r, I'm so proud." And she threw her arms ecstatically about
his neck.

Eugene kissed her affectionately. He was not thinking so much of her
though as he was of Kellner and Son--their great exhibit room, the
appearance of these twenty-seven or thirty great pictures in gold
frames; the spectators who might come to see; the newspaper criticisms;
the voices of approval. Now all his artist friends would know that he
was considered a great artist; he was to have a chance to associate on
equal terms with men like Sargent and Whistler if he ever met them. The
world would hear of him widely. His fame might go to the uttermost parts
of the earth.

He went to the window after a time and looked out. There came back to
his mind Alexandria, the printing shop, the Peoples' Furniture Company
in Chicago, the Art Students League, the _Daily Globe_. Surely he had
come by devious paths.

"Gee!" he exclaimed at last simply. "Smite and MacHugh'll be glad to
hear this. I'll have to go over and tell them."

CHAPTER VII

The exhibition which followed in April was one of those things which
happen to fortunate souls--a complete flowering out before the eyes of
the world of its feelings, emotions, perceptions, and understanding. We
all have our feelings and emotions, but lack the power of
self-expression. It is true, the work and actions of any man are to some
degree expressions of character, but this is a different thing. The
details of most lives are not held up for public examination at any
given time. We do not see succinctly in any given place just what an
individual thinks and feels. Even the artist is not always or often
given the opportunity of collected public expression under conspicuous
artistic auspices. Some are so fortunate--many are not. Eugene realized
that fortune was showering its favors upon him.

When the time came, M. Charles was so kind as to send for the pictures
and to arrange all the details. He had decided with Eugene that because
of the vigor of treatment and the prevailing color scheme black frames
would be the best. The principal exhibition room on the ground floor in
which these paintings were to be hung was heavily draped in red velvet
and against this background the different pictures stood out
effectively. Eugene visited the show room at the time the pictures were
being hung, with Angela, with Smite and MacHugh, Shotmeyer and others.
He had long since notified Norma Whitmore and Miriam Finch, but not