Semi-weekly Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1897-1901, 1901-07-05
So SO 50 50 So IS SO


she might be to screen her bedcham-
Der from casual observation, the tacks
were a Superfiuity.
"Still 1t was no business of mine,
and should never have given ii Sec
ond thouglR had l not CHANGED to hear
two of the girls who took care of the
rooms discussing the blue curtain as
they stood in the hall outside her door.
One of the girls was the regular maid
and the other a newcomer, in that part
of the house at least.
"'Ym mustn't go into the small
ROOM said the former. She never lets
anybody 90 in there
"'Why not? asked the other. Amt
1t never swept out?
at amt been swept out by me-
was the answer, and I'm telling you
to keep away from it. Put your hand
on that curtain and she'll take your
head off. And don't you go peeking,
neither
"'Aint that funny said the new
girl, with her eyes wide open. What
d'you s'pose she's got in there"
AT this moment the woman an
swered my knock, and | entered the
studio. 1t was as neat as a pin, and l
couldn't imagine what a maid could
find to do there. The blue curtain was
in it's place, and it seemed to me to be
tackled up more firmly than usual.
1.-The woman was not looking well
that day. Her eyes were heavy, and
the lines of the face all dropped as if
with WEAKNESS. We were well enough
acquainted by that time for Inc to
speak Of her altered looks, and did SO
sympathetically.
81 can't sleep she said. I lay on
that couch wide awake all night, as l
have done many nights before
"'Why didn't you go to bed" ask
ed, with deep simplicity.
"She looked surprised.
THAT is my bed she said. 4 sleep
there.
81 had supposed that the other
room began, but she interrupted
me hastily.
"'No, no. she said, with evident en-
barrassment; the other room Is not |
furnished as bedroom
az should think you'd find it more
convenient
Don't let US talk of it, she said.
What do you think of my roses"
"She never painted anything but
flowers; at least | had never seen her
at work upon anything else. They
were always correct enough in outline
and coloring, and yet in effect they
were the flowers that grow on wall pa
per and not those of nature.
Il said that they were very good, for
I hadn't the heart to speak otherwise.
That was the sort of work by which
she lived, and l did not have much
faith in her ever doing anything bet
ter. Yet after l had returned to my
own quarters that day an idea came to
me that warmed my heart. l believed
that had guessed what lay behind the
curtain - something better than the
roses, something more important than
a living, her real work in the world!
"A quite different idea was suggest
ed to me that evening by a fellow
named Harris, a landscape artist with
no particular excuse for existence, who
was also tenant In the Bancroft at
that time. He was acquainted with
the woman and was, fancy, little
in his thought of her.
"He told me that promising young
artist, whose name l can't remember, s
lad died in the Bancroft about two {
hn hos ~ Tn o.
the fellow had occupied the |
'ooms then held by the woman. {
az believe said he, that she was in |
owe with him, and that she makes l
hat little room a sort of shrine. 1t S
nay be that the furnishings which he
ad are still there and that she does l
OF wish any one but herself to see e
hem.'
Here was an explanation of senti- O
lent. My own had been one of am l
ition. l believed that the woman did b
er trivial work where all might see u
nd earned her living in the light of =
ay, but that in the secret place be- C
ind the curtain she toiled for the G
leal which to her was sacred. There |
.as that in my heart which made the C
lncy grievous. l would have given o
luch to have her share the secret of a
er strivings with me. 1t would have L
lade my life mean something if l
1uld have helped her through the
,ugh road that leads upward to the
ars. but she did not SO honor me. o
"Many day after that l sat in her /
udio, with my eyes on the blue cur f:
lin. but never hint did she give to b
e of what lay behind it. Sometimes IL
= night | seemed to hear her walking ii
that room, but l could only guess
hat pleasure or pain she hid there. a!
at was long time before had the a
delicacy TO ask her direct question. II
t did it at last A man in love will In
IT tolerate such n mystery. There is ia
chance for another opera upon the y
enc Of 'Lohengrin' with the secret IN
Elsa's keeping and the fatal curiosi-
in the breast of her husband. sa
'The woman put me off with the a
en- that the matter was trivial. 1t hi