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BY ELISE WILLIAMSON
Clrrh1Jt11lQ 110 York Herald Co All rlrhn rcrL
1 Ti OW New tell us who Is Rolllno I do
66
mnnded
And how did you know about him
asked Mary Maxwell
j
And how far Is the place from here
cried L I hope It Is miles away I simply adore
to ride In a taxicab
Ouo poor mant groaned Ned against so many
j
Oh tell us Ned I urn nil cars
Well once upon a time began Ned solemnly I
was In Paris
This promises to bo Interesting laughed Mary
Maxwell
And I went to the Hotel Grande lo dine I had a
most particular reason In wishing to dine at the Hotel
Grande
One always docs hncln Paris murmured
Mary Maxwell
At the Hotel Grande Ned continued undis
i turbed because of one liollino chef in chief artist
and philosopher who had gathered all his poesy and
wisdom Into a divine liquid fit only for the gods but
waved for the delectation of mnn at the Hotel
Grande
But It wns In Parts that LJind occasion to know
I
Rolllno There wns a certain artists club to which a
friend of mine belonged The very one who has his
studio In Macdougal alley where we will go Inter I
used to go with this friend to little dinners at the
I
club on red letter days when Rolllno iad consented
to net as chef Oh those culinary masterpieces
There Is but one Rolllno And having prepared the
dinner he would sit with us at table in the queer lit
tle black skull cap he nlwnys wore and the big chefs
apron and hold his own with the repnrtco too
He speaks several languages has served In the
Italian army ns an officer and went en tour around
the world with the suite of the present King of
Italy then PrInce of Naples In the rolo of head
steward master of ceremonies chef In cblern a
word just Rolllno
Ned this enthusiasm from you Is most uuusunl
Just you wait and fee Ned admonished If
ever there wns a man with the heart of n gentleman
It Is Rolllno
Well My curiosity nlmost reconcIles me to get
ting out of the taxi Where Is the place 1 asked Dot
Down In West Ninth street
We were now spinning along the Great White Way
Dot was In n state of high excitement over the Bon
Hur chariot race done In electrics to advertise The
chauffeur must pretend that something was wrong
with the car while she looked at It and she quite
resented the intermission which Is allowed for the
homes to rest
But there were other thing In sight equally
thrilllug Our theatre for Instance there lu Fortj
flfth street where Mary Maxwell wns now playing
nndi where Dot hnd appeared for one blissful week
I In n deep thinking part and where only the night
before sbo hnd signed for her first salary a modest
sum of 25 which was JIH yet too precious to be
broken
She had come home her face looking like a sun
beam because the mnnngor himself had told her that
she thought her pnrt Intelligently and with n good
reuse < > f comedy She had boon given the understudy
to the Ingenue of whom she was most hopeful despite
that young persons dlstnibblugly robust slate of
health
Still you never can tell when nn accident may
happen was her cheerful view of time situation
At last we arrived at Rolllnos modest old red
bilik house utterly unpretentious of all that Ned
claimed for It A short tllght of stops invited us to
the door upon which a well polished brims plate
marked It for the Hotel Rolllno But to my surprise
Nod led us to the basement entrance where he pulled
upon an old fashioned knob bell that went tinkling
lu the faroff regions The Iron gate at the entrance
was painted a dark cool green as were the gratings
at the windows where white muslin cuHalus hung
Bright contoured nasturtiums grew Just outside
But now Maria opened the door to us She smiled
4 a welcome She rcmcmbored to be sure
We were nil forthwith presented to Mnrln She
would tell Mbisa Itolllno who would see us In Jus
a III whllo Mlasa Rollluo being her lord and master
1 We stepped from the narrow hull into the lIul lIt ol
low celled rooms It held Just live small round tables
A
There was nn old fashioned gilt framed mirror be
tween the length of the two windows Around the
wnlls WIll arranged a frieze of framed pictures copies
of old world masterpieces photos of famous groups of
sculpture from beloved Italia
There were several original sketches signed for
Rollluo by the artist In u spirit of bon camaraderie In
memory of happy nights at the round table so Ned
explained to us
And now appeared Rolllno himself In his big whitE
apron and little black Rkull cap and flowing Windsor
tie lie was tall and rather thin with a gentle al
most shy countenance But one recognized Immedi
ately a personality one of those human creatures that
are selfsufficient n law unto themselves u centre of
force that attracts subconsciously Rollino easily dom
inated his establishment and the Interests of his
guests
The Caruso Sketch
He took us Into the nest room which wns his
kitchen and spotlessly clean A narrow table
t stretched across the centre of the room upon which
Shops gossiping and enjoying the soft spring air
Children swarmed the streets shrieking at games of
