The herald., 1913-01-23
A.
TRANSITION
Bv ARTHUR W. PATTERSON

your"
An elderly man received much
younger one in his office. Instead OF
at once replying to the last question
the latter produced card bearing the
name "Alonzo Ericsson" then. after
being offered a chair, said:
My visit will doubtless seem strange
to you at first, but trust that | shall
be able In time to secure your concur
renee with its object You have
daughter whose life has recently been
bighted by the loss of her fance"
Il have" replied Mr.. Margrave some
what cOdly.
There are remedies for such blights.
and l come to propose one for this
case"
Mr.. Margrave looked at the stranger,
wondering at his impudence.
Marriage is the remedy l refer to,
but you are well aware that marriage
is simply the final act, it being neces-
sary to withdraw the concentration OF
! the feelings from the one who is lost
and unite them on living object"
THAT in my daughters case would
| be impossible"
But deSirable?'
! Certainly. | do not wish her to pass
| lifetime in mourning"
IL am an artist by profession, though.
| being cursed with fortune in my own
right of 100000. | do not expect to
make any great success"
"Well, sir. will you kindly inform
me what your profession or your for
| tune is to me-"
| 81 will as | proceed One evening
several years ago saw your daughter
at ball. The moment looked at her
| knew that saw the woman | want
| ed for a life partner. | made inquiries
about her and was told that she was
| engaged to n gentleman also present at
| the ball. The troubles that invariably
accompany love were upon me. My
first act was 10 seek the man who had
been so fortunate, and | was surprised
to see a slight resemblance to myself"
you are something like him, now
you speak of it"
1T is this slight resemblance which
is the key-prOvided | win your con
currence-to the situation"
Mr.. Margrave had by this time be-
| come interested.
IL will give you references as to my
social position and as man among
men. AS TO my fortune. | refer you to
my lawyers. Peters & Waters. IL aft
er examination you are satisfied to
give me an opportunity to win your
daughter that is all ask"
by what process do you propose to
make the attack upon her heart? But.
no; will make the inquiries. Then
it will be time to explain your plan,
or rather to crafty my curiosity,
which admit has been excited"
Mr.. Ericsson bowed himself out and
in a fortnight received q note from
Mr. Margraye stating that the reports
he had received had been eminently
satisfactory and If he could resurrect
a buried heart he was at liberty-in-
deed. welcome-to do so. In reply the
applicant merely asked for a photo
graph of the man whose place he
hoped to take.
One afternoon when Mr.. Margrave
went home from business he carried
with him a present for his daughter.
1t was a portrait in oils of her lost
lover. She was delighted with 1t and
pronounced 1t a speaking likeness. A
month from that day while looking at
1t she discovered something about II
that was slightly unlike the original,
or, rather, 1t was like another picture
of the original. Another month went
by, and still another difference was
noticeable. These changes kept Oc-
curing from time to time. She began
to wonder IL her memory Of her lover
was slipping away from her, II the
picture was really defective, though
she had not at first recognized its de-
fects She mentioned the matter to
her father. who looked at her curious
ly, thoughtfully, and suggested that IL
the portrait was destroying her remem-
brance Of the dead and substituting a
painted image perhaps she would bet
ter Danish 1t. But to this she returned
a decided negative, declaring that she
was growing to love the portrait more
and more every day.
A year after young Ericsson had call
ed on Mr.. Margrave he dropped into
the latter's office one morning with
an oil painting.
THE successive portraits forming a
slow transition between another and
myself is ended in this picture, which
, | painted from my reflection in a mir
TOR. You have been very fortunate In
removing the pictures and substituting
, others without your daughters discov-
ering what you have done. Hang this
portrait in the place Of the last; then
, introduce me-"
When one evening Mr.. Margrave
brought home with him a friend to din
ner Ethel Margrave, on being intro
duced to him. caught at the back Of a
chair for support 1t seemed to her
: that her lover had arisen from the
dead and stood before her. Later
: when she mentioned the resemblance
Of Mr.. Ericsson to the man she had
lost, some admitted that there was q
q similarity, others could see none al
4 all. Nevertheless, her mourning was
D soon thrown off, Ericsson was a fire.
quent caller at the house and within
9 few months after his Introduction she