Arthur Stanwood Pier

“ They climbed the steps and stood at the top beside the new statue, the little Cupid; he was drawing an arrow from his quiver and smiling as if at a destined victim. Yet there was nothing knowing in the smile; he was not a sophisticated young godlet, he was a plump and charming and happy little boy. Madelaine stood looking at him with soft eyes, and Herbert stood looking at Madelaine.
"You do make adorable children," she said. "It's queer you should, being a man." ”

“ He was as good-looking as Madelaine had said, and he came strolling down the garden path with what seemed to Herbert the unconscious grace of a triumphant bank president.
"Hello, Herbert; how are you, old man?" Joe's greeting was cordial—tainted, however, Herbert thought, with a subtle hospitality. Business men had such a way of slipping comfortably into the most ecstatic human relations and taking them as a matter of course. ”

“ What's the use of being a sculptor if you can't get at the meaning of lines and curves? Besides—your kindness; no really kind person ever lacked in feeling. The way you stood and talked the other day to the gardener's little girl—while she stood off in the grass with her finger in her mouth and giggled in joy and fright—I saw the smile on your lips and the twinkle in your eyes and I thought you were the sweetest and most human creature I ever saw. ”

“ Really, Madelaine, I love you just because you 're so loving—even though you don't know it."
She shook her head. "It would be nice to hear such things if only I could believe them. But I'm afraid you 're mistaken in me. I wonder what I ought to do; I wonder if I ought n't to refuse to see you any more. It might be happier for you—"
He laughed. "If you'd just keep conscience out of this! It's the thing that keeps feeling the pulse. Some time there's going to be an explosion and conscience is going right up through the ceiling." ”

“ She had spoken of "one other," and Herbert knew well enough it was Joe. And bank presidents and business men were such forceful persons, always having things their own way.
When the next morning came and still no word, anxiety and gloom gave place to stern resentment. Very well; if she thought he would be Old Dog Tray, she would find herself mistaken. He would wait a little longer, and then perhaps he would write her a cutting note. It would be cold, polite, dignified. Dignity, that was it; because he was a sculptor, an artist, and not a bank president, she probably thought he had no dignity. ”

“ And you 'll never do anything that's really right until you let yourself go and do it. See here, Madelaine, we 're getting on in life—at least I am. Now a man can't be eternally making sheep's eyes at a woman and a woman can't be eternally holding her pulse and wondering if she cares about the man. Did you ever read 'The Statue and the Bust'? Much better for us to take a chance and find we must throw the dishes at each other, than to prolong an existence of utter, fatuous futility. ”

“ Then he went in search of Madelaine, but found only her mother. Madelaine had gone motoring with Joe Morrison, who was making them a visit. So, without mentioning the subject of his errand—for the garden after all was Madelaine's, not her mother's—Herbert returned across the lake. He felt rather dispirited; but he consoled himself by anticipating Madelaine's glad cries through the telephone when she returned from her drive and made the discovery. In fact, the rest of that day he did not go to his studio, because it was too far from the telephone. ”

“ From the opposite shore a motor-boat was putting forth on the lake. Madelaine watched it until she was sure that it was making for the foot of her steps—not that she had, for even a moment, been in much doubt about that. Then she decided that whatever else she did, she must not appear to be watching and waiting. It would be better to be energetic and go after the knitting. And when Herbert entered the garden a few minutes later, she was seated under the plum tree, engaged in the manufacture of a red and brown waistcoat. ”

“ Herbert gave a moody assent.
"Joe's very good-looking," she continued. "I was struck by it yesterday, and I thought, 'What a fine subject for a sculptor.' Notice his head especially and see if you don't think it is quite magnificent. I'm sure that if you got him to sit for you, you'd find him a good subject for inspiring the—the big thing."
"I should n't wonder. He's an able man certainly and a good fellow."
Herbert strove to speak with enthusiasm, but there was a deadness in his voice. When he raised his eyes, Madelaine was looking down the path towards the new statue. ”

“ Personally I never could understand why or how any girl should fall in love with any man,—we are all so terribly unattractive. I should think a certain degree of possession was necessary before a man could ever convince a girl that she loved him. ”

“ None came, and he repaired to his studio, thinking that in work he might forget his disappointment. But work interested him less than speculation; he would pause to debate with himself from what windows of Madelaine's house the new statue could be seen, what were the chances that any one house-bound by the rain would be drawn to those windows, what were the probabilities that even on such a rainy day some one would not venture into the garden—and so on. Perhaps she did n't telephone because of a mistaken idea that such informality of acknowledgment would seem unappreciative ”

“ You know that when you announce your anxiety to engage in serious important discussion with me, you compel me to hold forth on my one serious important topic. Very well, since you insist, let's begin; my work must suffer."
"You don't deserve to be anything as nice as a stock-broker. You ought to be a lawyer. ”

“ Don't you know how all the most attractive college boys, the ones with eager eyes and clean-cut chins, go into brokers' officers, to lead useful and remunerative lives? And they always wear such becoming, well-fitting clothes—just like you. ”

“ Herbert jolted the receiver back upon the hook. That was so gratuitous!
However, Joe was not visible when he stepped out of his motor-boat, and Madelaine was. In fact she came tripping down the steps to meet him—bareheaded and with a bunch of sweet peas in her belt.
"Oh," she said, "you don't know what a surprise it gave me. I came out into the garden after breakfast, and at first I did n't notice it, and then suddenly it seemed to jump at me. I stood for a moment, and then I ran to look at it; oh, I think it's ever so much better than the little girl. It's beautiful, it is really. ”

“ She dropped into the seat under the plum tree, and picking out one of the roses swayed it musingly back and forth beneath her nose.
"I should think a bank would be a very heavy responsibility for a man as young as Joe," she observed. ”

“ And I can't qualify for the first—I don't believe I have it in me to love any one. I think 1 must be just a cold, unemotional person; I don't believe I shall ever have the slightest feeling for any one outside of my own family. ”