Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-01-29

She riveted the links forever, when, fancyIny
she could do with q maid, she, in spite of a
grumble from her great-aunt took this
woman, named Sarah Miller, into her ser
vice. This happened in the sarly days Of her
sojcuru at Mrs. Erskines.
The course of study progreSsed For the
most part Beatrice taught herself. After =
while it struck her she should like again 20
take up her drawing. Here as her ambition
rose higher than wishing 70 execute the
usual schoolgirl masterpieces, she needed a
master. A caller, an acquaintance of Mrs.
Erskine's, gave her a name and address,
which had been given to her by some one
else Beatrice wrote and asked the artists
terms. He replied She wrote again, ac-
cepting the terms and begging him TO call
ON a certain daY. So Maurice Hervey came
into her life.
When first she saw him the girl was sur
priSed TO find she had summoned TO her aid q
young man of about twenty-five. But the
age of a drawing master appeared to Miss
( Clauson as matter of secondary import
ance. So long as he knew his business what
mattered if he was twenty-five or ffty-five.
Mrs. Erskfne troubled nothing about the
affair. She knew that q master gave her
niece lessons twice or thrice a week. Ths
+
her he was the drawing master, no more and
no less There are many such old ladies As
thisi
! In order that what happened may be read
Alright, two facts must be distinctly borne in
mind. The first, that Beatrice ClauSon was
not then the stately and apparently emotion
less young lady, whose calm and SILICON
tanned demeanor was such a subject of con-
/ graduation 10 her uncleS, and such a puzzle
to Frank Carruthers. She was but a girl of
eighteen proud, if you will, but romantic,
impulsive, and notwithstanding the Shatter-
/ ing of the paternal idol, trustful of man and
/ womankind She was lonely; craved for
/ sympathy; and in spite of her position in the
world, her life SO far as she could see it,
looked void and colorlesS. 4 long stretch
without visible goal Lastly, she believed,
/ as most young people Of eighteen believe.
that her Judgment as 70 what was best for
herself was infallible
| The second fact to be borne in mind is that
Maurice Hervey at twenty five was not, in
appearance, the scowling, crafty looking
felon seen by Mrs. Miller in Portland prison;
( not even the malicious, knocking ruffian who
| confronted her on his release. The mask
Worn by the man when Beatrice first knew
him fitted to perfection, and, until the
wearer chose, showed no glimpse of the vii
lsiRous, sordid nature it hid. He was de-
| cidedly good-looking, he was well dressed,
aud if he carried touch of the Bohemian
about him it was not more than was pleasant
and compatible with the profession he fol-
lowed. His hands, matter upon which
young girls set undue store, were white and
well formed He was attentive and respect
full in the discharge of his enthusiastically SO
after the first few lessons!
EO,. nv bat tio1a be baa for-J >,,+
about his pupil-not all he wanted to know,
but good deal He had learned that she
was a baronets daughter, and an heiress.
He could not ascertain how much money
she would come into or from whom it came.
But, so far as it went, he believed his
information TO he trustworthy, aud acted ac-
cordingly.
He began by awakening the girls sym
pathy for his unworthy self. He told her,
or, it might be said, conveyed to her pro,
digious lies about his own hard lot; he
dilated on the drudgery of lesson giving to 4
man who believed he had genius So cleverly
did he talk that Beatrice was persuaded that
she was under an obligation to him for the
very act of teaching. His lies were master
pieces, because he did not, like many self
styled neglected geniuses, believe in his OWL
talents. The man knew that such skill a
us pOSSSSSSd SpuiNl IlltlhS I'LL, bLic OutSltiS
a tifth-rate artist, or, it might possibly be- a
tirst-rate drawing master.
But all the same he made Beatrice believe
he was one day destined to storm the Roya
academy, and when once she believed this al
differences in station between them vanished
Our age, as every one knows is the triumph
of art. Poor artists and struggling literary
men do not now fawn upon lords-lords ash
them to dinner and make much Of them, Of
such is the common belief. So, now tina
Miss ClaUson was convinced that Maurice
Hervey was a genius, no cold spectre o
social distinction rose between the man am
his desire.
The drawing lessons grew longer and NOR,
and more conversational. Hervey was al
educated man, or at least knew how to turl
such education as was his to the best account
The first sign of what was about TO happeI
was Beatrices beginning to wonder how sh
; should able to offer this man money TO
, his services. Then followed other symptom
which are invariably distinctly pronounce'
when the Sufferer is a self-willed girl O
eighteen.
-, Hervey, as soon as he found himself on tn
l same platform as his pupil, hurried matter
on. He had pressing reasons, known only t
I, himself, for bringing things to conclusion
Perhaps his audacity helped him. At an
! rate, when one day he dashed the drawing
= materials aside and vowed he loved her, an