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"V - THE ROCK ISLAND ARGUS SATURDAY, DECEMBER i ft - . . . I The Coral Necklace sTHlW, w'N ' ! By Grace EL Craig. "Oh, Daddy! Look! There's Vesuvius! And it is really smoking," cried Faire Atherton, dancing up to her father on the promenade deck of the Asturia. The great liner was making her dignified way among the hazy islands of the bay toward the city of Naples, and all" the passengers, having packed away their steamer caps and ulsters, were gathered on deck ready for the landing. Fourteen-year-old Faire, witn her merry tace well tanned now by the sea-breezes, and all alight with interest, her gray eyes shining and her soft brown curls escaping from the huge bow which was endeavoring to hold them, made a pretty picture in her wide brown hat and brown corduroy traveling suit. Her father locked down at her smilingly as she chm-, chattering, to his arm. "tec. Daddy, all the little boats corning out t-- me- t rs! The peep!;" in that one have guitars! Oh! Ti are going to sing ! and look, look! Those rr.cn , passing up bunches of violets on the end of a 1 " . stick! Mr:y I throw them some coppers? and co .: ch ! There are some little hoys diving and coming v.j with pennies between their teeth!" ?dr. Arherton, laughed heartdy rnd fc Flowed liis little d::?'-:''i .'V K-o; lliqht down the deck to a point nearer the ::::.r !.::" v:rch:!. :e t!:o oyage from Boston to Naples had . '. '. W'T ::t ther and Ann: Alice had been I .. !::.' l. i!i. but Faire had not suffered, and ; er it.id never once missed a tneal in the They had played shuffle board anil ; lra:::;cd their fe-tir miles every day o;i ; ! da;, s at sea were so glorious th;:t r s -ry when the steamer at List ::'::! A -tores and anchr red in the har- tt c'.'.y of f'otita del C.irda. ivltcre st r,ped for s.'.pniies on his iir-.t v. rid.' '. !"cr afternoon in the rid town, hov--:. ; 'tore in tiny boats, ro,vd by (.- u. rnd hired queer carriage'? ; p: '.!..' little donkeys for drives about or tltree days Inter. Faire had visited rtre?. of the Kiiplish. crouching like of the Mediterranean, and in i her f s.'c the talk narro-.v -. : .-- w f-fct where the great dh- dear !at:d first opened his clear t :. i'"." "br'ia Napoli" of which the ' ; v '..'.re singing, tie wonders were I '-.Ire- crie !, as they drove up fro-i '. ; tlit- !:dl. "!) cee the corals! . -i;: v. thorn." '.; r p." -'a erel. sending. "Naples &yt-7' Lester i'.i: 1 .'t pe tt pur ase rorai? While : r t . cti'io.ncr a rc.l.'y i th.t: Lat.v chain hct a!v r :i i: (;..-.- liavf : that' 7 V Rtid ! r: ! Wlirr Aiiec w;ir- ;. ' tine s!.". v.-iti: ) , the Htri wit?: :: j : -.- she give-. on fee is. tV: ba'-.y. : t" .'- e- " :c 'r . ' a 1 v I. "ne'e :t 1 d.J d Va- rr.i I'i Probab'v she is tired and unhanpv; The itr.ii;.;- ; ris are obliged to work very hard, and Aunt Aii. !i-okel troubled for a moment. Then she pushed :. ;..ie :h" curtains and both aunt -and niece promptiy forgot little Teresita. Vesuvius was in plain sight and th.c beautiful Neapolitan bay, the fairest picture m the whole wide world, lay just beneath tSc window. The happy days flew by on wings. Mr. and Mrs: Atherton, Aunt Alice and Faire went to Pompeii, anJ walked up and down the ancient streets and peered into the houses which had been buried under Vesuvius' ashes for so many centuries; to Sorrento, that village of orange groves, perched on its bluff above the purpk sea; and finally drove across the mountains to Amalfi and stayed several days in the old convent which has been turned into a hotel, where Faire often saw tn"e few monks who still remain there walking up and' down under the orange trees, with bowed heads andJ serene faces. Daddy read to her Longfellow's beautiful poem while they sat on the terrace overlooking the dreamy "Salerre ian bay with its sickle of white sand"' and "the dim discovered coast" where "Paestum with its ruins lies.!? When they were back in Naples once more Mrs: Atherton decided that it was quite time for an exped? tion to the shops with the fascinating windows whicfi had so charmed Faire on her arrival, and the littrs girl looked forward joyfully to becoming the proud owner of one of the dainty necklaces which were dis played everywhere in such profusion. She was to choose it herself and she could hardly wait. To be turned loose among the rosy corals