The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1918-01-29
"THEN, YOU'RE AN ARTIST"


I nudged him to stop talking. I
light footstep in the hall above us.
AS we reached the top of the stairs
the girl Of whom we were talking met
us. acknowledged to myself that
she was even more beautiful than she
had appeared on the train. She was
gowned in a white linen skirt and
white mildly" with white tennis
shoes and white stockings. Her dress
was most unsuitable for the winter
day, although the house was warm,
but with another fash Of remembrance
Of my own past privations, I realized
the reason for her attire. This cos
tune could be tubbed and ironed II it
became soiled. 1t would stand a good
deal of wear. Her other clothing must
be kept in good condition for the times
when she must go outside OF her home.
But II she had known Of Dicky's
mission and gowned herself according
ly she could not have succeeded better
in satisfying his artistic eye. He
stared at her open-mouthed as she
spoke a conventional word of greeting
and showed us into a bedroom hung
with chintzes and bright with the
| winter sunshine.
She was as calm. as unconsciously
! regal az she had been in the train.
! There was no trace Of tears on her
| face, such as I had seen On her sis
ter's. Evidently she was able to con-
| troll her grief, whatever it was.
! knew, however, that she was not as
! Indifferent to Dicky's open admiration
as she appeared. The slightest height
| entng OF the color in her cheek,
quickly-veiled flash of her eyes in his
direction-these things l noticed in the
| short tine she was in the room with
| us. Was Dickv too absorbed in his
| plan or his drawings to see what l
| had seen? His words appeared to in
dictate that he was.
"Gee." He drew long breath as
We heard Miss Draper--the name
had heard the bus driver give her
going down the stairs. "if I get 6.
| chance to talk to her today I'm going
to make her promise to save that rig
to pose in. She's the exact image Of
what I want. And graceful. Grace
by name and grace by nature The
cid saw certainly holds good in her
case
did not answer him. AS laid
aside my furs and removed my hat and
coat I felt a distinct sinking of the
heart. I knew it was foolish, but the
presence of this girl in whom Dicky
displayed such interest took all the
pleasure out Of the days outing.
This Is what l call eating" said
Dicky He helped himself to a second
! portion of the steaming chicken pie
which Mrs. German had placed before
us. The oysters and the delicious
broiled fish which had formed the
first two courses of our dinner at the
quaint Shakespeare House" had been
removed by her sister few nom ents
before.
Dicky had not been so absorbed in
his meal, however, as to miss any
graceful movement of Miss Diapers.
The admiring glances which he gave
her as she served us with quick, def
motions were not lost upon me.
knew that she was not oblivious of
them either, although her manner was
perfect in its calm, Indifferent manner.
I could not enjoy Mrs. Germans ex-
cellent cooking. / wished, oh, so heart
lily. that the meal would come to an
end. From the moment Dicky had
set eyes on this girl in the railroad
station five hours before, when we
"SAS OOe Jul llttlS u ~ ~ tiC
country, the days outing had been
spoiled for me by his evident attrac-
ton toward her. He had said that his
sudden interest in her was only that of
an artist for a woman Of unusual
beauty, whom he hoped to engage as
model. But although l tried to con-
sole myself with that viewpoint, yet
the little hooking devil which has al
ways been at my elbow, kept whisper
ing another Interpretation:
That's a very convenient way for
Dicky to disguise his interest in this
woman, to say he admires her only as
a possible model"
My face must have reflected nv
thoughts, for Dicky leaned across the
beautifully carved old table upon
which our meal was served and said
in low tone:
"For Heavens sake, Madge, cheer
up. You're about as companionable
as one Of those oysters out there In
the kitchen. What's the matter, any.
way"
There's nothing at all the matter"
I returned as quietly as 1 could.
Are you tired? Want to GO back
RI The cifv after dinnoroo