The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1926-02-19
PARIS, FRANCE Q By Mildred Cram


breath, carrying on IKE a bird singing
to himself as he tiptOed from room to
room. The doctors charts attracted him /:
"Velly nice. Velly plitty."
1t was done. In the bank, charged to
Miss Geraldine Reynolds account, there
were one thousand and nine hundred dol
lars. Her father had been dead eight years
and she was thirty-seven. And Paris,
France, Maisie's promise, lay upon the
horizon like a beautiful mirage.
1t was then, while she was waiting for
the sale of the furniture, that she met
ROSst's SON He came Out of the past
young, dark, fOreign-tO confront her. I'm
GuglielmO ROssi. My father sent me. You
used to study with him."
of course. Come in"
She led the way into the parlOr.
Wont you sit down? OF course, I re-
member. But l was a little girl. Not more
than seven low is your father? I didn't
know he was living in Paris"
The boy did not accept her invitation.
He stood in the middle Of the room, his
quick eyes flying, taking in everything.
He stood straight with his head thrown
back, braced as if nothing could shake hin
He was like a statue or a tree, Gerry
thought.
My father has a store on Warner street
He's a photographer"
Gerry could not help an exclamation OF
sympathy and disappointment: 20! He
used to be an artist!'
ROSsi's son turned on her with a flame
in his eyes. Used to be! He gave It VI
because he had to. Artists starve out here
These people don't know" he heSitateC
as If doubtful of a word she might mo-
understand. Then, breathlessly, he said
Thief don't know beauty when they SCI
1t. My father was Il great painter, but he's
spent his life taking cabinet photograph;
of Bohemian farmers"
Don't you like Paris 2"
| He shouted No! Do yOu?"
Gerry shock her head. Il suppose not.
ITS terrible! First there was the plain
with nothing on it-miles and miles Of it
as far as the eve could reach. And theI
they ca~me--Swedes, Germans, BOhemians
English And they forgot what they'd com,
for. They forgot what they'd left over il
Europe. They built ugly houses. Wen b,
going back some day. This will do 70,
America! They put up flimsy fences anO
cheap barns and sheds and awful littl
churches. Because they were going bacI
some day! And then they began to max
money. The railroad came. And then the.
built an ugly town and an ugly hotel an,
an ugly railroad station in the middle O
it. And they said they were too busy t.
plant gardens or to make fountains. The,
weren't too busy! They'd forgotten. ANY
thing will go. This is America. We ar
free to do as we like And in thirty years
they built Paris"
ROssi's son began to pace the room
peertng at everything. He stopped befOr
Gerry's canvas in pastel: Christmas Eve.
He swung out his arms.
Apparently, he did not.
Now, terrible things like this!'
1911 Z IL kuUA : AGLII AnAEu III % Hlldl
voice. SOmething. clutched at her heart.
t "Of course not! Didn't you know? 70
: ought to know. You teach art" He bega
r to make big, sweeping motions with hi
hands over the precious surface. eth
' whole things silly. 1t isn't drawn. It
I smeared on. 1t doesn't move, as natuI
I mOves-is always moving. It's static!"
2 Static ="
There was something dreadful, fina
about this word.
e It's dead. Like these houses out her.
Y Like the Kennedy house"
lie seemed to push Gerry's canvas OF
r of his offended sight. He crossed to Gerry
side and took the chair she had Offere
s him when he zane in. Then she saw this
he had a curious, whimsical face; his nos
u tipped up and when he smiled his uppC
g lip was drawn away from his teeth, show
I ing his gums. He had an Irish smile. The
: was something compact, alive and pus
n naciOus about him, like a prairie vim
g My father took me to Chicago 8 yes
ago, and / saw a canvas by a man name
Homer. Now, there was snow! Real snow
n Not talcum powder. Snow YOU could SINE
and touch. And under it, the earth"
Gerry thought: ''Talcum powder. Do,
he know how he's hurting me?"
Some day I'm going to paint like tina
! Nature, plus me-"
d A voice within Gerry, demanding 'Is
o true? Must 1 believe him? A boy b
she believed. Suddenly she fest drain.
empty. 1t was as if her body sac tberC.
husk.
You're an artist, too"
That's why / came to see you. ] va
to study. My father told me you L tar,
n at the library. 1 thought you might tea'
me-
Not I! 0, no. You don't know VII
you're talking about. l couldn't"
lie He flushed. Il could pay-a little. Ma
is be two dollars. I'm working in my father