The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1914-05-22
CHAPTER ~.
Captive or Runaway.

Captive or Runaway.
At the age of twenty-six Donald Alb
Oott had become prosperous and dis
tinguished painter in water colors,
His work was individual, and at the
same time 1t was delicate and charm
ing. One saw his Italian landscapes
az through filmy gauze; the almond
blossoms of Sicily, the rose-laden walls
Of Florence, the vineyards of Chianti,
the poppy-glowing Campagna out of
Home. His Italian lakes had brought
him fame. He knew very little of the
grind and hunger that attended the
careers of his whilom associates. His
father had left him some valuable pat
ents--wash-tubs, carpet-cleaners and
other labor-saying devices-and the
royalties from these were quite suf-
ficfent to keep him pleasantly housed.
His earnings (not inconsiderable,
for tourists found much to admire in
both the pictures and the ARTIST he
spent In gratifying HIS mild extrava-
gances. So there were no lines in his
handsome, boyish, beardless face; and
his eyes were unusually clear and
happy. Perhaps once or twice. since
his majority, he had returned to Amer
lea to prove that he was not an ex-
patriate. though certainly he was one,
the only tie existing between him and
his native land being the bankers who
regularly honoreG his drafts And who,
shall condemn him for preferring Italy
to the desolate center Of New York
state, where good servants and good
weather are as rare as are fiawless
emeralds2
Half after three, on Wednesday aft
ernoon. Abbott stared modify at the
weather-tarnished group by Dalou in
the Luxembourg gardens-the Tri-
umph Of Silenus. His gaze was de-
ceptive. for the rollicking old bibulous
scoundrel had not stirred his critical
sense nor impressed the delicate films
OF thought. He was looking through
the bronze. into the far-away things.
He had arrived early that morning, all
the way from Como, to find thunder.
bolt driven in at his feet. Across his
knees fiuttered an open newspaper
the Paris edition of the New York
Herald. All that kept 1t from blowing
away was the tense If sprawling fin
gers OF his right hand; his left hung
Imply at HIS side.
1t was not possible. Such things did
not happen these unromantic days to
musical celebrities. She had written
that on Monday night she would sing
in La Boheme and on Wednesday,
Faust. She had since vanished. van
lished as completely as though she had
taken wings and flown away. 1t was
unreal. She had left the apartment
in the Avenue de Wagram on Satur-
day afternoon, and nothing had been
seen or heard Of her since. At the
last moment they had had to find a
substitute for her part In the Puccini
opera. The maid testified that her
mistress had gone on an errand of
mercy. She had not mentioned where,
but she had said that she would return
in time to dress for dinner, which
proved conclusively that something
out of the ordinary had befallen her.
The automobile that had carried her
away had not been her own, and the
chauffeur was unknown. None of the
directors at the opera had been noti-
ded Of any change In the singers
plans. She had disappeared. and they
were deeply concerned. Singers were
erratic. full of sudden indis-
positions. unaccountable whims; but
the SIgnorina da Toscana was one In
a thousand. She never broke an en-
gagement. II she was Ill she said so
at once; she never left them in doubt
until the last moment. Indecision was
not one OF her characteristics. She
was as reliable as the sun. II the d.