Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1898-12-24

the Latin quarter than this story which
the drift OF the conversation makes so
timely. To be candid, my chief pur-
pose in accepting Mrs. Pentland's hos
pitality was to recount Hillhouse's ro-
nance"
He was my best friend" continued
Betram, encircling the table with q
second significant twinkle; IL may say
lifelong friend. About a year ago
Hillhouse was called to Darlington to
work on the equestrian statue of which
YOU may have heard. He took studio
in q back bay house that had outlived
not only prosperity but gentility. The
studio confronted formidable row Of
dwellings in very similar state. These
houses were occupied for the most part
by dodgers and mealers Of various ages
and colors and conditions Of servitude.
In intervals Of inspiration, and they
were not infrequent with Hillhouse, he
fell, between whiffs of his pipe, to spec
ulating on the daily occupation and the
heart stories Of his heterogeneous
neighbors. One of his studio windows
looked almost impertinently into a
ballroom Of the most imposing house
In the row. To Hillhouse's surprise,
his mirror one day reflected its occu-
pant, who riv.ted his attention with
a fascination almost as irresistible as
that which wrought the ruin Of Paul
Pry." Betram paused. The interest
in his auditors eyes urged him on.
"She was n frail little woman" he
said. at length, with a certain faded
splendor, the splendor of n brilliant au-
tumual flower that defes drought
and frost, and with color and perfume
Of its own, holds sway long after its
garden companions lie withered and
dead. She rarely went out save In the
flush Of the morning or late in The twi-
light. Her room, like herself, bespoke
faded splendor, discernible even from
Hillhouse's studio. A kindergarten
OF old-fashioned bloom md plentiful
ly-stocked bookcase that crowded the
small apartment almost to suffocation,
absorbed her days.
"Certain hours she was wont to sit
in the window, an open book In her
lap, her heavily-fringcd gray eyes lost
In invisible worlds. know not whether
II was the style of her dress-the white
null fichu, closed on the low bosom TO
fall in graceful folds to the hem Of her
voluminous dark skirt, or the outline
Of the couture, so like the mode preva-
lent when Hillhouse was the Beau
Brummel OF his world-thnt attracted
his attention; but the sculptor soon
found himself modelling her delicate
profile. Hillhouse, II goes without say
ing, was n bachelor. in whom the wine
Of youth was scarcely less beady at so
than In the flush Of youth"
"Just such n chap rs our own Be
tram" interposed Pentland.
'Hillhouse's faith, devotion may say,
to the ideal In life, rs au art. J" continued
Betram, 'has survived the gross mate
rialism Of the times with which adj
vancing age found him curiously In
and out Of tune. Away back In the
golden youth lay his romance-a ro-
nance that unconsciously shaped and
colored his life. lending n perennial
freshness TO the man. which he stroye
to impart to his work. As the delicate
features Of his unknown neighbor grew
under his def touch the chords of mem
DRY awoke. and Hillhouse had begun
to rsyel again In that golden past, when
suddenly hlS model moved.
"a carriage With the livery % an
exclusive world had diAWn up n her
door. A lady nuIi1d n uahle aliFhted|
1rt I911 H'|'f1rH @1l|'1 81 N||'1