The Penn's Grove record., 1921-06-03

"a 1IiAltNI4NN SltulO, Ill ule Ldl-
~ in quarter of Paris, sheltered
- A- "Three Musketeers of the
Brush :" Talbot Wynne, or Taffy, a
big, fair, blue-eyed young Yorkshire
man, who had been a 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 a solicitor,
but who was in Paris painting Tcrea-
doris and singing French ballads, with
a decided Scotch accent.
'The third he was Little Billie" or
William Bagot, a pleasing young Eng
lishman from London. To live and
work in Paris had been Billie's dream,
ana at last it was a reality, he and his
two friends having taken the studio
together He often looked AT these
friends and wondered if anyone. liv-
ing or dead, ever mad two such glorf-
Gus chUms His absolute belief in all
they said and did touched them eX-
ceedingly, end they in turn loved him
for his a~ifectionate 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 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 a 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,
w~ell-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 a fiddle and bow.
Syengali at once suggested that they
have some music and, seating himself
at the piano, ran his fingers up anc
down the keys with the easy power OF
n master. Then he fell to playing
Chopin's Impromptu in A fiat, So
beautifully that Little Billie's hear
was nigh 10 bursting with emotion an'
delight He never forgot that I'm
rromptu. which he was destined II
hear again one day in very strang'
circumstances.
Then the two, Svengali and his com
panion Gecko. made music together s.
divinely, indeed, that even Taffy an
the Laird were almost as wild In tnei
enthusiasm as Billie, but with an en-
thusiasm too deep for words.
Suddenly there came another inter
ruption. a loud knuckle-rapping at tn
outer door, and a voice of great Vo
ume, that might belong to any sex, Q
even an angel, uttered the BIRTHS
milkman's yodel, milk below" an
before ANYONE could say "entrez,'
strange figure appeared framed In tn
gloom of the antechamber; the hgur
of a very tall and fully develope
young girl, clad in the gray overcoat {
a French infantry soldier; below Tn
there showed a short striped petticoa
and beneath it were visible her bal
white ankles, the toes losing then
selves In a huge pair of mems IL
slippers.
While not strictly beautiful, the 81
had great charm she was really mu'
like a healthy young English DO
Closing the door behind her she sal
wistfully: we're all E nglish' no
, aren't We? I heard the music 81
|; thought I'd just come In for a bit al
pass the time Of dayj you don't min