The great sea shell, half opened, made of shining silver, lined with
the pearly product of the Eastern Isles, in which lie, soft and white
as snow, downy cushions, filled from the breasts of Orkney’s far-famed
fowls, and these be-trimmed with lace in tracery like frost on window
pane, in texture so gossamery and light that the brief span of life seems
all too short in which to weave one inch, must surely be the nest wherein
some heaven-sent cherub shall nestle down in sleep.
Some sprite from fairy-land alone may make a toilet with the miniature
articles of Etruscan gold, bejeweled with gems of azure-hued turquois
that fill the gilded dressing case.
The chiffoniers, tables, chairs and stands are all inlaid with woods
of the rarest kinds and colors, with ivory and polished pearl shells
interwoven in queerly conceived mosaic; mirrors of finest plate here
and there are arranged that they may catch the beauteous image of the
cherubic occupant of this bijou bower, and countlessly reproduce its
angelic features; urns and basins of transparent china-ware, in the
production of which France and Germany have surpassed all former efforts,
beautified by the brushes of world-renowned artists, furnish vessels in
which the rosy, laughing face and dimpled limbs may lave.
The Western hills have cooled the eager glance of the August sun. Lucy,
softly humming as she assorts and arranges a great basket of choice
buds and blossoms just arrived from the “Eyrie,” is seated alone in a
fantastic garden pagoda, which, trellised by climbing rose bushes, stands
within the grounds of the Dunlap estate.
As she rocks back and forth in the low chair that is placed there for
her comfort, little gleams of sunshine sifting through the screen of
roses wander amidst her gold-brown tresses and spot the filmy gown of
white she wears with silver splashes. As the lights and shadows of the
gently swaying leaves and roses dance about her, she seems surrounded by
hosts of cherubim in frolicsome attendance on her. Some thought of that
nature came to her, for she let her hands lie still in her lap among the
blossoms and watched the ever fleeting, changeful rays of sunlight and
shade that like an April shower fell upon her. Then she smiled as at some
unseen spirit and smiling grew pensive.
The limpid light in Lucy’s eyes, as gazing into the future she sees the
coming glory of her womanhood, is that same light that shone along the
road from Galilee to Bethlehem, when she, most blessed of women for all
time, rode humbly on an ass to place an eternal monarch on a throne.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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