Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-10-04

PROMISED we'll.
81 think" said Mr.. Milford, tive shall
have some very good things there"
"Oh, let me see thcm," Miss Mitchell
answered. ~ want to know what | look
like"
This was going ahcai, little too fast
10 please Milford.
81 do not think you can tell, :" hc said,
81 would much rather have you wait till
they are quito completed. There is SO
much IN the printing, you know"
'Ics," she replied dolcfully, "I sun.
pose so, but do let me sec the nera.
,ivos. Then perhaps | shall know Just
how much there is in the printing
Milford dcmurrcd, but finally yielded.
She took the negatives and looked them
over critically. When she handed them
back she expressed her qualification with
! them.
Milford kept one of the completed
pictures and guarded il with Jealous care.
| He was, it must be confessed, sometimes
tempted to exhibit il us un example Of
| the perfection 10 which his art could Inc
1 carried, but this temptation never lasted
long. lie kept it by him, however, as
much ~ he sa:ely could. AT his break
fast, which he took in u lonely way in
his apartments, he had il before him at
the table; and, as often through the day
as he could he would hasten from his
studio to steal a parting glance at it.
| 1t seemed to him that i. varied in ap-
pcarancc from day IN day. lie Thought
that he could read in il of Miss Mitch
els changing moods. Ii the eyes lost
their sal expression, aud We're smiling,
rs they sometimes were, he felt that she
was happy; il they were more sad thnn
usual he wondered what had happened
TO distress her. And sometimes, too,
he would discover il in other signs,
and then he feared that she was ILL.,
| Alarmed at its growing power over him,
and annoyed that he was so little nblo 10
resist IFS influence, he nj last placed il in
II seldom used portfolio. lie WIS deter
mined not 10 look AT il again. This de-
termination he adhered 10 for some time,
perhaps week Or longer. In the mean
time Miss Mitchclls visits had entirely
ceased. Milford knew that there was no
reason why she should call, and he
laughed somewhat sadly MS he admitted
To himself that lie wished il had been
otherwise. He now rcsolucly deter
mined that he would forget her, and that
he would not again look upon The picture;
but he found himself thinking much more
Of Miss Mitchell and oi the picture thun
OF matters needing his attention. One
day he took the portrait from its hiding
place and examined il carefully.
lie was startled. 1t seemed 10 him
| that t1p t,ipi t,rc y..c loo. I;,t;,,,t ,t,.,.
had been. SO much was ho impressed
that he lookcdat il frequently thereafter,
and was soon convinced that he had been
right, ;hat il was growing less and less dis
tinct. Though interested more than ever,
and puzzled as well, he again determined
that he would think OF it, no longer,
and replaced the picture in the port.
folio. lie busted himself 50 successfully
that lie WAS able 90 overcome, in some
measure, his longing for The picture and
its original; but for II few days only.
Then he hnstcncd again 10 the porlfolio
There could be no question about il; the
picture had perccplibly faded since lie had
last looked al it. II was now barely dis
ccrniblc.
"It has almost gone" he said 10 him
self sadly, "and shc--can il be that she
is going too?"
This thought almost unnamed him.
Now he realin,l for the first time what
her loss would mean 10 him; now he
knew how empty would be his life if she
should be taken away
lie was ut this moment called upon by
Il gentleman who surprised him by ask
ing:
"Will il be possible formc 10 procure
some duplicates of the pictures you re-
Gently took to Miss MitcheIl?"
Milford's annoyance was apparent, but
lie tried to say, politely:
II should be glad to obligc you, sir;
but of course it would not be proper for
me to do as you ask"
"Indced! Why. n,ay nsk2"
''You can readily see thnt cannot dis
pose Of amy duplicates except nj the re-
quest of the sittcrs themselves"
"Oh, certainly! But come Mt the re-
quest of Miss Mitchell"
! ''Is she not well, them" asked Milford
in quick alarm.
"No; indeed, she has been very ill.,"
al will prepare them for you at once"
| 4ii'iOiN o"Nt iOW tO DC Tltl OI
his visitor us quickly rs possible, and
hurricdly making u note of the order
given him.
"At least" he said to himself, cat
least, shall know about her."
Yielding to his sudden panic, he
seized his hat and rushing from his
studio, with little thought of the crowd
ing carriages, he ran across Broadway,
and then, almost disrcgarding the people
against whom he jostled in his hurry, he
hastened on to the street in which Miss
Mitchell lived.
AZ he ran he would not permit himself
to tell what it was hc feared; but as he
ncarcd the house there was the very signt
he had most dreaded. That long line of
carriages could have but one meaning;
and now he hoped only to sec her face
r once more.
Eluding the grasp of the attendant at
the door he entered the house, and the
sound OF music reached him, music that