The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-08-25

GENTLY.
school. You know how those finishing
schools kill ones style"
"From finishing school to studio,
eh?"
"Not much You mustn't make any
mistake. She isn't exactly a spring
chicken. She'll never see thirty again.
But we call her Wilhelmina because
she likes 1t--makes her feel as If she
was one of us"
80 does art defer to appetite" muir
INJURED Remington as he lighted fresh
cigarette.
"Well, you wait She went back
home from school and took care of
both the old folks till they died, three
weeks apart Then she sold out every
thing In Indiana and set up her studio
here in New York She's brought along
a lot of the family heirlooms, mahoR
any, hand woven stun and all that,
and it's the greatest spot ever
"How about her pictures?" interrupt
ed Remington good humoredly.
"Well, say, you want to be careful
about those. She took the correspond
ence course in art after she went home,
and you know what that means. She's
an impresstonist and
Never mind narrowing details.
am prepared for the worst"
Three minutes later he was standing,
stricken dumb, in a most gracious
presence AS he looked into her clear
gray eyes, well set beneath q broad
white forehead, he remembered having
seen just one such face in his busy
life. 1t was the face of an Englfshwo-
man of title, whose peculiar gifts as a
mother had made her greatly beloved
Of men.
did any one ever tell you how much
you resemble the Countess Of VIZ he
demanded suddenly.
Wilhelmina flushed family and shook
her head.
"You are so English that you don't
seem to belong here at all?'
"Oh, but / do belong here, and I'm
every inch American. | have latch
key Of my very own-and no English
girl has that"
ed his hostess curiously. She seemed
SO utterly out Of place among her
guests, harmless, irresponsible chaps,
hanging on the ragged edge Of arts
prosperity, ungroomed girls with enor-
nous mops of hair and yellowed fin
gers which spoke Of the cigarette
habit.
Looks like a Madonna among a
bunch Of dime museum freaks. It's a
shame to spoil good house mother to
make a poor artist Cad, what taste
she had in hangings and fittings!'
For Remington was an architect and
a good one He could size up the re-
| inement and true artistic instinct as
stamped on a home, irrespective of
cost or pretense, and he knew that so
far as homemaking was concerned
| Wf1helmina Stevens was an artist.
Perhaps that was why, when he
] caught his first glimpse Of her can
vases. he almost groaned aloud.
"Those birches are wonderfully
true" he heard Dobson explain, and
he knew that the boy had picked out
the one best point in what. he felt was
a landscape gone on a Saturday nights
spree.
The pathos of her pose was to him
fairly fascinating. Often after that be
came to the studio, and always his
heart sank within him as he realized
| how absorbed and determined was this
lovable, young-old woman. She re-
| minded him Of a family friend who
would sit enraptured at grand opera
or concert and yet who could never
strike a single true note or carry
tune and who wept because singing
her babies to sleep was boon de
MED.
Remington dropped In to see Wilhel
nina oftenest when he was sure OF
finding her alone. He avoided her din
ners and teas and chatting dish sup
pers. He found Wilhelmina's society
real inspiration in his work fol
| Remington had a mission. He wished
to transplant to the suburbs of New
York the love of old English architec
ture which he had absorbed during hi:
year in the English provinces. Anc
Wnhelmina not only appreciated Eng
Iish architecture, but she seemed in
stinctively to grasp It's fundamental
principles.
Remington had not dared to tell hel
how much he had depended upon hel
working out his plans for the cottage
contest In the ladies round the veal
guest" That was why, with triumph
tightening his heels and Frightening
his eyes, he rushed into her studio one
stormy March day, the letter of su
preme Importance held aloft. Ane
Wilhelmina sprang up abruptly from
the mass Of pillows on her divan ant
tried bravely but Intellectually to hide
her tears.
Remington stopped, Joy freezing OF
his lips at sight Of her obvious grief.
"Wilhelmina, what. has happened
Tell me at once"
Daniels sent me home-told me t