The daily Alaskan., 1912-08-16
Painting
 The, Good By MARTIN L. WOODRUFF

friend-s woman-who said;
 concentrate your mind on one sub ject. Portray, or rather, idealize, the good"
 'ln man or womanT
 ''Either. You will find 1t more diff cult 10 place the good as embodied in man on canvas. but for that reason if YOU succeed you will gain the greater success. I have seldom, If ever, seen a satisfactory painting. of Jesus, but l have seen many successful Madonnas."
 "why is thstY'
 "I cannot tell. unless 1t Is that good ness is akin to gentleness. and gentle ness is more becoming in woman than a man"
 But I must have a model, and where shall find oneT
 She thought for sotne time before re plying, T will send you one. or will send you a number from whom you may choose"
 "wili you tell them for what they are to posey'
 "No. That would spoil them for your purpose"
 The first model sent me was come ly girl with an honest face and eye. l sketched her. and while l sketched l chatted with her Fancying that love was allied with the good in woman, l asked her if she had a sweetheart She said she loved a man and he had loved her. but a rival had taken him away from her StraAghtway her face took on an expression of hatred | eX- cused her without requesting another sitting.
 The next person who was to pose to me for the good yas a woman who was devoting herself Co charity. l talked with her concerning her work. and she became very much interested in telling me about it But l saw that ii WAS the love of work that spuTred her on rather than a naturally sympa- thetic nature. This did not deprecate, for it Is the proper application Of char ity that is most effective and too ten der a nature often stands ip the way of such application. AZ any rate, the girl dil not satisfy me as & model for the good. aud sent her away.
 My friend next sent me a young wo- man who had a fine social position. whom .evcryboiy loved because they said she wgS sa good When ! asked how she was good. they said she was good in every way Especially she was amiabIe. She ncter said a harsh word Of or to any one. This waS not from policy. hut from rhc innate gr"4. ness of her disposition Her. rnn. ] talked with while skrtchiuC her aud discovered that what these people tnoS for goodness waS a rare tact
 | reported my rcaSur> Co my f-.ea ! for ohfrrtiur tp tEr models she had sent me. and hy thi. time she h'. came a hi impatient y-ith me.
 What dc you c-all E0ul1cs,T sar asked me
 That is beyond my ability Co q" ine."' | replied. hut shall know ii when [ see e.
 My fourth mr,lel WIS q rr.'giH"S devotcp To look at her one w'uii know that she lived only tN dn tjr Lords bidding In her surely il1 found my model. Indeed. her alrSnrp- ton in living good life had hccosar stamped on her face. not only sketched her. but pui brr face on mv canvas in paint But | was not Sa;iS- fed with it lt seemed Co express what has usually been expressed in the pictures Of saints. which k uciiAc~ more nor less than picty. was look. ing for something beyond thiS. Son'- thing that might bplong to one who had never heard of God or Saviour [ bowed the lady out nf my studio and after she bad gnue l,ckcl knife through her portrait.
 Then came youHg lady who pleas ed me immensely She was pretty: she was snrightly: she was frank hon. est. refined My friend who Seut her wrote me about her. saying: "Yon will find in her the model you need. But don't decide 10 the contrary before giving her a fair trial"
 was not likely to do that. was counting on the delightfu! companion. ship l would have wi;lt her and re- solved whether or no she suited my purpose to prolong the sittiugs as far as possible. found that we had similarity or disSimnarity of disposi. ton. couldn't tell which. but 1t was very pleasing. During her first sitting 1 sketched her. at the second ] began to paint. chatting with her the while to draw her out. I touched on the good as I understood it. and a responsive expression appeared on her face. l spoke of evil things. and there was no response whatever. showing that evil had no place in her nature; she only knew 1t by name. When 1 had partly finished the picture l thought would try an experiment. would tell her that she was sitting ss a model for the good The information drew forth look of astonishment.
 ''why, am not good" ahe said.
 That you are unconscious of being rood proves to me that you are"
 "EurekaI' wrote my friend. q am