Show ii m Sr StOY o tb flay Day MRS RIOlAIS S S i 5 BY W WALTERA TICE qi q i Copyright Copyright- 1902 by th the S. S McClure S. S Company Every auctioneer In town knew her and expected to stumble stumble hel whether atthe at atthe atthe the fashionable Broad Broadway Broady y sales or In the dimmest c corner of the gre hetto g-hetto to and never one of them had a word for her Mrs parsimony was as notorious noton- noton ous as as It was unnecessary but it was her hobby to io acquire bric-a- bric bric-arac bric rac at ridiculous bargain figures Had the original Venus Verus de Mile 1110 been offered to her at she would have held out Nothing gave her such exquisite pleasure as to escort escort escort es es- es- es cort a a. guest to some dim niche in her much decorated house and murmur with witha a gentle cooing inflection So glad you like It dear I purchased it for a song Such a b bargain You wouldn't believe it if I told you Iri In vain had wily auctioneers endeavored to entrap the lady In some of their clever schemes e ee She h Invariably scented c danger n anti and stopped e pp bidding l r j Just l. l when they h saw the lamb led to slaughter A group of these worthies who had been called in to examine a superb collection of art goods drifted Into a cafe care to lunch together and Mrs hobby obby came S SA up for discus discus- sion A wide wideawake wak chap recently from Chi Chi- Chicago Chicago cago listened to the tales of her shrewdness shrewdness shrewd shrewd- ness and finally remarked Gentlemen I wager a a. supper party for this crowd that If I have charge of that sale sate I will not net only force Mrs Hlodan to purchase a certain article which I shall select but she will pay at least 50 per cent more than It Is worth The supper wager was quickly taken and cash bets s were e added the young yo-une auctioneer auctioneer fl e taking 1 wa all o offers e In less than a week Mrs commenced to receive mall mail regarding the sale of the famous Burton collection Almost dally daily there arrived arrived ar ar- ar- ar rived either an enticing circular or a simply engraved card reminding her of the date of the sale until she became actually excited over th the prospect When the day arrived Mrs was among the first on the scene but not earlier r than two young men nen whose tastes st r in brac a c ri sl seemed closely e allied to her own One of them whose face was that of a student and whose garments In some indefinable fasl fashion on suggested foreign blood and the artistic temperament If not the calling was interested In Inthe Inthe inthe the display of bronzes Mrs felt that here was a kindred kin kin- fired dred spirit and d she listened t delightedly h Y h heasy to te fd l ft his c criticisms of the collection and his easy essy chat of things he had seen abroad He particularly dilated on the fact that to auction sales alone was he Indebted for foran foran foran an opportunity to purchase rare bits of ot bronze evidently his hobby If it one ohe one Js is really a Judge of or such things he remarked there Is absolutely no danger danger danger dan dan- ger of being cheated and every chance of PI picking Ah lf up sighed g a rare 11 Mrs bargain g 1 n. n a kindred spirit Indeed And she strolled trolled with as assumed assumed as- as to rr this i connoisseur carelessness G thinking as k close complacently as prie possible W of her five fi pieces of f bronze each picked ic g up hi at an auction g s sale i Suddenly ce l she heard him of the artistic temperament utter an By By J Jove ve that is' is is-a is gem They had P parsed ed a bronze statue not more than a fo foot t it In height but exquisitely ex ex- ly molded mod d. d was It was a really fine production of Wrestler With bated breath she fell back as did the two young men to to study tudy f the figure more critically Exquisite came to her In dulcet tones Worth five hundred if its it's worth a cent or my Is valueless A ge gem worth r a couple coupe hundred murmured Mrs and as s she looked the muscles of the wrestler seemed to gleam in the uncertain light like burnished burnished bur bur- fished gold The men made a note of and then moved on but Mrs MrS' still lingered She would haye that piece for forshe forshe forshe she had heard the artist remark as as' h he turned away that no one In the room would probably realize the real value of ot that bit S By th the time the sale opened Mrs Rio Rio- dan was in a f feverish state The auction auctioneer II eer rolled 1 Jn off tt his r customary t y 1 ig tb bidding bidding bid bid- d ding went merrily on but Mrs heard nothing until theau the auctioneer reached the Some one bid 5 and Mrs bestowed on the Ignorant Individual a glance of scorn The bids rose slowly and at 25 Mrs Mrs' entered entered en en- artist Wt the theu Up arena e up went and t St so the e edW dW did figures the y young until fi finally these two were bidding steadily against each other One hundred dollars exclaimed the theartist theartist theartist artist nonchalantly One hundred hundred and twenty five snapped his rival S 'S The artist roused himself One hundred and fifty I The drawl had left eft his voice Mrs hesitated He wants it He know knows bronzes and and and- so do I 1 sh she thought Going going going One seventy-five seventy The artist turned a troubled face to toward toward toward to- to ward his friend They conferred The auctioneer looked from oneto one oneto oneto to the other Mrs felt her heart contract suddenly She wanted that bronze What was the artist Ing to do I He shook his head The auctioneers auctioneer's I hammer fell The bronze was wa-s Mrs RIo RIo- dans dan's property and giving I her address r and d' d settling r he the bill she sho hastily sn left the room An hour later having bavins completed her other shopping she dropped Into a fashionable restaurant feeling that have having hav hay haying ing secured a b bargain she might treat nb IpU herself e to an n exceptional 1 luncheon c She had barely given her order when from behind a palm paim she caught tones that seemed dulcet 1 ld note strangely she y had tf-JD tf familiar heard that before drawling w And Ana fd what Its was a Jolly he saying little l 1 lunch n h isn Isn't t it Madge And let me tell you I earned It I haven haven't t played a part since the dramatic club days at college but I flatter myself I did quite well this morning What I know know- about bronzes would not cover your visiting visiting visiting visit visit- ing card but heavens how the old lady did snap at the bait One seventy five and she could get a brand new one for a hundred S e I S The next afternoon a couple of or woman friends were taking tea In Mrs s shome home and one of them spied the Thor Thor- w What t a clever bit Mrs And youve you've never shown It to us The guest approached the figure and touched It daintily And of course you got It fo for fora a song You always do lucky creature Yes Yes murmured Mrs fora for fora a a. song song Then she added under under ler her breath as she passed tho wafers But Bu there were a few high notes In the song |