News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1891-02-12
DAISIES.


grew thick along the old stone wall,
and many a daisy fingered in the grass
of the big meadow. Ned Egbert sat
under his great white umbrella with all
the inpedimenta which very young
artist thinks necessary scattered about
him, and sketched the distant pines
and the old thatched barn, and put in
Jim, the handy man, for the sake of
| the bit of color furnished by his red
| shirt.
Bessie Beck looked over his shoulder
In mute admiration.
GLOW perfectly splendid it must be
to paint, she said. I'D give millions
of dollars if l could just do one of those
daisies
This was a liberal offer from a girl
whose private fortune was twenty-five
cents in silver and an old copper penny
with a hole in it, but Bessie was of an
enthusiastic nature.
Eyes. Just one of those daisies" she
repeated.
Young Egbert laughed.
THAT is easy enough, " he said; ''Fn
teach you to paint daisy"
''Oh, no. you couldn't l haven't a
bit of genius" said Bessie.
''You don't know until you try, " said
Ned. but it don't need genius to
paint daisies.
Don't itl" asked Bessie.
No" said Ned, tits only a trick of
the brush. Sit down here, and I'll show
you how to do it.
Bessie looked at her dress and
anoothed down her calico apron with
her pretty hands, now undeniably pink
from long iInrr1elsio..ila 'st.tls, foa it
was washday.
Surely painting lesson ought to be
full dress occasion, she thought.
''Oh. how look to paint" she fall
tered.
''As sweet as you always do" said
Ned. There, sit down"
He twitched away the landscape
which stood upon the easel, and sub
stituted a clean mill board and knelt
down behind Bessie's chair.
Take the palette-so," he said.
''Now hold the mahlstick-so. sup
pose I'll have to guide your hand Tor
a while" And as mothers teach their
babies to make their first great AS and
crooked SIS he taught the girl to set
the petals in Il circle and touch in the
yellow center, until after while she
caught the trick and could do it her
self Three or four queer little strag-
Cling attempts, three or four better
ones. and then with slow precision and
eager anxious eyes she watched what
seemed to her very perfect flower
form itself under the tip of her brush.
''Is it good2" she asked Ned.
every" said Ned. Wonderful, con-
sidering"
II cannot believe | did it, said Bes-
sic And after that she made another
with greater ease.
"Ohr' she said at last, with the long
drawn sound with which children hail
the ascent of skyrocket. "Oh"
''Bessie" screamed a voice in the
distance. Bessie Bess-ee!"
"There's aunty calling mel" cried the
girl, between tears and laughter 81
had forgotten all about her" And
thrusting mahlstick, palette and brushes
into the young artists hands she flew
toward the house, leaving Ned staring
after her in all the blushing rapture o.
a boy in love, for those few moments
had given Cupid a chance TO drive ar
arrow straight to his heart. He haC
always thought Bessie a very pretty
girl. Now she was a divinity, and i
seemed to him quite shocking that he
aunt. the fat farmers wife with whom
she boarded, should have the right tx
call her to peel potatoes or stew pump
kin, or that any hS---.---5id hS--.-5iidi L seryic'
should be required of her.
Ned Egbert had just received the pa
ternal consent to become professional
artist.
1t had been his fathers hope that h
would take to business, and the olt
gentleman had held out for long time
but at last he had relented Ned wa
to study seriously that winter and go t.
Europe in the spring. Now he wa
sketching from nature among the Cats
kills, and, as we see, teaching his land
lady's niece to paint daisies.
He gave her many lessons after that
He taught her those simpleaules @
irrespective that astonish those ignoran
of drawing. He showed her how
i.raw "a street." and "a house." and
"a room" but though she worked as
diligently as she could, considering hel
multitudinous duties, and ruled myriads
of straight lines toward point of sight
and filed drawing book with a hun
dred vistas, the only thing she really
seemed to succeed with was the daisy
She grew quite clever at this, anC
nainted them in her friends album
and on the panels of her garnet bed
room door. and at the corner of he
note paper, and felt great satisfaction
in gazing at them after they were fir
ished.
: Meanwhile Ned Egbert wrote to hi
father that he was diligently studying
|, from nature" and that his gratitud
for the paternGl clemency was still III
/ diminished.
Autumn had come. The sketche
Ned sent home for inspection were a
Of hare boughs and paths carpete
with yellow leaves and fields of stut
BILE The summer boarders had var
ished like thistledown, and it wa
nleasant to set up his easel in the warn