Amateur  critics  looked  knowingly  through
half-shut  eyes,  and  spoke  in  disparage-
ment, fearful  of  approving  something  that
another  might  condemn.
Helen  came  very  early,  in  her  little
worn  jacket  and  the  old  bonnet.  Howard
Stanton  accompanied  her.  They  climbed
the  steps  in  eager  excitement,  and  pushed
almost  rudely  through  the  crowd  to  find
the  picture.
"  Oh ! "  said  Howard  with  a  sigh  of
satisfaction.  "  That's  great !  "


A  Puritan  Bohemia  133

In  the  choicest  bit  of  wall-space,  just
opposite  the  entrance  to  the  inner  room,
hung  "Art  and  Need."  Something  in  its
style  had  impressed  strongly  the  presiding
committee.  They  had  given  it  a  place  of
honour.  Anne  Bradford's  little  picture
had  been  assigned  to  the  darkest  corner.
Coming  in  from  the  outer  room,  one
saw  "Art  and  Need"  full  in  the  light  of
the  roof-window,  a  miracle  of  opalescent
colour,  with  the  beautiful  sleeping  woman
in  the  shadow  of  suggested  trees.  Even
the  hands  and  the  arms  were  drowsy,  and
the  white  fingers  slept.
Helen  gazed  in  silence.  People  crowded
past,  pushed  her  hat  awry,  stepped  on  her
foot,  but  she  did  not  know  it.  Her  eyes
were  moist  when  she  raised  them  to
Howard  Stanton's.
"  I  am  so  glad  !  "  she  whispered.
He  bent  his  head  to  listen,  and  laughed
excitedly.
"  It's  rather  better  than  I  expected,  as  the
old  gentleman  said  when  he  went  to  heaven.
Won't  you  come  over  here  and  sit  down  ?  "


134  A   Puritan  Bohemia

He  found  a  chair  for  Helen,  and  stood
leaning  over  the  back.
The  artist  had  been  right.  His  picture
meant  many  things  to  many  people.
"  It  must  be  Cleopatra,"  said  one  lady,
who  had  not  examined  the  catalogue.
