Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-09-07

MI. farSlIer. and he smiled and rOlle{
his eyes and rubbed his hands anC
bowed. Mr.. Pargiter was too much Of
Il gentleman ever to contradict Il lady
besides being popular art teacher
with a highly aristocratic connection
Therefore he would have said oh
certainly if Lady Tomlinson had
| wanted TO learn TO dance on the slack
wire.
/ L want you TO give me lessons, Mr.
f, Pagiter,'' said Lady Tomlinson. Il
mean to exhibit at the Royal Academy
said Lady Tomlinson. L mean to be 4
distinguished amateur and want you
TO show me how and give me lessons,
Mr.. Pargiter.
'Oh, certainly" said Mr. Pargiter.
Pray name your own terms" said
Lady Tomlinson. Expense is no OBJ
ject, but 1 want the whole thing to be
secret from my husband and my
friends"
Next day, at 10 precisely, a four
wheeled cab containing Mr. Pargiter. a
large easel, several canyaseS, numerous
brown-paper parcels and a lay figure,
drew up at the TomlinSon's house in
Palatial Crescent. Mr.. Pargiter was
shown at Orce into her ladyship's bou-
dOir
Now, Mr.. Pargiter,' said Lady Tom
linsOn when she had welcomed the
artist, Il should like you to paint me
an ideal head
Mr.. Pargiter stared at Lady Tomlin
SOn and suggested that the usual way
was to begin by drawing from what
he called the round" in charcoal
Mr.. Pargiter," said Lady Tomlin-
son, you wouldn't refuse to oblige a
lady. I'm sure l shall learn much more
easily by seeing yot. work. My idea,
you Know, was that you should paint
and I should look oIi-just at first, you
know, till L get my hand in"
So Mr. Pargiter began TO paint the
head of a rustic. Mr. Pargiter was ac
custOmed to dispose Of heads Of this
description to Wiggles, the framemak-
er and picture-dealer.
I want you to leave the background
till the very last" said Lady Tomlinson.
oh, certainly replied the artist.
1t took Mr.. PargiteT four ''sittings"
to finish that rustic head. When it was
quite done he remarked to Lady Tom
linSOn that there was nothing more
to do than to smudge in a background
of burnt sienna.
That's where l come in said Lady
Tomlinson. IF you'll do the edge of
the background in all the little inland
out places round the edge, I'll finish it."
They carried out that simple pro-
gram.
Now there's nothing left but to
sign it, suppose?" said her ladyship.
Exactly So" said Mr.. Pargiter; and
he took a little squeeze of ivory black
on the point Of a small brush and was
about to atfix the magic name of Par
giter.
Let he try" said her ladyship. She
took the brush from Mr.. Pargiter's hand,
and in great sprawling letters she wrote
in the righthand corner of the picture:
Gwen. TOmlinson."
Madam said Mr.. Pargiter with a
low bow, when she mad finished,
you're genius"
And then she placed an envelope i'll
the artists hand. I can trust you,
Mr.. Pargiter?' she said, in those soft.
purring tones Of hers.
Mr.. Pargiter laid his hand upon his
heart, gave Lady TomlinSOn what look
ed very much like Il wink and assured
I, in, ,Nl0 re Ia 10
Two days afterward Lady TOmlinsOn
was ''at home" l was there; l am an
art critic by profession, you know. On
a green plush stood the rustic head in
an eight-inch gilt frame.
What do you think Of it, Mr..
Scorcher?" bleated that innocent
lamb, Lady TomGnson, to me: I've
just got it home from my framemaker'
and it's the first of my efforts that I've
had the hardihood to show to my
friends
1 compared it to Greuze. l said it
reminded me of Nine. Vigee lie Brun
and various other artists. Next spring
they hung it at burlington House;
they hung that Pargiter and we all
went into ecstasies at the private view.
Sir John Tomlinson is justly proud of
his wife. She is an artistic light
now. She has only got to take a
young artist by the hand and his for
tunes made.
I'm very fond of Lady Tomlinson."
said Mr.. Pargiter to me the other day;
"she throws a good deal Of work in my
way.''-C. J. Willis in New York Daily
Mercury.