would be bliss indeed. Faire sat fn her room on the eventful morning count ing over the Italian coins which her mother had given her the night before. " 'Tor tfie 'necklace, dear," Mrs. Atherton had said, "and tfie keepsakes for the home people." "On hundred and twenty-five francs! Twenty-five dollars!" the little girl chanted softly. "Dearie me! What gorgeous things I can buy !" Jusr then the door which Faire had left unlocked opened and the small chambermaid appeared with broom r.nd duster to arrange the room for the day. She was about to withdraw hastily when the American girl called her. She had been weening again, in fact she ?petiid to be always sorrowful, and kind little Faire fe1 that she' roust fathom these deoths of woe. "'What fs the matter. Tcesita?" he asked, gently. "Voi ha,-e been rrving, I know. Won't you tell me what troubles you?" Terecita spo-- very fair Knglish. hut for a moment she did not answer. Then sh-. said with a little catch in her voice, . . . ar TTF noble Duke of Nothing-Much, one sunny day In Spring, pL He took a notion (and his hat) to go a-journeying. Quoth he, "I don't know where I'm bound, but it doesn't worry rv.e. For, if I have no end in view, I can't go wrong, you see!" WAY : Li-f A 04 "PRINCE HOOr-PE-t'OO WAS KiriNC. TOWABP THAT SroT." "Help!" cried the Lady Geraldine. "Will no one rescue n:c? Alas! Alack! and also Woe. I'm lost as I can be!" Her lily hands she sadly wrung (oh. I forgot to say This happened in Hys'J'-via, some hundred leagues away.) The Lady Geraldine would not have thus bewailed her It If ?he had known Prince Hoop-de-do was riding toward titat pot. Though it trr.kcs a deal of difference (as of course you know i tvou!d) That the Frince v. as cighty-scven miles from where the lady stuod. " .... "v; V J&3L ofOTH HE. I PONT K ' ii i m bounii. We now n-.urt leave the noble Duke (he'll stay till we get back') And trr.ee the fortunes of vov.r.g Count Fitzmaurice Crackcrjack; 1 1 r :iveil t: He front some queer place (T don't remember which). Ar.d it he'd had u.uch mcncy, he'd have probably been rich. V I d ! : r :r:ty ryr. v-x if ri.rsig. Aunt. : " r th? cs..-:,?!ier-nai-!. The ring ; - t v ;. ties,' g;r! r.i a r.eat. black -.: . ! ';.;: ;;. ; :; xttf ".n-1 pretty - !t:rtr- n; y . datk hair, and : ; I .-.!.. 1'aire. fitting no in bed ttr's ,'rt;-;-i;r -;r :nid h-'r. rylird that .'I her rather v. irt ftti'v. tnd then .-. . that the leer'y dark eyes and the . ; swollen with weeping, i e much older than I a;n, Aunty.!" ::. bed out of bed after her aunt hadf "And she had been crying. Did V i ' i. Lse4-: ifc. ? . " '.VIM. NO ONE ttr.?ClT. MET Now, the Trince was hunting stari-sh with hi' trusty !.o-.v ar,d spear. Said he, "To hurt fr strrtish in a forct may -fcm mice'r, I'ut then, ju-'-t pray con -i.h r h v rinnwned I'd surely c Ii I ever really should bring down a iturridi fr..m a tree!" Well, the noble Duke of Nothing-?duch got home a!l p.ife artd sonnd; Lord Crackcrjack continues t' eat candy by the pound: And the dainty Ladv (leraldmr in course of time was found: Ar..' .' e I'rincc gut fourteen surlish and is terribly renowned! i lv-. i rrT' si 1 i 'va. i i:iv$ t fry, J -j . -: - V- tr ( -1 J ' v J 'hts hands wERf. rrLLEn with caramel?, his soul with calm delight. Lord Crackerjack loved candy; he kept it in a tower; He used to buy it by the pound, and eat it by the hour; So, as he sat and looked abroad, upon this day so bright. His hands were filled with caramels, his soul with calm delight Full gladly would we linger with the joyful Crackerjack, But a ballad is a ballad, and you just can't hold it back; So let us tear ourselves away to quite another scene And seek, amid the forest gloom, the Lady Geraldine. y r ' ' "THE IR1NCE WAS HfNTINt STATtriSH WITH II.'S TTt'STY EOW A"D STEAK. So now you have the story, jtt-t as rd-im r.s anything, Of everything that happened on that sunny day in Spru'.g; But should you ask me lio-v these things all happened thus and a-j, I really couldn't tell you, for I really do not kr.eo.v ! "I am unhappy, very unhappy !" "I am so sorry," and Faire clasped her hands before her in a way she had when she felt most deeply. "I noticed how sad you looked the first day we were here. What is the trouble? Can I help you?" It is doubtful if Teresita understood all Fatre's words, but she did understand the sympathy in the eloquent