The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-03-24

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strip of woodland that lay back of the
house. He was not in search of Mrs.
WitherSpoOn or upon any GRAND of
hers 1t did not comport with my hon
or to follow him, but he had directed
my attention to the grove, which was
more than large enough to afford room
for both of us.
l had come out with the intention of
going down to the lake, but the wood
upon the rising ground looked very in
viting, and So taking different course
from Jimmy's and a more leisurely
pace, 1 assembled the gentle slope.
was almost within the shadow of the
fine old trees when, turning a little to
the right, l came suddenly into view of
a white parasol with blue polka dots.
There was a girl under it, and stopped
short. Immediately Mr.. Trask jumped
up from the far side of the parasol,
sketchbook and pencil in hand, and
hailed me by name. The sunshade
dropped at that moment, and l had
glimpse of a dainty white gown adorn-
ed with blue ribbons and of a very
effective hat-so effective, indeed, that
/ nearly fell over backward at the
sight of it, for beyond possibility of
question it was the one l had a picture
of in my pocket. This was the more
certain because | saw the hat before
the lady turned her head-saw it pre-
cisely as the camera had caught it.
There was but an instant of time. yet
it was quite enough. Then | saw the
lady's face and recognized Miss Jones
of st. 10. She looked even prettier than
when | had first seen her, and the gown
she wore was certainly a miracle Of
sweet simplicity. AS she rose to greet
me l perceived that she also had been
sketching, and l had already seen the
subject" who was no other than our
landladys niece, looking quite pictur
esque in her plain gray gown and the
big sunbonnet, which seemed to be her
fayorite headgear.
"Good morning" she said, looking up
at me without moving from the pose"
Trask laughed at her in a gently teas
ing fashion as he took a step or two
toward her and put his sketch pad into
her hands.
you're a great model. Lucy Ann"
he said. I'm ashamed to have done no
better"
She looked at the sketch with an
eager, childish interest and seemed to
enjoy holding it in her hands.
| saw this out Of the corner of my
eye, my main attention being given to
Miss Jones' Positively this could not
be Sibyl; there was not the slightest
physical resemblance. Her manner
vaguely reminded me of some one
had known, but surely not SibyI, whose
habitual embarrassment in youth must
have left some trace upon her, and
Miss Jones was perfectly at ease. l
had been pursuing phantom. The
picture l had found unquestionably
represented the girl before me. She
and Sibyl must be friends, and thus
the picture had come into our house.
1t was both disappointment and
relief. My thought of it was a strange
mass of contradictions. l would have
liked to find SibyE, though l had come
to Mrs. Witherspoon's to avoid doing
so. l had given myself great uneasi-
ness for fear that Sibyl would not be
pretty, and here was the prettiest girl
that l had seen in five years, yet / was
glad she was not Sibyl.
While we talked there was a crac-
king in the underbrush and suddenly
Jimmy Lamoine burst forth in a great
hurry. 1t must have been the surprise
of his life when he saw me- A youth
of ordinary resources would have been
puzzled to account for his own pres
ence there, and think it was q notable
triumph of his peculiar genius that he
hesitated so short time for a false
hood, scarcely long enough indeed to
get his breath
Your aunt wants YOU" said he to
Lucy Ann.
The girl rose with quaint little sigh.
1t was pleasanter no doubt to sit there
under the shade of the trees and be a