The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-01-05

1.-The judges do not like the picture.
to be seen before the day" sait
Bettchen, stifiy.
"Oh, nonsense! just let me have ,
peep; I'm nobody. only a little girl whe
loves Otto Schmidt
Bettchen said no more, but led the
way into her own studio across the
passage and uncovered her own picture
before which red curtain hung.
''Oh, my, that is lovely. You won,
mind my saying SO, but it is ever sc
much better than yours-but then Of
course yours is not finished"
Bettchen smiled-she could not help
! it, knowing what she knew-but the
smile was sad one, for the page in he,
life that had been turned to-day was
! drcary.
So this pretty fippant little doll loved
! Otto, he loved her. and Papa, as she
had taken care to state. was very rich.
After Mousey's departure, with the
promise that she would call again tc
ask how Otto was, Bettchen sat down
to think the matter out.
Thrift and hard work was all that
she and Otto would have to look for.
ward to, even if the prize was won, and
neither thrift nor hard work did Otto
care to cultivate, whereas-Papa was
very rich.
This knowledge sank deep into
Bettchen's heart, and she resolved to
make tremendous sacrifice. what is
the use of loving, if you cannot give
yourself for the man you love?" she
asked. in her Supplemented way.
And, then, having decided what she
intended to do, she locked up the
studios, and went round to tiny fiat
in an unsavory street, where Otto's
mother dwelt. The good old hausfrau
met her with very preoccupied look
on her face.
MY boy is so i'll" she said; che is in
/ high fever, and talks delirious nom
sense till he Irightens me-"
81 will stay the night with you, Nut
terchen. Between us we will nurse
Otto well again.
And the kindly voice had more hope
in it than the heart felt.
"Oh, it is dreadful" went on the
mother; ''he will have it there is a
mouse about; he is always talking
about mouse. l don't believe he will
be satisfied until I bring him one''
For three consecutive nights Bettchen
and the mother watched by Otto's sick
bed, but while his incessant talk about
a little mouse puzzled the old lady,
Bettchen knew full well what it meant
On the fourth day the prize was to
be awarded, and Otto still lay there un-
conscious of what was going on.
One picture only went in for judg-
ment from the studios in the Weiner
strasse. 1t was Bettcheu's bold, Wig
orous painting, glorious in the color
ing she understood so well. 1t was
signed in the name of Otto Schmidt.
and on the easel from whence she had
removed it. stood his unfinished pic.
tire.
How" she said. "could she finish
her work when Otto was lying i'll and
there was no one to help the mother
nurse him but herself?"
lotto Schmidt has won the Lorenz
Kepler prize"
Every tongue in Weisberg repeats
the news. The mother is trium phant.
Mousey Collins cries with joy and
kisses her papa, who expresses salts
faction with Otto: while in Bettchen's
heart there is such mingled feeling of
gladness and sorrow that she feels al
most on the verge of madness: only the
sick man himself knows nothing as he
lies there, struggling back to life from
the very borderland of death.
The first news that greets him when
he has sufficiently recovered to under
stand, is that he has won the prize.
Bettchen herself is his informant. and
she stoops and kisses his pallid brow as
she tells him how glad she is.
And the picture has gone to Lon
don" she adds; lit has been bought by
an English lord / packed it yesterday
and sent it off. You are rich man
now, Herr Schmidt, and can be as idle
and whimsical as you like"
The light tone of Banter was difficult
to assume, but Betchen was coura-
geous.
As for Otto he spoke but little. He
was very weak and even to think was
an effort. He only lay there, looking
as it we're into space. while he held
Bettchen' schand with nervous grip.
AT last he spole-
at puzzles my poor brain; explain il,
Gettchen kebste. / cannot remember
finishing that picture"
You foolish, foolish hoy, it is only
because you have been i'll that you for
get OF course you finished it
''Ah. well. am very sorry won the
prize. l wanted you to win it, md /
thought l dawdled over my work so
that there might be no doubt about
the matter. Why was your picture re-
jected, eh. Bettchen?"
Because it was a mere daub. / |
never did worse work in all my life / /
have painted it out and turned the can
vas with its face 10 the wall
Poor Bettchen.''
Then there was silence Exhausted /
by this brief colloquy Otto had fallen /
asleep
Later in the day when he awoke a !
fresh surprise awaited him Il was |
Mousey Collins who sat beside his bed. /
She had begged so hard TO be allowed /
10 congratulate him tha: Bettchen and 1
the mother had assented. thinking 1t /
Otto to see her