rman art what Meissonier is to the French. His picters
are all bought by the National Gallery, and bring enormous sums."

Josiah almost swooned away. Nothin' but pride kep him up--

I didn't say nothin' to add to his mortification. Only I simply said--

"Babe will prize that picter, Josiah Allen."

And he sez, "Be a fool if you want to; I'm a-goin' to git sunthin' to
eat."

[Illustration: "Be a fool if you want to."]

And he hurried me along at almost a dog-trot, but I would stop to look
at a "Spring Day in Bavaria," and the "Fish Market in Amsterdam," and
the "Nun," and some others, I would--they wuz all beautiful in the
extreme.

Wall, after we come back into the gallery agin, the first picter we went
to see wuz "Christ Before Pilate," by Mr. Muncaxey.

There He stood, the Man of Sorrows, with His tall figure full of patient
dignity, and His face full of love, and pity, and anguish, all bent into
a indescribable majesty and power.

His hands wuz bound, He stood there the centre of that sneering,
murderous crowd of priests and pharisees. On every side of Him He would
meet a look of hate and savage exultation in His misery.

And He, like a lamb before the shearers, wuz dumb, bearing patiently the
sins and sorrows of a world.

The fate of a universe looked out of His deep, sweet eyes.

He could bear it all--the hate, all the ignominy, the cruel death
drawin' so near--He could bear it all through love and pity--the
highest heights love ever went, and the deepest pity.

Only one face out of that jeerin', evil crowd had a look of pity on't,
and that wuz the one woman in the throng, and she held a child in her
arms.

Mebby Love had taught her the secret of Grief.

Anyway, she looked as if she pitied Him and would have loosed His bonds
if she could. It wuz a dretful impressive picter, one that touched the
most sacred feelin's of the beholder.

There wuz a great fuss made over Alma Tadema's picter of "Crowning
Bachus."

But I didn't approve on't.

The girls' figgers in it wuz very beautiful, with the wonderful floatin'
hair of red gold crowned with roses.

But I wanted to tell them girls that after they got Mr. Bachus all
crowned, he'd turn on 'em, and jest as like as not pull out hull
handfuls of that golden hair, and kick at 'em, and act.

Mr. Bachus is a villain of the deepest dye. I felt jest like warnin'
'em.

I like Miss Tadema's picters enough sight better--pretty little girls
playin' innocen