The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1907-07-26


nature to love girl like you and
then forget her so lightly. What
was his name? Perhaps l have met
him. We foreigners in the studios
generally know something of each
other, and have been in Paris near
ly eight years."
Ellis name was Vayne-Chris-
TOPPER wayne" answered Evelyn.
They had reached the entrance
doors of The Salon as she spoke, and
the latter, as they swung to behind
them seemed to take up and prolong
the rhythm of the name.
''You know him?" questioned
Evelyn, breathlessly, as she saw
startled change of expression cross
her companions face.
81 have heard of him." answered
Nancy, recovering herself; "but 1
will tell you later, when-when we
have seen The Lady in Green and
Gold.'''
She led the way straight to the
end of the gallery as she spoke, and
though 'inwardly surging with emo
tions that Evelyn had fondly
imagined were laid aside long ago
with an old green gown, she was
forced to follow her friend through
the crowded room in silence
Nancy's look of startled surprise,
however, had done it's work, and in
the few PAGES that it took to meas
ure the length of the gallery memory
rolled back the dead years from the
sepulchre of the past, and Evelyn
saw herself a schoolgirl again at
Miss jays academy, and Christopher
Wayne, boy with paint box, who
taught the local rustics to see their
fields and barns through magic
glasses.
Even the stray punches of forget
me-nots that Nancy had remembered
foolish language of the schoolgirl
heart as they seemed in these later
days-were very precious in this
hour, with their resurrected visions
of things and imaginings that, alas!
the mills of time and happening had
bruised so badly.
Foolish, foolish days! They yet
came back to Evelyn now in the
crowded rooms of The Salon like
the scent of clover on ~ summer
wind.
Even Miss Jays academy and all
the schoolgirl sentiment for which it
stood crossed her vision again, and
then passed away, and in its place
Evelyn saw the schoolgirl, now a
woman. with all the sentiment trans
muted into the fine gold of love, and
the boy man of passion and burn
ing ideals, while the forget-me-nots
took other forms which neither poet
nor painter nor forget-me-not have
ever yet made their own.
But, even as they reached the end
of the gallery, these, too, passed
away in their turn, and of all that
had gone before nothing remained
but girl in a green gown, looking
through an English hedge, down the
road man had once gone, on his
way to Paris.
This is it," said Nancy, suddenly,
as they stopped in front of a large
painting before which little crowd
had silently gathered.
Evelyn looked up as her friend
spoke, and for the moment was con-
scious of nothing but shimmering
mass of green and gold; then slowly
girls eyes met her own, eyes almost
lost in the strong shadow in which
the face was painted, but whose
| spirit seemed to reach out to the
| other girls troubled consciousness
with a suggestion OF infinite calm.
All the subdued noise and chatter
seemed to have left this end of the
spirit of serenity and tenderness
which the painter ha- embodied in
| his ideal seemed to have communi-
Gated itself to the frivolous Parisians
who stood there rapt and silent in
front of his masterpiece.
And yet. like all the great things
of art and life, the picture was
| simple.
Just girl in green gown, part
ing tangle of green boughs as if
| to send yet one more lingering glance
to some one who was going away, and
fer symbolism might lave served as
flash of his youth 20 a man when
he is tired and gray.
The luminous landscape in the
background rendered the figure at
a first glance little more than sil~
houette, and the cool foreground was
barely relieved here and there by
a fash of sunlight that played
through the green leaves like the
CLEAN of fairy's wing.
One cleaning touch of light
caught the geld of the hair. and a
few high lisAts defined the outline;
otherwise the figure as it stood there.
with its back to the dazzling sunlight
and it's face looking straight out of
the picture, was wrapped in shadow.
And out of the shadow, in turn.
smiled TIL, wonderful eyes-eyes