Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1873-08-30

| old homestead and; the cottage, all was
sunshine and happiness. The dark
cloud had passed away.
ROSA BONHEUR AND HER TIGER.
When L heard the other day that Rosa
Bonheur had at length finished her great
painting, "1he Tiger,I upon which she
has been at work for nearly thirteen
months, and which she herself has etfe-
quently pronounced her chef-d'Ga0re. i
took the first train for FOntainbleau in
order to pay the great female painter a
visit, and to see what could not but be Il
rare work OF art. When / had been at
her villa before, in 1916, had received a
pressing invitation to see her again. So
1 knew that my visit would not be alto
getheri unweleome. =s +iiR 81 -ls-l=
Itwas raining when reached the villa
which lies within a stones throw from
the railway depot; and, when [ entered
Mile Bonheur's sitting-room, she was
there in Waterproof cloak ready to go
out; but she would not hear of it when
expressed my regrets at having come
at so inopportane amomenb and offered
| to repeat my visit some other time when
| she would be more at leisure. fas- @
| ooh, no, nor' she said, ssyou do not
disturb me at all. l was just going to
visit my animals; and, as see you have
an umbrella, why not accompany me.
| will show you my pets.2l g. fe. -.s.,i. ;
Everybody knows that Mile Bon
heur is not only a great painter, but also
great lover of animals; aud that she
has spent no small portion of her for
tune in purchasing ii ne horses, magnifi-
cent cows, curious looking sheep and
! goats, and the like. In. effect, she has
quisea menagerie; and there is, perhaps,
no place in the world where cattle are
so well taken care of, so well fed, SO
snuslv quartered, as in the stable of the
| Villa Bonheur. Mile Bonheur does not
| show these animal treasures to every
body, and hence L accepted her offer
with explicable eagerness-s.s sua re-.
| While we were crossing the garden in
| the rear of the villa, told her what had
brought me to her. =....i-s3 ass
! s'You want to see my tiger?' she eX-
claimed, merrilv. s'Well, l have two
OF them-one alive in a cage, and the
other, his portrait on. canvass. You
shall see the former first, and then you
will he better able to Judge the latter" .
| This was quite revelation to me
Mile Bonheur had added the most ter
rible OF Quadrupeds to her menagerie
which had hitherto contained only rep
resentatives from the peaceful realms OF
pastures. But she had undertaken to
paint the monarch of the jungle, and sc
She had to study him very carefully
Mile Bonheur led me, i'll the first place
to curious structure standing in front
OF the stables, from which curious CON
cert of animal voices was resounding.
| Pointing to the oblong pavilion, which
seemed to be built almost entirely oi
iron and glass. she said:
''There is my tiger"
We entered the pavilion. and beheld
in the largest and most comfortable cage
in which a wild beast, perhaps, ever was
incarcerated-a superb Bengal tiger
| What a magnificent animal it was
Nothing could be more regular and beau
titul than its striped skin; nothing more
terrible than its tail, deadly claws, Its
head with the eyes dreamy and hall
closed. z-.s4 ,ss...... .st-.
Involuntarily L uttered an exelama.
ton of admiration as gazed upon the
tiger, which was lazily stretched out
and hardly seemed to notice our ar.
rival.
s'Is not Nero beautiful ?'' asked MILE
Bonheur, with evident pride.
9 '.Does he know you?,' L said.
WYATT Il moment"
She Stepped close up to the cage.
!. s.Nero!" she SAID TO the tiger.
4 Nero opened his eyes, then rose slowly
to his feet, approached the crate, and
with a shocking lack Of gallantry, in
dulged i'll yaWn, during which he dis
played the most formidable teeth evel
saw in my life. .... -..s..a.... -.
Mile Bonheur addressed few kint
words to him. Nero acknowledged
them by moving his tail, and 1 believe
, if tiger can smile, he tried to do SO
ffrhe:: he uttered a low roar.
.-Do you know what that means p
, asked Mile Bonheur.
; l confessed that L did not.
''Nero is begging.''
il IA tiger begging?" r-
II "Yes he knows tlIat never come t.
: him empty-handed." /" s-
= Nero's mistress took a small iron spi
from the wall, and went to the end o
l. the passage i'll trout of the cage. Ther
t was an iron box there, and from it sh
, took with a spit a rather large piece o
meat. Gray 'e-
: The tiger, meanwhile, had become al
, attention. He followed every motion O
his mistress with his eyes, and when sh
r stepped up to the railing in front of tia
d cage, and handed him the piece of meal
he snatched i. away from the spit an
] devoured it i'll a second. ...
= ''Now you will see how amiable Ner
h is," said Mile Eonheur to me. ...-
ga tiger amiable!'' <..s.s .-l
y Yes; he knows that is all he will ge
D now, for it is not feeding time; and b
t will not beg for any more meat"
In fact, Nero did not manifest an
craving for meat. He quietly lay dow
V again, and seemed to fall into a tioze.
n care you not sometimes afraid of th
d tiger?' L enquired. s.l.t.-.-.
S1At first Won mny imnuina I vas oI
replied; ''but now am no longer S,
e On the contrary, 1 sometimes feel
Il strange desire to enter his cage.'' =s
r j could not repress an exclamation !,
e horror. t.--.'. ..l.
l. Il tell you the truth" she said, ser
1t ously, 81 believe he would not hurt M
l. Nay, lam almost sure he loves me.H
/ "What singular lover," | said, an
d she joined in my hearty laugh. ~, e.
le Mile Bonheur then told me how 81
se had managed to obtain her Nero, wh
she proudly said, was by far the fine
re tiger in France, ii not in Europe. Wht
ss she resolved to paint tiger, few yea
l ago, she resolved also to purchase on
~ However, none of the specimens 81
s. could have bought in Paris suited he
and one da,- she heard from NJ. Alfr
lis Assolant that the proprietor of a mena
er erie at Blois, named Sentcns
expressed his willingness to s,
We her the tiger, but here an unexpect
no obstacle arose. NJ. Sentenac had a YOU
ut daughter, an only child, who was pa
sionately attached to Nero. They h
m received the latter as a mere cub, a
vn the girl had then nursed him like a bat
I'M No wonder that she protested against t
IA sale OF the tiger; and as Senten,
ng though not afraid of lions and tige
rs was not proof agains the tears and prs
erslof his daughter, Rosa Bouheur cal
near being told that she could not ha
ze, Nero. But she Is u shrewd little WON
led and findinx ont that M,lla Santanoo I,