Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-12-04

OF the civic guard. f11reen unousanu
francs! I must say again that you must
be mad.
"Allow me to interrupt. You live
from your legal documents, and you
make as much as you can ont of them.
/ live from my brush, and don't see
that I am acting in any way reprehen-
sibly if try to make as much as I can
out Of my painting, especially when I
know that it is worth the money. So
the fixed price is Is, 900 francs, sir. Not
sou less. Take it or leave it, as you
please
"Then TN leave it, and you may go
to the''- The last word was Fortunate
ly cut off short by the violent slamming
of the door, as the enraged lawyer
rushed from the room. His avarice had
got the better of him.
When, however, he reached the
street, Van Speck paused to give audi
ence to feelings which were unpleasant,
but which he couldn't stife. He reflect
ed that if the picture remained on view
he would get to be more and more the
laughing stock of all, until at last he
would not be able to venture his head
out of doors Such an occurrence must
be prevented at any cost. It would be
better, after all, to make the best bar
gain with necessity and submit with all
the calmness possible to the painful in
evitable. But 10. 900 francs was an enor-
nous price 1t would certainly make
him i'll to pay so much. After all, he
was in the snare, and he would have to
submit to his captor's terms. "All's
fair in love and war, /" sighed he.
He retraced his steps to Wiertz's
atelier and entering said:
"I've thought the matter over again,
and I'll accept your terms. I'll take the
picture at Is, 200 francs. You can have
the money whenever you like"
Wiertz rose slowly from his seat with !:
"Sir, you are too good, and I really
ought to thank you warmly for your
generosity. But do you know, since you
went out, !, too. have thought the mat
ter over, and have had an inspiration. !"
The lawyer shivered. He began to
feel wholesome awe Of the artists
ideas, and he presaged another misfor-
tune.
"What idea?" he asked anxiously.
''I've been thinking that the more my
picture is seen the more it will gain in
value. / have great mind to let it stay
in Melchior's window for a fortnight or
80 and then advertise it for lottery, at
100 sous per ticket. Ishould also send
it round the town-show it round the
streets. am sure I should gain greatly
by it. y
Van Speck looked at Wiertz with
terror.
"You would never do thatp'
"Why not? At, 100 sous per ticket,
and with public taste in my favor, I
should certainly dispose Of great num-
ber of tickets am so sure that it
would be a brilliant success that I
won't relinquish the idea for less than
10000 francs-cash down.
The unfortunate Van Speck had an
other access of anger. He felt a prompt
ing to fall on the painter and beat him
to death with his heavy walking stick.
But on second thoughts the lawyer
thought that the artist was little too
muscular and might possibly save COM
plication by thrashing him, SO he decid-
ed to desist. So, instead, he alternately
stormed and besought. It couldn't be
possible that the artist was SO stony as
to pillory him to that extent-make
him still more Of a laughing stock by
sending that miserable caricature round
the streets. sAnd Van Speck begged his
tormentor to have mercy.
"Here,'' he said, ''is draft for 30,-
900 francs on my banker. Give me form
al authorization to take the picture out
of Melchior's window
The artist could not hold out against
such earnest entreaty, so he finally
yielded.
On the following day he cashed the
check. He retained 5000 francs, the
price originally agreed upon. The bal
ance he distributed among the poor.
AS to Van Speck, he tore down to
Melchior's in Rue de la Madeleine, got
the hated picture, which he took home
with him, and bursting into fit Of
fury he danced upon it and then
hacked it with knife until it was in
rags. All the time he was cursing his
folly which had led him to pay 80, 900
francs for picture to destroy. Trans
lated From the French For Short Stories.
Science Originated by the Church.
Save some knowledge Of medicinal
herbs and special animal products, with
perhaps little information about min
erals, often Joined with such observa-
tions of weather signs as enables them
to foresee coming changes, and SO ap-
parently to bring rain or sunshine, there
is little to be named as rudimentary soi-
ence among the medicine men-or quasi
priests-of savages. Only when there has
arisen that settled life which yields ia
cilities for investigation and for trans
mitting the knowledge gained can we
expect priests to display character ap-
preaching to the scientific. Hence we
pass at once to early civilizations.
Evidence from the books of ancient
India may first be set down. Demonstra-
tion is yielded by it that science was
originally part of religion. Both as
tronomy and medicine, says Weber, "re-
ceived their first impulse from the ext
gencies of religious worship" More spe-
cific, as we'll as wider, is the following
statement of DR.. Thibaut: "The want
Of some rule by which to fix the right
time for the sacrifices gave the first i'm
pulse to astronomical observations.
Urged by this want the priest remained
watching night after night the advance
of the moon and day after day the al
ternate progress of the sun toward the
north and the south. The laws Of pho
netics were Investigated because the
wrath of the gods followed the wrong
pronunciation of single letter OF the
sacrifcial formulas. Grammar and ety.
mology had the task Of securing the
right understanding Of the holy texts. "
Further, according to Dutt, geometry
was developed in India from the rules
for the construction of altars. Her
bert Spencer in Popular Science Month
ly.
Setting the Thanksgiving Table.
The table should be spread with
- ynNI-