Page:To-morrow Morning (1927).pdf/241

 I think I'll burst! I'm going to get at it again, sometime, too, if ever I'm not quite so busy."

"I've never seen any of your pictures, except the saucepan and onions and that little sketch of Joe."

"Would you care to? Really? Now, don't think you have to be polite. I have some things hidden away in the studio, and Aunt Sarah's out driving with Charlotte. They aren't anything very marvelous, but my teachers used to say they had a lot of promise. Carrie! I guess she's out, too. My, Aunt Sarah keeps this place shut up! I expect she'll die if she ever finds I've had a window open. I'm afraid these'll be pretty dusty"

She pulled out the old canvases.

"This was a girl called Nellie Verlaine

"This is just a sketch, sunset over the water

"I never finished this

"Listen! Wasn't that the front door? Run and see if it's Aunt Sarah!"

"No, it's Joe! Come upstairs, Joseph; we're having an art exhibition."

"Oh, Joe, darling! I guess you'll think I'm crazy! I was just showing Evelyn some of my old pictures"

Two spots of red burned in her cheeks; stars shone in her eyes; her voice was breathless. All about her, propped against walls and chair legs, were her paintings—dead fish, flowers, two lemons and a brown jug with a high light. Nellie Verlaine in Grecian costume.