Middletown transcript., 1920-09-18
\ CHARMING studio, in the Lat

~ in quarter Of Paris, sheltered
'Three Musketeers of the
Brush;" Talbot Wynne, or Taffy, q
big, fair, blue-eyed young Yorkshire.
man, who had been soldier, but was
at last following his wish to be an art
list; then Sandy McAllister, or the
Laird, as his friends called him, in.
tended by his parents for solicitor
but who was in Paris painting Torea-
doris and singing French ballads, with
a decided Scotch accent.
''The third he was Little Billie" OF
William Bagot, pleasing young opg.
lisl1man from London. To live and
work in Paris had been Billie's dream,
and at last it was reality, he and his
two friends having taken the studio
together. He often looked at these
friends and wondered If anyone, liv-
ing OF dead, ever had two such glori-
ous chums His absolute belief in all
they said and did touched them ex-
ceedingly, and they In turn loved him
for his affectionate disposition and
lively ways; and recognizing his
quickness. keenness and delicacy in all
matters of form and color, they had
also a great admiration for him.
On a showery April day the three
friends were in the studio. each occu-
pied to his taste, Taffy vigorously
swinging a pair Of Indian clubs, the
Laird sitting before his easel painting,
and Billie kneeling on the broad divan
before the great studio window was
gazing out over the roofs Of Paris
speculating upon the future Of himself
and his friends.
These speculat1ons were rudely in
terrupted by a loud knocking at the
door and two men entered; first tall.
bony individual of any age between
thirty and forty-five, Of Jewish aspect,
well-featured, but sinister. He had
bold, brilliant black eyes, with long,
heavy lids. He went by the name of
Svengali, spoke fluent French, but
with a German accent. His companion
was a little, swarthy young man. pos
sibly a gypsy; under his arm he car
ried fiddle and bow.
Svengali at once suggested that they
have some music and, seating himself
at the piano, ran his fingers up and
down the keys with the easy power of
a master. Then he fell to playing
Chopin's Impromptu in A fiat, so
beautifully that Little Billie's heart
was nigh to bursting with emotion and
delight He never forgot that I'm
promptu, which he was destined to
hear again one day in very strange
circumstances.
Then the two, Svengali and his COM
panion Gecko, made music together so
divinely, indeed, that even Taffy and
the Laird were almost as wild in their
enthusiasm as Billie, but with an en-
thusiasm too deep for words.
Suddenly there came another inter-
ruption, a loud knuckle-rapping at the
outer door, and a voice of great vol
ume. that might belong to any sex, or
even an angel, uttered the British
milkman's yodel, milk below" and
before anyone could say ''entrez,"
strange figure appeared framed in the
gloom of the antechamber; the figure
of a very tall and fully developed
young girl, clad in the gray overcoat Of,
a French infantry soldier; below this
there showed short striped petticoat,
and beneath it were visible her bare
white ankles, the toes losing them
selves in a huge pair Of mems list
slippers.
While not strictly beautiful, the girl |
had great charm; she was really much |
like a healthy young English boy.
Closing the door behind her she said,
wistfully: "Ye're all E nglish, now,
aren't ye? I heard the music and
thought I'd just come in for bit and
pass the time Of day; you don't mind? |