er. He lost no time
in teaching me some of those full-flavoured Flemish idioms which from
the first enabled me to emphasise my meaning when I wished to express
it in unmistakable language.

He himself was a remarkable linguist, speaking English, French, and
German fluently, in addition to his native language, Dutch; so he soon
chummed with du Maurier and me in several languages, and became one of
our set. He was always ready to follow us in our digressions from the
conventional course, and we felt that many of our best international
jokes would have been lost had it not been for his comprehension and
appreciation. His father, too, was a kind friend to us, inviting us to
his house to hear Music and talk Art, to ply knives and forks, and to
empty glasses of various dimensions. That gentleman's corpulence had
reached a degree which clearly showed that he must have "lost sight
of his knees" some years back, but he was none the less strong and
active. There were two daughters, one pathetically blind, the other
sympathetically musical.

How our friend came by the name of Peggy none of us know, but he
figures as such in many of du Maurier's drawings.

"If Peggy," he says, in a letter from Malines, "doesn't come on
Sunday, may the vengeance of the gods overtake him! Tell him so. I'll
meet him at the train." And then he sketches the meeting and greeting
of the two, and the railway guard starting his train with the
old-fashioned horn-signal on the G.E.C. then in use.

My friend Jean soon started on his career as a regular exhibitor in
Belgium and Holland, besides which he developed a remarkable taste and
talent for teaching.

[Illustration: PEGGY AND DU MAURIER AT THE RAILWAY STATION IN
MALINES.]

"What would you advise about Pen's studies?" said Robert Browning
one afternoon as we sat in my little studio, talking about his son's
talents and prospects. (This was a few years after my final return to
England.) "Send him to Antwerp," I said, "to Heyermans; he is the best
man I know of to start him."

Pen went, and soon made surprising progress, painting a picture
after little more than a twelve-month that at once found an eager
purchaser. The poet took great pride in his son's success, and lost no
opportunity of speaking in the most grateful and appreciative terms
of the teacher. Millais and Tadema endorsed his praise, and Heyermans'
reputation was established. A few years ago he migrated to London,
where he continues his