The pioneer express., 1912-11-22
4&X
HORACE
HAZEL,TINE
CHAPTER ..
The vani.hlno Portrait.

The Vanishing Portrait.
Evelyn Grayson. meeting me on the
old Boston Post Road. between Green
wich and Stamford, gave me mes
sage from her uncle. That is the
logical beginning Of this story; though
/. TO make everything quite clear from
the start it may be better to bark
back few months. to the day on
which Evelyn Grayson and I first met.
Then. as now, we were each driving
our own car; she. great sixty horse
power machine. all glistening pale yel-
low, and I, compact six-cylinder
racer, Of dull dusty gray. But we were
not on any such broad, roomy thor
oughfare as the Boston Post Road. On
the contrary we were short-cutting
through a narrow, rough lane, beset
by stone walls and interrupted at in
tervals by series of sharp and
treacherous angles.
/ know shall never forget the mo-
mentary impression l received. Out
OF the golden sunlight, it seemed to
me. there had emerged suddenly a
tableau of Queen Titania on topaz
throne-the fairest Queen Titania i'm
agitation ever conjured-and I, in my
mad, painting speed was about to
crash into the gauzy fabric of that
dream creation and rend it with
brutal, torturing onrush of relentless,
hard-driven nickel Steel take no
credit to myself for what did. Voli-
tion was absent. My hands acted on
an impulse above and beyond all tardy
mental guidance. For just flashing
instant the gray nose of my car rose
before me, as in strenuous assault 1t
mounted half way to the coping of
the roadside wall. felt my seat dart
away from beneath me, was conscious
OF my body in swift. unsupported
aerial flight, and then-but it is idle
TO attempt to set down the conglom-
crate sensations of that small fraction
OF a second. When I regained con.
sciousness, Queen Titania was kneel-
Ing In the dust Of the lane beside me
"a very distressed and anxious Queen
Titania, with wide, startled eyes, and
quiveringly sympathetic lips-and
about us were half dozen or more
of the vicinal country folk.
Between that meeting in mid-May
and this meeting on the old Boston
Post Road in mid-September, there
had been others. of course; for Queen
Titania. whose everyday name, as l
have said, was Evelyn Grayson, was
the niece and ward of my nearest
neighbor, Mr.. Robert Cameron. a gen
tleman recently come to reside on
what for a century and more had been
known as the old Townsbury Estate.
extending for quite a mile along the
Connecticut shore of Long Island
Sound in the neighborhood of Green.
Wich.
The intervening four months had
witnessed the gradual growth of as
near an approach to intimacy between
Cameron and myself as was possible
considering the manner Of man that
Cameron was. BY which statement I
mean to imply naught to my neigh
bor's discredit. He was in all respects
admirable-a gentleman of education
and culture, widely travelled, of exalt.
ed ideals and noble principles to which
he gave rigid adherence. Butt was
about to qualify this by describing
him as reserved and taciturn. fear.
though. to give wrong impression.
He was scarcely that. There were
moments, however, when he was unre.
sponsive. and he was never demonstra.
tive. He had more poise than any
man l know. He allowed you to see
just so much Of him, and no more. At
times he was almost stubbornly reti.
cent. And yet, In spite Of these quail
tiles. which appeared to be cultivated
rather than inherent. he gave repeated
evidence Of nature at once so sim.
pie and kindly and sympathetic a to
command both confidence and affec.
tion.-
To the progress Of my intimacy
with Evelyn there had been no such
temperamental impediment. She was
fearlessly outspoken. with a frankness
born Of unspoiled innocence; barely
six weeks having elapsed between her
graduation from the tiny French con.
vent Of Sainte Barbe near Paris and
our perilous encounter In that con-
tracted. treacherous. yet blessed little
Connecticut lane. And she, possessed.
moreover. multiplicity Of addition.
al charms. both Of person and dispo.
sition-charms too numerous indeed
to enumerate, and far too sacred to
discuss. From which It may rightly
be Inferred that we understood each
other. Evelyn and I. and that we were
already considerably beyond the state
4 or condition Of more formal acquaipt,
anceship. w
Il was no Queen Titania who now
came gliding to . stand beside me on
the broad. level. well-oiled highway,
under = double row Of arching elms. Il
was no gossamsr fairy. but Hebe. the
0oddess of Youth with creamy skin
spd q Ersds Y li1s \ Y Sand : Hitting Melody Of
what 2 4 y. slr PhiliD, W. ~ vsll =
{ rpet IS; sl ia a.
Md the shs tod - thst yrIne,S
hobart Ind tsiepb 6oinS6 fcsfi' rss. ~ ~
I; ing measage with nv man. biddins
B ne come to him a4 = = aiest leia,re