iety in London. The company had been talking
about skill with the hands, when some one remarked that no one had ever
been found who could draw two things at once. "Oh, I can do that," said
Landseer; "lend me two pencils and I will show you." Quickly he drew the
head of a horse with one hand while with the other he drew a stag's head
and antlers. Both sketches were so good that they might well have been
drawn with the same hand and with much more study.

Sir Edwin Landseer felt that animals understand, feel, and reason just
like people, so he painted them as happy, sad, gay, dignified,
frivolous, rich, poor, and in all ways just like human beings. This
appealed to the people, and he became very popular.

Sir Edwin did and said all he could against the custom of "cropping"
the ears of dogs. He said that nature intended to protect the ears of
dogs that "dig in the dirt," and man should not interfere. People
paid attention to what he said, and the custom lost favor.

Landseer died in London in 1873 at the age of seventy-one. A tablet
placed to his memory in the notch of one of the windows at Westminster
Abbey has a medallion portrait of him at the top, and below this,
carved in light relief, is a copy of one of his most famous paintings,
"The Highland Shepherd's Chief Mourner."

=Questions about the artist.= Tell about Sir Edwin Landseer's father.
What did he do? Why were engravers not allowed to exhibit their work?
What did Edwin's father do to defend his art? What did Edwin's brother,
Thomas, accomplish? Why are we so indebted to him? Who taught Edwin how
to draw? Tell about his brothers and their walks in the fields. What
animal did Edwin draw first? Where was "Edwin's studio"? Which two of
his pictures were exhibited when he was only thirteen years old? What
became of the sketches he made when he was a boy? Tell about his two
studios. Tell about his picture of the old white horse. With whom did
Sir Edwin Landseer travel through Scotland? What did Sir Walter Scott
say about Landseer's dogs? How did Landseer happen to name his studio
"Maida Vale"? What weapons did Sir Edwin use when he hunted? Why did he
not shoot the animals? Tell about his drawing with both hands. In what
ways are animals like people according to Landseer's judgment?

[Illustration]

CHILDREN OF THE SHELL

=Questions to arouse interest.= Where do these children seem to be?
Which of the two children seems to be the older? What is the boy