The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1920-05-06
DONE IN CHALK
By EVELYN LEE

nduuteG tne IeTNlu lmdBludtiou oi Avn
Thurston and she wondered II. ever
again the flowers would seem so love
ly. the birds sing as sweetly. the skies
look SO bright. Would their promise
of a renewal ever come true7 Oh.
surely so! for had not Norris Brown
ing said II, and was he not the soul of
honor. and did he not love her7
He had revealed to her his souls In
nermost secrets the last day they had
wandered in the woods. He loved her.
but he would not ask her TO bind her
self to any promise. He was simply n
poor. struggling artist. he frankly told
her. His chance meeting with her. the
rare natural beauties OF her environ
ment had given him the inspiration OF
a great picture. He was going back to
his city garret studio to toll for her
and for fame:
Springtime had merged into sum-
mer. and now the landscape was sere.
but for over two months Ava had re-
ceived no word from the man she
loved. Formerly every letter had
breathed hope and faith In the success
Of his great life effort. Then there had
NohN atttf XIII kttW
ious. abstracted. fear filed Was she
never to see him again? Had failure.
q new object of affection Influenced
him TO forget her?
'Why do you not hear from Mr..
Browning any more1" her brother.
Walter. lad OF sixteen. solIcitously
inquired. -You know. Ava. he was
surely 10 come TO see us again.
But Ava only shook her head sadly
and went away with tears In her eyes.
Walter had fastened his faith irrevocn
bly, upon Browning. who had discerned
prospective artistic genius In the lad.
He had taken pains to direct and in
struct Walter and the day he left had
made him a present OF n set Of cray
ons. II had been pleasant reminder
to Ava TO watch her ambitious brother
with pencil and pad evenings making
some quite pretentlous sketches of
familiar home surroundings. Two pic
lures that he made. one OF Browning
from memory. and one Of Ava posing
for him. Indicated what the former
had said OF him. that he possessed
natural gift for por,ralture.
puI W dlAFf nffh hnu
had cherished his aspirations secretly.
even from Ava. At the rear of the
house was an old unused barn.
This space had become the studio of
the young artist. for here he could un-
dertake large efforts with his crayons.
He had finished one or two can
vases and Il was his delight TO view
them. One rainy morning Walter crept
up into the barn attic. He was sur
prised to find there lying upon heap
OF old horse blankets Il stranger. His
pillow was a bundle done up in a piece
OF ollcloth. his attire half suggestive
of the tramp. At all events he sp-
peaied 10 Walter as n picturesque sub
ject for portrayal He was fast asleep
and Walter set at work mt a vncani
space on the side wall to reproduce
him In chalk.
Walter completed the portrait en-,
tIreiy to his satisfaction and left the
loft. He forgot all about the lntruding
stranger until later In the afternoon. /,
when he saw his father talking with
man who had driven mp in nm sutomo-
bile with two others. All of them he
TNFtEiilLtI hN IuND
'''rhe man got away with over fifty
thousand dollars In cash and securi. 1
ties from the bank" the sheriff was
saying rs Walter came up. "He was
seen later by n farmer carrying n
package done up In oilcloth. We have |
details OF his dress" and the speaker
described the subject OF Walters ]
morning portrait. Keep keen look .
out" proceeded the official. ~ re-.
ward of five thousand dollars is OF. .
fered and we viii divide II with any
one giving US n clue to the Identity OF
the man"
'Suppose-suppose" burst out Wal 4
ter eagerly. you could see a picture of
the man. would that mean anything to
your"
''would It he anything 10 us7" re-
peaied the sheriff excitedly. why 4
that would he all we need
"And II ] can show you such pie
ture. do ! get half the reward7"
"If It lends 10 the arrest OF the man. 4.
yes"
Come with me" directed Walter
md ms he rcvealed his last artistic ef- !
fort he explained the circumstances
Of It's construction.
"The rest is easy" proclaimed the |
sheriff jubllnntly. and sped away with
his men 10 overiake the fugitive with
In twenty-four hours.
II was proud moment for Walter
Thursion when his father was given n
check for half Of the reward.
Father" he said. "will you let me
have some OF the money 10 70 to the
city and study artf ! wDnt to ses Mr..