The Lafayette gazette., 1894-01-13
LEAVING HOME.
Uncle aenrv's Heart Is Touched
by Familiar Picture.

Bright and early they arrived at til
fair Rroun DIS, and the first buildin,
they entered was the Art palace. 7
must not be inferred from this fact tina
they loved a rt-not at all. They came t.
1h's structure simply because it was ,
part of the exposition they had not Wis
tied before. They had come severa
hundred miles to see the fair, and i,
would weigh heavily on their minds il
they failed to see any portion of it. I'm
PEELED by a stern sense of duty, they
had done every building, from the
convent Of La Rabida to HORTICULTURE
hall-even though the exhibits in
some of them were as unintelligible
to them as the inscriptions on an Egypt
IAN obe.isk. The Art palace and the
Eishcr1eS building alone rcmaincd to
oe visited; and it was to complete their
cycle of Sightseeing that they had
come to the fair this morning.
- 1t took no close observer to sec that
they were simple, wcll-to-do country
people One knew instinctivcly that
their paths had lain in sepucstered
places, through cool. green pastures,
where mild-cyed kline grazeCl contented-
- ana birds sang through the long sum-
hcr days. 1t was plain to be seen by
their honest faces that they We're far
better verscd in the ways of nature
than in the Hvilcs of man. This trip to
hves-the brightest bit of color woven
INTO the dull gray warp and vvoof of
their existence. They had never befoS..
seen anything more important than a
county fair; and this great carniv al of
Inc nations seemed SO Stupcn dous and
empowering that sometimes (, feeling
OF awe came over them. Th ey realized
the hopelessncsS of seeing and compre-
hending more than Il sma | part of the
"hole. AT such times, Un Gle Henry
would sigh and sadly remark that he
'reclSoned' it was too big, for him.
Uncle Henry was the head of tl,.,
family He had kind, honest face,
Aufi n look of simplicity that was re-
freshing. Lucy, his wife, was Il hearty.
buSon old lady, who looked at peace
With the whole world. Their youngest
child was with then1-a pretty, budding
grl OF seventeen or thcrea bouts. Then
there was Uncle Hcnry's sister, an old
Eaid, whose patient face gave evidence
that her life had been ono long sacri-
tee for the welfare of others.
u never did care no very great sight |
tr chromos." remarked Uncle Henry,
9 they passed rapidly through the va
iouS sections.
s''I kind q like to see EN-" said his |!
v1fe. "But dear me! Here's SO many |
Sou git all mixed up. You can't begin |
20 stop and look at 'em all close, for if |
Fou did you wouldn't git through in all !
lay"
INA, look herc.' called the girl. at
,racted by painting of 4 bouquet Of
gorgeous flowers. "Ain't this beauti-
ful? Wish L had it. Reckon they'd
sell it, pap
Course" answered her father. .'Sell
here for money
Wont you buy it for mc?' she
coaxed.
"Whats the use buyin' picl<chcrs
when you git such nice ones free with
every pound of tea you buy?'' Uncle
Henry asked.
But they're not like these here, pa.
These are all painted. They're only
printed
"Oh, ! see. All done by hand, CHI?
Wal, think some of 'em better been
left undouc''
They sat down on one of the sofas to
rest.
Ma, I want to learn to paint" said
the girl. ''Thcrc's a lady stays at the
Johnson's who teaches folks to make
pictures. Can't learn?"
Il reckon it's nice to know how to do
such things " said the mother. "What
do you think about it, Henry?''
Think it's nonsense!" said Henry, |
decisively. "No earthly use. Let Flora |
learn to paint. and our house would |
soon be regular pickcher gallery, like !
this. You go into the Johnson's, where
1lower here and cat-tail there, and a
long-legged bird of some sort over yon-
DER. johnson was tellin' me his girls
had got the craze so bad they even
decorated the coal-scuttle and the
spade, and wouldn't let him use 'cm.
II Flora wants to learn to paint, I'll git
some white lead and oil and let 'er
tackle the front-yard fence"
NO one made any response, and he
continued: We've seen all this we
want to, guess. Let's go over to that
place where the queer fishes is''
they were passing through a gallery
IN the United States section, irving to
nnu an outlet. The old maid sister,
VINO brought up the rear of the little
group, stopped to examine a picture
more closely.
ri. LOOK here, Henry" she said.
pict"re to which she called his
Wn.,on We, was entitled: Breaking
isan e lies The scene was plain.
ba room in an old fashioned farm
ouse. lad, perhaps eighteen. was
a1a,,a ing ms boyhood's home to go out
Ij;s ,,na, ,n,o the broad, unknown world.
.a.:r, .s mother, an iafinity of maternal .f.
lin, on IN her fearful eyes, stood bv
nlm, both her hands rcst;nr ~, h;s
sh0ulaers' The boys father had turned tn '.s