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Show iUU Uk. i.WL lAU .UUeA istUL Ui.a.1. lAlL A PARADISE LOSTi By L. G. MOBERLY ifT'f'l'f1'l'l'f1,l'IW''flIIWl'Mfl''f1IWl,ilf!'l'MfriV (Copyright, 1906, by Joseph 11. Howies.) I was an unwilling witness or that most idyllic of lovo scenes In a garden that wns In itself nn Idyll. Tho murmur of voices from tho path, Immediately out-ldo tho entrance en-trance to tho pergoln, whero I was lounging, was tho first Intlmntlon I received thnt someono besides myself hud discovered this fragrant corner of that most lovely garden. It wns a man's voice that spoko first, In French, eager. Impetuous, nnd, ns I lmnglned, youthful. "Beloved," ho snld, "is It truo? Aro you sure? Wlllflovo bo enough?" "Enough?" The nnswer ovldontly came from n girl; the tones wero so fresh, so clear, but with n pcnotratlng sweetnes In thorn. "If you know how Kind how clad I am that I am froo to chooso love, to follow my heart! Lovo is enough." The Inst words wore very simply snld, but they held n depth of meaning mean-ing that mnde my foolish old heart give n leap of sympathy. "But jou givo up so much," he snld doubtfully. "I take nvorythlng; tho sacrifice is nil yours." "Sacrifice!" sho cried, a ring of glad pride In her voice, "Do you think I enro for runk and nil that rank brings? I n ni glad I wns born too luto to havo to wear n crown that Is bo thorny so thorny," sho repented nlnioHt dreamily. dream-ily. "I am free to give myself to you. Sacrifice?" sho laughed softly. "Thoro is no sacrifice In going Into I'nradlso." As sho 8 poke those words, tho two paused In their walk along tho path, and through tho dcllcnto wisteria and banksln leaves I caught a glimpse of them both. Thoy wero young, but there was no Immaturity or lack of purpose in elthor fnco. "Beloved," ho said, nnd his volco shook, "will you novor regret nil that you will loso if you come Into Paradlso with mo?" "Novor," Bho said quietly. "To enter en-ter paradlso with you, Armund, that is enough." And sho turned her benutl-ful benutl-ful faco to his and let him kiss nor softly on tho lips. I caught my breath as they turned uway. Standing that evening on tho tor-rnco tor-rnco of tho hotel watching n roso-col-orod sunsot behind tho groat pllo of Monto IIobu, I saw tho girl rgaln. Sho was walking ncross the gnrdon, nn elderly lndy on ono Bldo ot hor, tho young mnn on tho other. "Do you see thnt girl?" a hotel acquaintance ac-quaintance asked eagerly. I nodded. "She 1b n p.reat personage, in splto of hor slmplo dross nnd manners. Sho Is tho Princess Thoresn. daughter of" (and ho named tho king of a well-known well-known nnd flourishing llttlo kingdom). "But for tho fato which has given her two older sisters, Bho would be heir to tho throno; sho hns no brothers. As it Is, I fancy it looks as if Bho intended to renounce all regal rights and bo happy In her own way with tho young follow beside her." Two years later, as I was Journeying Journey-ing homewards from a long tour in the East, which had takon me far out of reach of all newspapers or tidings of tho westorn world, I resolved to stay for n night or two in a town on my routo which, It so happened, wus the capital of that kingdom whore tho Princess Theresa's father reigned ns king. My thoughts naturally enough flow back to hor as I drove through the quaint and plcturesquo town, nnd n vivid plcturo of her ns I had last seen hor arose boforo my eyes. As I drove, I becamo awaro that tho streets wero gaily decorated with flags and flowers, nnd that people's faces woro an unusual un-usual look of festivity and rojoiclng. "What Is happening?" I nsked of my driver. "Is this a national festival, or tho anniversary of somo great victory?" vic-tory?" "Tho gontlemau does not kuow?" ho said. "Our princess Is to bn married tomorrow tho crown princess, tho heir to tho throne, bo It understood," ho wont on for tho further onllghton-ment onllghton-ment of my dull foro'gn understanding. understand-ing. "Sho tnnrries our nolghbor, Prlnco Frederick, nnd wo rojolco." "So," I reflected, "tho Prlncoss Tho-resa's Tho-resa's eldest ulster was to bo married, and no doubt tho younger princess herself would bu nt tho wedding." I thon nnd there resolved that I would mnko nt least un effort to boo something some-thing of tho luorrow's ceremony. Tho town was astir betimes, nnd I was nstlr with tho town to tako my plnco as near ns might bo to tho stops of tho flno cathedral In which I learned tho wedding wns to taico place. I found myself woll amused wntch-lug wntch-lug tho guests stream l to tho building, build-ing, llstqnlng