The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1902-02-21
CHAPTER /.
JACK. FROM BOHEMIA.

recently shaken off the dust of the Bo-
hemian Latin quarter in Paris, de-
bouched from one of the numerous
courts branching out from the Strand,
London, and strolled Slong this great
thoroughfare.
Overton was a man of possibly
twenty-five. His form vas well built
and athletic, his countenance, while
not wholly handsome, wotthy OF deep
study-an expert at pbysiognomy
would have gloried in reading the po-
tential features so plainly marked,
and his verdict must have been that
while the young man had not yet
| awakened to the resistless and doml-
nant power that slumbered within his
grasp, the force of circumstances
would sooner or later bring it to the
fore.
For some time he had drifted along
in his studies-a faint CLEAN of sue
cess had begun to brighten the eastern
sales.--future was promise of his lat
est picture being accepted for the
Salon. when his future could be look
| ed upon as assured.
1t was at this critical juncture in
his affairs when little more resolute
work would have landed him well on
the road to success, that fortune, and
woman, brought about crisis
which threatened his bark with dis
| aster.
This accounted for the eagerness
| with which he scrutinized the inmates
| of the various vehicles moving hither
and thither along the Strand. Final
| ly his kindling gaze was glued upon
| dashing equipage, evidently headed
toward Rotten Row, and particularly
upon the beautiful woman who sat
there nonchalantly holding a lace
trimmed parasol above her dainty
head and occasionally addressing
some word to her elderly gentleman
companion, whose bronzed face and
air of distinction marked him as a
traveller or man of note in Her Ma
jesty's colonial empire.
Jack held his breath and gritted his
teeth as he looked. He loved, aye,
worshiped this radiant creature. He,
poor, unknown artist, dared to
| raise his eyes to such beautiful bird
| of fashion.
| Why not-who had a right one-half
so strong? Time was when he knew
| Fedora as a modest little English
| girl with a passionate desire to study
| art, when he had given innumerable
opportunities to stand between her
| and insult, to soften the rough places
| for her dainty feet, to assist her in
| the work she had chosen while his
| own lay neglected in his garnet studio.
| Yes, they had become such great
friends in Bohemia that it ripened
| into love, though on Jacks part he
| fairly adored the girl from the hour
they first met.
Thus vows were exchanged and for
months they drifted along in a FOOLS
paradise. Then Jack, poor fellow, in
sisted on endeavoring to open COM
| munications between Fedora and the
grim old English grandfather who
| had exiled his daughter for marrying
against his august will.
The negotiations succeeded all too
well, and one day there came dolor-
Gus scene when Jack and his betrothed
separated, she to go to her new
| English home, he to work feverishly
on the great picture that was to make
such sensation in the Salon-the
| face of Fedora, created by hand in
l,r hn Hixyin naccinn-ann
bring him the fame and fortune which
| he longed to lay at her feet
At last it was finished, all but a
few touches. He had for some time
| been on the verge of distraction.
Stray rumors that Fedora had forgot
ten him. He, faithful to death him
self, believed steadfastly in the wo-
man he loved, and Indignantly chased
all satanic doubts headlong from his
mind. Still, they crept back in spite
| of him, and when existence finally be-
came uncomfortable away from the at
| mosphere she breathed, he had
| brought his treasured canvas to Lon
| don.
Never had he suspected the full ex-
| tent of her radiant beauty and her
queenly manner until the moment his
eyes fell upon her in the vehicle that
rolled toward Rotton Row. Could
such a prize be for him?
Then came a revulsion of feeling.
| She belonged to him-she had again
| and again vowed no power on earth
but death could take her from him.
More than that, did he not owe her
his life? There had been a fire, and
Jack. overcome in his sleep by smoke,
might have persisted but that some
| girl dared death to run in and drag
him to the open air. They told him
it was Fedora, and although she had
always in her modesty, appeared con-
fused when he spoke of the subject,
yet he never doubted.
At this day Overton had not learned
what a mighty influence Moloch had
upon the average human heart, nor
the winning power Of Gold. The time
was coming when he would discover
Il thea fhfn0o fhrouUh hitter axnarionpa