tag The Inevitable hurdygurdy was wheeling ou
Its merry tune while the twinkling feet of small gIrl
dinccd In abandonment of complete and unconscious
Joy
Suddenly we halted
Vft arc now at the entrance to Mncdougnl alloy
Ned announced Impressively
I peered Into the gloom that wns lighted at odd In
ten als hy old time hostlery lamps of large proportion
In which were ancient gas jots that emitted a Dicker
ing light At the far end which was easily In view
stood a tnll wooden wall upon the top of which the
branches of trees leaned lazily
Whut Is Itt I asked
Look upon either side What do you tee de
manded Ned I
J
1
i
p S
A 1 j
were inviting dishes In various stages of preparation
Across one end of the kitchen was one enormous
range and from thepots and pans upon It there Issued
delectable and savory odors
Rolllno would break off the conversation abruptly
to stir some mysterious but utterly satisfying concoc
tion or to baste a delicately browned fowl hi the
great oven
lIe conducted us above stairs to his salon
This Is the place of the music ho explained On
feast days usually at Christmas and Easter he gives
n dinner to his friends many of the Metropolitan
singers Calve always when she Is In New York and
It Is just possible thnJCarmcn has been song at
Rolllnos as never yet at the Metropolitan
And Caruso comes yew Caruso too In the old
days tbero was for Cnruso no one like Rollliio but
Caruso has clint so high lie Is so much engage not
often he can come It Is to be expec Life drifts us
all apart
Then his eyed liuigh Not so long ago Caruso drew
a sketch of uic Ho make much fun at me to cook
with my pipe
He allowed us the sketch It was a clever bit or
caricature to make ono smile
1 turned to speak to Rolllno but he had disappeared
doubtless back to Hint savory pot that promised such
good things
Ve returned to the llrst room below and found our
table reserved Then there followed such n dinner
ax I may ucwr hope ngnln to emit Nod had whispered
of our coming mid Kollluo hid striven to recall to him
the old days la Paris For myself I needed no en
chantment of the long ago to assist ruy appreciation
of what was set before me and its fur as I could bee
Dot and Mary Maxwell felt the same way
It appeared that the artist to whoso studio Ned
was going to take us bad been the friend of the Hound
Table Club In Pads t > o now at Neds suggestion
Rollinn prepared to go along with us The White npron
was removed but the skull cap went along niid on his
arm a small covered basket
The zabaglione we will have there he announced
I did not know what the zabaglione was but If It
was up to the standard of the other things I was for It
We started and for n time wound about In a laby
rinth of narrow Greenwich streets Men and women
eat In chairs upon the sidewalks In front of their
i S < J iJ
Well I see n group of what appears to be college
bred stables said Mary Mnxwell
Ned laughed You have about hit It rher were
originally stables but now are glorified by Ait having
been converted Into artists studios
Not really gasped Dot
Really they are
I felt as though I had stepped Into the pages of a
book Each studio hnd In truth been glorllicd Great
doors of natural wood with old brass knockers and
window boxes of flowers redeemed them from the
ouggcstlon of their lowly origin In front of one a
bay tree Uourlshod and from across the wall now
drifted the fresh spring scent of early apple blos
soms We came to n door that stood alluringly ajar From
within came n soft radiance that I felt to be candlo
light and I was right for to my delight Ned opened
wide the door for us to ciUcr
Such n curious room It was barbaric It was
Knstein but most of nil It possessed the bare aud
simple dignity of nn ancient Norse dwelling the
throne room of some old Norwcglnn King Above
the mantle wns nn enormous painting of Thor tho
Norwegian Thunder God
Time few phew of furniture woic of lack walnut a
magnificent tiger skin was Hung upon n chair three
others were upon the floor Upon ono wall and
framed hung a Perslnu rug which Judging from Its
onmmuutul position I Inferred was mnny birthdays
old lii one dim corner stood n battle steed In regalia
of heavy rose silk trappings and mounted upou him
the figure of a Japanese feudal prince In full armorS
4P Sigurd Sigismundson
There were three very old Greek vases and near the
of beaten from old
door an Incense burner gold om some
Hindoo temple
I was drawn toward n low table to examine n mar
vollously perfect crystal held In a dragons clnw It
was of Japanese workmanship I was surprised at
sight of a certain small book that lay near it n 1 very
S
old copy of Shelloys poems the facslmlln of one that
I Possessed It had been given to me by an old ninn
whom I had befriended once In need an old man who
from hLs npponrnnce might himself have been some
Norwegian noble
But where was our host
The draperies were pushed aside and tbcio stood
f
Sigurd Sigismundson He gave one look at my
V
f startled face and came forward smiling
t You sec I took you at your word and here we are
