Show Happy a Christmas for or Aged e Artist Finds Fairy Spirit Shines Behind Gloom and Cold of the World By CHRISTOPHER Q G. HAZARD R E C T n as s ever eve r am and striking his r cane sharply upon the pavement as ashe ashe he strode along the old man was wasa a distinguished ir I figure amid the hurr hurrying Christmas Christmas Christ Christ- mas crowds lie pressed on like a contradiction of ot the Christmas spirit He had not far to go before belore reachIng reach- reach reachIng reaching Ing the ancient looking house that had once known youth and gayety as the result of ot his prosperity but which In Its loneliness and disrepair had become become become be be- come a surviving sympathy In his hIB later and adverse experiences There he could sit and renew In memory the events and associations of ot happier days which like pictures In the the- gallery gallery gallery gal gal- lery of life were vivid again for a moment out of ot their tarnished frames They were more real than thun the pictures plc- plc tures that hung upon his walls for tor It ItIs ItIs itIs Is the artistic atmosphere of ot the day that determines the light In which Its art shall be viewed and these works of the past had become only memorials to the present to which he had come I But the present realities of the past are fire as ns helpless as ns the old fashioned nesses of the present to succor fainting mortality and und the old artist had to confess on that Christmas eve that he i iwas was not only hungry but rather hopelessly hopelessly hope hope- i lessly so It was true that his artistic remains were not wholly despised Mr lIr auction room was not ver very far tar away and there was a dally daily slaughter of or helpless pictures there But this massacre of ot Innocents their father could not consent to he felt ready to starve first Then certain publishers had offered something for fora forn a n set of skeletons but In order that they might reproduce them upon a reduced reduced re re- re- re scale scale which was Intolerable to his artistic pride So that The SolItary Solitary Soli Soll- tary Pine whispered to The tiThe Old Meeting House louse that It looked as though they would all nil go down I 71 1 1 tit tit-L' I J a. a l 4 y A n JY II C rio r TheOld The Old Artist Had to Confess That He Was Hungry er r and The Mountain Summit suggested suggested suggested sug sug- to An Evening Sea that It might be better to stoop to conquer There was no token of ot this last Idea however In the preparations for tor the night that signified the old mans man's Intention Intention intention In In- of remaining In and sticking the situation out He had no ear for forthe forthe forthe the chimes that had begun to ring out There was not a trace of or expectation expectation expectation tion of ot Christmas cheer In the determined determined determined deter deter- mined expression of ot the face that was reflected from the old mirror They must all belong to the past forever There was another thought on the way though and It found expression that Christmas morning when the artist artist artist ar ar- ar- ar awoke to a rather cheerless environment environment en en- to be summoned to his door by the loud knocking of ot a very rotund florid nn and merry Individual who seemed to have ha brought his years his Years with him into a Ii congenial and friendly cli cli- mate An old friend from a far fur country country country coun coun- try he took In the state of ot things at a glance and as quickly decided upon his course of or action After Arter the greetIngs greetings greet greet- ings lags and the historical recounting were over and as a result of ot this most unexpected visitation visitation a number of ot the paintings that had concluded to die were cre Introduced to a new life upon the walls of ot one who had never lost his love for them and It appeared that the one ono aim ulm of ot their new possessor had been to get Jet them at their makers maker's prices All of which gave to the old artist a new view of the fact that while white the arts may change hearts do donot donot donot not and n u new Idea of ot the reality which all art strives In vain to fully represent the reality of ot the fairy spirit that moves moyen and und shines behind nil all the gloom and cold of ot the world Ill PU be hanged he said If It he be didn't look Just like Santa Claus Clans Q 1925 1926 Western Newspaper Union |