t must be a ghastly experience."

"It is!--I don't mean that you have not done everything to make it
easier--but--there in the little room--my courage left me--I almost
died. I'd have run away only--I was afraid you wouldn't let me--"

He began to laugh; she tried to, but the terror of it all was as yet too
recent.

"At first," she said, "I was afraid I wouldn't do for a model--not
exactly afraid of my--my appearance, but because I was a novice; and I
imagined that one had to know exactly how to pose--"

"I think," he interrupted smilingly, "that you might take the pose again
if you are rested. Go on talking; I don't mind it."

She sat erect, loosened the white wool robe and dropped it from her with
less consciousness and effort than before. Very carefully she set her
feet on the blocks, fitting the shapely heels to the chalked outlines;
found the mark for her elbow, adjusted her slim, smooth body and looked
at him, flushing.

"All right," he said briefly; "go ahead and talk to me."

"Do you wish me to?"

"Yes; I'd rather."

"I don't know exactly what to say."

"Say anything," he returned absently, selecting a flat brush with a very
long handle.

She thought a moment, then, lifting her eyes:

"I might ask you your name."

"What? Don't you know it? Oh, Lord! Oh, Vanity! I thought you'd heard of
me."

She blushed, confused by her ignorance and what she feared was annoyance
on his part; then perceived that he was merely amused; and her face
cleared.

"We folk who create concrete amusement for the public always imagine
ourselves much better known to that public than we are, Miss West. It's
our little vanity--rather harmless after all. We're a pretty decent lot,
sometimes absurd, especially in our tragic moments; sometimes emotional,
usually illogical, often impulsive, frequently tender-hearted as well as
supersensitive.

"Now it was a pleasant little vanity for me to take it for granted that
somehow you had heard of me and had climbed twelve flights of stairs for
the privilege of sitting for me."

He laughed so frankly that the shy, responsive smile made her face
enchanting; and he coolly took advantage of it, and while exciting and
stimulating it, affixed it immortally on the exquisite creature he was
painting.

"So you didn't climb those twelve flights solely for the privilege of
having me paint you?"

"No," she admitted, laughingly, "I was merely going to begin at the top
and apply for work all