Page:Margaret Sherwood--A Puritan in Bohemia.djvu/149

A Puritan Bohemia There was a reaction from the passion for symbolism which had already lasted several weeks. Miss Bradford's work and that of a young Danish realist became the fashion.

Anne hardly realized her success until, among her notes of congratulation, she found a line from the great Leighton Reynolds.

"You have style," he said. "I find a certain force in your pictures unusual in feminine work."

Anne felt stunned. She decided to go for a walk. Passing down the old familiar streets, she asked herself sadly if she were too old to care. Surely this praise meant the confirmation of the hope for which she had spent her life.

She was walking in the direction of the tenement-house district. Here was the corner where the thought of the sailor's picture had flashed upon her. A little farther was the crumbling wall that had served as a background for the Italian mother with her baby. Her work was