Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1898-12-24

by dodgers and mealers of various ages
and colors and conditions Of servituGe.
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 llillhouse's surprise,
his mirror ore day reflected its occu-
pant, who rly,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 Il frail little woman" he
said, at length, with n certain faded
splendor, the splendor of a brilliant au-
tumnal flower that defies drought
and frost, and with a 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
a faded splendor, discernible even from
Hillhouse's studio. 4 kindergarten
of old-fashioned bloom and n plentiful.
l~y-stocked bookcase that crowded the
small apartment almost to s~utlocation
absorbed her days.
Certain hours she was wont to 81
in the window, an open book in hel
lap, her heavily-fringed gray eyes los
in invisible worlds. know not whethel
it was the style of her dress-the whit,
null fichu, closed on the low bosom t,
fall in graceful folds to the hem of he
p voluminous dark skirt, or the outline
Of the couture, so like the mode preva
lent when Hillhouse was the Bea,
Brummel of his world-that attracte'
his attention; but the sculptor 500,
, found himself modelling her delicat
i profile. Hillhouse, it goes without say
;, ing, was a bachelor, in whom the win
4 of youth was scarcely less beady at
than in the flush of youth"
!, Just such a chap as our w Be
= tram," i%nterposed Pentland.
"Hillhouse's faith, devotion | may sa,
:, to the ideal in life, as an art" continue
' Betram, has survived the gross mate
=, rialism of the times with which az
vancing age found him curiously i
> and out of tune. Away back i'll til
golden youth lay his n rt
i, nance that unconsciously shaped an
= colored his life, lending u %perennii
u freshness to the man, which he stro,
to impart to his work. AS the delica,
features of his unknown neighbor gre
!, under his deft touch the chords of men
DRY awoke, and Hillhouse had begu
, 10 revel again in that golden past, whe
" suddenly his model moved.
"A carriage with the livery of q
exclusive world had drawn up at h,
= door. A lady muffied In sable alighte
) and soon Hillhouse bebeld his lit
neighbor in the arms of a strange
1t was the first visitor that had com
in Hillhouse's time, to that mode
Is door. The next day It showed sttadil.
'e but about three in the afternoon h
neighbor surprised him by appearil
re at the street door. bonneted. Wi
d. rapid strides she disappeared dow
+ the avenue-to appear before he hi
n smoked three pipes al her ~favorite Sc
lie in the window. The light fell stron
$. ly on the profile, which now seem
to rejuvenated by some inner glow. Hi
s. house snatched the clay and made has
as to finish the interrupted sitting.
had not worked long, however, un
he was sharing his models quiet mirt
as "A street fckir had evidently !
10 weighed her into buying a mechanic
toy, such as abound in the streets
our large cities during the holiday Sc
son. Far into twilight this stately a
er tumnal flower sat playing with !,
is trivial thing; and the footprints
r. time magically vanished from h
It sweet face, as she repeatedly pulled I
"a string, and the grotesque wood
OF monkey. with its ~multi-colored jack
I'd slid up and down the yellow pc
Through the veil Of snowAakes HI
house continued TO watch his neighb,
IN and rs hex smiles at,the monkeys a
ng tics b~roadened his outlaws filed I
IN lonely studio with companional
echoes. Suddenly there was n rift
y, the Lutte. The incorrigible monk