The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-04-12
Ill.

ILL
Vincent Armstrong stirred slightly az
he opened his eyes upon the May sun
shine, then gave a deep sigh.
Finally he asked in a feeble voice:
"Where am L"
"Hush," replied Frank Errington.
who sat by his bedside. "do not talk
and 1 will tell you all. You have been
very. very i'll. old fellow, and you are
in my fathers house. 1 brought you
here i in a cab one night, when-when
1 met you just outside your studio. A
lucky meeting it was, too" he added.
cheerfully, pausing to note the effect OF
his words.
Eyes. yes" whispered the other, 81 re
member. The picture! Winnie sem,
me a telegram to get me out OF the way
and then spoiled my picture. 1t was
her,
He broke off with a half sob.
"You are trebly wrong, Vincent, as
you shall hear. though exactly how ]
discovered some Of the facts will keep
till later. 1t is sufficient to say that
one Of the fellows in the next pair OF
studios to ours supplied me with
enough evidence to wiring a confession
out of the man who had stolen the key
of your studio, who sent you the tele-
gram purporting to come from Winnie,
but whose intention of injuring your
picture was happily thwarted in an ex-
traordinary manner AS a matter of
fact, your picture is one of the sue
cesses of the Academy
"You-you mystify me, old man.
But Vincent's voice was stronger, and
there was a new and eager look in his
eyes.
"Well, what happened was this:
Shortly after you had left to keep the
bogus appointment at the theatre there
was a knock at our front door, and l
was %astonished at opening it to find
myself confronted by Winifred herself
and her mother. They had come up
from Canthorpe that afternoon on a
flying visit to town: they had to get a
train back in half an hour. and their
cab was waiting outside. Winnie had
brought a picture which she had paint
ed which she wanted your opinion on
"a capital copy of a Corot. though. of
course, of small intrinsic value. Well,
we took it into the studio, and-to make
a long story short-I placed it OH the
easel to get a good view of it, removing
yours, which was much the same size,
By the way. to q corner Of the studio.
Ten minutes later Winnie and her
mother left, Winnie writing a brief
message for you on the back or her
visiting card. They had, of course, had
no intention of visiting His Majesty's,
and I thought it would make them
uneasy if I told them Of the telegram
you had received, so I merely said you
were out. Shortly afterward, leaving
Winnie's picture on the easel, l went
home, returning an hour later to await
your coming. and talk matters over.
"I've already told you how we met,
and it only remains for me to say that
while I was away from the studio
Ralph Weir. who'd watched me out,
but was really quite ignorant of Win
MES visit to London, let himself in
with your key, and damaged what he
thought was your picture. And now"
concluded Frank, twill you please ex.
cuse me a minute? I want you tossee
your nurse"
He hurried from the room. and i'm
mediately afterward there entered
Winnie.
Slowly she came forward to the bed
side, and almost before Vincent had
murmured the one word forgive" in
tender, loving tones, she spoke "her
answer."-New York News.