The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1906-11-09
A Woman and a Dream.
BY ZACHARY WHITLEY.


studio and leaned back in his Nor
us chair He had just arisen from
the stool in front of the easel, with
its half-finished picture, and was
rolling cigarette. To his wander
ing mind came the vision of never
to-be-forgotten day in an old apple
orchard, heavy with the fragrance
of the apple blossoms and pregnant
with the atmosphere of hcart-thrills
and tenderness and loyalty-And in
and round and above and beneath
it all the virgin presence of a young
and fresh and dainty-ycs, and al
luring girl.
And then he groaned aloud.
This dream, this possibility, this
heaven, had he sold for this-and
he waved his hand inyoluntarily IN
comprehensive gesture, taking IN
all the elegant surroundings.
"And they wonder why | do not
make good on my youthful prom
ises," he said, bitterly. "Take away
love; take away ideality; take away
hope; take away ambition-and
then command me 10 paint and
achieve fame. God, it's all my
fault, all my weakness, but | cam
not, | cannot. | can paint Alice
under the apple trees, with her arms
full of blossoms and her brown
eyes sparkling with love-and |
might make something of it. But
/ can no more make an ideallstic
picture Of that paryenue wife of
the latest success on the stock ex-
change than | can go down to the
stock exchange with the three dol
lars in my pocket and make the
same fortune he has.
ooh, merciful heaven. give me
again youth and freshness-and
Alice, and | will use the powers
you have given me to my best
As he sat, lazily inhaling the
cigarette and absorbed in his
thoughts a woman had entered the
studio A marvellous woman she,
in her ripe beauty and sensuousness
and her broad forehead and her
delicate nose and her artistic hands
and her full red lips and her 1.-the
body-covered but accumulated by
The clinging garments which only
women of her type know how to
dcvise-and which only women of
her type know how to wear.
Oscar" she said, softly, perceiv-
ing that he had not noticed her
presence.
He turned startled eyes upon her.
She laughed merrily.
SFYou must have been dreaming"
she said, with smile like the rays
Of the MONDAY sun. Il knocked
three times, and then | dared to
come in.
pardon me-" he said; Il have
been painting all the afternoon and
1 am desperately tired. Really, |
did not know where | was
"Come," she replied, gayly,
"shake off your dreams. This is not
such bad place to awaken in-un-
less | am an unpleasant person to
awaken YOU" And she smiled on
him radiantly.
He arose quickly and took both
her hands in his.
"Alicia," he said, with some earn
cstness, "you shame me IN more
WAYS than one. | owe much-all-
10 You; but you must understand
that in our work we cannot deliver
work and ideas like coal HEAVIER can
empty a cart. am tired-oh, so
tired-of these internal portraits Of
np-account people who want them
selves idealized on canvas. For
the love of heaven, why don't they
hire sign painter:
"Come, come, YOU are morbid,
she exclaimed, with pretty little
gesture which disturbed the laces
about her throat just enough to dis
close the lines of her magnificent
bust. Listen, Oscar. ! have Sc
cured an order from Pelham-the
great Pelham who holds the finances
of two continents in his hands
and you are to paint his portrait.
The price has never been suggested.