Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1892-06-30
BADGERS PICURE.

Do you remember Badgers big pic
ture OF "A Nihilist Conspiracy IN tht
1866 academy? Il was one OF the pic
lures of the year By CAD, sir, thai
was a picture, 1t fetched every body
did "A Nihilist Conspiracy Then
came the order for the ''Conversazionf
at Burligton House and then, Of
course, his fortune was made, and Bad
ger became an A. Il a Badger. A X.
A, cuts me now. ! used to know nm
very we'll we we're both members of the
Goose club. or course that isn't the
right name of our club-the real name
is the Swan-but we are always called
the Goose club, YOU know, and there
are all sorts of mysterious reasons al
legged for it.
Splitter, who is q professional wit,
and earns very precarious living by
il. and is not a member of the Goose
club mean the Swan-declares that
its because all our members who are
dramatisis 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 a
professional willing and whom we de-
cline to elect to the Goose club mean
the swan because be wasn't qualliled'
for we are all spontaneous wits at our
dear old place-that its because all our
geese are swans. and we swans are all
geese know the real reason, and
I've cot il down in my "reminiscences,
and when die they'll be published,
and YOU can buy copy. and then
you'll find it out
But to come back TO Badgers mag
mum opus gave him the tip-l mean
the valuable mint; I'm always giving
people good advice, and they're seldom,
very seldom, grateful for it
"Why don't you do nihilist pictare?'
said | to Badger one day; Everybody
mad on nihllsm just now. You've only
got TO read up Stepniak and make your
nihiIsts ugly enough, and its 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, Ha. hal
You'd make capital nihilist, said
Badger
gave him one of my scathing glanc
es. and | saw that the young fellow was
sorry for his impertInence. And then
the matter dropped
The next thing ! heard was that Bag
ger was going to imnortalize the Goose
club that bo had determined to paint
a picture of the thirty most celebrated
members Badger became suddenly
popular.
Dear old man." he said to me, Il
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
actually fought for the honor of sitting
to Badger, aud then he shut himself up
in his studio, and denied himself to
everybody on the pretense of putting in /
the figures. There WASH tone Of us who |
had the least doubt that the great pic /
ture of the Goose club would become as
celebrated as Terbure's masterpiece,
The Congress of Munster, Wefelt =
by we mean the happy thiltY--that we
were already immortal; we felt that /
Badger would band us down TO proster
ity rs representative lights Of literature,
science and art. We'd have done any
thing for Badger at that time. We | /
and the other twenly-nine immortals-
were continually calling on Badger, but /
we never could Get a SIGHT Of the pic
ture he was invariably not a home. |
And then dreadful rumor ran about
the Goose club
Pugwash the sculptor, came back /
from St Petersburg, where he had been
executing a commission, aud ne told US
that Badger had painted one of us out
and had painted him in. Wei mean |
the original thirty endured weeks of /
agony till the academy private view
We couldn't get anything out of Pug |
wash; he declared that ne was sworn To /
secrecy; he even pretended that he didn't /
really know which of US was the-well, /
Peri at the gate-for he swore that the /
picture was covered up mySteriously /.
with clothes, merely leaving an opening I
il which his head was inserted. How
we all euyied Pugwash, Tie, at least /
was certain Of immortality
But | was determined to ascertain the /
truth al once. Directly the hanging
committee at Burlington House COM
menced it's labors. | called on every
acadcmician and associate knew They
none Of them could tell me anything
about the Goose club picture You see,
in the ordinary course of things Badger
would have exhibited his great picture
on Show Sunday, month before the
opening Of the academy. He didn't,
sir our agony was prolonged until the
very LASS moment
WA. there by there, | mean al Bur
ln2tun house the instant the doors
opened for the private view. had
ticket, YOU know of course always
have almost suatchtd the gratuuous
catalogue with which | was presented
by one Of the gorgeous gentlemen in the
scarlet gowns. who resemble lord chief
justices or doctors of music Of the Uni
versjtY OF Oxford-2t least, they DO nj
the private views; TO the general pub lie
ON ordinary occasions they are only com
mon doorbeepers almost snatched the
catalogue | say, and with trembling tin
gers turned to The index and looked M