The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1906-12-05

swell dances. But this SuIHmeT IL Aau
been different. Asquith said 1t was
fate. Helene thought it the most dell
cious bit OF maneuvering love had ever
managed.
The rest Of the family had gone to
Europe Helene had hesitated. Be-
tween an automobile tour Of Brittany
and the Baltic coast and quiet sum-
mer with her married cousin at Larch-
mont she had chosen LarchmOnt. As
auth was a member of the yacht club
at Larchmont Every morning from
the broad veranda at Bayview cottage
she could see him out on the rocks,
sketching before sunrise.
They were splendid rocks, huge,
gaunt and gray; they rose raggedly
| from the water at low tide, like the
bodies of some submerged sea mon
sters. One could walk to them easily,
stepping over little pools left by the
tide and stray strands of seaweed, and
one morning Helene walked to them,
slim and sweet and fresh as the dawn
| in her white dress and white low
shoes. 1t was the shoes that did 1t.
When Asquith turned at her call for
help he found her standing in one of
tine pools, and the white shoes were
ruined.
Helene glanced up at the wall. A
little water color hung near her, some
gray rocks in a rose tinted sea, with a
bit of salt marsh in the foreground.
She smiled at it happily. They had
sat I'D there together that morning, and
she had taken off her shoes and stock
ings-the precious ruined shoes and
stOckings-and that had been all.
And AsQuith had said it was fate.
She laughed again. He was such a
boy, after all She stopped to pick up
her gloves and stopped short to look
at something lying on the floor at her
feet. 1t was merely hairpin. She
picked it up and looked at it curiously.
Her own hairpins were brown tortoise
shell ones to match her hair. This one
was gold, a small, insidious gold wire
affair, very cheap and very dainty.
The laugh was gone from her lips.
In its place was a look of wonderment,
of almost fear. There had been a wO-
man in Hugh's studio, a woman with
blond hair, who wore gold wire hair
pins, who dropped gold wire hairpins
around promiscuously. And Hugh had
told her he never painted the figure.
More than that, he had told her that
no one knew of his den in the attic ex-
cept herself and a few close friends
He had no patrons, no buyers of pic
lures, because as yet he had never sold
any. All Of his relatives were in Eu-
rope too. If the hairpin did not belong
to model, whom did it belong to?
With a sudden fierce impulse, she
threw the hairpin away from her. 1t
fell with a tiny clink against the wall
After all, it was purely a personal
affair with Hugh, in which she had
no part. He had not expected her to
visit his studio. She had no right to
resent another element of femininity
which she had found there Even if
he did have models it was probably
necessary. All artists had to study
from life sooner or later. But was it
necessary that they should have hair
that matched gold hairpins?
She arose and crossed the room to
where the hairpin had fallen. For a
moment she held it in her hand irresO-
lutte. Then slowly she laid it on his
table, and beside it she left the new
solitaire ring. 1t would be enough. She
knew that he would understand. AS
she turned to the door her eyes filed
with sudden rush of binding tears,
and the door opened.
1t was not Asquith. On the landing
outside stood a girl, plump. rosy cheek
ed and red haired, holding up her
skirts in one hand and a pail of scrub
water in the other.
'Oh, l thought Mr. Asquith was
home" she said alphabetically. Il just
cleaned up his place, maam, and l
guess l lost one of my hairpins. It's a
little wire one. but need it to keep my
pug up tight
Il laid it on the table," said Helene
gently. The girl set the pail down on
the stairs and secured the hairpin, fas-
tening up her tumbling red curls with
it deftly.
THANK you, ma'am," she called as
she went downstairs, and Helene went
back to the table and slipped the ring
in its old place just as A4quith came
up the stairs.