Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1886-05-10
Oracle.
Continued.
CHAPTER liz

-, ,.-., .,,.,, -, ,,, was by no
VIZ ',r"Phl"s ,' a' ,,a. a, elaborate
means planned uPo" IVY "t,,,,, ,,a nr,,,pd
method. Mr.. aud Mrs sin'FN"' f f'."''
themselves rather upon their toneeNatNo
poiicy and smoke patroni2inRly, " not sllght
i,.l,, -, ali ,,odern institutions than their
Ivn., MIR Simpkins 1the professor, ~
'"h' p" NO. -, ,,,,,, ,,, ,h, .,,,,t,,, ,r
no WAS "aiou) "o'' "
art, clad IN his voi'et uressing gown anu '''-
selled smoking cap, ono hanu hftnly planted
on his hip, tho other vaguely tracing designs
~, ,be cuipty air, he said "A good word or two
,,, uaynotds I,vropco ~, ,,in.h,rn,yh
W. ~ 49, -. '' = ~ ,,,',e
sna o,e" p,'y ,y Son,'''e'i,oo "Pon "nhlo
anu low o'neis vi MS contemporaries, nut
between these Hnd tho painters Of tho present
was vide guilt fixed. Even continental
afuss were Vigorously ignored. Sadly,
almost teartully, with an omiDous shake cf
the head, Mr. Simpkins would say
LET us go back, my dear friends, lot us 40
back Tor arth
Aud yet, for the NO called "uld masters" ho
had little enthusiasm Raphael was perhaps
the only person whose talent he admitted,
but this with such reluctance that IL ia to be
feared the professors judgments were
somewhat narrow. With great deci.
sion he opposed any new tangled ar
rangements (oven for vontiationl In
his class-rooms. There was class for
ladies, another for gentlemen; those were
held in two dirty little rooms, the smaller and
dirtier being granted for the weaker Sex
Here 1t was that Amelia Wyvern plodded
aud dreamed, her exterior aspect that oi
quiet, industrious pupil, her inner soul
afiame with eager ecstatic longings for future
fame and success.
Poor Amelia was sometimes a little uncor-
tain of tho professors ability in this SHE
differed from tho rest OF the pupils, who
worshlppcd, unquestioningly, at the shrine
OF his Intellect but there was i'll Amelia's
character an absolute want of reverence She
was indeed, desperately anxious To attend a
school III Cover street, of which she had
heard much where tho teaching was first
rate, ana whore young men aud women
worked side by side IN great hail.
thereby advancing that great aud noble
cause OF "wonen's rights" which lay 40 near
tn Amelia's heart. But Mrs. Wyvern wIllod
II otherwise and therefore, her daughter
continued To he one Of tho professor pupils
Punctually every morning Amelia made her
appearance in the little dark classroom
daily she stumbled over the skeleton noar
the door, n poor battered skeleton whereon
the students hung their cloaks and hats,
and concerning which and the adjacent cup.
board many feeble Jokes were made Every
morning little Mrs Simpkins conhded to
Amelia with renewed zest what care and
trouble she tNirs. Simpkins) had found IL
necessary to bestow on the costume ~ next
weeks elaborately draped model, and every
morning the professor, rubbing hiS hands,
would reiterate:
Art, Miss Wyvern, nothing like art, my
dear lady, nothing IKE art ''
And every morning Amelia smiled aud
rodded in silent reply.
The professor shQnc, somehow, more in
theory than in practice. He possessed pur-
pleeye, that is, of course, metaphOrically.
Everything he painted, rom sunset TO a
snowdrop, was equally plum-colour, aud no
naturally insisted that his pupils should
sCrupulously Initiate his method.
In the class were many degrees ol excel
lence. one poor lady never ceased to repro
duce in black huge plaster nose about nVo
inches In length. There was the show
pupil, of course, who, 1t was whispered,
had once exhibited at the Dudley gallery.
Sometimes, when Amelia, biting her leuUil
peacefully as she gaIed round the room, first
at the tired suitana on her green blizs
throne,' then at the plumcolored repre-
sentations of the said sultana on the boards
or canvases of the students-Amelis, with a
long sigh, acknowledged that life Is short,
aud art distressingly, almost absurdIy, long.
Yet she worked cheeriuily till nearly dusk,
then, gathered up her painting materials, she
hade farewell To kindly Mrs Simpkins, sent
I" all manner OF loves to the baby, and
shook hands with the professor, who
whilst he praised her work, was pretty Ger
tain to recommend" teettG more cobalt
mixed with crimson lake" And then,
dreaming dreams OF future glory, her pretty
fresh face aglow, Amelia ran downstairs and
walked quickly home, only to tako out her
pdinthox once more, and study candleiight
effects, with her mother aud Oracle Tor
models instead oi tho weary suItana from
Leather Lane.
one late afternoon in November, Mr.
Wyvern and her younger daughter were
sitting, as usual, i'll their somewhat droary
drawing-room, which had been furnished
upwards OF iorty years ago and was cunso-
quently as unpicturesque as most apartments
oi that date. Amelia called this an " impos
slOle' room, and. IN her moments oi hopeful.
ness as To happy pecunlary iuture, was apt
to imagine herself pulling down the ugly
glazed chintL curtains, tearing up the worn