to tho comments of tho populace, nnd learning from my neighbors neigh-bors who wns this grnndoo, nnd who that. Thon at InBt u murmur ran round: "Tho royal household Is coming," com-ing," nnd 1 craned forwnrd with tho rost to watch tho lords nnd ladles in waiting pnas up the steps. Onco I started violently, for I saw a faco I know, but a faro grown from youth to manhood sluco I hud seon it last tho faco of the man called Armnnd. And, na woll as tho youth, all tho gladness had gone out of It; It was strong nnd puro as over, but Infinitely sad; and I wondorcd. Noxt thoro enmo a pauso, thon a blaro of trumpets, u great shout from tho multitude, a pealing volume ot sound from the organ, and out of a magnificent state carrlago, laU Uo sunBhlno on tho stops, thoro camo, leaning on tho old king's arm, n tall form in trolling white garments, her diamonds flnshlng till bIio seemed to move In a blaze of light. And when 1 snw tho faco of tho bride, 1 caught my breath nnd uttered u low exclamation, for tho faco under tho bridal veil was not the faco of a strangor. I looked onco ngnln upon tho fnco of tho girl I had seen walking walk-ing with her lover In tho garden nt sunset time tho girl who had cnterod into Pnradlso with Armnnd! Tho same, yet not tho snmo! Tho exquisite contour was thoro still; tho oyes, blue and deop ns tho Bky overhead; over-head; tho bcnuttfiil curves of mouth nnd chin; tho gleaming hair. But tho coloring, Instead of making mo think of npplo blossoms in spring, was ! white, whlto us a statuo; and tho radl-nnco radl-nnco wns nil gonol Tho face was set and still as though carved out ot marble, mar-ble, lovely beyond words, but cold with n coldness that frozo my heart, Sho passed Into tho building with that free, stately ntop I remembered, then I turned with u question to a man behind mo. "Yos thnt Is tho crown princess now. Her older slaters both died. Yes it wns sad, very sad. Thoy said tho young Princess Theresa had been nbout to resign her royal rank, to wed for lovo; but her sisters had died, and she had become her fathor's heir and woll, of course, it was oaBlly to bo seen that sho must wed the son ot a royal house," and so on, and so on. I waited to hear no moro. I could not bear to see that beautiful cold faco again. It was a ,tlny churchyard on a hill-sldo hill-sldo in Switzerland. Below it tho waters of tho Inko shimmered in tho sunshine, nbovo its torraces aroso vineyard nbovo vlnoynrd, till they woro lost in tho woods that hung upon tho sides of tho great brooding mountains. moun-tains. I walked slowly along tho little paths nmong tho graves, reading tho names of tho dead who lay In tholr peaceful resting placo amongst tho roBes. All at onco my slow steps wero arrested; ar-rested; a fow feet In front ot mo I saw a woman In black and alone, kneeling besldo a gravo over which was n trelllswork covorcd with whlto banksln roses. Yes, oh. yes. thero was no mistaking hor beautiful features. Though years had gone by, they had not dimmed hor lovollness; nnd though hor oyes sbono through n mist of tonrs, their color was still tho samo wonderful dcop blue. The gravo was rnnrked only by a slmplo stono. No dato was upon it; no text; thoro wero no wreaths upon tho slmplo grass plot. Only it was wrapped about by tho trailing branch- "Armand au rovolrl" os of the roso, whoso petals had mado n puro whlto mnntlo upon the grass; nnd tho threo words upon tho llttlo stono seemed to me tho most pathetic I had over read "Armand au rovolr!" I huvo seen her onco since thon, a crowned queen nnd hor peoplo's Idol. Sho was driving nlong tho Bt roots of hor cnpltul, hor llttlo son by hor sldo; sho was dressed nil In whlto, nnd her lovollness was something to dream of I nnd roniomber. 1 thought I had never seon a smile moro Infinitely sweot; and yet tho sadness In her oyes brought u mist boforo my own. For n moment tho street, tho people nbout mo, tho swiftly rolling carriage, faded from my sight. In-toad I snw n furnwuy garden, fragrant with tho scent of palo wisteria flowers nnd banksln roses; radiant with sunshine, full of tho songs of birds tho glory of spring. I saw tho faco of a girl, glad with a wonderful now gladness; I heard n voice, tho most soft nnd musical It has over boon my lot to hear boforo or since, say gently "To ontor Paradlso with you, Armnnd, Ar-mnnd, that Is enough s Tho vision fadod, another took Its placo. A hillside comotery; tho deep, still lako, tho brooding mountains "rosos, roBes all tho way" and a llttlo nrro amongst them, a gravo whoso slmplo stotio bears only thoso throo rbort words "Armand au rovolr!" |