The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1880-04-09
think it was the one whose image was so
if,,r,rscaol ,,.,n., La. lon.-AI

think it was the one whose image was 80
impressed upon her heart!
Was it destinyP she reasoned.
For days her brain was in whirl, and
her agony was instense.
: "Oh!" cried she, "why were we 30
hasty in deciding to return Mr.. Harris
| picture and letter. He is gone from me
forever. 1 shall never know himi"
She kept her grief to herself, not car
ing to tell her parents, and tried hard to
hide her sorrow, and 70 appear in her ac-
customed Joyous spirit; but it was of
no use, shecould never froget the young
artist, and could never frogive herself or
her mother for their haste i'll giving pro-
priety its proper accord.
-Four years later Marie, ut the age of
%, found herself the wife of moderate
~ well-to-do country physician. She
had married DIR. Ostrander, not 30 much
that she had any love for him, but that
it was the desire of her father, who had
from an early period dotted on the union
| of the Ostrander and Lawrence families,
the doctors having been q chum of Mr..
Lawrence, and they had become more
and more attached after leaving college,
their homes being fayorably situated for
such friendship.
Mrs. Ostrander tried hard, and Mt
times almost imagined that she loved her
husband with all the fondness that his
warm nature deserved. But there was
no denying it, her heart was with an
other--a stranger.
Six months before her betrothal all
the New York daiies and Journals de-
voted to art had contained lengthy
notices of the departure of Jerome Hart
for Europe, where he had gone to reside
Ill furtherance of his profession, and
where his ability would be accorded the
attention it 80 richly deserved. He was
dined the night before sailing at the
club composed of New York's best artists,
and there were many other warm friends
present, and the affair was such that is
rendered only to men of marked talent.
To be sure, Jerome Hart was but twenty
four, but by his genial spirit, excellence
of character, and the mastery work of
his brush, he had so engrafted himself
into the hearts of every one that knew
him that the pier was visited ON the fol-
lowing day by gentlemen friends, who
Expressed their sorrow at his departure
in voice as well as In their faces, and
many were the entreaties that he should
come back in few years. But Jerome
Hart told them that he was soldier of
fortune, and aspired to honors in the
field of art impossible to receive in the
new world, and which, if obtained on the
other side of the ocean, would have q
tendency to hold him there.
Marie made the physician O good wife
considering her regard for him ceased
with admiration, and they were contented
and happy. His practice was quite ex-
tensive, and he had accumulated some
property during the three years be had
been there, having welded Marie year
after entering into the active duties of
his profession.
1t was with tender hands that she
nursed him during lingering summer
fever, but the disease seemed to battle
the skill of his attendants, and just as the
sun was sinking in the west on a sultry
August afternoon his soul took fight to
the better world, and Marie was widow.
A few months was spent in the settle
ment of the estate, and when purchaser
for the little house had been found, Mrs.
Ostrander, not caring to retain it, return
ed to her old home.
Even the luxuriant abiding place of her
youth seemed to have lost Its charms,
and she daily grew paler, until, by the
advice of her physician, her parents and
friends, she decided to take foreign trip,
in hopes that a change of climate and
scene would rally her to her old self.
So in the early spring it was decided
that she should go abroad with Mr.. and
Mrs. Loveioy, who were to spend year
and half in travel.
The little party spent month in visit
ing places OF interest in England and
Scotland, and then went to Norway and
Sweden; and it was not till the winter
season that they arrived in Paris, at that
time being in its gayest attire. Mrs. Os-
trander gained considerable. and the last
letter from Mrs. Lovejoy to Margery
said that they had great hopes of bring
ing her around to the bright and robust
woman that they had so wished for.
In Paris they were continually visiting
localities of historic interest and places
of amusement.
Among the few Parisians whom Mr..
Lovejoy had letters of introduction to
was NJ. Meunier, an exceedingly refined
gentleman and pleasant acquaintance.
He was ever on the alert to show them
some new point of interest, and several
short excursions to the environs Of the
city had been planned by him for their
entertainment. and they were not long
in learning the obligations under which
they We're to this gentleman. Several
times he had told them of the Royal
Academy exhibition, and explained to
them that it was there that the best
artists of all Europe entered their pro-
auctions for prize competition, and 30
great was the strife that whoever was
fortunate enough to take even q second
or third prize his star was ascending to
the zenith of notoriety, and when q first
prize was awarded an artist it gave him
rank with the leaders of the various de-
partmt -. NJ. Meunier had promised to
take them to the gallery on the very first
opportunity when others than members
of the society were admitted. At last,
ON q pleasant afternoon, his liveried
establishment drew up in front of their
stopping place, and q minute later the
three Americans were in high glee, for
their benefactor had brought the in
formation that the saloon would be
through the kindness of O friend, a
member of the academy, he had obtain
ed permission to take his friends there on
that afternoon, and he would call for
them ut three o'clock. To be thus
favored seemed to have q noticeable
effect ON the whole party, and it is al
most needless to say that they we're in
readiness some minutes before the time
appointed for the start. Marie gave
several expressions of her enjoyment
during the drive to the gallery, and by
the time the building was reached she
was the happiest of the party.
An hour or more was spent In the de-
partments of sculpture and drawing, and
nearly an hour in the grand gallery where
the paintings were exhibited. It was IN
derstood that this was but a flying visit;
they wovld give day to each of the de-
| partments later in the season.
1t was getting late In the afternoon
when NJ. Meunier suggested that they
should go to the water-color department
his favorite room, he expressed it.
Marie was beginning to show signs of
fatigue, but Of course she would oblige
him.
After the pictures on one side of the
room had been hurriedly examined, and
the party finding they would be late for
dinner unless they made haste, NJ. Meu-
nier proposed to cross to the opposite
side TO see a famous picture, and then
they would depart.
"Why, what is the matter with Marie
See, she is i'll I" came the quick words
from Mrs. Lovejoy, who was the first to
notice her blanched face as estood like