The Winslow mail., 1918-01-04
A HEART STORY.
BY WILLARD cHALLONg@.

"Why do you minimize really pFetel2r
tious streak Of fortune?
Because I agreed to give You &B
even half of whatever The Masquera
ders' sold fcr.'
1--WE will waive that in this igP
stance" Thrall asserted. "Tve got faith
in you in your ability and in your Anal
fame and fortune therefore l insist
on financing you, to an extent, and
making up for it when I am selling
your pictures at thousands instead of
hundreds. SO I decline to take my
commission, provided you follow my
directions explicitly as to the invest
ment of the money"
"And that is?" submitted Warren.
"Take a vacation"
Warren Deane had been home boy,
living a quiet life with his widowed
mother until she died. Alone in the
world, he followed the bent of his
mind in the direction of art and liter.
ature.
The sale Of "The Masqueraders" was
his first streak of luck. He followed
the advice Of the only friend he had
found in the great wilderness Of the
city, the picture broker, and two days
later was established in quiet village
boarding house at Virden, and roam
ing the hills with easel and color b01s
seeking subjects and studies.
One morning he was slzetching out
in crayon dell outline upon the cam
vas, when little miss of about five
passed along woodland path fringing
the deep gully beyond. A great bushy
dog frisked about her. Her charming
face, her graceful bow attracted him
and irresistibly his eyes followed her.
Suddenly, appalled,, he sprang to his
feet from the camp stool. In switching
about her, the dog brushed too close
to the child-she toppled, and went out
of sight over the edge of the cliff.
Shocked, half-stunned, shuddering
Warren ran to the ledge. A great sigh
of hope rent his lips as, five feet down.
he saw the child wedged against q
slanting rock and crying with fright
and clinging to frail bush. Beneath
yawned an abyss.
"Don't move! Don't let go!" cried
Warren. He was trembling all over
as he let himself over the ledge. lie
uttered a gasp of joy as his feet were
anchored. Slowly lifting the child, he
pushed her beyond the ledge, climbed
up himself, and fell upon a log, breath
less and exhausted.
Warren soothed her and carried her
to where his easel stood, and placed
her on the camp stool.
"Now you must rest, and then go
right home, and don't ever get so near
the ravine again." he said.
"And I'll tell Maudie how good you
are, and she'll just love YOU" prattled
the innocent. "And-oh, my I'll get
some more doughnuts and bring them
here, and it will be my picnic, and you
are invited. Won't that be grandY
Warren resumed his work. Sure
enough, at the end Of two hours the
little one reappeared. She carried a
paper bag which she placed carefully
on the stool.
II told sister Maudie, and she said
/ must thank you, and bring you home
with me, for her to thank you"
And then little Winnie questioned
him about the easel, and his being
there, and what was an artist man.
He caught her pose with true artists
eye as, on tip-toe, she held one of the
doughnuts above her head, the dog
standing on his hind feet and reaching
for it.
'Dont move-keep that way" or
dered Warren in a fever of enthusiasm,
while he sketched the presentation
rapidly. "Tll make a canvas of it.
That will do.''
Warren tried to evade going home
she was persistent. When he came to
meet Maude Springer, whom he never
afterwards forgot, she was all that
was lovely, dainty and gentle.
One day at the village he learned
that Maude Springer, although she
lived humbly was heiress to one Of the
largest estates in the district. The
same day he packed up his kit dis
consolately. He would never tell his
love!
Il will not even tell her good-by-
it is better to go now, before [ suffer
more deeply" he mused. I wonder,
though, what she would think if ]
told her that 1 loved her, and asked
her to become the wife Of poor but
devoted suitor, and"
All of this was what Warren Deane
wrote as a story in the woodland dell
that sunny, last afternoon in para
disc. 1t was his true heart story. He
left the sheets across the camp stool,
as he proceeded some distance away to
take down and pack up a hammock he
had strung between two trees in q
shady nook
He came back to get his other traps
together, little knowing that during
his. nhSnnnn Anudn chi or1,. ~. Il