The north Mississippi herald., 1920-09-17

u CHARMING studio, in the Lat
"A in quarter Of Paris. sheltered
IL -@- "Three Musketeers of the
Brush; ;" Talbot Wynne, or Taffy,
big. fair, blue-eyed young Yorkshire
man. who had been q soldier, but was
at last following his wish to be an art
ist; then Sandy McAllister, or the
Laird, as his friends called him, in
tended by his parents fer a solicitor,
but who was in Paris painting Torea-
doris and singing French ballads, with
d decided Scotch accent.
'aThe third he was Little Billie" or
William Bagot, pleasing young Eng
lishman 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 al these
friends and wondered if anyone. liv-
ing OF dead, ever had two such glori-
Gus 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
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 We're 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
specializing upon the future of himself
and his friends.
These Speculations were rudely in
terrupted by loud knocking at the
door and two men entered; first a 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 q little, swarthy young man, pos
sibly a gypsy; under his arm he car
ried a 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 |
Iol, Tr,1-
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 Tafy 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, loud knuckle-rapping at the
outer door, and 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," a
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 a short striped petticoat,
and beneath 1t were visible her bare
white ankles. the toes losing them
selves in huge pair of mems list
slippers.
While not strictly beautiful, the girl
had great charm; she was really much
like healthy young English boy.
Closing the door behind her she said,
"Ye're all f nglish, now,
aren't ye? l heard the music and
thought I'd just come in for bit and
pass the time of day; you don't mind?