Troy weekly news. (Troy, Idaho) 1897-1933, 1907-10-04

eecVhu niBht tnere was no landing.
The top step ended abruptly at a door,
and the ceiling sloped in an angle to
meet the top of the door. She lifted
the old fashioned latch and looked in.
her heart beating faster. The studio
was empty.
For an instant she hesItated. She
had never been in his studio. 1t SEEM
ed like an intrusion into some intimate.
personal part of his life in which she,
with all his love for her, had no share.
But because of that very privacy she
wanted to intrude. She wanted to see
how he lived, here in his own little den
where he did his work. the work that |
was to win him fame and fortune be- |
fore the world, the den where he
dreamed his dreams of the future In |
which she had so great share
She pushed the door farther open,
lifted her soft light skirt of silk higher |
from the dusty stair and went into the
studio closing the door after her.
1t was half ceiled attic, the nearest
approach to Partisan ateler that AS
quith could find in New York. There
was a skylight in the high peaked roof,
and wide, heavy cross beams visible to
the naked eye marked the caves line.
There was no burlap on the walls, no
Turkish rugs on the floor no Dutch
shelves nor stems, not even taboret
or samOvar. 1t was simply work
shop. A huge black walnut easel stood
crosswise, facing the north light. Be
L.. H..
a low table Uttered with brushes, paint
tubes and half mixed coEors. A dngy.
well daubed blouse lay over the back
Of the chair and a pipe half smoked
rested on the easel ledge. Helene saw
| 1t all at one glance and laughed joyous
! ly, TREMENDOUSLY. She bad never felt her
self SO near to him as now What Il
boy he was, after all, and how funny
he must look in that old blouse. She
sat down q the rush bottomed chair
and leaned her head back against the
sleeve of the blouse.
The walls We're bare except for half
finished charcoal and pen and ink stud
les. with here and there water color.
The black and white studies were
bore the same struggling signature,
Hugh Asquith.
That was all. Not single Venus, not
q cast of anything in sight Asquith
was strictly a landscape artist and did
not paint the figure. Vaguely she had
been pleased that he did not. OF course
II one were devoted to art and must
int 1.A
models, and models must necessarily
be beautiful. and
Right there Helene's logic ended, but
1t was sufficient She was glad that
Asquith was landscape artist and did
not require any model save old Mother
Nature.
She drew Off her long mousquetaire
gloves with a sigh of content. On the
thlrd fngerIof her left hand sparkled
a diamond. 1t had been there over q
month now. With a sudden impulse as
the gloves slipped to the floor she press
Ell the ring against her lips. 1t stood
for so much-more than mere engage
. uent. They had known each other .
= long time, two seasons, and she had
met him every winter at dinners and
swell dances. But this summer 1t had
. been different. Asquith said it was
g fate. Helene thought it the most deli
: cious bit of maneuvering love had ever
e managed.
The rest of the family had gone tc
, Europe. Helene had hesltated 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
n auth was a member Of the yacht clut
at Larchmont. Every morning from
y the broad veranda at Bayview cottage
}. she could see him out on the rocks
q sketching before sunrise.
They were splendid rocks, huge
gaunt and gray; they rose raggedl!
from the water at low tide, Ike tn
"A bodies of some submerged sea mon
L STEERS One could walk to them easily
# stepping over little pools left by tn
tide and stray strands of seaweed, AM
one morning Helene walked TO thenl
slim and sweet and fresh as the dawl
in her white dress and white low
shoes. 1t was the shoes that did II
When Asqulth turned at her call 10
help he found her standing In one
the pools, and the white shoes wer
ruined.
Helene glanced up at the wall.
little water color hung near her, som
gray rocks In a rose tinted sea, Win
bit of salt marsh in the foreground
She smiled at it happily. They ma
sat I'D there together that morning, an
she had taken off her shoes and stool
,ncs-the precious ruined shoes an
stockings-and that had been all.