Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-01-17
The Daily
Short Story
HIDDEN TREASURE.
By T. B. Anderson.

bid up. gentlemen" rang out
tue strident tones OF the auctioneer.
What am I offered for this re-
narkable work of art? 1t suggests
| a theme of moonlight on the water.
| AT all events there's a moon and a
! brook, and
Fifty cents!" pronounced a cas-
dal voice, and idlers about the room
facetiously commented on the franz
cd daub presented
Zone dollar" nodded Ray Martin.
| He had strolled into the place out
Oh curiosity. A sign at the door
had advertised the sale of an art
collection gathered up at large cost
| from famous atellers." Some fair
pictures had brought quite preten-
tious prices.
Last of the lot, perhaps it's a
gem, resumed the auctioneer, and
| he swung aloft a small framed oil
painting feebly presenting a con-
ventional village scene. Just as
lid of dollar had been made, Ray
noticed a young lady hasten through
| the doorway. She looked worried
/ and anxious. He noted the fair
i face and graceful form, and that she
! was poorly, though neatly dressed.
Her lips parted eagerly as her
glance swept the picture.
1.-TWO dollars" she spoke almost
bTeathlessly.
At that moment. a hook-nosed
hunch-shouldered man, evidently a
professional picture broker, glided
| coVertly to her side. Watching her
intently, his small, beady eyes
twinkling as he promptly raised the
hid to 81. The girl bid again. nerv-
ously fidgeting with her shabby lit
| tie purse. Her face fell as the pic
ture broker called out Sc. Evident
| " she had named the limit of her
| cash possessions. The picture brok-
er kept his eyes fixed upon her as
| though striving to discover her in
rerest in the picture. He was so alb
| sorbed in this analysis that Ray
had time to bid $40. Sold" rang
out the auctioneer's tones. The
picture broker shrugged his Shout
. ders and the girl with a despairing
] face started to leave the place.
Pardon me- spoke Ray. hasten
/ ing after her, moved by an inexplic-
able impulse he could not resist,
| you were interested in that pic
! ture"
I The girl turned her tear-filled
| eyes upon him. She seemed to read
/ the sympathy and chivalry express
Cd in his clear open face.
Yes" she said in a low, broken
tone. They have been selling of
! pictures my father owned. He was
RAUL Dalton, an art connoisseur,
! and they seized what was left when
| ne died, for debt There were two
pictures l hoped TO recover, value
| less, but momentoes. The one you
purchased was the only one he ever
| attempted to paint. It proved him
10 be no artist, andNhe never tried
d second picture. 1 cherished it
Just because it was his work"
Il see." said Ray. well, it is
-ours, Miss Dalton l bid it in for
you because l fancied you wanted
It. There was another one" and he
pointed out the moonlight canvas.
You shall have that, too"
"Oh! indeed"
Give me real pleasure by accept
ing both" he urged.
THE moonlight picture was one
my father kept always hung in his
ROOM" said IneZ. II know not why.
Ees, those are the two pictures
do cherish. / am very poor. but
am working, and may soon be able
TO pay you back. What have you
expended"
"a mere trifie," declared Ray.
Give me your address and l will
send them to you-or bring them?'
be added half interrogatively.
That was the commencement of
charming love idyl. 1t grieved Ray
10 find this lonely orphan girl liv-
ing in a room in an old tenement so
rickety that it was almost unsafe, |
but she said frankly that it was the |
lest she could afford until she had
got ahead with some Photographic |
coloring work she had undertaken. !
the two paintings had been hung |
Upon the wall, and day by day the {,
earnest gratitude of IneZ grew into |
the truest regard. One day when |
Ray called upon her a man left the |
apartment whom he at once recog- |
niZed as the ferret-faced picture |
broker. He looked askance at Inez, |
who at once explained the visit.
He is Blacile. picture broker" |
she explained to Ray. He has call
cd here several times. He insists |
mat year ago my father purchas- !
ed a rare painting for $500, invest |
ing all his money in The Mourners,'
the noted original picture of vi !
cenzo Craft, the Italian master art
ist. That was his interest in the !
sale of my fathers picture. He
says he will give $4,000 for the !
painting, and is sure some mystery |
covers its disappearance"
At just that moment there trans |
rired what Ray had ever feared. |
There was a crash. The old Struc-
ture had settled on its foundations. |
The building shook, and Ray seized |
Jnez just in time TO save her from /
the deluge of falling plaster.
They had removed her poor eff
.ects from the ruined room to SAT-
er apartment when Blacile appeared
on the scene. The frame of the
moonlight picture had broken in its
fall. Inspecting it, Blacile uttered a
joyous, ringing cry.
1.-TWO canvases," he cried. land
behold the under one, The Mourn
ersl'" Thus Paul Dalton hid and
held safe his precious treasure. A
true artist at soul, he could not bear
10 part with 1t, even amid his
poverty"
But poverty for Inez no longer
only happiness, and love, and the
t,chapd che idoIi1ad Paw Martin