"  I  got  hold  of  some  good  ideas  among


22  A   Puritan   Bohemia

the  London  Socialists.  There's  a  move-
ment afoot  for  the  popularization  of  art.
It  is  indirectly  the  work  of  Ruskin.  After
I  came  home  I  taught  a  year,  just  to  send
the  message  on."

Anne  lifted  her  eyebrows.
"  You  have  a  new  theory  ? "

"  I  have,"  he  answered.  "  Moreover,
I've  got  a  commission,  to  design  frescoes
for  a  room  in  the  City  Hall."

"  Here  ?  "  cried  Anne  eagerly.  Then
she  corrected  her  manner.
"You  have  been  very  successful.  I
saw  notices  of  your  two  Salon  pictures.
Why  did  the  Art  Review  call  you  an
impressionist  ? "

"  It's  a  perfectly  harmless  term,  as  it
doesn't  mean  anything."

"  You  always  were  something  of  an  im-
pressionist in  temperament ! "

Howard  changed  the  subject  abruptly.
He  had  come  to  bespeak  Miss  Bradford's
interest  in  a  pupil  of  his,  Miss  Wistar,  now
at  the  Rembrandt  Studios.  Anne  politely
promised  to  call.
A  Puritan  Bohemia  23

The  difficulties  of  finding  their  bearings
in  these  new  waters  increased.  They
talked  of  Hazleton,  of  their  childhood,  of
the  water-colour  exhibition.  Finally  they
drifted  into  a  half-merry  quarrel  over  theo-
ries of  work.  Once  again  the  old,  boyish,
emphatic  manner  broke  through  the  new
reserve.
"  Realism  !  There's  nothing  in  it,  French
realism  anyway,  but  impure  taste  and  false
accuracy."

The  caller  accepted  with  apparent  inter-
est an  invitation  to  come  again.  In  the
street  he  fell  to  thinking.
"Anne  has  not  changed  in  the  least,
but  she  looks  tired.  She  has  been  work-
ing too  hard.  And  her  father's  death  was
hard  for  her."

He  had  not  expected  the  reminder  of
old  days  to  be  so  poignant.
