The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1882-08-25

| iStence had been thrown open 10 me Tor
an instant. and was dreaming of its ra-
dance still. My father was in his gig
waiting for me. and all the old farm la
borers and their wives and children were
gathered to bid me God-speed. My ia
Their spoke hut little as we drove to the
station, whittier my luggage had already
been taken in cart When we were
short distance from it he slackened the
pace and, putting one hand in mine,
said Frank, my boy, I've been think
ing that it's a chance as how you may
not like this new-fangled life you're go
ing to. If you don't, why then write,
and say so to nae without any further ado,
and the old man will be right-down glad
to see you home again, and glad to pay
back whatever Mr.. Clark has spent on
you, for that he mayn't be throwing it
in your teeth. 1 pressed his hand, and
he went on: I'm glad to see you so
mettlesome about going away. but just
Won take word of advice from your old
father. don't know anything of MAX
ing pictures or that like, but / take it
that an artist has to learn his trade like
any other man. You must know how to
pillow well If you want to get good crops,
so don't you be in a hurry, but take the
thing steadily, and don't you go III for
h-fying.
"Well, 1 did go in for the thing stead
lily, and made rapid progress. used
to write to my father and to Mrs. Clark,
and hear from them regularly. never
wrote to Lucy, nor she to me, but
heard of her. She went TO London the
year after 1 left, and was presented at
court, and there was great deal of COM
pany at the Hall during the autumn and
winter / used to scan those letters
which spoke of her al if they were enig-
mas, trying to extract some hidden
meaning from them. Sometimes I
| fancied there was some covert allusion
to her being mindful of me through all
these scenes of pleasure, sometimes 1
felt racked with jealousy of some imag-
mary admirer of hers.
"At length 1 got letter from my
father, telling me of her serious illness,
and then another from him saying that
| he heard the doctors had ordered her to
winter in Italy. Between these letters
had one from Mrs. Clark, mentioning
that Lucy had been ordered to leave
! England for time, and that hence I
must not expect any more letters until
she and lucy returned home, for that
during her absence her time would be
fully occupied. She wrote very kindly,
but felt sure that the reason of her not
writing to me again was that Mr.. Clark
objected to my knowing that Lucy was
to be in Italy.
Chow very dreary that winter was, In
spite of all the golden dreams of youth,
fostered 10y all the poetical and romantic
| teachings or nature, art and history,
W tn which the very air of Italy is cleo
trio
81 became so restless that In the
spring left Rome for Florence. had
never copied in the galleries there, and
thought it would be new source of
| interest to me to do so.
"One day L was seated in front of that
beautiful portrait of Caterina Cornaro.
A sweet, sad face and graceful figure,
| the bodice of the dress embroidered with
gold and jewels, and the neck loaded
with chains of pearls magnificent
fet!ers laid on their fair owner by the
! Venetian republic when the Senate
sold her beauty to the King of Cyprus,
leaving her noble lover, young Loren
dano, to die raving. 1 was copying this
picture and was greatly interested in my
work. Many persons passed through
the room and some paused to look at my
! painting. so that / took little notice of
the fact that some one was standing be-
hind me, until l heard my name pro-
| nounced in a never-forgotten voice.
at was Lucy, and alone She was
taller and more womanly than when 1
! LETT her, but the same Lucy still.
"She told me that she and her mother
were in Florence, waiting for her father
to Join them; that she had spent the
winter in Sicily, and that her health was
better, but that her mothers health was
failing rapidly.
She said that Mrs. Clark was in an
adjoining room resting, and that must
| go to see her. There was calm power
about her manner that surprised me,
but she had lost none of her sweetness.
"Before we turned from the picture [
was copying she asked me whose por-
trait it was. told her, and she said +:
SO that is the face of the woman
who let herself be bought and sold by a
King and Senate, and not only herself
but the man who loved her, and for
whom she cared, too, in some pitiful
sort of way She could not have loved
him, or she would have taught those
naughty Senators that there was some
thing prouder and stronger than even
their pride.
Mrs. Clark received me with tears.
1 could see that she was very much
broken, and that she was completely I'M
der her daughters dominion, although
Lucy used her power gently. She did
not ask me to go to see them, but she
said she would often come to see me at
my work, and she made some weak
little excuse for not inviting me to their
hotel.
"After that I saw her and Lucy every
day at the gallery, and Lucy often man.
aged to be alone with me- We never
spoke of our mutual affection, but we
felt it, and words we're not needed be-
tween us, even to explain why we did
not speak of it. We lived in an atmos-
phere of. our own. We knew that our
happiness could not last long, but this
only intensified our appreciation of it,
and rendered each moment of it doubly
precious, while concentration of
| thouobt faalipn opd Of tho axpraooiop