The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1911-01-31
A Strange
Case
The Artist and the Pictures .
Of Mystery
By carroll II. PIERCE
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. lll.
By carroll ii. PIERCE

l am an artist. Being in poor health
my doctor ordered me abroad. and l
went to Florence. Italy.
/ rented rooms of a widow and her
daughter, of the name of Micele. They
occupied the top floor of a building on
the river Arno. l used a front room
for studio and rear room for bed
room. The mother was a middle aged
FIVE. Their ancestors had been we'll
off. but their estate had melted away.
and Sonora Micele and her daughter
got on with difficulty. Blanca the
daughter, was an artist but ar indif
ferent one.
Nevertheless there was something
remarkable about Blanca Micele She
was neither pretty nor homely The
eyes of the Italians are handsome, but
Senorina Miceles eyes were more than
handsome; they were, so to speak,
compelling. That is. when she looked
out of them at me felt a strange
force compelling me to do her bidding.
Not that there was apparent exercise
of will. She was geRtleness itself. The
power she exercised was rather per-
suasive than forceful.
Not long after | arrived In Florence
fell Ill and did not leave my bed for
weeks. Sonora Micele and her daugh-
ter both nursed me.
A portion of the time l was in either
stupor or delirium. | don't know
which. At such times l was very
weak and on coming to myself usually
felt as if had been doing exhaustive
work, though | had been in my bed
all the while, where it would not have
been possible for me to do any work
even if had been mentally capable.
My illness occurred during the win
ter. and when the spring came on and
the weather began to warm up Sonora
Micele used to put me in an easy chair
and wheel me out on to one of those
little balconies common in Florence
houses. We were on the Arno en-
bankment the Lung Arno, they call 1t
there), in sight of the green hills that
surround the city. Indeed, from my
balcony could see some six or seven
miles distant the heights on which
Fiosole, the original Florentine settle
ment, was made. During three more
months | spent much of the day on
this balcony in fancy painting pictures
of the scenes spread out before me.
One of these was the undulating plain
beyond the city's edge and the heights
of Fiosole beyond the plain. There is
a big clock tower at Fiosole which it
seemed to me would make an attrac-
tive feature in my imaginary picture,
and l spent hours working it in. An
other view dreamed of was the Arno,
directly beneath me. winding under
its arched bridges toward the south,
and other nearer and consequently
greener hills. There is something in
the atmosphere OF Italy to intensity
the color of landscape, and on such
days | delighted in the imaginative
painting could not do in reality.
| But | always noticed that such days
instead of giving me strength drew
upon what had.
| Fortunately | recovered before the
| hot weather set i'll and after convalesc-
ing in the invigorating climate of the
Swiss Alps went to Paris, where ! re-
manned some time.
Strollng one day down one of the
Partisan boulevards. / stepped into a
picture shop. The dealer, fancying to
make a customer of me, advanced and
questioned me as to what ! was look
ing for. 1t occurred to me to ask fol-
one of my own pictures, not that | ex
pected to find one. but that to ask fol-
the work of any special artist would
make 1t appear that l was not looking
at his wares with no intention of buy
ing.
Have you anything of Adrian
GilesY ] asked. eve So ~
"Giles, the Anerican?"
eyes"
Certainly. have a very remark
able piece of his work Come thi:
way"
He led me to one of his display
rooms and UP to picture that hat
evidently been hung with considera
BILE care. The subject was certainly
familiar to me. for 1t was the plain
had overlooked at Florence with the
hills and Fiosole in the distance. Ant
as | stood looking at It / recognized
not only the identical scene | had
painted in my day dreams. but my in
dividual style. Quickly bending to the
lower left hand corner. cap was pu
upon my establishment by seeing my
own name.
l caught with both hands at the raj
that extended around the room tt
guard the pictures. Here was a view
! had no remembrance of presenting
but which | must have painted. L
was some time before ] recovered SUI
ficient equanimity to further examine
the painting. but when / did so saw
at once that for the first time In my
life | had portrayed q scene exactly