Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1904-10-26
Venus AND A PROFESSOR

been newly furnished throughout, and
think | can say that it is furnished
artistically."
Delightful" cried my wife when
had read so far from the letter in
which the owner of a seaside cottage
on Long Island Sound described the
place we had rented for the season
Mrs. Rogers told me thai Prof.
smith was the best of landlords; and
I'm sure, Herbert, il will please you
to go into a cottage for the summer
that is furnished arts ically Most
summer cottages. as we know, are
simply dreadful"
Simply dreadful" though vague,
was understood by me, and quite
agreed with Mrs. Burton in her esti-
mate of the attraciveness. internally,
of the average summer cottage, and
shared in her delight at the prospect
of something better which was held
Sut of our new landlords letter. A
Professor" of course, would have
the proper ideals about art as applied
to household decoration. We were al
ready the subject of envy among our
friends because we were going TO the
seaside so early this year, and after
we had gone about Dragging for a
while about the artistic attractions OF
our cottage this envy amounted to
positive dislike.
what airs those Burtons give
themselves said our neighbors, lit
tie knowing what was ahead of us,
and forge ting the adage that pride
goeth before a fall"
The Professor met us at the station
when we arrived at our village. We
gasped when we saw him. He must
be a Professor of ploughing or hay
ing" whispered my wife. Under his
,hin wagged a billy-goat beard, and
he was for all the world the figure of
the typical farmer We later found
out that early in his youth-he was
now about seventy-he had taught in
the village school, and that the title
OF Professor" had chung to him ever
since. However, nobody could have
been more courteous or kind than the
Professor He did all he possibly
could to make things pleasant for us,
and his cottage was, as he had prom.
sed, well and newly and comfortably
furnished But the artistic end of the
decorationsl
"Horrorsr whispered my wife I'M
der her breath when her eyes saw
he pictures that hung everywhere on
the walls. There were oil paintings
If a quality that-we'l. they were
What my wife-exclaimed horrors. Oil
paintings of dogs heads done in glar-
ing colors, and supposed portraits OF
dead and gone men and women which
make us think that If the originals in
any way resembled them it was well
that they were dead and gone. And
they hung on every available foot OF
the wall The Professor pointed them
out with pride. and told us the history
Of each one. To him, it was plain to
see, they represented the Towering OF
perfect art. They were mostly fam
lily portraits.
What in the world are we to do
about them?" asked my wife, when
the Professor departed. I'VE will be
the laughing stock of all our friends
who visit us, with those objects on
our walls after all we have said
about the artistic merits of our cot
tage."
why, we'll take them down" said
|. But Mrs. Burton demurred to this.
She is a kind-hear ed woman. 1T
would break the Professors heart to
do that" she said, and | think she
was right So we let them hang.
My wife had, however, one of her
own pictures with her in her trunk
a splendid little photograph of the
Venus of Milo, and this she got out
and hung up over her desk in the front
room.
thank Heavens | brought this"
she said: III try not to look at the
others" But, alas, for our good inten-
lions, for our desire not to hurt the
Professors feelings!
Venus has caused lot of trouble
in the world, and she brought Il into
our cottage on the Sound. The Pro
fessor was a deacon of the severe old
school. He came to the cottage next
day to see if we wanted anything.
and his Mortified eyes fell upon our
Venus. 1t caused him more alarm
than his ancestral oil paintings had
caused us. He stood for moment as
though stupefed, while we stared at
him in wonder, and then he made a
mad rush for the wall and began to
take down the. portraits of his grard
parents and other relatives and bur-
ried them out of doors. away from
the contagion of the calm Venus.
MY folks can't stay in the same
house with that hussyr' he cried.
And they did not. He took all his
pictures away, and now Venus has
the cottage to herself so far as pic
lures are concerned.
Well at any rate" said my wife
"the cottage certainly is artistic now"
But the Professor has put US down as
objects for earnest prayer.
Holland Curtains.