Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1885-02-04

Like il of course we shall like il. Aunt
Carolina We should like II II 1t were only a
lump of coal And in her tenderness
Eleanor kissed her aunt again and again.
Fifty times on the wedding journey did
we go back to the present, aud wonder what
ii was which was 50 large | was sure il was
a cast of the laocuOn. Eleanor was quite
sure ii was a library bookcase Sometimes
| thought it was the CVciOpTdid Britannica
up to MarplOt, which was Gar rs that
tyrigpGdfI had then gone. Sometimes |
hoped it was La RouSse, which would be
better still At last, after such a fortnight ot
October and red naples, and purple tupelos
and glorious sunsets, and coy reading of
Browning by the tiresidCs of comfortable
inns-atter fourteen days of exquisite life and
happy love, we drove up to the pretty little
house which was to hc our happy home, and
| lifted Eleanor from the buggy. and | said
"WelcOme home. sweetheart and darling"
And she kissed me, and she ran before me
into the house, and she said, "Now we shall
know"
iL-wHAT WE FOUND.
Alas we did know. only too soon
Bridget had lighted up the new parlor for
our reception with the otfulgence of her own
enthusiasm. There was large c,IrCel burn
ing on the centre table. This lamp was
present from Uncle Tristram. On the man.
tel were two bronze branches in which she
had placed four red wax candles. and she
had lighted them all. These branches were
present from my cousin Jotham. On the
other side OF the room, on the piano-forte,
were two student lamps of different patterns.
These were presents from Ernest Gabler and
submit Shattuck. and Bridget had lighted
both of them.
All this light and sweetness were to do fit
honor to Aunt Carolne's present, which was
at the other end of the room as we entered,
and obtruded itself from the very first in
slant. Indeed it was impossible tn escape it
at any moment while YOU were in that room.
1t was thoroughly horrible picture
from the parable Of the Prodigal Son.
1t had escaped by misfortune from
some chamber of horrors" / do not
know its real history. though l have.
alas I! had time enough 10 study it since those
| days. But | can not think calmly on its
| history ; ii even makes me sick and except
! ing that the name "Melgrum" appears rather
prominently under the feet of one of the
| swine, have no clew to its origin. / can
| only suppose as | do, that " Megrum was
| some OVcrgrOwn oaf in some high school,
| who made himself disgusting by caricatur-
| ing the boys and the masters | think the
| masters,in the hope TO be rid of him, reported
| that he was genius and persuaded some
| Kind brewer TO give him money enough to
! 20 10 Munich to study art" Arrived there,
think he had just learned what are the
crudcst the most fiery and piercing pig
| ments concocted, when he painted this
picture, before his studies in anatomy,
| composition, or perspective had begun. |
| think the Bavarian government forbade
| llS puullC tAnltllipl anu tnat II was tnen
| surTepttiously sent to this country for
| sale. / think dear Aunt Caroline was en-
| trapped or lured into the warehouse where
| It was exhibited Just when the thousand
! dollars was burning in herpocket.boOk which
| she meant to spend for Eleanor's present.
think sine told her companion. Mrs. Jabe7
| Flynn how much she meant to spend, that
| Mrs. Flynn privately told this to the periured
| villain who Is the master of the picture shop,
and that he, with an awful audarity, bade
"a ~ II.t ola
| under the lights for exhibition | think he
| mentioned twelve hundred dollars as the
| price, hut consented to be forced down to one
! Thousand. And then and thus | think our
| fate was sealed.
The size OF the picture was eight feet by
Six. The frame was enormous, and very
| costly. The conception was absured. In the
! middle of the picture you saw large group
intended TO represent a company of people
| feasting, who were the PrOdigal Son, his
father and mother, and other guests called
| in on the occasion of his return. A gallery
| above them in the background was filled
| with people singing, and under the
| gallery, but beyond the guests, you could
| dimly discern other people dancing. with
| tambourines over their heads. All this
transpired under certain columns and
| arches, but all in the open air. ON the right
| hand, in what would be the distance had
Melgrnm known how to represent distance,
| stood man in his shirt sleeves feeding hogs
| with Indian corn. On the other side, of the
| same size and character, was a butcher cut
ting the throat of calf From something
| Aunt Caroline dropped, believe ii was the
| happy union of three subjects on one canvas
| which determined her To buy the picture.
AS she said, with real enthusiasm, " 1t does
| not represent part of the parable the
whole parable is there"
Iu.-How PEOPLE LIKEDIT.
Here was the picture, occupying practi-
cally the whole Of one wall of our parlor.
which was to have been so pretty, the room
| in which, as our plans were made, dear
Eleanor was to spend the greater part Of her
| life. We looked at it little, we received
silently Bridgets enthusiastic admiration of
| 1t, but we passed as quickly as we could 10
| see how the dining room was arranged, and
| how my workshop looked. And it ended in
! my putting Eleanor into my own easy-chair
! there, going back into her parlor for one of
the reading lamps, and bidding Bridget ex-
unguish the others and the candles. Flea
nor spent the evening with me in nv den
and read Coventry PatmOTe's BeirOthdl to
her
But we could not do that all the time She
| could not be in my room when | had men
| there on business She had a feeling of
! pride, indeed, which for long time made
her keep uP gallant struggle for the parlor,
which was her own room, she said why
| should go up stairs and sit in bed cham
ber when have such pretty room of my
oNH NHt NOulu say inls. She would
| say, :" am sure dear Aunt Car
ollne did not mean To make me TO be
vagrant in my own house, with no place
from the hair Of my head to the sole of
my feet" Queer, that sense of pride. have
known men who had it, have known
men who really thought that wnen they had
done a gallant eight hours work down town
they had right al home TO the things home
was made for. Philanthropists and politi-
clans and tramps map peddlers and others,
would follow them TO their homes and these
men would actually refuse to grind their
axes for them there. So poor Eleanor said
she would stand for her rights in her pretty
parlor. She would not be driven out from
II by that hateful butcher she would not
have those dirty pigs tramping over carpet
she said she would not hear those tambour-
inc women clmking old parchment things.
But she overestmated her own abilities |
have noticed that most men do who think
they can keep bores out of their houses. /
have large circle of friends in and near
Netherstone,and so has. .EleanOur. They were
making their wedding calls. and they al WAYS
found the prodigas-as Eleanor called an
the people in the picture, quadrupeds and
bipeds-had stepped in before them. Eleanor
had not simply to keep the odious creatures
out of her own mind and heart she had 10
keep them out OF her visitors.
81 could bear il" she said, ii | were
alone. l can turn my back 90 it, See, |
have my work table and my things here and
here Is my writing desk. ] look exactly the
other way. But II is the callers. Everybody
looks at the prodigals first and last and in
spite of all my skill ii is the central and chief
subject Of conversation"
In truth, visitors might be divided into
three classes as regarded the picture.
These were, first, the frank unpretend-
ing people, who did not yalue their own