The Yale expositor., 1895-02-22
A WEDDING GIFT.
by Clyde Howell.


and furnished, in the suburbs Of Buf-
falo.
We had received many gifts from her
friends and mine, several Of them cost
", and most of them either useful or
ornamental and they had been express
ed at my direction, TO our future home.
But there was one wedding present
which we had not yet seen. 1t was the
gift Of a wealthy aunt Of my bride,
and she had said that 1T would Ibe sent
direct to Buffalo, as it would be in
convenient to repack, which would be
accessory If it were exhibited on our
wedding-day at Eleonores former
home in Otsego county, n. Y.
There was some mystery about Aunt
Caroline's wedding present, ms She
seemed disinclincl to describe IL.
At last, after tedious journey from
Saratoga, we entered our little home,
and the first thing that attracted our
attention was Aunt Caroline'S present.
conspicuously displayed on the parlor
wall, directly facing the door.
1t was an atrUciousiy painted repre-
sentatCn Of the parable of the Prodigal
Son, and looked us if it might have or
ignated in Il mandatory of "cuItoSi-
ties" Its origin | never learned, al
though 1 had ample opportunity to
study it.
1t is quito certain, however. that
dear Aunt Caroline, knowing my own
and ElcOnore's fondness for pictures,
and with her heart overfiowing with
benCvOlCnce and affection, had pur-
chased the he ana sUact some auction,
paying for it Il good round sum, and
cOnSOlng herself for the extravaganza
with thoughts of the pleasure the pic
turc would give us.
The canvas measured eight feet by
ten feet. The frame was n broad, gild-
ed affair; the composition itself alb
surd in the extreme. In the middle
foreground group Of figures in gala
attire represented the returned Pro
dig1l, his parents, and the guests in
vited to celebrata the return. The
PrCdigal bore Il strk ng resemblance
to Nat Goodwin, the actor. On a sort
of raiScl platform in the background
were number Of figures with cymbalS,
dancing and S'ng ne. All tn Sc pers, rs
were in kind Of pilllrcl hall, to the
left Of which was an abject-lO0linS In
dividual in tatterCd garments, feeding
some swine with ears of corn. In this
scene the Prodigal recalled the shabby
and disrcputablc appearance of Nat
Goodwin as CarTawy Bones, in the
farce Of Turned Up"
To the right of the hall was an
Oriental butcher with Turkish cine
ter. slaughtcrng the fatted calf
Aunt Caroline confided TO me after
ward that it was because the canvas
contained really three pic ures instead
of only one that she decided to secure
it, adding with triumphant smile:
You see, my dear nephew, you have
the entire allcgory on one canvas"
And there it hung-takiEg up almost
one en- ire wall of the room in which
we had decided Eleonorc should spend
the most Of her time.
We surveyed the monstrosity in ST
lence; and in silence listened TO our
maids admiring comments on our
perfectly lovely painting The
presence of that wretched daub made
us dislike the parlor; and whenever
visitors called, my wife resolutely
turned her back on the "Prodigals." d"
as she called the figures on the can
vas. When visitors were numerous,
long proximity to the p.cture certainly
had a wearying and depressing effect.
When / came home in the evening
and found ElCouore almost worn out,
and would inquire tehderly what
wearicd her, she would sigh, "Oh,
those 'Prodigals.' And really it was
almost uncomfortable. But we could
not offend dear Aunt Caroline-whose
admiring gaze always hung with de-
vouring interest on the mammoth can
vas every time she visited us-by cut
ting it in pieces, burning it, or hanging
ii in the cellar
Howeve., after everybody had call
ed and been called on return, there
came n season of comparative peace,
during which Eleonore went to pay a
two days visit to an old school-friend
During her absence | had two men
came aud remove the "PrOdigals," into
the dining room; and when Aunt Caro-
line, on her next visit missed the pic
ture from its accustomed place, she
seemed quite dOwn-hearted. /, how
ever, boldly declared that the light in
the dining room was much better, and
that the subject-feasting- more
suitable for Il dining room than Il
uIdWiLS IOOHls
Dear Aunt Caroline! She had so
much faith in my reputation as an art
connOisseur that, Notwithstanding her
disappointment, she said 1 was quite
right to move the picture.
Now. thought 1, with sefgratulatory
feeling, Eleonore can receive her callers
in comfort.
But 1 reckoned without my "Prodi-
gals
Although the picture gave us less an
noyancc in its present position. we did
not become reconciled TO it, Far from
it! but as l sat with my back toward
1t during meals, and EleonOre had only
n side view, it was not so constantly
obvious as it had been, and when the
warm weather came, we covered it
with gauZe-on account of the flies!
1t happ ned that the celebrated Doe
tor S, visited our town during the
holidays.
There were no flies at that time.
Our guest was n most aniablc nCn.
and the friends whom we lad invited
to dine with lin did their best TO help
entertain him.
During the soup he related n highly
amusing adventure he had had i'm
Egypt. When Martha removed his
nIotn no looked uD-fhp "prOdi., .,a ls'