The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-10-27
CHAPTER I.
A YOUNG ARTIST.

Paul Renouf was an artist In embryo. In
person he was tall and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
Ing, with a face that was more than mere
" handsome; IL was noble.
Soberness and sunshine alternated in their
play among his features. while his voice had
a remarkable blending in its tones Of weight
and
TIL very essence of practically. his soul
was yet afood with the fancy Of the painter
and the poet.
To him there had come greatness in the
art world. While only just out OF his teens.
but all the adulation that had been poured
upon him, with the honors that, like the
palm branches OF a triumphal way, had
ieen cast AT his feet. had never even be-
gun to spoil him., for there was nothing lit
tie in any part of his composition. and 1t is
the Iittleness Of our natures that yield
corruptingly to praise or %fiattery.
Ills artistic triumphs had been achieved
in two very opposite branches Of the studio
portrait painting and seascape.
II was In both of these. apparently OPP
rosite lines. that he first leaped into prom
:nencc. taking the whole art world by storm
bat of this We shall have more to say
later Oh.
Paul Renouf was born In a little village.
against whose feet the rocky Atlantic
hurried itS stormy waters, and over whose
one tiny street It sometimes dashed its hur-
ricane spray. while is air was always
charged with the strongest ozone from the
be som Of that same wide sea
His father was the village tailor. q mar
row-minded. mean. ignorant. grasping little
man. who secured Paul's mother by fraud,
trading upon her innocent susceptibility in
time of her great life trouble, with lies, the
most hatefully mean that were ever framed
10y human lips.
Her married life was one long chain OF
bitter regrets, and when at length she
slowly glided down into the early grave
thar became her fate. II was with q sense
OF unspeakable relief that she viewed her
carly end.
Only one regret mingled with the relief
with which she regarded speedy DEATH
that was the leaving behind Of her child.
With the instinct OF the mother-hesrt
she saw how utterly different to all about
him was her boy. and knew also how bit
terly her husband would fail to understand
the lad. She foresaw the consequent sorrow
which the pure-minded. high-souled Paul
NOuIu udSC ~ Jag ASttNoB0 Va iAC wv
with his father.
vision for Paul she did. Che spent all she
privately possessed In microscopy masses
TO the Virgin on behalf OF her boy. and
with much dimculty she managed to have
an interview-unknown to her husband
with one Andreas Dupuis. making him
promise that II he could ever serve, or be-
friend her child, that he would do 1t for
her FAKE.
Left utterly to himself. after his mothers
death, the little Paul, bare-footed. bare
headed. scantily clothed, and always poor
ly-fed. speat ivory moment Of his days.
that weather would permit, In the open air.
and mostly % the Tock-strewn. shingiy
beach.
Here. With edds ana eads Of pencil. chalk.
bits Of oolorsA tiles; petals OF flowers.
squeezed out leaves Of trees treated in the
same fashion. everything. in fact. that
would yield color. even to the tiny paper
OF tabls mustard which. for lack Of chrome
or gambogs. he sometimes begged Of tho
maid at the village Inn. he would draw and
paint thcss wondfous boyish pictures that
made him 70 b reversnced By his COM
/. peers, and % b marvslsd at by his elders.
His canvases were III wall-like rocks.
facing The sea, who's surfaces had been
smoothed by vast Of wave and hurricane
blast, through the hundreds of centuries
hat they had faced that wild Atlantic.
What Paul saw and copied appealed to
the dun eyes Of those who watched him;
what his poetic. artistic fancy saw over
and above the copies he used. the others
did not see. could not understand. though it
made them marvel and hold their breath.
The bit Of sea which served him as a
field Of studies was full Of variety Of nauti-
cal life. Close to the entrance to the Seine
the village outlook furnished him with sep
arate studies In . motley variety Of sea
craft.
Trading steamers. dirty. noisy. smoke-en-
veloped yachts. English. American, Italian.
French. and even at times Greek and Al
gerlan: coasting schooners n briggs Of
many rigs; fishing boats. singly or in fleets;
ships dainty and dirty; sail and steam:
man-o'-war and mercantils-all were fair
fish for Paul's sketching net.
Even at L (as far Is such power could
be In one % young). he had the eye Of a
Clark RESELL for atmospheric effect, and
some OF ~ idsa Of reproducing those eff
fects which made him-though 20 il-taught
and % 5uveaile-a Turner. according to his
small possibilities.
Child ~ 10 ~ he was ever striving
after effects which his rye. his soul. saw.
and which his unframed skill and lack
az proper materials prevented him realiz-
ing.
Like . Mon Gagged. o. chained to some
massive pillar. where II b doomed to wan
der restlessly round and round, fretting q