The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-05-05


The door opened. A man, old, tall,
thin, dressed in black, appeared on the
Threshold. This mans physiognomy,
his eyes brought almost close together,
his large nose, resembling. an eagles
beak, surmounted by high, long fore
head, had something severe In the ex-
preston. He bowed to me gravely.
an. Christian Venins, the painter"
said he.
"That is my name Monsieur"
Lille bowed again, adding:
Baron Frederick Van Spreckdal!"
The apparition in my poor apartment
of the rich amateur Van Spreckdal,
Judge Of the Criminal Court, made a
vivid impression on me. l could not
help casting a stealthy glance over my
old worm-eaten furniture, on my damp
curtains, and dusty floor. / felt humili-
ated at such sorry appearance, but Van
Spreckdal appeared to pay no attention
to these details, and sitting down near
my. little table, he said:
master Venins, / come"
But at that moment his eyes caught
sight of my unfinished sketch, and he
did not finish his phrase. sat down on
heNedge of my pallet, and the sudden
attention which this parsonage accorded
Ito one of nv productions made my heart
beat with indefinable apprehension.
At the end of a minute, Van Spreckdal
raised his head
care you the author of this sketch!"
said he, regarding me attentively.
Eyes, Monsieur.
what is the price of it!"
Il do not sell my sketches it is the
subject of a picture"
ooh" said he, raising the paper with
his long yellow fingers.
He took Tense from his vest pocket
and began to study the design in silence
The sun penetrated the chamber oblique-
| ". Van Spreckdal did not utter a word;
his large nose was for the moment trans
formed into cloud; his heavy eyebrows
were contracted, and his turned-up chin
dug Thousand little burrows in his long,
thin cheeks. The silence was so pro-
found that | distinctly heard the plain
tive humming of fly which had been
captured in spiders web. ~
'And the size of this picture, Master
Venins?" said he, without looking at me.
"Three feet by four"
"The price,
Fifty ducats"
Van Spreckdal replaced the design on
the table, and drew from his pocket a
long green silk purse; he slipped the
rings to one end of it.
Fifty ducats," said he; "herc they
are
was daZzled.
The baron rose, and bowling to me, |
heard his ivory-headed cane strike each
step to the very bottom of the stairs
Then, aroused from my stupor, suddenly
remembered that had not thanked him.
and i rushed down the five flights of
stairs like one demented, but when
reached the threshold of the door, it was
in vain that | looked to the right and
left; the street was deserted,
"Well!' said / to myself, "this is very
funny
And / reascended the stairs, complete
ly ont of breath
The surprising manner i'll which Van
Spreekdal had appeared to me threw me
into a profound ecstacy. Yesterday"
said ], contemplating the pile of ducats
sparkling in the sunshine, yesterday |
formed the guilty design Of cutting my
throat for few miserable tlorins, and
to-day fortune has fallen to me from
the clouds Decidedly did right not to
open my razor, and if ever | am subject
ed to like temptation, will take care to
put off the execution of it till the next
day
After these judicious reflections | sat
down to finish my sketch Fonr strokes
of the pencil and it would he done But
here something incomprehensib!e oc-
Cured These four strokes of the pencil
it was impossible to give: | had lost che
thread of my inspiration. | could not
evoke the mysterious parsonage from my
brain. II was in vain | sketched and
rubbed out-the murderer i drew ac-
corded no more with the rest of the pic
ture than one of Raphael's figures in a
smoking room of Teniers. The perspi-
ration rolled down my face in large
drops
TO BE CONTINUED.