Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-12-17

two was an artist and both were
lovers In such an atmosphere the 1t
tie god had IL all his own way, and
while the duenna was carefully guard
ing. as she supposed. her charge from
m alliance not in accord with her So
ciaI position. Lima and her lover were
engrossed with each other.
Probably the most inventive genius
e. Cupid The adage. Love laughs ~
locksmiths,'' IS verifcation of this.
When Mr.. BENJAMIN King at New
York received a letter from his daueh.
ter in Florence suggesting that that
city was the place-the only place
where he might have picture painted
of her mother which would suit him
he did not dream that the suggestion
was q lovers trap. He straightway
packed ali the photographs and other
pictures of his wife and, boarding
steamer for Naples, in couple of
weeks was in Florence.
Then when. the day after his arrival,
his daughter took him to the Pitt gal
lery and showed him the portrait of
Nine. lie Brun he was not aware that
it was a second link in the chain which
Now, papa" said the girl, 'if we
could only have a picture Of mamma
TO look out at US as that does wouldn't
it be nice?"
Mr.. King declared that he would give
half his fortune, If not the whole of it,
for such a picture.
Would you kindly move aside a lit
tie. sir said a voice behind them.
Turning. the banker saw a young
man looking at him through Raphael
eyes, who had come in with an easel
and a canvas and had planted the one
with the other on it before the lie Brun
portrait. The artist was Winston and
on his easel was his finished copy Of
the por raft. He had been watching
for the father and daughter and soon
after their appearance had set up his
easel and pretended TO be putting I'm
ishing touches on the canvas. Mr..
King turned and saw a duplicate of
the lie Brun portrait, the copy having
the same living attributes as the orig
inal. Indeed. it would have been i'm
possible for him to tell the original
from the copy.
Within half an hour the artist was
upon which the widower had set his
heart. One thing puzzled Mr.. King
the artist would not set a price on his
work, declaring that the purchaser
might not be satisfied with It. But as
the banker could stand a pretty stiff
charge this did not trouble him. Be
sides, from the moment he saw the
specimen of the artists work no
amount of money would stand in the
way Of having the portrait executed
by one possessing such powers.
While this bargaining was going on
the girl who had brought it about was
looking at other pictures with ap-
parent Indifference. When her father
announced that Winston was to paint
a portrait OF her mother she found It
difficult to restrain her excitement.
Her father had walked into the trap.
Would the lovers be able to spring the
lid?
The artist was invited to call at the
Kings apartments that afternoon,
where the material for the portrait
was shown him.
II see" he said to Mr.. King. "a re
markable likeness between your
daughter and her mother. That life
which IS In the lie Brun portrait can
not be obtained from these photo
graphs But it is fortunate that Miss
King is the image Of her mother. for,
while I shall get the features from
these pictures. l shall endeavor TO
draw the vital spark from your daugh-
ter"
And so the preliminary features of
this conspiracy We're established. The
artist was to have the girl he loved
SIT for her mothers portrait. For
hours during successive days he would
be permitted to gaze on her beloved
features. This was but a temporary
pleasure. Winston intended to make
the effort of his life to instill the face
of living girl into the painted fea-
lures of one who was dead.
Every day Miss King visited the
studio Of the artist, accompanied either
GCop.inued on Page TcaI