments sight was enough to nil fill my thoughts until I 1 saw her again upon the morrow she was beautiful beyond all words worda I 1 fancied she could hardly have passed the age of twenty and speech and hearing had been denied her she had the innocent gladness that remains ire ains while they are yet young with some who are thus afflict afflicted edL she looked upon the world with beautt beautiful ful bright eyes and in spite of fate was well pleased to be alive but she was talking with her fingers to the elder lady her companion in whose eyes as they looked on the girl I 1 saw an infinite pity expressed that pity instantly invaded my own heart though its object was gone out of my sight within a few seconds of her appearance and despite the fact that I 1 knew not so much as her name there was mixed with the pity a sense of angry rebellion against the fates who had thus afflicted her wantonly robbing of its value a gener generosity mity that through her might otherwise have gladdened the wide world I 1 could not refrain from laughter at the emotions so 0 o suddenly aroused in me I 1 might have been her lover and this inability to hear or to speak a calamity quite newly fallen upon her now more than ever I 1 regretted my loneliness for I 1 had no one from whom I 1 might expect to gather any information as to her identity nor was there L INO I 1 a A 11 k I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 11 II 40 1 1 ol 01 f I 1 bell I 1 I 1 I 1 THEN YOU ARE NOT DUMB any hope of my gaining the privilege of her acquaintance I 1 made some futile inquiries at the hotel and only got so BO far as to be almost certain she was like myself a visitor on the next day at about the same hour the carriage passed along the length of the promenade she was still innocently glad to be alive content to accept her burden as if it were no burden at all it was with smiles she looked into the pitying eyes of her companion and I 1 could fancy that the messages she was conveying with swiftly moving fingers were humorous appreciations of what she saw around her my earlier questions had been addressed to a quaint elderly waiter at the hotel a man who had in some sort made it his especial task to see to my well being and who was the nearest sp approach to a friend I 1 posse possessed sed within a hundred miles of the place it happened that I 1 was lunching at the open window one day when the carriage passed a little earlier than usual asual that is the lady of whom I 1 was speaking I 1 said to him he looked out of the window with quick ante interest A dear little maid if I 1 may so yes and the poor dear is deaf and dumb ashes upon her fingers well to pass pan along the pro promenade and so my thoughts were always busy whether with anticipation or remembrance never once did she fall fail me never once did her affliction seem to mar the beautiful gaiety of her mood it appeared that she saw and enjoyed every little thing that could be seen nor was it altogether a young maws mans vanity that made me wonder whether she had begun to notice the fact that a certain sallow ballow invalid was always zear neat her I 1 thought from what you told me 0 they must auxt be strangers in these tart parts and so they are I 1 dont even know the noises n nor the carriage thus us casseta Tas cassed seTa sed period of several 1 days I 1 1 began to td aie vastly better the 0 of jene energy agy aa molook oo 00 k forward pleasurably V 13 ai joithe timer time when hen 4 I 1 v ta admy eliy crork ili ondon aw athe philter waiter had a acco aa ii dadd IX 4 0 aught ia I gottlib i idi I 1 I 1 ai AA vest thid fae ioven ar burrow i kaip i 47 ORA t r betasso be casso kt 2 borth 01 Q Q boot abd aj ditc itc nii k fal Ibi Willi it az iiii I 1 cwi iwi J 1414 ar J 4 ic liidi 1 r 4 i a Z all su 1 N 1 iw I 1 4 V ft kl J Y an a 6 I 1 M X 1 f ISM it re wt I 1 L 1 i M 2 r r al t t ia a I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 i I 1 t W W I 1 9 A Z I 1 F C V C i I 1 tw 5 wi 9 I 1 a 7 A 11 6 A 1 I 1 on t promenade prom enado 9 the now i our aw when hen she dro drove vi by I 1 had come to jo understand the routine 0 of their theft dally outing they were manifestly living somei somewhere here to the west of the town every day they went through the island lanes at the back of at tt it until they were a mile or two to the east an and d then descending seawards drove home to the promenade and the road that skirts the sea now one day with alth no set purpose that I 1 would have confessed even to myself I 1 took the western road load and went lito into the country some dobzen d wen cottages and a little pier stood at the margin of the sea inland a few houses bouses were seen am among ong their fruitful orchards char da but at the edge of the slope there was a little space of wild wood and this as I 1 looked across the flower grown hedge tempted me to rest 1 climbed this intervening barrier and lay down in the shelter of a little oaktree it may be I 1 slept certainly I 1 wag waa IL a long time under the oak before I 1 became aware that I 1 was not the only occupant of the wood someone was singing softly and I 1 could hear footsteps moving slowly through the fern I 1 could tell by the sound that the newcomer was stopping here and there to pick flowers now I 1 had enjoyed the solitude but even at the first the person who was coming towards me did not strike me as an intruder her singing was in absolute concord with my mood it was as if one had thought of a poem mm I 1 and a moment later found oneself humming the melody that would make ot of it a perfect song I 1 lay and waited and the singer came nearer the song ceased when she presently appeared she and I 1 were a little startled then you are not dumb I 1 cried involuntarily as I 1 started to my feet she hesi hesitated tiLted and a little smile played about the corners of her pretty mouth it is my aunt who is dumb she said then with a sudden recovery of her dignity 1 I dont know why you should ask I 1 but that was a matter I 1 had no great difficulty in explaining ere I 1 came back I 1 to london the happiest man on gods earth |