The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-12-13
Eoening Story
Hearts and Arts.
BY FREDERICK HART,

| Adlhcrs %ooo-lol was not in itself
enough to make pretty Elsie Dean
raise her eyes to follow him; but when
the particular young man is dressed
in flannels instead of the blue jeans
that were the accepted weekday attire
! of her immediate environment, and
when he carries in one hand a spindly
lookingl arrangement of rods and
| braces and in the other a black case
that is too large to be a doctors bag
and too small to be a suit case; and
when he has on his back an oddly
shaped bundle; and In particular
when he is handsome and care-free
looking, it is small wonder that Elsie
! looked after him..
Indeed. she went to the front gate
to see him go down the road, which is
why she saw him suddenly swing
aside from the beaten path and climb
over the fence that divided the wood
lot from the outer world.
Now her fathers wood-lot was
| terra sanctiSSina, as she well knew.
1t bristled with mo Trespassing''
signs and warnings limiting at the ex-
/ tremities of legal pains and punish
| ments for the hardy soul who should
I set foot within its sacred glades; so
! Elsie's surprise soon turned to wrath.
Her father and mis- men were all in
! the far field, haying, and there was no
| immediate male to whom she could
| look for assistance; but she did not
hesitate. Down the road she ran ana
over the fence on the strangers trail.
! She was up with him in almost a
moment; he had evidently not heard
| her coming, and she was prepared to
blast his soul with a scathing COM
mand to depart, when the oddly of his
conduct struck her. He had unfolded
| the spind1y arrangement, and To- 1t
was a tripod with a cross-piece: and
on the tripod rested square of snowy
canvas; and out of the little black bag
many, many brushes and lot OF little
| tubes and a heart-shaped piece OF
wood on which the young nlan-pro-
ceeded to squeeze the contents of some
of the tubes=the brightest reds and
greens and yellows Elsie had ever
seem And then this startling young
man began to make lines on the white
canvas humming to himsef as ne alu
so. Enthralled, and totally forgetting
her previous vengefu1 ideas. Elsie drew
nearer; he heard her, and turned
sharply.
"oh!" she gasped. And then, re-
membering his iniquity. she went on
sharply. This is my fathers woodlot!
Really % The young man did not
seem particularly impressed by the
statement.
| Eyes, it is-and you're trespassing."
$50 1 am! I did notice some signs,
hut L didn't pay much attention TO
them. I don't believe in signs,
| .'Ohr Elsie was not quite sure she
was not being made fun of; the
| stranger seemed so irritatingly calm,
as tho the right was on his side rather
than hers. you'll be arrested if you
STAY here much longer"
"Tve never been arrested: 1 wonder
what it's like. Is the local calaboose
comfortable" Then, dropping his man
ner of badinage, he continued: Real
| ", 1 know quite well that am tres
| passing; but am working on paint
| ing with which ! hope to win great
what I want for a background 1t
seemed a pity to miss the perfect OPP
/ portunitv lust for the off chance of
being arrested, SO ! came in. l in
tended to ask permission, but there
| seemed to be no one in sight, SO L
| lust broke and entered. Now, please
don't turn me over to the police!"
His penitent manner Modified Elsie,
and besides, her curiosity was aroused.
"Oh-you're an artist?"
"Yes-in a way, If my picture takes
| the prize I shall know that am an
not be so hard-hearted as to blast my
ambition. There is no other stretch
of forest which so exactly suits my
| purpose as this
| "Well-you can stay-but you must
ask my fathers permission after to-
day"
II will" But he seemed in no hurry
| to go on with his work. Instead, he
looked at Elsie-looked SO long that
she became embarrassed and blushed.
| IT beg your pardonl" he exclaimed.
81 had no right to stare SO, but
| but what?" as he hesitated.
| "Oh-nothing. If you will excuse
me will go ahead with my work
Elsie fingered; but he did not seem
to be doing much but putting aimless-
| looking lines on the canvas, so she
soon left. When she had gone the
| artist fell to work with a fury, paint
| ing like lightning. IT must hold it!''
he muttered to himself. II must hold
| it, Just what I have sought" And
| he painted more furiously than ever.
That evening he came over to the
! farmhouse to gain official consent to
paint his pictures in the woodlot, and
Elsie's father. a good-natured man, al
lowed him to continue, "slong as ye
don't light no fires ner cut no timber"
Assured of the young mans intention
to abstain from arson or larceny, all
was well.
Day after day the young man work
ed, and he soon fell into the habit
of coming over to the farmhouse in
the evening, for the ostensible pur-
pose of talking to some one. The hotel
in town, he explained was not ex-
actly luxurious in its appointments,
and he welcomed the chance for hui
man intercourse.
Thus matters proceeded thruout
the summer The artist worked in
defatiga bly,, and Elsie, with whom he
was soon en- terms of intimate friend
ship, often begged to see the picture;
but he would never oblige her curl
osity.-
when it's finished" he would say.
land not till then. 1t looks all muddy
and messy now-and 1 want you to be
the first critic to see it complete"
So Elsie was forced to be satisfied.
One evening, however, he fingered
I instead of going to the hotel Elsie
had remained on the piazza to enjoy
the moonlight for a few moments.
Elsie" he said, II want you to
come to the woods tomorrow morning.
The picture is almost finished-there