The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-02-29
BARBARA < RI ), A
And the. Beast
BY Dorothy Blacklnere'

4A4Oc AAO 0O0Sl
By Dorothy bllCkmore
Barbara Graham was an artist, and
like most of her kind she was strug
Cling to keep the wolf from stepping
over the threshold of her studio
Practical beyond the usual run ;. Of
young woman possessed of tho artis
tic temperament, she had even gone
SO far as to make capital out Of that
same hungry wolf by painting his i'm
aginary image SO realistically that II
sold for goodly sum. IN ~
Animals were Barbara's specially.
She had been lover of the dumb
beasts ever since she was old enough
to love anything. and when she took
up her palette and brush, her fancy
seemed to run always to animals.
! For this reason, she had obtained for
the summer months an outdoor studio
converted from the small back garden
of an English basement house.. She
found it more convenient for her ami
NAL models and, in lieu of going to the
country herself, she found the outdoor
work beneficial. An old stone wall en-
closed the garden and ivy and Virginia
creepers struggled over, it here and
there. The small grass plot in the
center was edged with bright, old
fashioned flowers, and Barbara had
added a rustic urn or two to the cor
ners.
This morning she was putting the
finishing touches to a canvas over
which she had worked unusually hard
In the picture big. tri-colored mother
cat lay in an overturned basket with
her small family about her.
Barbara had discovered the feline
family In her big rustic chair one
morning when she came down to work
and she had taken it as gift from the
gods, for she was in need of a model
for a new canvas. She had waited
only long enough for the wee kittens
to get their eyes open and assume fat
and chubby proportions before begin
ming to transfer their likenesses to her
canvas. Meantime, she had made the
mother cat comfortable in a basket
and fed her half bottle of her own
precious milk each morning.
This picture, with two others, was
to be hung in small exhibit during
the approaching winter.
Barbara now had two of her pictures
ready, and, for the third, she was wor-
ried. 1t was an easy enough matter to
60 to the animal home and secure a
model from which to paint, but Bar
bara's heart was set on painting a
certain little thoroughbred dog she had
seen pass her windows every morning
for three weeks. The question was
how to get him! The dog followed his
master closely and Barbara could not
we'll accost stranger and beg to be
allowed to paint his pet dog
AS she stood putting little touches
here and there to the cluster of kittens
on her easel and realized that the
work before her was finished, she be-
came more and more obsessed with the
desire to paint that white dog for her
third picture. She placed great hope
in the criticism of the work to be hung
this winter and something told her she
could do her best work if inspired by
that strange little animal.
She became restless and, making the
kittens comfortable in the righted bas-
ket, she donned her hat and went
forth to walk off her uneasiness.
Barbara had been of the idea, ever
since she had come to the big city to
follow her profession, that if she did
exactly what was right at all times,
thought evil Of no one and harmed no
one by deed or word, she would be
given all that was her due. She had
been brought up with this idea and
the teachings of her mother chung to
her now that she was alone in the
world.
Therefore, as she walked she
thought, and gradually peaceful feel
ing took the place of the spirit of un-
rest that had possessed her for days.
After turn through a nearby park
she retraced her footsteps toward
her studio.
When she was within half a block
of the house behind which was her
work-garden, she was surprised to see
the old tri-colored mother cat ap-
preaching her. 1t was the custom of
the animal after she had put her ba-
bies to sleep, to mount the garden wall
and 60 out for air and exercise, but
Barbara was not expecting to see her
Gu the public street.
WELL Puss," Barbara was beginning,
and had stopped to pick up the animal
when, with a spit and a growl and
rapidly bushing tail, the cat made
for the narrow passageway between
the houses. white dog in full pur-
suit.
my dog!" cried Barbara aloud, and
running to peep down the narrow
passage. "Oh, If l could only keep
him. she wished aloud.
Footsteps came quickly behind her.
II beg pardon, my dog is chasing your