he went to the window and gazed out at the neighborhood.

ruby watched him with interest. his movements were pleasing to her. she felt at home in his company—as though she were going to like him very much. it was so easy to talk to him. there were the classes, her studio work, his own career, this neighborhood, to give her a feeling of congeniality with him.

"are there many big studios in chicago?" he asked when they finally got around to that phase of her work. he was curious to know what the art life of the city was.

"no, not so very many—not, at least, of the good ones. there are a lot of fellows who think they can paint."

"who are the big ones?" he asked.

"well, i only know by what i hear artists say. mr. rose is pretty good. byam jones is pretty fine on genre subjects, so they say. walter low is a good portrait painter, and so is manson steele. and let's see—there's arthur biggs—he does landscapes only; i've never been in his studio; and finley wood, he's another portrait man; and wilson brooks, he does figures—oh! i don't know, there are quite a number."