The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1914-12-07
HIS MASTERPIECE
BY W. z. PRlckETT.

Copyright by Daily Story Pub. co.,
In old Paris, in the heart Of the
crumbling, begrimed Quarter Latin
lived Louis Diable, artist He was
tall and very slender, with narrow
shoulders. sunken chest, long arms
and legs. His sallow face. with its
complement Of beady eyes and sharp
features Offset by black mustache
and goatee. marked . striking resem'
blance to the being whose name he
bore.
Because Of an extremely limited
wardrobe. Diable wore upon al occa'
sions broadcloth suit Of ancient pat
torn which, though dilapidated. III
dtting and faded. was In keeping with
tho other articles Of apparel he A.
fected.
Louis worked only when the crav-
ing Of tho inner man demanded sus-
tenance, and during his leisure hours
he freQuented the cafes Of the Quar-
tor or the studios Of his bohemian
acQuaintances.
The productions Of his brush were
weird and fantastic. Some said no
copied Dore; others claimed that such
productions could only be conceived
by the devil himself.
"The face, the name-mon dieu; he
is the devil himself"
The appellation had chung to him
through life and had ranked his
brain till he dreamed devils and was
haunted, during wakeful moments in
the silent hours of the night, by grim
specters that rose out Of dark corners
, in his room.
Perhaps absinthe. to which he was
rapidly enslaving himself, could &C.
count for the mad fantasies Of his i'm
agination; howbeit, this torture OF
mind and soul increased with the
quantity of NORWOOD he consumed.
The chaff of his associates became In
tolerable, SO he began to seek unfre-
quented cafes and deserted streets
that he might encounter no one who
knew him or his peculiar cognomen.
At length Diable resolved to por-
tray upon canvas a being so gro
tesQue, horrible and inhuman that 1t
would indeed be the devil of all dev-
lis. It should be his masterpiece!
Paris would ring with his name! His
acuuaintances would taunt him no
more: indeed, with fame and fortune
in his grasp he would forsake the
Quarter and its distasteful associa'
tons, and remove to q more preten'
tious domicile, there to live in ease,
happiness and luxury. He would blot
the past forever from his memory
Inspired by these ambitions he set to
work.
Never had he toiled so assiduously
He scarcely took the requisite time
for eating and sleeping. He admitted
no one to his studio; was deserted by
the few friends who remained loya
y to him. and was therefore isolated
from the world about him with the
picture which slowly crept from his
brain to the canvas.
The color seemed to exc from hif
soul through fingers and brush, every
touch OF which was an atom Of life te
the painting that was converting the
coarse, white surface into q colossa
monster. rising from the depths o.
An inferno OF fire and torture. Sew
eral weeks Of unceasing application
! brought his work near completion
and the afternoon Of June 2. 1873
found Louis Diable putting the finish
ing touches on his great master
piece"
The figure that lowered above hin
was an uncanny, composite blending
Of man and the supernatural, though
the long, hairy limbs suggested
gorilla and the body a monstrou
toad. The leering eyes possessed ,
snake-like fascination. The moldinl
and treatment of the figure we're per
I feet, and the flesh fairly seemed Il
5 culver in the flames that were lickinl
its surface.
He was now working on the crea
. lures face. He had painted out ant
repainted II . dozen times, for eacl
/. time It strangely resembled his own
) though in which particular feature b
& was unable to determine. It bothered
! him.
He paused . moment and, steppinl
} back q few PAGES, studied the face at
tentively through half-closed eyes
fitting his head frst to one side ant
], then to the other. Was his imagina
|, ton trucking him? No: the resem
blance was undisputably there. Blu
where. His countenance lighted witt
a revelation. II was the mouth! Liz
a spider pouncing upon an enmeshe'
victim, he seized q brush and petu
4 lantly dashed a wide daub of crimson