The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1905-05-02
FOR ART,S
NAKE..
BY IZOLA MERRIFIELD
Cetyrisbt. 1904. BY Isols Meyrifeld

1t was nobody's fault but her own.
Whenever trouble came a-knocking ut
philippa's door all kind friends raised
hands Of innocence to the skies and de
fault but her own.
"He had no earthly right to raise his
hat and smile when I met him i'll the
elevator"
HE had every right in the world"
contradicted Elizabeth calmly. IF
had been in his place l should have
come right down and called on you aft
er you had acted like lovelmn lunatic,
Pippa."
1T was not Iunacy. 1t was inspira-
tion." Philippa half turned from the
| piano to argue. You weren't in the
studio at the time, Beth. and you dom t
know blessed thing about it. wasn't
even practicing l was cleaning up"
Elizabeth smiled She had seen Phi-
lippa's cleaning up process. 1t meant
the hustling of everything disorderly
| out of sight. under the divan, behind
the wardrobe. anywhere at all, so long
| us it was unseen.
"And he sang my pet duet from II
Trovatore.' Beth, it was splendid.
You poor. old heathen. you don't ap-
| preciate music bit All you can un-
derstand are a few oily, dauby daubs
| or pen and ink sketch, but if you had
| only heard him
l T lar1 n,.<1 !, Il Sv>1v
that I should have flown to the win
dow and warbled back an answer up a
| New York air shaft"
II don't care" Philippa,s tone was
lofty and her attitude belKgerent. Il
! didn't care 4 rap about him personally
ande1 hadn't the slightest idea what he
| looked like, but the voice was divine
1t was the voice of Manrico calling,
and Leonora answered it for arts
| sake"
We'll, 1.eonora had better attend to
her cleaning up and mind her own
business. Now, she hasn't any cause
for complaint at all, because Manrico
raises his hat to her in the elevator an
says 'Howdy:' III neighborly fashion.
Are you sure it was Manrico?'
| "Oh. yes. He looks it, philippa
spoke, with vague enthusiasm. And
Lafayette says that he is the new one
in the studio over ours"
We'll. you had better send Lafayette
a little printed slip to post UP In his
| elevator:
Students may sing grand opera
duets through the air shaft, but any
! promiscnous greetings in elevator will
be followed by eviction"
Il suppose the poor fellow was Sc
| amazed and delighted when he saw
how completely fulfilled his ideal OF
Leonora that he lost his presence OF
mind" philippa could be as swcetly
simply and contentedly vain as Narcis
sus among the water lilies.
Presence of mind is never lost
Elizabeth added high light daintily
to the left eye of an Italian fruit vend
er ON the canvas before her. 1T is
mislaid. As long as he didn't lose his
heart he needn't worry"
Philippa laughed and ran her fingers
|
Il think he is worrying she said.
But there were no more duets
through the air shaft If the occupant
of studio 5, on the third floor, happenet
to be practicsilg her trills and quayer;
the occupant of studio II, on the fourtl
floor, sat by his open window and lis
tened, and when a full. rich tenor float
ed down from studio II Philippa would
tiptoe to the window and listen alst
and be glad and proud in Il way, be
cause somewhere in the golden tonor
rows of hope success lay snugly and
surely tucked away for the tail, brow,
eyed boy who dared to greet Leonor:
in the elevator
He had dared only once. Lons
after even Elizabeth deigned to bow 1
comradely good day to him Philippe
passed on her own way, slim. AFRO
CANT, blond young person in gray vel
vet and squirrel furs. Elizabeth pre-
served a graceful posture oa the neu
trail fence. Warning factions were no
| in her line, but when she was SENDING
out Invitations for the monthly Dute.
picnic in studio 5 she did not think Il
amiss to send one up to studio II.
| Philippa was passing club sand
/ wiches when Bobbie Clarkson intro
duced her to the tall, brown eyed boy
She did not drop the tray. She merel,
smiled most graciously and asked i
Mr. Eliot liked club sandwiches mad,
i of celestial combination of chicken
salad. chopped almonds, olives, devilet
ham and tabasco sauce
1t appeared that AIr. Eliot did I,
/ fact, he paced after the dispenser o
celestial sandwiches all around tn,
studio in a deliberate, determined, maj
overheard fashion, most disconccrtin,
to the dispenser, until he finally cor
nered her in the japanese alcove ant
fOrcibly finished up the remainin;
sandwiches himself.
4 ".And he never even said wore
about the duet" Thilippa answered
later when she sat, like a Hindoo idol
) in pink kimono on the bed ant
! thoughtfully reviewed. the evening