Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1891-03-21

ready e has ieevs here in my 'ouse, dy-
ing aw the time"
"He must be remarkable man. Ishe
meetablef should like to know him."
"f you ave come two, tree weeks be-
fore, yes, you can meet him. Bot since
two, tree weeks e is moch worse than
be ave been formerly. and % see no one
excep the doctor" After little pause
he added blithely, He never be better
again, guess"
.'It's rather sad for his daughter" ]
suggested.
"Yes, you right; hit is. She ave t.
work to gain theiy life, and at the same
time she must be his morse. Yes, it is
hard for her. no mistek. She get tired
hol1t" -
"Is her only means of livelihood her
painting
Eyes, that's aw. She mex beeg crayon
drawings for photographers, and she
pent miniatures and hoil paintings. /
get her to pent miniature Of myself on
hivory. She pent beautiful, no use talk
ing. Wat you think Of this?'
He unbuttoned his coat and extracted
from its inner pocket an oval case in red
morocco. Opening it he submitted for
my Inspection the miniature ip question.
''Eh, wat you think Of that? he re-
peated.
was surprised to find that it was an
exceedingly clever piece Of painting. In
stead of the conventional product Of the
miniature maker that l had expected !
beheld the handiwork Of an able and
painstakng artist. Well drawn, well
modelled, well handled in respect of
color, it presented the exterminator to
the life. His wig, his powder, his rouge,
his jewelry, his foppish costume, and be-
hind them all, like a skull behind a
mask, his genuine old age, were reflected
as truthfully and as pitilessly as in q
looking glass. It was justice untem-
pered by mercy, and it was extremely
good.
"Why, this is capitalr' exclaimed.
"She has real talent. What shame
that she should waste herself on minia-
lures and working for photographers!
Eyes. it IL beautiful: 1t is very fine.
acquiesced MUSCLE, grinning compla-
Gently. "Bot if she work for photogra-
pliers, you know, hit is because, as we
say in France, il faut vivre, one must
live. What would you ave? She mex
no money if she don't"
Eyes, yes, understand. But the wo-
man who painted that has it in her to
do things that would really be worth
while. Does she never attempt anything
better?"
"If you come down stairs wiz me, .
returned the .exterminator, 81 show you
q beeg picture witch she pent, and witch
! TEX one time in place Of the rent money
they howed me. 1t is magnificent; it is
supairb. You come, yesY'
"Why, yes; by all means" said L
And thinking in my soul that a land
lord who would take paintings in lieu Of
rent money was most convenient sort
of landlord for painters to put up with,
followed him down stairs. He led me
to the back room on the second story,
which was furnished as bedroom, and
there, having closed the door and thrown
open the blinds, "This is my 'ome," he
announced; "and here is the picture"
He had described it as a big picture;
and big it scarcely was. But in point OF
artistic merit it far surpassed what had
come prepared for, even though the
specimen of her work which he had
shown me above stairs had been SO good.
Its dimensions were perhaps two feet by
| eighteen inches. and it represented the
| interior of a dungeon or prison cell. An
oblong window, too high up to be reach
ed without ladder, too narrow to per
init the passage through it of q human
body. and further protected by stout
iron bars, admitted daylight and framed
in patch of slaty wintry sky. For the
rest there were bare stone walls, stone
ceiling and stone floor; while broad
stone slab, so constructed that it formed
part of the solid masonry of the
wall from which it projected. was the
only piece Of furniture in evidence, and
manifestly answered at once for bed,
stool and table,. So much for the acces-
sories. They We're rendered in spirit Of
exact, almost Photographic realism; and
the effect Of massiveness, remoteness and
gloom, proper to the subject, was ,vividly
conveyed. And now the interest of the
composition centered in the figure of an
old man, seated upon the broad stone
bench. with his elbows resting on his
knees, his fingers buried in his long,
white beard, and his eyes fixed intently,
vacantly, painfully straight before him.
:. There was something SO irresistibly
pathetic in that old mans face and figure
that l, who had come to criticise, felt
myself instantly penetrated. by an emo
ton Of distress and sympathy as if ]
were looking upon a xeritable human
being and not. npoh a mere efigy in
paint and canvas. His face was terribly
emaciated; the cheekbones and the
bridge of his nose seemed to be almost
starting through the skin. His hair and
beard were long and white and un-
combed and untrimmed. His skin had
that clayey. ghastly pallor which results
from long seclusion from fresh air and
sunshine. His clothes were old and
worn and they hung baggily about his
limbs as if he had shrunk up within
| them His attituda linn and bant over