little face, and to Faire's distress she burst into tears. Then the story all came out. Teresita was the eldest of several children and her widowed mother was very poor. The girl had been in school until about six weeks ago. and had she stayed on until the end of the term would have received what she called a "certeeft cate." and then might easily have obtained a good posi tion in a shop. But the mother had been ill for several weeks in the winter and unable to do her regular laun dry work for the hotel, and the household funds were consequently so low that when Teresita's gown and shoes became too hadlv worn to appear at school, new ones were out of the nuestion. "And so." the little mp'd finished. "T did r,en-e it all all up. and came here. The hotel people furneeslt the clothes hut I shall never trt here enough wage to help the mother, while if T mi?M have had a r-oscrtiof' in a shoo T should have earned as much as twenty francs a week. I was so decsnppointed. Faire looked at pretty, sorrowful Teresita and then she looked at her little silver purse for a long moment. "Don't cry!" she said softly at last. "How much would a new gown and new shoes and the other things you need cost?" "Fifty francs,"' Teresita said, sadly. "And I shall never earn here so much until I am too old for school." Faire rose and walked around the chair where the little Italian had dropped down, and suddenly something glittered on Teresita's white apron. "Oh, hut you must not!" the girl cried. "Fifty francs! Madame, the mother, will not like it." "It is mine." F'aire said. ' "Mother gave it to me for a coral necklace, but I would far rather have you use it. Teresita." For a moment Faire's straight little Ameriepn figure in its Peter Thompson suit stood opposite Teresita's little, rounded, already stooping form in its uniform of service, and then the two girls suddenlv put their arms about each other and Faire felt a soft kiss on her cheek. Mrs. Atherton and Aunt Alice could hardly refrain from openly regretting Faire's generosity, but Mr. Atherton restrained rhem. "The monev was F;re's." he said, "and T am glad to find t'nat she is unselfish enough to give tip something she realiy cares for, to help a less fortunate girl." - ' COPyjZICHT. xaio. "But. Robert." Faire's mother rrourncd. "the c'rld will not have another such opportunity to p::rchac corals, and girls do love them s-. She was very brac. but I felt so sorry, when we were selecting gift- for all her little friends, that she wsi to have nnthing. 1 believe I shall go down and get a string of beads and surprise her." "Dfn'f!"' Mr. Atherton coune!'-d. "Fa:re wi'1 ret care for it now. 1 did not notice that she seemed un happy when she returned from her shTning. I l.n-nv my girl, and I think site can get rn without a coral chain a while longer." The very day the Atherton s left Naples Teresita left the hricl to return to school. A year later, when Faire was hrck in her Tlos.ton home, and had quite forgotten her lodging for the pink glories of the Neapolitan windows, a l:o ca-re for her one day. It was addrrs.-ed in the clear, round hand which is taught in the Italian public schools, ant! bore many foreign stamps. Faire onprted it wonderinglv. and there on a l ed f white cotton lay a corn r.fflarr. Mrs. Atherton and Aunt Alice exclaimed in rapture. I: was a wonderfully fine chain, very long, and with beads perfectly tr.i.tehcd, and de'ncate in tint ;a the inside of a shell. A card attached bore the words, "From Tcnsita." A little note written m the a:ne careful hand told how Teresita had ImUhed sc.-.' ol. and at once obtained a good position iti a dressmaking eablishmcnt. She had been able to kcc t't: "S in school also, end they irtdd on tin 1 position now, and Teresa would be relieved fr. :ti ore. thanks to the young American Sipnorina. The writer k"cw that her kind friend had longed for a r"ral nrcklrce. and as an uncle had re turned from .Vrrritvi wt'; l is savin;- r.nd started a 5v d jrv. r 'ry si.' in Xa;''-. she had bren abl to ' taitt t H : . crv at a rrnsi '-able price. She was fenring it v.-it't her "g-atitude and reverent love." "Hum!" Daddy said, when Faire exhibited her trea-u-c Jo hitrv 'Tt is etfrnt'lv handsome, but T should vrd-e the 1"'tr- eve-' r"T" h;,rh1v tbnn the necklae. Thev a-e hiirs T--"v-e rrr";nus than coral beads. Don't you think so, daughter?-' 1