The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-08-30

Of the old mans kindly smile and the
warm shake Of the hand. All that
afternoon he trod upon air.
He hardly slept that night, and the
next morning waited feverishly for
the postman. St. Clair had promised
to write him . note as soon as he had
examined the picture. OF course the
letter could not by any possibility ar
rive till afternoon. but Rennie was in
that state Of citation when the impos.
sible seems certainty.
I He paced the streets after the post.
man had gone, waiting for the next
delivery. At the news stand he picked
up his morning paper. On the front
page he read the news Of st. Glars
death. The old man had had . stroke
Of apoplexy the evening before.
Rennie let the paper fall from his
hands and tears of modification
streamed down his face. His last
hope gone! St. Clair dead, ON whom
all had depended!
II was three days before he recov.
cred sufficiently to 60 for his picture.
But, to his amazement, he was refused
admission. The butler referred him
to st. Glars lawyer. who listened to
his story with quiet smile.
You must realize, Mr.. Rennie, that
unless you can bring some proof that
the picture Is yours have you
any proof? You did not sign it, you
say?
But 1t was not finished" cried Rem.
ME.
The lawyer shrugged his shoulders.
"All Mr.. st. Glars paintings are to be
Sold" he said. you will have to take
legal action in the matter. And,
frankly. young man, no jury will be-
lieve you unless you have some evil
dence to bring forward. More than
that, you will run the risk of . prose
cution for perjury"
Rennie went out in daze. He saw
the truth of the lawyers words. There
was nothing that he could do.
A week later the auction came. Crit
les were enthusiastic over the large
lumber Of paintings that was to be
put on the market. But Of them all
none excited greater enthusiasm than
the unfinished work to which the crit
les gave the name The Wild Horses"
Rennie attended the auction. The
bidding quickly passed the average Of
nve thousand dollars, at which the
other pictures had gone. A dealer
from the West offered seven thousand.
Finally. after spirited competition
between him and Rennie's own dealer,
the picture fell to the latter for twelve
thousand.
And MacDrew had paid Rennie an
average Of fifteen dollars apiece.
Rennie went out of the auction room
and wrote q letter to one Of the pa.
pers. The newspaper refused to print
1t. 1t had no doubt that Rennie was
An impostor. and. anyway, the editor
felt that such q case should be aired
in the law courts.
Rennie waited another day. Then
he sat down and wrote q long letter to
Mariel. It was the hopeless letter of
. man who has been bowled over by
the buffets of fate. He told her the
facts of his struggle. eliminating in
the loss Of his painting, and released
her from their engagement.
But before he had risen from tho
table there came q knock at the door.
Rennie opened 1t. to find an elderly
woman, attired in black, standing be-
fore him.
II am Mrs. st. Clair" she said. "Mr.
Rennie, q terrible injustice has been
done you. and 1t would have slipped
from my mind had not our lawyer told
me about your claim. He thought you
were an impostor. but as soon ~ no
told me I remembered.
"Mr. Rennie. my husband was the
best and justest man in the world. On
the night he died-the stroke came
very suddenly. you know-he was try.
Ing to speak to me. He was paralyzed
and he could only humble, but man.
aged to make out what me was trying
to say. He said that picture in his
studio had been painted BY couldn't
catch the name. but 1t was yours-and
that. in case he died, he didn't want
1t to be sold as his, especially since
you had left no address, and he had
given you no receipt for 1t.
Il have written letter to the news.
papers, and meanwhile the money for
the painting must go to you"
Rennie did not know how he replied.
He remembered taking her hands in
his and thanking her a thousand times.
And when she left it was with TIE u..
derstanding that Rennie was TO Goa
slider her his friend-always, she said.
Hardly mad she gone before lie
postman brought a letter-from Ia
riel this time. Opening 1t. Rennie
read that she loved him, he must
never think otherwise, and she would
wait dozen more years IL necessary,
only l hope to see you, dear, al.
most as soon as You get this letter.
she said because my uncle has left
me five hundred dollars, and l am
taking the morning train to New York,
and want you to meet me at seven
o'clock In the evening at the station.
And, dearest. remember that FIVE hun.
dred dollars will go far. and what Is
mine is yours"
Rennie had never been so happy as
when he was wildly sprinting to meet
the seven O'Clock train. And he knew
in his heart that Muriel would never