Deliadhungabouthisneck。
"Joe,dear,youaresilly。Youmustkeeponatyourstudies。ItisnotasifIhadquitmymusietoworkatsomethingelse。WhileItea。Iamalwayswithmymusidweliveashappilyasmillionaireson$15aweek。Youmustn'tthinkofleavingMr。Magister。"
"Allfight,"saidJforthebluescallopedvegetabledish。"ButIhateforyoutobegiviisn'tArt。Butyou'reatrumpaodoit。"
"Whenonelovesone'sArtoohard。"saidDelia。
"MagisterpraisedtheskyichImadeinthepark,"saidJoe。"AndTinklegavemepermissiontohangtwooftheminhiswindow。Imaysellokindofamoseesthem。"
"l'msureyouwill,"saidDelia,sweetly。"A'sbethankfulfehisvealroast。"
DuringalloftheheLarrabeeshadanearlybreakfast。Joewasenthusiasti-effectsketcheshewasdoiralPark,andDeliapackedhimoffbreakfasted,coddled,praiseda7o'clock。Artisanengagiwasmosttimes7o'hereturheevening。
AttheendoftheweekDelia,sweetlyproudbutlanguid,triumphahreefive-dollarbillsonthe8×10(iableofthe8×10(feet)flatparlor。
"Sometimes,"shesaid,alittlewearily,"atiresme。I'mafraidshedoesn'tpraough,aellherthesamethingssooften。Andthenshealwaysdressesentirelyihatdoesgetmonotonous。ButGehedearestoldman!Iwishyou,Joe。HeesiimeswhenIamwithaatthepiano—heisawidower,youknow—andstandstherepullinghiswhitegoatee。'Ahesemiquaversandthedemisemiquaverspr?'healwaysasks。"
"Iwishyoucouldseethewainsthatdrawingroom,Joe!Arakhanrugportieres。Ainahassuylittlecough。Ihopesheisstrohanshelooks。Oh,Ireallyamgettioher,sheissogentleandhighbred。Gen。Pinkney'sbrotherwasoertoBolivia。"
AndtheheairofMoo,drewforthatewoandaoees—andlaidthembesideDelias。
"SoldthatwatercoloroftheobelisktoamanfromPeoria。"heannouningly。
"Don'tjokewithme,"saidDelia,"notfromPeoria!"
"Alltheway。Iwishyoucouldseehim,Dele。Fatmanwithawoolenmufflerandaquilltoothpick。Hesawthesketkle'swindowandthoughtitwasawindmillatfirst。Hewasgame,though,andboughtitanyhow。Heorderedanother—aheLaafreightdepot—totakebackwithhim。Musis!Oh,IguessArtisstillinit。"
"I'msogladyou'vekepton,"saidDelia,heartily。"You'reboundtowiy-threedollars!Weneverhadsomudbefore。We'llhaveht。"
"Amignonignons,"saidJoe,"Whereistheolivefork?"
OurdayeveningJoereaefirst。Hespreadhis$18oableaseemedtobeagreatdealofdarkpaintfromhishands。
HalfanhourlaterDeliaarrived,herrighthandtiedupinashapelessbundleofsandbandages。
"Howisthis?"askedJoeaftertheusualgreetings。Delialaughed,butnotveryjoyously。
"a,"sheexplai;insisteduponaWelshrabbitafterherlesson。Sheissuchaqueergirl。Welshrabbitsat5iheGehere。Youshouldhaveseenhimrunforthegdish,Joe,justasiftherewasn'taservantinthehouse。Ikinaisn'tih;sheissonervtherabbitshespilledagreatlotofit,boilinghot,overmyhandandwrist。Ithurtawfully,Joe。Andthedeargirlwassen。Pinkoldmadistracted。Herusheddownstairsasomebody—theysaidthefurnaebodyitstoreforsomeoilandthingstobinditupwith。Itdoesn'thurtsomuow。"
"What'sthis?"askedJoe,takienderlyandpullirahebandages。
"It'ssomethingsoft,"saidDelia,"thathadoilonit。Oh,Joe,didyousella;shehadseehetable。
"DidI?"saidJoe,"justaskthemanfrothisdepottoday,andheisn'tsurebuthethisanotherparksdaviewontheHudson。Whattimethisafternoondidyouburnyourha;
"Fiveo'clok,"saidDele,plai;Theiroherabbitcameoffthefireaboutthattime。YououghttohaveseenGen。Pinkney,Joe,when—"
"Sitdow,Dele,"saidJoe。Hedrewhertothecouch,satbesideherandputhisarmacrosshershoulders。
"WhathaveyoubeendoiwoweeksDele?"heasked。
Shebraveditforamomentortwowithaneyefullofloveandstubbornness,andmurmuredaphraseuelyofGelengthdowherheadandoutcamethetruthandtears。
"I'tgetanypupils,"shefessed,"AndI'tbeartohaveyougiveupyourlessons;andIgotaplagshirtsinthatbigTwenty-fourthStreetlaundry。AndIthinkIdidverybothGeneralPinkneyaina,don'tyou,Joe?AndwhenagirlinthelaudownahotirononmyhandthisafternoonIwasallthewayhomemakingupthatstoryabouttheWelshrabbit。Yry,areyou,Joe?AndifIhadn'tghtn'thavesoldyoursketanfromPeoria。"
"Hewasn'tfromPeoria。"saidJoe,slowly。
"Well,itdoesn'tmatterwherehewasfrom。Howcleveryouare,Joe—and—kissme,Joe—andwhatmadeyoueversuspectthatIwasn'tgivingmusistoa?"
"Ididn't,"saidJoe,"untiltonight。AndIwouldn'thavethen,ohiswasteandoilfromtheehisafternirlupstairswhohadherhahasmoothingiron。I'vebeenfiringtheelaundryforthelasttwoweeks。"
"Andthenyoudidn't—"
"MypurPeoria,"saidJoe,"andGehsofthesameart—butyouwouldn'tcalliteitherpaintingormusic。"
Aheybothlaughed,andJoebegan:
"Whenonelovesone'sArtnoserviceseems—"
ButDeliastoppedhimwithherhandonhislips。"No,"shesaid—"just'Whenoneloves。'"