The morning call., 1893-10-08

ing fame of the kitchen fire. never per-
mitted to be too bright. he read and men,
orized far into the night, until compelled
TO retire TO the garret by his indulgent but
anxious mother.
By day he had some leisure moments for
furtive reading or crude beginnings in
drawing with lead pencil and rough paper
he knew nothing about the right way
of beginning. but began, which is, after
all, the right way. and he picked up truth
through error and the comparison which
observation employs as mentor and scale
He had industry and patience. These are
the foundations OF ability, and are also
characteristics of the dawn and sometimes
the falling sun of genius. His reading
fired his fancy. and out in the fields pas
sages committed to heart stirred his
thoughts and preserved him from apsing
into the groove OF dullness too commonly
the lot of those who break clods and, like
the earth. are heavy and worn out with
toll. Song lightens care, and Scotch songs
make work bithesome. His was a hum
BILE example OF frugal fare and a glimmer-
ing OF high thinking-barley bannocks
and skim-mik cheese, and an eydent eye
on a task when his odds and ends Of farm
occupation permitted.
Well on in the following summer bis
mother had thoughts of sending the boy to
carpenter in Comrie, where Is more than
Tue VI SBiidge repairs on ac-
count OF frequent earthquake oscillations,
quite local amid the environing spurs of
the Grampiaus. Tom was fonder OF home
aud study than the driving of shavings be-
fore the plane, and secretly hoped there
would be no strain upon his notions of duty.
When the harvest was in progress and
the reapers were bending over the golden
grain with their hand hooks and scythes,
Andrew Purvis returned to his sketching
ground and Tom was requisitioned once
more as small painters ghiliie 1t was
coDgenial employment. Eight weeks ran
rapidly past until hoar frost crisply whit
ened the morning. and the oaks, willows
and rOwans were shedding their russet
foliage.
There had been numbers of delightful
days in the open, which Purvis utilized in
carrying bis landscapes forward with the
fresh stamp of nature in his tones and
values and vigorous foreground forms and
local color Days of storm and rain had
also driven the artist indoors, and when
his pipe and hnmor suited he bestowed
some pains on Toms budding genius as q
draughtsman. He showed facility in draw
ing realities and made amends for igno-
rance of theoretical perspective by sketch
ing things as they appeared, by which
simple process, dependent upon industry
and observation, art hobbies on crntcheS
as speech, correct or blemished, may flow
you'll make an engineer or land sur
vey0r. Tom, but may be you'd like to paint
like me-" said Andrew in the cleaning
as they trudged home from the woods Of
Castle Drummond.
IAN engineer! I've no thocht aboot
that. wadna like tae hammer airn and
file cogs: But paintin' like, il l could
leeve by't."
AYE. that's it. Many waste their time
at painting, and find they are made to
slake doors and not slap in pictures. But
there's the making of painter in you If
you can rough ir while you are In the
Academy. l think I'll speak to your
mother about it. For while you can help
me-"
Mrs. Waugh listened to Purvis, delibera-
ted and doubted. 1t meant separation,
the boy In Edinburgh, and the family in
the country. But there is Spartan cour-
age about the Scotch in their plans to force
favorite son ahead, to make of him a
minister or dominic, anything but the
pang she yielded. Tom could keep him.
self in the far off city. That would be so
much relief, and if he prospered. well, bless
! him, he had good heart and would not
| forget them. Lucy cried on the morning
of parting, and Donald stared aud made a
mental inventory OF the boyish gear that
had come into his possession. including a
| otoch VI pldtLSu CuH nall uSu-Ilucs ut
mother repressed her sObs until her boy
had gone, and then watched him with
moist eyes and rembling lips until hid by
a turn of the road.
To youth the first sight of city is 9
vivid event unforgetable. OF all cities in
Europe Edinburgh on cheerful day oil
sunshine is calculated to arouse Intensity
of interest. 1t is romantic in association
and picturesque situation and setting o1
hills. firth and vista oceanward, and ir.
towering buildings. pitched on stcep anC
| ridge, break the sky line in startling bold