Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-03

berates, the chink at least must be audible
What they wanted of me was to help to
make il so. Fortunately they had no chill
dren-I soon OWNED that. Thev would
also perhaps wish our relations to be kept
secret; this was why it was ''for the figure"
the reproduction of the face would betray
them
1 liked them-they were SO simple; and L
had no objection to them if they would suit.
But, somehow, with all their perfections 1
didn't easily believe in them. After all,
they were amateurs, and the ruling passion
OF my life was the detestation of the anna
teur Combined with this was another
perversitv-an innate preference for the
represented subject over the real one. The
defect of the real one was SO apt to be
lack of representation. l liked things that
appeared; then one was sure. Whether they
were or not was subordinate and almost
always a tiresome question. There were
other considerations, the first of which was
that 1 already had two or three people in
use, notably young person with big feet,
in alpaca, from Kilburn, who, for couple
of wears, had come to me regularly for nv
illustrations, and with whom L was still
perhaps ignobly-satisfed 1 frankly e1-
piained to my visitors how the case stood;
but they had taken more precautions than
/ supposed. They had reasoned out their
opportunity, for Claude Rivet had told
them of the projected edition de luxe of one
of the writers of our day-the rarest of the
novelists-who, long neglected by the
multitudinous vulgar and dearly priced by
the attentive (need 1 mention Philip Vim
cent?) had had the happy fortune of see
ing, late in life the dawn and then the full
light of higher criticism-an estimate in
which. on the part of the public, there was
!, of cd
in question, planned by publisher OF taste,
was practically an act of high reparation;
the wood cuts with which it was to be en-
riched were the homage of English art to
one of the most independent representatives
of English letters. Major and Mrs. Mon
arch confessed to me that thev had hoped /
might be able to work them into my share
OF the enterprise, They knew L Vas to do
the first of the books, Rutland Ramsay"
but ] had to make clear to them that my
participation in the rest of the affair-this
first book was to be a test-was to depend
on the satisfaction l should give. If this
should be limited my employers would drop
me without scruple 1t was therefore a
crisis for me, and naturally / was making
special preparations. looking about tor new
people, if they should be necessary and Sc
curing the best types. I admitted, how.
ever, that should like to settle down to
two or three good models who would do for
everything.
should we have often to-a-put on
special clothes?' Mrs. Monarch timidly
demanded.
''Dear, ves-that's half the business"
"And should we be expected to supply our
own costumes?'
'-0h, no; I've got lot of things A
painters models put on-or put of-any-
thing he likes
"And DO you mean-a-the same?"
t[The same?''
Mrs Monarch looked at her husband
again.
''Oh, she was just wondering" he ex-
planned, eff the costumes are in general
use." l had to confess that they were, and
L mentioned further that some Of them I
had lot OF genuine, greasy, last-century
thlngs), had served their time, a hundred
years ago, on living, world-stained men and
women. well put on anything that fts,"
said the Major
''oh, arrange that-they fit in the pict-
ures. -
'I'm afraid I should do better for the
modern books. 1 would come as you like"
said Mrs Monarch.
''She has got lot Of clothes at home;
they might do for cotemporary ife,'' her
husband continued.
'On, can fancy scenes IN which you d |
be quite at home" And indeed could see
the slipshot arrangements of stale proper
ties-the stories tried to produce pictures
for without the evaporation of reading
them-whose sandy tracts the good lady |
might help to people. But 1 had to return |
TO the fact that for this sort of work-the |
daily mechanical grind-I was already |
equipped; the people l was working with |
were quite adequate.
1--WE only thought we might be more like |
some characters, said Mrs. Monarch mildly, |
getting up. .
Her husband also rose; he stood looking |
at me with a dim wistfulness that was |
touching in so fine a man. "Wouldn't it be |
rather a pull sometimes to have-a-to |
have-?" He hung fire; he wanted me to
help him by phrasing what he meant But
l couldn't-I didn't know. So he brought |
it out awkwardly: 'The real thing; gen.
tleman, you know, or a LADY," 1 was quite
ready TO give general assent-I admitted
that there was great deal in that. This
encouraged Major Monarch to say, fol-
lowing up his appeal with an unacted gulp:
t'sswfully hard-we've tried everything"
The gulp was communicative; it proved too
much for his wife. Before knew it Mrs.
had dropped down upon divan
and burst into tears. Her husband sat |