The Opelousas courier., 1896-09-12
HammerpOnC

w f. tnat the honeymoon
~ was to be spent al
Hammerpond. The announcement OF
these valuable prizes created o con
siderable sensation in the small circle
in which Mr.. Teddy Watkins was the
undisputed leader, and it was decided
that, accompanied by a duly qualified
assistant, he should visit the village
of Hammerpond in his professional
capacity.
Being man of naturally retiring
and modest disposition, Mr.. Watkins
determined to make this visit incog.
and after due consideration OF the con
d1tlons of his enterprise, he selected
the role of q landscape artist and the
n~uassuming of Smith. He
preceded his assistant, who, it was de.
cided, should join him only on the last
afternoon of his stay at Hammerpond.
Now, the village of Hammerpond is,
perhaps, one of the prettiest little
corners in Sussex; many matched
houses still survive, the .fint-built
church with its tall spire nystling un-
der the down is one of thee finest and
least restored in the county, and the
beech woods and bracken jungles,
through which the road runs to the
great house, are singulariy rich in
what the vulgar artist and photog-
rapher call "bits." So that Mr.. Wat
kins, on his arrival with two virgin
c%anvases, a brand-new easel, a paint
box, p~crtmanteau, an ingenious little
ladder made in sections, crowbar and
w,1v' coils, found himself welcomed
with ettusion and some curiosity by
half "a dozen other brethren of the
brush. 1t rendered the disguise he
bad chosen unexpectedly plausible,
but it inflicted upon him a considera-
BILE amount of aesthetic conversation
for which he was verYimperfectly pre-
pared.
"Have you exhibited very much? ?"
said Young Person in the bar-parlor
of the Coach and Horses, where Mr..
Watkins was skillfully accumulating
local information on the night of his
arrival.
Every little.A said Mr.. Watkins;
t'just a snack here and there"
"Academy?"
SIN course. And at the Crystal
Palace"
"Did they hang you well?" said
Person.
"Don't rot" said Mr.. Watkins; 81
don't like IT'D
81 mean THU did put you in a good
place."
"Whadyer mean?" said Mr.. Wat.
kins, suspiciously. zone md think
You were trying to make out I'd been
put away"
Person had been brought up by
aunts, and was a gentlemanly young
man even for an artist he did not
know what being "put away" meant,
but he thought it best to explain that
he intended nothing Of the SORT. As
the question of hanging himself
seemed a sore point with Mr.. Watkins,
he tried to divert the conversation a
little.
"Do you do tigure-work at all?"
"No, never had a head for figures"
said Mr.. Watkins; "my mlss-Mrs.
Smith, I mean, does all that"
"She paints. tool" said Person.
"Ihat's rather jolly"
"Very," said Mr.. Watkins, though
he really did not think so, and, feel
ing the conversation Was drifting a
little beyond his grasp, added: IL
came down here to paint Hammerpond
House by moonlight"
eallyi" said Person. "That's
! sthe- L Lowell idea"
''Yes," said Mr.. Watkins. 81 thought
it rather a good notion when it oc-
Cured to me. | expect to begin to-
morrow night"
"What! You don't mean to paint
in the open, by night?"
81 do, though"
"But how will you see your can
vas?"
"Have a bloomin' cops" began
Mr.. Watkins. rising too quickly to the
question, and then realizing this,
bawled to Miss Durgan for another
glass of beer. "I'm goln' to have q
thing called 8 dark lantern" he said
to Person.
"But it's about new moor now,"
objected Person. t'Tnere won't be
any moon"
"There'Il be the house," said Wat
kins, eat any rate. I'm goin', you
see, to paint the house first and the
moon afterwards"
"Oh!' said Person, too staggered
to continue the conversation.
"They doc say" said old Durgan,
the landlord, who had maintained a
respectful silence during the technical
conversation, "as there's no less than
three p'Ilcemen from 'Azelworth on
dewty every night in the house
count of this Lady Avellng n her
jewellery. One'm won fower-and.six
last night, of second footman-toss-
in"
Toward sunset next day Mr.. Wat
kins, virgin canvas, easel, and a very
considerable "ese of other appliances
in hand, strolled up the pleasant
pathway through the beechwoods to
Hammerpond Park, and pitched his
in q strategic position com
ntandins the house. Hero he was oh.
served by Nj. Raphael SAINT, who waa