The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1917-01-16
markham's
Ruse
He Learned That He Was
Not Married For
His Money.
BY ELINOR MARSH

Warner Markham, a young Amen-
can, rich. was very much afraid that.
II he married. the girl he chose would
place a much higher value on his mon
ey than on himself. He went abroad
thinking that he might meet some girl
with whom he might have a real affair
Of the heart To conceal his wealth he
travelled In second or third class rail-
way carriages, stayed at pensions
boarding houses instead Of hotels and
otherwise curtailed his expenses.
In Florence, where art Is the princi-
pal attraction, he was one morning
looking at the pictures In the Ufiizi
gallery when he came upon a young
girl copying picture by Titan. The
sun, shining in at a window, glinted a
head Of wavy hair the exact shade of
that belonging to a girl represented In
the painting she copied. OF the real
girl and the painted one Markham
greatly preferred the former. Indeed,
his heart went out to her with one Of
those sudden, unaccountable impulses
that are common in young persons.
Standing behind her, he pretended to
be examining her work, but his eyes
were fixed on her. A friend passed
her, and she spoke few words Of sal
utation In the English tongue without
the British accent. Markham judged
that she was an American, and Ameri-
cans abroad need no introduction. Our
country seems very far from them, a
distant land sunken far below the
western horizon, from which they are
cut of and from which they hear very
little. This makes them all akin.
Markham, who was a fine Judge Of
pictures, did not hesitate to express his
approval Of the way the copyist was
doing her work and call her attention
to some differences between her copy
and the original. She looked up at him,
saw admiration In his eyes and turned
hers back upon her work with a fut.
tering Of the heart that she had never
felt before. Markham told her that he
was an American, and she admitted
/ bCAL6 AAOA tuc bdAue l0uU. ALTER CDdL-
ting awhile he passed on.
She was Madeline Trevor. Having
some artistic ability and the necessity
Of making her own living, she had
used little money left her in a legacy
to study art In Florence. Her funds
had been used up, and she was now
endeavoring to keep body and soul to
gether by copying masterpieces fol
such Americans as would give her an
order. Markham made up a story
about himself to fit his being in Flor
ence. He had come abroad on a ven
ture to find pictures of great artists tc
sell to wealthy Americans at home on
commission. He had been disappoint
ed in not finding such pictures for sale
and those that were to be had were
not acceptable in the American market
He let drop hint that he was neal
the end Of his rope and had not money
enough to take him home.
He was looking at Miss Trevor wher
he said this and saw by her expression
that he had touched a sympathetic
chord. So he followed 1t up with 9
show Of resolution to conquer adversi
ty which excited admiration. Sympa
thy and admiration are two effectiv,
weapons with which to attack q WON
ans heart as Markham very wei
knew, and by the time the first inter
view ended he congratulated himself
that he had made beginning.
The next morning Markham passet
through the gallery again, and whel
he stopped to have look at Miss Ire
vor's work she received him with
smile. Again he gave her some point
as to her copy and let drop the infor
nation that he had had a very poo
breakfast There was no untruth Il
this, for no one on the European con
tinent takes anything but rolls an
coffee at breakfast, and 1t would b
impossible for him to call any COTE
to be procured there good Indeed, |
is all bad. But the girl conceived tn
idea that Markham was hungry on az
count Of his poverty, and this excite
pity. Markham added to the fact O
the poor breakfast that even II b
came TO eat sawdust he would nc
finch.
| His confidence drew forth conf1denc
from Miss Trevor, and she, too, q
times confessed to hunger. This yer
nearly spoiled Markham's game. for
was all he could do to keep from II
wiling her to dine at the best hotel 1
Florence. He restrained himself Il
the time being. but the next day joil
ed her, radiant Claiming to hay
made q commission of 100 francs ($2l
on the sale Of q picture to an Englisl
man, with true bohemian weaknes
he filled Miss Trevor with viands
expensive that they used up all h
pretended commission. For this he r
: ceived a lecture from her on his shor
sightedness and his generosity; bu
since that generosity was expended q
her, 1t only bound her closer to him.
II Markham began his lovemaking by
II "a -