ch as one hears of the Chinese empire. There he
dined, assuming the while a haughty and supercilious air, and
incessantly arranging his well-curled locks. There, too, he drank a
bottle of champagne; a liquid he had hitherto known only by reputation.
His head full of wine, he went out into the street, gay, bold, ready for
any thing--able to face the devil, as the Russians say. On the bridge he
met his former professor, and pushed coolly past him, as if he did not
observe him, leaving the poor man motionless with astonishment, a mark
of interrogation visibly printed in his countenance. All that he
possessed in the world, easels, canvasses, pictures, Tchartkoff
transported that very evening to his new and splendid lodgings. He
arranged his best pictures in the most visible situations, cast those he
thought less of into corners, and perambulated his splendid rooms,
looking at himself each minute in the mirrors. Then there arose in his
mind a restless desire to take fame by storm, instantly, without delay,
and to compel, by whatever means, the applause of the multitude. Already
the cry rang in his ears, "Tchartkoff, Tchartkoff! haven't you seen
Tchartkoff's picture? What a rapid pencil Tchartkoff has! Tchartkoff has
immense talent!" Musing, and castle-building, he paced his apartment
till a late hour of the night, and when in bed, could not sleep for
ruminating his ambitious projects.

The next morning he took a dozen ducats, and drove to the editor of a
fashionable newspaper. The introduction was efficacious. The journalist
praised his genius, professed the most ardent desire to serve him,
loaded him with compliments, shook him fervently by both hands, and
accompanied him obsequiously to the door, making minute inquiries as to
his name, his style of painting, his place of residence.

The very next day there appeared in the newspaper, immediately after an
advertisement of newly discovered candles, warranted to burn without
wicks, an article headed,

EXTRAORDINARY TALENT OF TCHARTKOFF.

"We hasten to congratulate the inhabitants of this polite metropolis on
what may be styled a _discovery_ of the most splendid and useful
nature. We refer to the sudden appearance of an artist of consummate
skill, possessing all the qualifications that can render a painter
worthy to transfer to the magic canvass the faces of the many beautiful
women and handsome men who adorn the cultivated circles of St
Petersburg. Ladies may now conf