The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1906-11-02
CHAPTER XIX.

Aloysius, after many false starts and
many fits of contemplative idleness.
had finished the task he had set be-
fore himself. He had never found his
own critical faculty SO hard to satisfy,
for In this one work nothing less than
perfection. so far as he could con-
ceive It. could content him. Lillian
sat among the children bending down
ward little, but with the head just
raised with a movement Of exquisite
spontaneity, as If on the instant she
had looked upward at some imagined
figure in the story she was telling. A
raised finger called for silence. The
lips were parted and were on the verge
Of smile. They seemed to speak.
The little group stood or sat round,
with rapt faces and in attitudes OF un-
studied and unconscious charm. The
central figure was an absolute portrait
Lillian, herself miniature, and the
whole composition, with no loss OF
breath, was wrought to an extraordin-
airy fineness. 1t was like Buonarottis
carved cherrystOne, which was said to
reveal the mallet hand Of thesmaster.
How much love he had put into the
work, only Aloysius knew. His soul
had passed into it, and looking on the
work Of his hands when the last ten
der touch had been bestowed on 1t he
was satisfied.
He had passed through those tre-
nendous moments which are known
only to the worker in the delicate and
risky processes of the art of aire
perdu The precious work of so many
devoted months had all been drawn
away, and the. mould left empty.
Then came the casting in the solid
gold, which was the sole medium
which would content him for his gift
to love- An in due time the destruc-
tion of the mold was followed by the
apparation of the finished work-per-
TIE finger nail.
There has been a great deal Of non
sense talked in this foolish world
about art for arts sake, and the theory
that no great work was ever done for
money. Much of the finest art work
the world can boast of has been done
under the spur of sheer necessity, and
yet with so much Of fervor and affec-
ton that the money question has been
clean forgotten, and when at last the
hard-earned need has been paid and
the achieved work carried away, it has
been like losing a dear friend to part
with it. So long the darling compan-
ion of ones days and the preoccupa'
ton of the night, and now to go, to be
done with, to be seen no more!
Aloysius felt this strongly. Lillian
and he were parted; SO far parted, as
it seemed to him, that the presenta-
ton of his gift afforded him almost
the last chance of meeting her. He
advised her by letter Of the conclu.
sion of his work, received an appoint
ment for Its delivery, and, packing his
treasure with great care, he set out
with it upon summer morning, and
arriving a few minutes in advance of
the hour arranged was left to wait in
a lonely drawing room. Here he ex-
posed the little group upon center
table and then sat down to wait Lii
ian's arrival. She came in flushed
and breathless, holding out both
hands to him In welcome.
81 was walking at the far end of the
pleasance when Mason came to tell
me you were here" she said. Il
thought had yet quarter of an hour
to wait" She drew tiny jeweled
watch from her girdle and held it to-
ward him. Except my aunt, who
does everything by clockwork, never
knew a lady who could rely upon her
own timekeeper. And the work-the
magnum opus-is it here?"
He showed it by gesture, and she
dropped before it on her knees and
drewsit toward her.
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