Evening star., 1909-04-17


Some one will know he said. and No
ought not to enjoy 1t all 10 ourselves
Then again. the problem as he calls It.
has been solved. An his pictures after
this viii be fun OF its beautifa-Aght."
The auction room was crowded. There
was to be q sale OF French rsctbres. some
BY the men Of 80 and some by the more
advanced impressonists. Many out-of-
town buyers were. present; a few Of them
dealers. Marny rubbed his hands to-
gether in. q pleased way when he looked
over the audience and thecosiection. It
was quite. possible that soraA S6nnoisseur
from waSback'' would take . fancy to
the masterpiece, confoundins 1t with
some of the pictures Of the Upside down
school-pictures looking equally well
whichever way they may be hung.
The selling began.
Corot brought $2.700: q. Daubisny
$94o: two examples OF the reigning sue
cess in Paris $1.1oo Twenty-Five pictures
had been sold.
Then the masterpiece was placed on
the easel.
"A Sunrise BY Adoiphe woolfsen Of
Dusseldorf" called out the auctioneer.
what am 1 offered?"
There came a pause. and the auctioneer
repeated the announcement.
A man sitting by the auctioneer, near
enough to see every touch of the brush
on "Old Sunshine's' picture. laughed and
nudged the man next to him. Several
others joined In.
Then came a voice from behind:
Five dollars!"
The auctioneer shrank little;
pained, surprised feeling overspread his
face. as IL some one had thrown a bit OF
orange peel at him. Then he went on:
"Flve dollars 1t is. gentlemen. Five
five--fvs!' Even he, with ell the tricks
OF the trade at his fingers ends. could
not find good word to say for "old
Sunshines" masterpiece.
Marny kept shifting his feet in his
uneasiness. His hands opened and shut:
his throat began to get dry. Then he
broke loose:
zone hundred dollars!" !, y
The auctioneer's face lighted up 81 sud-
denly as If the calcium light Of the
painter whom ''old Sunshine" fdespised
had been thrown upon 1t.
Il have your bid. Mr.. Marry (he knew
him), one Observation-Disclosures
one--one--third and last CALI a.a-n,sa
Marry thought of the gentle old face
waiting at the top of the stairs and Of
the old mans on his pillow. The auction
eer had seen the eager expression and
at once began to address an imaginary
bidder on the other side Of the room
his clerk, really.
1.-TWO hundred-two hundred-two-two
-two-"
Three hundredr shouted Marry
Again the clerk nodded:
"Four-four!'
"Five!" shouted Marry. This Mas all
the money he would get in tho morning
excepting fifty dollars-and that he owed
for his rent.
"Five-five--five-th and last call!
Sold! and to you. Mr.. Marry. Gentle
men, you seem to have been asleep. One
Of the most distinguished painters Of our
time Is the possessor Of this picture.
which only shows that 1t takes an artist
to pick out good thing" s,,-~
Marny's promise had been made with
sad heart, but there was nothing else to
do. She would realize then that she must
let him help her. 1t was better that he
told her than the auctioneer.
Both Of his hands were now held out.
his face beaming.
Wonderful success! Bought By q dis
tinguished 'connoisseur who won't let the
auctioneer give his name" -..o.. .,-.,,.
''Oh, 1 am 30 happy! That is really
better than the money. and for how
much. dear Mr. Marny?"
'Five hundred dollars!'
The faded sisters face fell.
II thought 1t would bring a great deal
more, but then Adolphe will be content.
1t was the lowest sum he mentioned
when he decided to sell It. viii you 90
with me to tell him? Please do
In the ONCE Marry stopped to talk to
the doctor, the sister going on up to the
ward where ''Old Sunshine lay.
''Win he pull through, the old pafnter!'
asked Marry. "He is friend Of mine"
The doctor tapped his forehead sig
nifioantly with his forefnger. /!
brain trouble?' asked Marny In sub
dued tone.
"Yes"
"Will he get wellT'
The doctor shook his head disconrag-
= -.f4osA hong VIII he last?'' ..S.sss.
s''.'PeriAp psa week perhaps. NOT tyvsnty.
four hours = 'e.s..fs e.gss.44 Y
The faded sister. now entered Her
face was stilI smiling-no one hsd yet
told her about her brother.
! = ft