It was Ncda voice
i I was so astonished that I merely acknowledged
the Introduction without mentioning the fact that I
hud seen Sigurd SIgLsmundson before Besides It
would not have been easy to explain that 1 had seen
him but three times In my life the last upon the roof
of our npartmcnt and had held converse with him
i without benefit of Introductionbut yet that the sound
of his voice was as the music of the stnrs singing
III my soul
Rollino declared that he would mix the zabaglione
and wo declared that we would watch the ceremony
I was the last In leaving Sigurd dropped the portiere
In front of me smilingly
It Is cooler here he said Wont you sit down 1
< r T
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r f M
v y r
g I did not know that It wns hrOllr nHII1 we were
X
joining 1 explained Iiuiilcdly N
So I saw by your face Neither did I know that it
1
it was you whom Nod was to bring its a queer
J i
I world
v I gnzcd about the loom with new Interest
1 So jou are an artlsla painter
That Tniu not Only today I came to this conclu
V sion he siullud nt me with his inscrutable smile
What I icall am Little Wise One is a seeker after
time 1lIth
Which mwiiis thai you are too lazy to develop your
natural tulent for painting 4
lie dr w forth the iiiovltublc cigarette I nodded
permisslou foV him to smoke I moved about rest
Itwsly v
Come and sit down he said and 1 obeyed him
He stood leaning against the mantel and looking down
nl me t
13m going to tell you a story Little Wise One
Perhaps you can understand On < i e lone ago In Nor
way there was n painter who hnd a very great talent
nnd n very beautiful wife usually n most satisfying
comblnntlon or blesings But in his case the wife
wns not exactly a blssh She broke hls life m1
well nigh killed his creative force She did not monuo
to do this It was Just her nature to destroy Then
after she had wrought this havoc In his life she bore
him n son In whose heart was nil the agony of mnlmed
creative desire from the father with Just enough of
the mothers uature 1 = o that the children of his brain
should always he stillborn
Sigurd drew toward him n small brass tray nnd r
carefully knocked the ashes from his cigarette Into It
I waited In silence for him to g o on
Several years ago the son went to Pnris Soon
after for somo reason the parents quarrelled bitterly
and separated The father gave her everything as ho
bad always done and he himself taught painting for a
living Then the mother died suddenly and when the
son J returned Norway the father had gone away
leaving no message But he Is not dead lie is some
wfiorc In tho world and you see the son wants him
needs him thinks thnt perhaps they two together
might after all conquer the mothers Influence Do
you see
s
Yes I see T answered But you could conquer
alone Sigurd If you would even though you never
found your father If only you would light hard
enough
lIe Tnoked nt me strangely We heard the others
returning
Do you believe that Little Wise Ono Perhaps I
could win If you would help mo if you will believe
In me
Listen If I win out within the next three months
will you marry me
Sigurd I put him away with my two hand but
his arms were about me
Will you 1 he whispered
Yes I gasped Oh for I received n most un
satisfactory kiss somewhere in the neighborhood of
my car and hnd Just had time to become Intensely in
terested iu the llindoo incense burner when in came
Rolllno and the rest bearing the zabaglione In triumph
and well they may hare borne It sc It rioted some
thing like nn eggnog hot only it was much more deli
calc because it was made with Marsala wine
Wo drank to liollino long life and prosperity
which as Sigurd explained was but another way ol
drinking io art since without Rollino many a Strug
gliiigyomip artist would have gone without a much u
needed meal perhaps so many meals that the struggle
would not have seemed worth while
Rollluo was much embarrassed at such allusion In
fact < denied nil knowledge of such good deeds
So we drank again to Rolllno the kind and generous
one the music loving who like that poctsohlTer
Cyrano de Bcrgerac bas ever been but the prompter
In the shadow yet who can say with the Gnscony
cadet It Is well I nm content
I
Now our taxicab arrived and we clambered in Rol
llno declining to be driven borne He had some en
gagement elsewhere he declared
You arc not leaving soon Ned Sigurd asked
Tomonow Ned replied gazing dolefully at Mary
I
Maxwell But I shall return In a weeks lime ho
added more hopefully and I think that business will
I
detain mo here for about three mouths
1 IIJ
A Ib I rut HIm AWJJ uta My Tfts
y HinJt hu HJj Anna Ven
J Atouw fIc
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fJ
i I
Much may happen In three months I remarked to
7 It no ono in particular We may all be transported to I
UI benven i who known
I F have a horrible premonition that L shall be for tl
one Sigurd smiled Into my eyes
Why what on earth arc you two talking about
orlcd Dot
We hnvrnt the least Idea laughed Sigurd HSr
the znbngllone
d