I was soon back at my painting, working on a street scene for the winter art exhibit. It was a 22 x 16 inch oil of Bartmer Avenue with the pavement shaded by trees that were slightly autumn-tinted. I do not know what member of my family got this one. It was a companion piece to the sunny one I have hanging in my livingroom at the Gatesworth. The painting was hung in the exhibit in November.

Good news came in the fall. Lionel Chambers had been sent to Jefferson City to serve as pardon attorney under Governor Hadley. This was a difficult position but one for which he was well fitted because of his kindly nature, his experience in the Missouri Pacific office looking into injury cases and visiting the homes of the "under dog." Many of the prisoners in the penitentiary had been there for several years because their crimes and what had caused then had not been thoroughly investigated. Lionel Chambers went into all sorts of places on highways, etc., to visit relatives of these people to study the conditions that had gotten the prisoners into trouble. It sometimes took weeks to get enough evidence to prove a prisoner should get a pardon. He won the trust and confidence of many of these people who would help him learn the backgrounds of some of the cases.

I enjoyed the Artists' Guild again and was asked to serve on the jury for the big exhibit early in December. My Bartmer Avenue picture was hung. There were some interesting new members in the Guild whom I liked. In one of Hunt Allen's letters he referred to our evening chess games on the boat. He wished I were not so far away so we could have a game now and then. As his letters became more frequent and more intimate, I went through a period of questioning myself. My letters were always quite matter-of-fact and impersonal. Father had let me see more of Lionel Chambers but had often told me that I should see more of men who could do more for me. Here was a man who could fulfill all of this. Should I give up all hope of marrying Lionel and encourage the attentions of this fine rich man?? After he had dinner with us on that Sunday in September my parents made few comments about him except about his pleasant manners and intelligent conversation. They knew that as far as personal appearance and charm of manner were concerned these two men could not be compared.

I did not write to Mr. Chambers after he became Pardon Attorney in Jefferson City. However, when Governor Hadley (who was often ill) sent Lionel to St. Louis to represent the Governor at the laying of a cornerstone, we nearly always talked with each other or had a date of some kind. On these visits he would tell me the latest news from his Falfurrias land. He had had the land thoroughly fenced. He told me about the pleasant people he had met in Jefferson City. One was Eleanor Evans Claggett whom I had known at Mary Institute.