The Ordway new era., 1921-06-08
735e
Haggard Man
o0
By marie BELDEN JAMES
tCopyright.)

marshall Shane was old, but nobody
would have guessed 1t. Age had not
uuiled his dark eyes nor silvered his
uark hair nor bent his broad shoul-
ders.
ne hhd watched the world for sew
enty years, and lie knew it so well
that he was not afraid to love 1t.
hari Kraft, the art critic was one
or the many to whom Marshall
Shane's word was law and light.
He walked into Shanes study one
warm, late May afternoon.
"A strange thing, SIR" he said, sit
ting down by the table and gazing out
OF the window at the fading sunlight
IA very strange thing"
Marshall Shane looked at him keen
ly.
You're In trouble" he said.
well, not exactly" returned Kraft.
i've been through a strange expert
ence, but IL it really was the way 1t
seemed 1t was worth the price l paid
for It,"
"a large price2" inquired Shane.
"Rather-as the world considers
things"
That's good. Let's hear about It,"
So Kraft let him hear.
II went to the bank this morning to
cash my check for that series of ar
ticles l did for Kaleidoscope. The
teller gave me eight one-hundred-dol-
lar bills-there were eight articles,
you knOw-and I put them into my
vest pocket and went out. l started
to walk home, and l had gone some
distance before 1 noticed that a man
was following me.
when / did discover 1t 1 looked
around at him. and saw that he was
haggard. weary-looking man.
81 didn't pay much attention to
him, even though I was carrying eight
hundred. for didn't think it would be
easy to hold up man on Counter
street In the middle of the morning.
II turned around and faced him
sharply, but 1t did not seem to abash
him in the least.
"'You are Kraft?' he said. 1t was
more like simple statement than a
question, and I told him he was right.
4 have the impertinence, he said,
to ask you to look at picture
My terms are very high and in ad-
vance, 1 answered, briefly enough, for
thought if he were trying to put up
some game on me that would settle
him.
"'I have only five dollars he said
no 1rnl p,,f 70 hot
here and now II you'll look at my pic
ture.'
"'Where's your studioT I asked
him.
He pointed to the Lefevre,. and
that decided me.
'The elevator took us up-up-
higher than'd ever been before, to the
very top floor, and when we got out
the room he conducted me to was the
smallest and poorest in the building.
"There was wasn't much Of anything
in it-a couch, some canvases and
paintbOxes, and on an easel a picture
covered with a cloth.
"About six feet in front of the easel
an imitation Persian rug was spread
on the floor, and to this he escorted
me. He wanted me to sit on it.
"I haven't chair he said; and
you get just the right light on the
picture from here. I've studied for
days the placing of the rug, waiting
for the time when you would come to
see my picture
Then he went softly over to the
picture and took the cloth off it. He
must have stepped back out of my
sight then, for l remember no more of
him."
But the picture!" -
"Mr. Shane. that was picture-a
wonderful one.
"The second my eyes fell on it 1t
snatched my mind from everything
else by its wonderful brightness
masses of reds-scarlets and crimson
and garnets so dazzling and blinding
that 1t was little time before saw
the face in the center of them. But
when did come to that clear.white
face, everything softened and blurred.
"When, half-unconsciously, I wan
dered back to that mass Of reds they
were softer and clearer and 1 saw
what they were-a great bed of heavy,
nOdding peoples browsing in sleepy
breeze that rocked them, and among
them q delicate-faced girl with great,
dark eyes gently falling asleep. AS
watched, her eyelids seemed to droop
more and more, her eyes to grow
more and more dreamy.
81 woke up peacefully and gazed
around me dreamily, as have walked
and gazed hundred times in my ham,
mock at Heathrade on one Of our long,
rapturous July days.
"But when my eyes reached the easel