fallin' around his ears, he couldn't be mistaken for anything else. Even
a movie audience would have spotted him as an artist without a leader to
that effect.

Mrs. Hallam Bean was a good runnin' mate for him, for she has her hair
boxed and wears paint-smeared smocks. Only she's a shy actin', quiet
little thing, and real modest. There's no doubt whatever but that she
has decided that F. Hallam is going to be a great painter some day. When
she ain't sayin' as much she's lookin' it; and Hallam, I suspect, is
always ready to make the vote unanimous.

I judged from a few remarks of Mr. Robert's that he wasn't quite as
strong for the Hallams as Mrs. Robert was, but seein' 'em around so much
he couldn't help gettin' more or less interested in the business end of
their career.

"Yes," says he, "they seem to be doing fairly well this summer; but how
about next winter, when they go back to town? You know they can't
possibly sell any of those things. How are they going to keep from
starving?"

Mrs. Robert didn't know. She said she'd mention the matter to F. Hallam.
And she found he wasn't worrying a bit. His plans were vague enough. He
was doing a head of Myrtle--that being Mrs. Bean--which he thought he
might let some magazine have as a cover picture. And then, other things
were bound to turn up. They always had, you know.

But toward the end of the season the Beans got shabbier than ever.
Myrtle's smocks were torn and stained, with a few cigarette burns here
and there, and her one pair of walking boots were run over at the heel
and leaky in the sole. As for Hallam, that velvet coat had so many
grease spots on it that it was hardly fit to wear outside of a stable,
and his rubber-soled shoes gave his toes plenty of air. The Beans
admitted that their finances were down to the zero point and they had to
be asked in for dinner at least three times a week to keep 'em from
bein' blue in the gills.

"Hang it all!" says Mr. Robert, "the fellow ought to have a regular job
of some kind. I suppose he can draw after a fashion. I'll see what I can
do."

And by rustlin' around among his friends he finds one who runs a big
advertisin' agency and can place another man in the art department.
You'd 'most thought F. Hallam would have been tickled four ways at the
prospect of draggin' down a pay envelope reg'lar and being able to look
the rent agent in the face. But say, what does he do but scrape his foot
and wriggle around like he'd been