The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1896-12-10
IN THE DARK ROOM.

hind you to avoid Interruptions So saith
the learned writer Of instructions to
Amateur Photographers, and 1t is rule
that has saved many negatives.
OF course it never occurred to the in
structor of amateurs to add, "And always
take a good look about you before shut
ting the door and sitting down in front Of
your ruby light" That admonition would
be looked upon as outside the book, and
no amateur would sec In 1t sense or rele-
vancy. Yet never go into my dark room
now without letting In a flood of light
that searches out every corner.
When bought my camera and began to
turn out foggy negatives, from which sick
ly, spectral prints came off, had no de-
Gently appointed dark room, using small
closet in my house for the purpose. Now,
not being socialist or a shoemaker, / like
good air, and to sit In that stuffy hole In
the wall for the better part of an hour at
time had the result Of eating up some of
my enthusiasm for dablbing in solutions
of eikonogen, carbonate of soda and stink
ing ether. My Ill smelling lamp seemed
to exhaust as much oxygen as my good
pair of lungs, and / sometimes bore my
negative out of the closet with such pale
face that, in spite Of my triumphant air
In exhibiting 1t TO my wife, she declared 1
was surely i'll and that she had always
heard that photographers were short lived.
She did not like the smell of my chem
icals either and declared they were a
nuisance of the first order.
That was why had my new and care
fully ventilated dark room built for me.
1t was house all by itself and stood down
in a little hollow, a good stones throw
from our dwelling. We were living In the
country then, in very pretty bit Of wood
land that had wilderness Of brown plain
all about 1t.
My new dark room was quite a spacious
affair, and / gloried In It's completeness of
detail and the handiness of the appoint
ments 1 used to spend a good deal of time
In there, and, as learned how much bro
mide to use and to hit upon the happy
moment for taking plate out Of the de-
veloping bath, my progress was swift and
sweet.
1t so happened in the autumn that we
went to the city for a month to live, leav-
ing our country place shut up I took my
camera to town and exposed a dozen or SO
dry plates on a lot Of marble statuary.
Whenever at odd times I thought of these,
I became feverish to know whether Ari-
adne had been overturned or whether We
nus had been light struck.
My wife smiled when / told her intend
cd to run down to "the ranch to look aft
en- things Bit
1t was too diaphanous. When she saw
me packing my plates she laughed. But
she was indulgent and said goodby with
her own little pleasantly about my not be-
ing so very deep after all.
Walking up to the house from the sta
ton, saw that the autumn winds had
been making very free with the trees
while we had been away, and the brown
leaves strewed the gravel walk and were
scurrying along on their thin edges like
little hoops driven by children. A smoky
haze lay over the wood and along the
plain, and the hills beyond were deep In
1t. The low lying sun was blood red and
sent a sickly yellow glow over the place.
Driving rather keenly, the wind set me a
shivering had never known 1.-THE ranch"
when it showed SO bleak and forbidding
face.
Not caring to enter the vacant house,
strode quickly down the path into the hol-
low which lay darkly in the shadow, and,
hurrying on to my little studio, pulled
out my keys before the door. Not finding
the right key, it came to me of sudden
that had left 1t in the lock inside on 60
ing to town. and, turning the handle of
the door, saw 1t had not been locked at
all. This was really Of little consequence,
as "the ranch" was not near the road, and
had often boasted that lock meant
nothing there anyway, though In the dark
room it had probably saved a negative or
two on occasion.
went in, and, from pure force Of hab-
1t, turned the key, leaving 1t in the lock.
Then I struck match, found my lamp,
lighted 1t and poured my chemicals out in
to my graduate and tray. Then, with the
lamp covered and only the thin stream of
red light coming DULY forth, I opened a
double back and pulled out q plate. 1t
was "Ariadne and the Panther, " for which
/ hoped great things. AS put the plato
into the developing tray and picked up my
graduate to pour forth the developer l was
startled by rustling that seemed to come
from the corner where kept my printing
stuff. 1t sounded like movement of the
stiff curtain that hung there, but 1t occur
red to me that the strange sound could
have come from wind puff among the
leaves outside. So poured the developer
upon the light yellow plato and began to
rock the tray gently.
Nowhere, except probably on your we'd
ding morning or on getting a wrapped
copy of your first book, does the charm of
expectancy get such hold upon you as 1t
does on watching for the image of an ex-
posed object to appear upon a Photographic
plate.
Out of the yellow blank before me now
came, softly and silently, the figure Of the
smooth limbed Ariadne, sitting her pan
ther with the majesty had seen In th'
marble. But she was coming on rather too
quickly because of overtiming, and rap
idly reached back for the bottle Of bromide.
As measured of four crystal drops that
fell splashing into the developer heard
slight grating sound, as Of q key being
taken from lock. Surely the charm of
Ariadne must have been strong upon me,
for the incident did not excite 30 much
alarm as IL did nero annoyance.
"Must have been In rather loose and
| Just dropped out" was my illogical
thought, but who can be logical concern
ing things external when snug In his own
tight little world of photography?
Ariadne came ON beautifully, and laid