Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-10-13
He Wondered ,onp into the night. and It

up ilS lllIiG w a CCl odlh CoulSC, IC HbNNi
wavered in It's f~ulffllment, and from hence
forth his pitch" knew him 40 more. That
week he modelled an exquisite portrait of
his fair patroness from memory and beg
ged her acceptance of it.
Even the spoiled beauty felt a thrill of
pleasurable emotion us she noticed the
subtle tlattery expressed in every curve of
the medallion. She compared it favorably
with portraits of herself by two of the
most eminent academicians and felt that
it would be ungrateful not to give Mr..
Gerard sittings.
''Who could have imagined you were
such a genius2" she said laughingly some
weeks later, when the picture was nearing
completion. Gerard, in his silk blouse
and irreproachable get up, with all the
paraphernalia of art surrounding him,
and the aristocratic air of Royal Ken
sington" permeating the tasteful studio,
seemed altogether a different order of be-
ing from Gerard, the street artist.
He painted on ~assiduously. Mrs. Vivian
glanced at him c%uriously, her interest in
him growing deeper. She wished to lift
the veil of mystery which surrounded this
man, who was so different from the satel-
lites which revolved around her and Of
whom she grew so weary. There was
something grand In his air of stern self
repression, she thought, although she
would have wished him to be more COM
municative.
''Will you think me very impertinent,
Mr. Gerard, if l mention something that
has been exercising my mind for some
time past? 1t is this: On the first day
made your acquaintance through seeing
the sketches you had drawn of my fathers
grave and expressed my surprise you re-
piled that the design had been your own
Now, on looking over some papers recent,
ly 1 found the original estimate, and the
artists name was not Gerard. We're you
then working under a pseudoDym?"
eyes" The reply came stern and cold
from Gilbert Gerard's set lips as he laid
down his brush and crossed the room. 81
was working under an alias, but not a
voluntary one. If you will deign to lis
ten, I will give you, in as few words as
possible, an outline of the history of my
life. I would not, at all events, like you
to regard me as an impostor,
"That l could never do Your work
speaks for itself"
SIT has never been allowed to till now, +"
he replied gloomily. "When l completed
my art education, l was a young fellow
without means, and therefore gladly joined
lots with a sculptor who had already made
a name in the profession. We shared the
same studio, and in a very short time l
learned the reason of my SO called friends
kindness and generosity. l, like several
others before me-, was the monkey en-
ployed to pull the chestnuts out of the fire.
He was a man of great plausibility and
succeeded by dint of push in getting a
good many orders. Beyond this and in
scribing his name on the finished work,
his responsibility ceased. In the case of
your fathers tomb I revolted and said
that it should be known as my work
Then ensued our first quarrel, and l sug-
gested that we should part. ' The monu-
ment was then all but finished. On the
same day l was driving a very fidgety
mare, when suddenly she bolted on the
brow of a hill, and I was pitched out on
my head. They carried me to a hospital,
conoussion of the brain followed, and for
about a year my mind was a perfect blank.
When / recovered, / went down to Corn
wall, and, as I expected, there stood the
monument bearing the usual signature.
What could I dor My long illness had
cost thousands, for it took the best men
in London to pull me together, and their
charges are not modest. This, coupled
with an unluoky Investment, completed
my misfortunes. The few friends l had
made deserted me, as friends are won't to
do, and genius, If 1t pleases you to dignity
my efforts by that name, is worse than
useless without money and without infu-
ence. If l had pointed out statues in
public places as my work, I should have
been openly ridiouled, and people would
have said that my mind had not recovered
it's balance, and SO I drifted on to what
you found me, a man to whom existence
was a living death, You rescued me for
the slough Of despond, and my future IL
yours to mold as you will. I desire no
better fate"
He raised her hand to his lips, and she
made no resistance.
"Don't idealize me-, pray" she said,
with a little nervous laugh. ~ don't de-
serve it. / never aspire to be more thar a
social butterfly, and az such only suck the
sweetness of life and none of its gall-that
Is to say, voluntarily"
"You altogether belle yourself, !" return
ed Gerard gravely. yours belongs to the
really few fine natures which are incapa-
BILE Of appreciating their own nobility. At
present 1t Is incrusted with an element of
worldly cynicism and hardness, which,
however, lies only on the surface and does
not represent your true self at all. AL
kho,,~h ovyu0cool W. rr,Dv1 ~ cwy>po
thy at the recital Of my wrongs I noticed
the pallor which spread over your face.
That was enough for me-
Mrs. Vivian blushed as she cast at him
n Of her speaking upward chances. you
are always making wonderful discoveries, "
she remarked. II wonder what the next
one will be?"
"Shall / tell your" asked Gerard mean
ingly, gazing at her with all his soul in
his eyes.
But the beauty shook her head and
~vouchsafed no reply. He must have en-
lightened her, however, on a subsequent
occasion, for some months later society
was electrified at the news that the lovely
Mrs. Vivian, at whose feet princes had
languished in vain, had married an OBJ
SQUIRE artist of whom they had never even
heard.
But Mrs. Gerard was sublimely indiffer.
emit to praise or blame. When a more than
usually venomous remark reached her ears,
she glanced at her handsome husband and
delivered herself Of the following aphor-
ism: "To the d~iscoverer belongs the bene-
ct Of his discovery. If I discovered your
genius, you discovered my heart. / put 1t
to the world-which was the greater feat
of the twop"-L. l. B. Battern In Cincin-
natl Herald.
Rather Sensitive.
II think my Archie Is the most painful
" sensitive boy ever saw" said Mrs. Up
john.
"Yesp''
"When he first learned that the earth
A.~-. c~or,cd - lko o~{o ~ Tho vokn ~