The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1885-08-27


il an artist, and Chicago one at that.
No wonder his clothes are ill-ftting,
and his face is pinched-yes, actually
pinched."
BY this time he had gained the top
of one stairway, and was lost to view
on the second. Ethel opened her purse
and glanced at its contents.
"Just eleven dollars and five cents.
Now, the nickel will be enough to car
ry me home. and if thought he'd have
any real cheap pictures I'd follow hirl
up and invest the rest, for he seems de-
cidedly poor"
She did not pause long. 1t was the
day of the week on which the artists
in that building received an ad-
miring but not very generous
ly disposed public-she would
avail herself of this opportunity and
boldly ascend the stairway after him.
She stopped on the second landing and
went into several rooms, but rightly
conjecturing that his would be one OF
the smallest and poorest, she soon
wendell her way to the top.
Sure enough, in dingy little room,
that rented for mere song, she found
him.
He was sitting at his easel, with q
piece of clear canvas before him, me-
chemically fumbling with his brushes,
and pouring tiny drops OF paint upon
the palette he had just brought in. He
turned with start as he heard light
knock on the half-open door.
Gould it be-. No; the janitor al
Il \
was q negro. with those little preten-
sions to politeness which all true SONS
of Africa possess. So he meekly. said.
Come in, and did not raise his head
until the subtle odor of delicate per-
fume fioated about him, and he looked
up in surprise, and saw a visitor at
last
1t was woman, and lovely one
his eyes could tell that ut their first
glance. He got up in dazed sort CT
q way and offered her the solitary chair.
"No-many thanks. did not come
to stay, only to see if If you have any
thing very small. A bit of print to fill
up corner, you know"
She glanced around as she spoke, and
Georges eyes followed hers.
No, there was nothing very small in
the room. He inwardly cursed himself
for having wasted SO many days on
large canvases when something small
would have filled the bill completely.
She noted his perplexity and fastened
to relieve it.
after seeing that pretty trout brook"
pointing to fairly good picture in
the window think it would be diff
cult to suit me with anything else,
though 1 am not provided to-day with
the sum at which you doubtless val
". it" ,,a ..,.. .,,,.
value it at an he slsid, little bitterly.
ut can go for whatever enc would
choose to give" ~
"Well, you see"-with q confidential
air that was very charming-"I am all
out of funds to-day, but if you would
save it for me, or if you would take a
payment now and the rest tomorrow,
should be very grateful, for my heart
is set on that picture, and 1 must
have it.
She opened her purse and showed it's
contents to him. He could not tell
whether his eyes were playing him
false or not, yet surely those were
crisp, new notes, the like of which he
had not seen for many day.
"Just eleven dollars, and the nickel, Z"
she continued, laughing. Now if you
! would trust me for the rest"
"The picture is not worth more than
ten dollars; you have more than enough
for it." he said, with little smile of
Joy at this unexpected piece of fort
une.
Ethel looked at him pityingly.
Don't think / am telling you this
simply to get the picture for so little, I"
she said, coloring.
"By no means; / believe you. Do
not think so badly of me as to--only
only, you see, have never sold one
since I've been here, and this sale is a
| godsend to me"
His voice trembled for moment, but
he soon controlled it and went on.
"And / am so ill-bred as to bore you
with my troubles. Pray forgive me.
If you will let me know the address I'll
have it sent this afternoon.
Ethel hesitated for an instant. She
did not like to take the picture at that
price, yet he insisted, and she saw that
it would pain him to offer more. SO
she gave him the address and went away,
promising to call again.
The next morning, quite early, a
gentleman called at the studio, stout,
burly person, with iron-gray whiskers
and mustache. He had not the appear
ance of q connoisseur, but one or two
remarks which he made concerning the
merits and dement's of the pictures
gave the young artist new veneration
for the Judgment and taste of Chicago
merchants.
"My daughter wants something in
this line-yes. that birch groves just
the thing. Good color, and shadows
not too deep. What's the price,"
George had the courage to place its
true value upon it. The old gentle
man eyed him keenly, nodded acquies-
cence, drew forth his pocketbook and
counted out the money, all the while
murmuring inwardly:
"Why, that's five times as much as
! Ethel paid. and the pictures no bigger.