Omaha daily bee., 1922-04-02

his head,
This hsah Venus Amt got no clothes on"
Tho salesman argued, pleaded. eaiolsd' lie
nnslly cut the price in half Lsmus stood on
and Inspected the nude lady carefully
"pid that lady pose jes' like that pitcher
says she done?" he inquired In awe.
Certainly" retortsd the other. Artists
models always pose In the nude"
"wisglin' tfipsI An folks thinkln' 10 .
artist"
.IIot dam." he cried. Use got e."
'whatg" smiled tho shopkeeper
'-rhs plan which Graves" Lymas pro-
dueed two dollars and a half gimme that
srtment, capn, We trades"
Three quarters Of AN hour later, Lsmus ua.
folded the portrait OF tho immodest Venus In
the sanctuary OF his room. Ho gaEed PRIDE
fully upon the charms Of her ngure-not be-
cause OF the charms, but because lie had con-
eelved . brilliant scheme whereby che was TO
bseoms Edner Torrlng-EdRer fully and mod
esty clothed.
Lymus was by profession . sign painter.
and an exceedingly good one. lie was deft
with a brush. and drawing garment hdSef'
tlsements was one OF tho best things no d'a
So it was that the idea had come 10 him OF
mounting Venus en- an easel. allowing Edher
10 sit for her portrait. and then gracefully paint
a full complement OF clothes upon her now
nude ngurs.
Lymus was exceedingly pleased with HIM
self The scheme was maEnIncently simple
end required only n modieum OF preparation
Edncr Torrine was on time 10 tho minute.
Lymus improyised a dais. upon which he placed
her A., an occupant OF his sole easy chain She
settled herself comfortably and Lymus wehs 10
his trunk, from which he extracted tho rolled
canvas.
Lymus had never seen artists at work, but
then-ncither had Edner. And 30 he got away
with the prciminaries very well. Everything
la. t,rn N painf Eif and mixed q
large daub OF rich brown lie addressed Ednsr
"Set st!ddy now. / commences"
Lymus' plan OF campaign was complete
and logical Venus wore no clothes. There
fore, he envisIoned Edncr In the same frank
condition. Obviously. whatever charms her
figure might have, the complexion would vary
from that OF the famous goddess. Good! II
hehooved Lymus. therefore,. to reconstruct the
groundwork Of his subject.
He dipped his brush in the brown mixture.
lie squinted at Edner and smiled. Then. with
slow but sure touches, he commenced sunburh-
ing the figure OF Venus!
Somehow 1t never occurred to him to change
the complexion Of arms, face. and neck and
then paint the clothes over the white ngure
Had he thought of 1t, he would have discarded
the idea as smacking too greatly OF ninstrelty
"a brown lady with white body! Absurd!
He knew that beneath her lingerie Edner Tor
ring was OF a rich chocolate hue and Ly-
mus was no nature faker. His painting OF Ed
ner would be brown to the skin.
And so his plan was to make the figure life
like In complexion, and then garb 1t fttingly.
The painting of the clothes worried him not
at all.
For two hours Lymus worked. then laid
down his brushes and meticulously draped the
canvas to cheesecloth cheesecloth folded to sew
eral thicknesses. Edner rose stiffy. but CRATE
fully. An engagement was made for the same
hour the following day, and Edner departed
triumphantly.
Alone. Lymus removed the cheesecoth and
pridefully inspected his handiwork. Edner, as
she stood now, was chocolate to the waist and
blonde from there down. 1t appeared to tho
exalted Symus as though he himself had creattd
the entire being. Then he regretfuly covered
the picture and went forth into the streets OF
Birmingham.
Near the Penny Prudential Bank building
Lymus encountered Prssilla Wattes He palpi.
tated with love. but Lymus was a humble man
who feared a second rebuff from the darling of
his heart Therefore, in preference to that he
lifted his hat stiffly and would have passed on.
but the contrite Prissilla halted him. Briefly =
she apologized for her hostile attitude of the
previous day. Lymus was grateful.
THAT big feller-Noah Lee he asked. II is
hearn tell that you an him was mos engaged
to make ma'iagge once"
Prissilla shifted. II an him! Huh! Mebbe
so he was engage to me, but never want en-
gagged to him."
That's all right, then But soht Of jeged
that he is lovin' you a heap, Priscilla"
Reckon he is. But lovn amt gttn'."
"Bless the Lawd"
"'Ceptin' TO one man." she vouchsafed, coyly.
"Name which?"
She hung her head. That's be tellin', Ly-
mus. An the feller which loves amt never
asst to be tor."
They adjourned to the Gold Crown Ice Cream
paror. But what Lymus did not know was that
while they were quaffing the creamy, foamy con-
coctions the massive figure Of Noah Lee bulked
balefully in the doorway for about two minutes
and Immediately thereafter Noah departed NUT
tering dire threats having to do directly with
the mutilation Of Lymus' skinny little body.
Edner was on time to the minute for the sit
ting of the following day. Lymus flung himself
headlong into the task Of browning up the neither
portion Of Venus body. When the sitting was
ended the goddess had disappeared from the
canvas and in her place there had blossomed y
forth the rounded. dimpled figure of the statye =
esque Edner Torring.
That night Lymus called upon Prissa Wat.
Ties. Long before his assignment to paint Ed
ners portrait they had considered that they were
going to become engaged. But this was their
frst evening together as a couple actually
pledged to one another. They sat on a battered
lounge in dark corner Of the .parlor and found
that the outlook upon the future was rosy
thing indeed. But in the midst Of their rapture
4 sinister figure intruded.
There came rap at the door, Lymus and
Priscilla sidled apart, and Prissla extended
ukewarm invitation to Come in." Noah Lee
came in
He glared malevolenty at The pair on the
OUNCE. Lymus squrmed uncomfortably, for re-
1ected in the narrowed eyes of his rival he dis
;erned much bloody murder and one extremely
sudden death.
"Well?" growled Noah accusingly.
Lymus cleared his throat, but the words re.
used to come. Prissilla answered.:
well, which,"
What this heah mean?'
What does which where mean"
you an this half baked imitation of