The Holly chieftain., 1898-12-23
SAT PLAYING WITH THE TRIVIAL THING.

the Latin quarter than this story whicl
tmc1y f. ~ C1nuf.sS- -on -. e ~ Z.
pose in accepting Mrs. Pentland's hos
pitality was to recount Hilihouse's ro
NANCE"
He was my best FRIEND" continued
Betram, encircling the table with !,
second significant twinkle; II may say
lifelong friend. About q year age
Hillhouse was called to harrington t.
work on the equestrian statue Of which
you may have heard. He took studio
In back bay house that had outlived
not only prosperity but gentility. The
studio confronted a 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 heterogeneou,
neighbors. One OF his studio wincows
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 riveted his attention with
q fascination almost AZ irresistible as
that which wrought the ruin of Paul
,Pry." Betram paused. The interest
in his auditors eyes urged him ON.
"She was frail little woman" he
said. at length. with certain faded
splendor, the splendor Of a brilliant au-
tumnal flower that defies 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
fiush of the morning or late in the twi-
light. Her room, like herself, bespoke
a faded splendor, discernible even from
Hilihouse's studio. A kindergarten
Of old-fashioned bloom and plentiful
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-fringed gray eyes lost
In invisible worlds. know not whether
It was tie style Of her dress-the white
null fichu, closed on the low bosom TO
fall in graceful folds to the hsm Of her
dark skirt. or the outline
Of the coifYure. so like the mode preva-
lent when Hillhouse was the Beau
Brummel Of his world-that attracted
his attention; but the sculptor soon
found himself modelling her delicate
profile. Hillhouse. It goes without say
Ing, was = bachelor, in whom the wine
Of youth was scarcely less beady at SO
than in the flush of youth"
..Just such chap AZ our own Be
tram" interposed Pentland.
"Hillhouse's faith, devotion may say,
to the ideal In life. as an Ar" continued
Betrsm, "has survived the gross mate
rialism Of the times with which ad-
vanciuR age found him curiously in
and out Of tune. Away back in the
golden youth lay his romance-s ro-
m.nce that unconsciously shaped and
colored his life. lending . perennial
freshness to the man, which he strove
10 impart to bis work. A. the delicate
ss.tures Of his unknown neighbor grew
rnder his deft touch the chords Of mem
ory avoke, and Hillhouse had begun
y, -, ,reyel again in that golden past. when
xnddenIy his model moved.
"A carriage With the livery Of an
.,clpsivs world had drawn mp ct her
Soor. A lady mufied in sable alighted.
~ soon HiIlhouss bshsld his little