Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1892-03-31
BADGERS PICTURE.
How the Members of the Swan
Club Were Immortalized.

Do you remember Badgers big pic
ture OF "A Nihilist Conspiracy in th'
1885 Academy? 1t was one OF the pic
lures of the year. By CAD. sir. that
was a pictured 1t fetched everybody
did "A Nihilist Conspiracy" Their
came the order for the "Cony rsazione
at Burlington house." and then. Of
! course, his fortune was made and Bad
ger became an A. r. A. Badger, A. X,
l A., cuts me now. | used to know him
very we'll; we were both members oil
the Goose club. OF course that isn't
the right name Of our club-the real
name is the Swan-but we always
called it the Goose club, yon know,
and there are all sorts Of mysterious
reasons alleged for it.
Splitter, who is a professional wit
and earns very precarious living by
il, and is not member of the Goose
club-I mean the Swan-declares that
it's because all our members who are
dramatists invariably get the goose;
that, in the vile, common slang of the
stage, means that their productions
are always Kissed. have been told to
my face, sir, by that beast Grinner,
also professional willing. and whom
we declined to elect TO the Goose club
II mean the Swan, because he wasn't
qualified, for we are all spontaneous
wits at our dear old place-that it's be-
cause all our geese are swans, and we
swans are all geese. | know the real
reason, and I've got it down in my
"reminiscences. and when | die they'll
be published, and you can buy copy
and then youth find it out.
But to come back to Badgers mag
mum opus gave him the tip-I mean
the valuable hint; I'm always giving
people good advice, and they're seldom,
very seldom, grateful for it.
"Why don't You do nihilist pic
turc?" said to Badger one day; every
body is mad on nihilism now. You've
only got TO read up Stepnialx and make
your nihilists ugly enough, and it's
bound to be big thing" And then
stroked my long gray beard (my beard
is my great feature, you know. I've
got a rather low forehead, but then the
ancients admired low foreheads-tenui
fronte, Horace Hal ha!
You'd make capital nihilist, /" said
Badger.
/ gave him one of my scathing
glances, and saw that the young fell
low was sorry for his impertineDce.
And then the matter dropped.
The next thing | heard was that
Badger was going to immortalize the
Goose club-that he had determined to
paint a picture of the thirty most cele-
brated members Badger became sud-
denly popular.
Dear old man." he said to me, II
want you TO sit"
/ was delighted / only sat for the
face, you know, and was in the very
center of the picture. Badger selected
twenty-nine other victims. The like
nesses were wonderful The members
fought for the honor of sitting
to Badger, and then he shut himself up
in his studio, and denied himself to
everybody on the pretense of putting
in the figures. There wasn't one of us
who had the least doubt that the great
picture Of the Goose club would become
rs celebrated as Terburg's masterpiece,
'The Congress of Munster"
Pugwash, the sculptor, came back
rom St Petersburg, where he had |
been executing commission. and he |
old us that Badger had painted one of |
Is out and had painted him in. We 4 |
mean the original thirty-endured |
weeks of agony till the Academy pri- |
rate view. We couldn't get anything /
nut of Pugwash; he declared that /
he was sworn to secrecy; he even pre-
ended that he didn't really know /
which of Ne was the-well, peri at the
Tate-for he swore that the picture was
covered up rIysteriously with clothes,
merely leaving an opening in which his
lead was inserted. How we all envied
'ugwashl He, at least, was certain of
But / was determined to ascertain
he truth at once. Directly the hang
ng committee at Burlington house
commenced its labors called on every
cademician and associate | knew
They none of them could tell me any
hug about the Goose club picture.
lou see, in the ordinary course of
Kings Badger would have exhibited
rs great picture on show Sunday, a
lonth before the opening Of the
cademy- lie didn't, sir; our agony
vas prolonged until the very last mo-
lent.
was thereby there l mean at
burlington house-the instant the
oors opened for the private view.