The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-09-12

heNed 70 nave been the real author OF
this atrocious outrage. She lodged in
the same house with him. at the Boule-
ward St Michel; she worked at the same
studio; the relations between. them are
described as most cordial and ii is even
said that she was engaged to be married
TO him. BY this fortunate disaster
society is Well Tid'-but, there, you know
the way the papers talk about these
things, and how very little reason there
is. as rule. in all they say of them.
Let me tell you the true story of that
sweet little American woman.
She was small and slight; one Of those
dainty. delicate, mlgnonne New England
girls, with shell-lke ears and transparent
compilations. who look as II they were
made OF the finest porcelain, yet spring,
heaven knows how, out Of rough upland
farm houses. 1t was in her native Yer
mont that the hunger OF art first came
upon Essie LothrOp. You must know
America to know just how it came, seiz-
ing her by the throat. as ii were, one day.
among the COWS and the apple harvest, at
sight OF some Italian pictures engraved
in a magazine. From her childhood up
ward. TO be sure. Essie had drawn pic
lures for her own delight with a plain
lead pencil: drawn the ducks. and the
lambs. and the wild orange lilies that
ran riot in the woods; drawn them in
stinctively, without teaching Of any sort,
for pure. pure love OF them But these
early Italian pictures then seen for the
first time, crossing her simple horizon on
the hills OF Vermont. reused fierce thrill
in that eager little breast Of hers. She
IfeHa
thing glorious and beautiful. which
sprang far from New England. Now
those four or five woodcuts in the maya
zine suggested to her mind unknown
possibilities Of artistic beauty. She said
TO herself at once: Il must see these
things I must see them with my eyes.
I must live my life among them"
From that day forth ii became fixed
idea with Essie Lothrop that she should
go 10 Paris and study painting. Where
Paris was. what Paris could do for her,
she only guessed from the meager de-
tails in her common school geography.
But with American intuition she was
somehow dimly aware that if you want
ed an artistic education Paris was the
one right place to go for it.
Paris her father cried, when she
spoke Of it first 10 him, in the field be-
hind the barn. Why, Essie. do tell!
That's whar folks are allus getVn' up
revolootions. amt it? An l guess them
furriners is most all Papishes."
But it's the place to study art. faith
err" Essie cried, with her big eyes wide
open. And 1 mean 10 study art, if L
have to die for it
She didn't know how prophetic word
she had spoken.
Thenceforth. however. life meant but
one thing 10 Essie LOthrOp. She lived
in order 10 work for the money which
would take her 10 study art in Paris.
She was sixteen when that revelation
came upon her: she was twenty when
she found herself, alone and a stranger.
in the streets Of the wicked, unheeding
city.
Not that She thought it wicked Es-
sic was too innocent to have any fears
in committing herself TO the unknown
world Of Paris. With true American
guilelessness she considered il perfectly
natural that a girl Of twenty should hire
a room for herself au cinquieme, in the
Boulevard S.. Michel and should present
herself as a student at Nelentin's studio.
She had learned a little French before
hand in her remote New England home:
learned il direct from a book, with just
a hint or two as 10 pronunciation from
had so much Of that strange natural
tact which heaven has been pleased to
bestOw on New England girls, that she
spoke tOlerably well even at the very
outset. and quickly picked up a fair
Partisan accent in the course of a. week
or two. Sometimes these frail and trans
parent-lOOking Yankee girls have mind
enough TO do anything they choose to
undertake, and certainly Essie LOthrop
spoke French at the end of three months
ar,1 f1,af l.
have made most Englishmen stare with
astOnishment.
There was joy at Valentin's the first
morning when Essie made her appear
ance. Slight, smiling, demure, with her
American ease and her American frank
ness, she took the fancy of all the men
students at once
''She is good" they said, 1.-THE little
oner'
When she dropped her brush. it was
Stanislaus Laminsd who picked it up
and handed il back TO her. She accepted
IT with a smile. the perfectly courteous
and good-humored smile of the girl who
had come fresh from her Vermont fields
20 that great teeming Paris, who knew
no middle term between her native vii
lage and the Boulevard St Michel To
her, these men were just fellOw-students,
as the Vermont boys had been in the
common school of her township. She
took their Obtrusive pOliteness as her
natural due, never dreaming Jean and
Alphonse could mean anything more by
IL than Joe and Pete would have meant
in her upland hamlet.
us she drOn, the little one?p the men
students said at first. when she graveIy
allowed them TO carry her things back
for her to her room au cinquieme, and
even invited them in with smiling grace
10 share her cup of tea-these noisy
youths, who lived upon nothing but
cigarettes and absinthe. They looked at
one another shamefacedly, and stified
their smiles; then they answered: ''Merci,
mademoiseIle, we do not drink tea But
we thank you from the heart for your
amiable hospitality"
They bowed and withdrew, Laminski
last Of all, with a side glance over his
shoulder Then, when they reached the
bottom OF the five flights of stairs, they
burst out laughing simultaneously. But
It was a deprecatOry laugh. rs she inno-
cent, the American? She asked us to teal
Helm. Jules. my boyi helm, Alphonsei
that was rich one, wasn't it?''
But Lamnsk fingered behind, and
looked up at her window.
As for Essie, she sat down, not one
atom abashed, TO think over her first
days adventures in the studio An En-
gish girl under the circumstances would
have been terribly oppressed by a vague
sense Of loneliness. But Essie was not
IL is the genius OF her countrywomen.
She sat down and smiled TO herself at
her days work cOntentedly. What nice,
friendly young men they had all been.
70 be sure, and how polite they had
seemed 20 her And Valentin himself
had looked approvingly at her first essay,
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