The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1914-09-30
An Artist S
lnfatuatlon
By WILLIAM CHANDLER


fession of painting. One faculty he
possessed was that Of cndowing any
thing which became attractive to him
through association with beauty. Near
his home lived little girl. who be-
Il came his playmate. She WAS of II low
er social grade than Walter, but his
parents had no fear OF his falling i'll
love with her, for she was very home
L ~. and they, not knowing Of his dis
position to cndow what he liked with
i beauty. supposed that an artist would
ONLY fall in love with Il beautiful wO-
man.
i When Walter was twenty years Old
he became engaged to this girl. Martha
| Gibbs, to the astonishment OF every
one who knew him. Her hair was
fiery red. her teeth We're prominent.
and she had IL cast in her eye. But his
parents, knowing how useless 1t is to
Interfere between lovers. rcfralned
| FROM any attempt in the ease OF their
son. Besides. they knew nothing
against Martha except her LONELINESS
and her Indifferent social position. NO
one supposed that Walter considered
his beirotl.cd beautiful till he painted
her portrait and they observed that he
Looked ut it with admiring eyes. Then
everybody realized that his love for
her caused him to endow her with Il
beauty that existed only in his imasi'
nation. ~.
Great as was their surprise Mt this
discovery. 1t was nothing compared
with their establishment when they
learned that he was using Martha for
a model He painted her as shep-
her(less. as springtmc and. dressing
hcr in fashionable attire. as lady.
Then. when his pictures found no pur-
| chasers, instead of attributing his Ill
success to his choice OF a model. he
became impressed with the idea that
he had mistaken his calling. About
the time he was making up his mind
to this effect Martha Tilted him for Il
grcengrocer, whom she married secret-
ly without letting her fiance know
what she was about to 60.
| Walters misery was only eqnaled by
the JOY of his parents and his friends.
! Now that it was all over between him
and Martha one of his intimate associ-
ates made bold to express wonder
that lie, an artist. with an eye Tor the
beautiful. should have attributed bea'l-
ty to Martha.
"Ah," exclaimed the unfortunate
4 man, there Is a loss TO me as great
in my profession as is the wo,lnding or
my feelings. Surely ell hope OF my
succeeding in my profession has gone.
since shall never find another model
suitable to my needs
l Walter left the brush and the palette
for awhile for other avocations. ON
the walls of his room he hung the por-
traits Of the girl who had Tilted him,
and it seemed to his mother that the
case of her sons love had been made
worse instead of better. At last she
vent,lrcd to ask him for her sake TO
put away his past and take hold OF the
future. Walter loved his mother next
to the girl who had Tilted him. ard she
finally persuaded him to let her hang
the pictures he worshiped in an upper
room, receiving promise from him
that he would visit it but once a
month.
During the first half year after tue
removal Of his idols Walter waited i'm
patiently for the day OF his visit to
them to come round. During the sec
onl half year he was less impatient
and at the end of twelve months tod
his mother that she was right--it would
be better that he should cease to dwell
on that which was dead to him. lie
would visit his pictures no more.
Walter Mt this time made another
discovery--that II he could not make
: an artist Of himself he could succeed
at nothing. He resumed his painting
and instead OF continuing himself to one
model chose different ones. In the case
Of all of them he was uninilucnced by
love From the moment Of this sec
Olld start he met with instant success.
Every picture he painted was sold as
soon as offered to the public, ana 1t
was not long before he achieved Il rep,
utation which brought him high prices.
Walters mother made a match for
him with Il young lady of his own
class. She was not Il beauty. but II
very cstimablc woman. Notwithstand-
Ing that her husband in marrying. her
; had yielded to his mothers wishes
considering his heart broken forever
he soon came to love his wife devoted
~ After his parents death he remov-
ed with his family 80 the home they
hhad occupied and where lie had been
born One day his wife unlocked the
gallery Of his former idols and saw the
walls covered with pictures of red
headed girls all looking alike and all
rights.
walter" she cried. come up hcrc!'
Walter obeycd the summons and join
ed his wife in the gallery of pictures of
his former love.
"What are these" asked his Wife.
"They all seem to be portraits of the
same person.
Walter for the first time. looking at
the pictures lie had made using Mar
tina Gibbs for his model. saw Il row Of
hideous faces His wife saw an cx-
preston on his face of Il sort of shame
he was unable to conceal.