Miss Darry, knowing I could borrow books at Hillside, and that those
which I already possessed were the old English classics, bought for me
in the city only a Greek Grammar, through whose intricacies she proposed
to be my guide, and a box of water-colors, and brought to me some lives
of the old painters from Miss Merton's library.
She bewildered my mind by telling me of all there was in store for it in
the way of work and study. Her interest in my progress seemed to have
received a new impetus from her visit in town. She described the rooms
where were casts of legs and arms, heads and groups of figures, to which
I might one day have access, with the privilege of copying; and in
return I showed her two crayon sketches I had made in her absence.
Michel Angelo might have relished the knotty, muscular development of
the arm I showed her first. If there is beauty and satisfaction in
coarse brute strength, this member of my master's body was worthy of all
praise. On another sheet I had drawn, by way of contrast, Annie's
delicately small and fair, but round, arm and hand, which might have
served in her infancy as models for those of one of Raphael's cherubs.
She liked them both, and said that I should do as well, perhaps, in the
school of Nature as anywhere, for the present.
She desired me to become a sculptor, for form appealed more strongly to
her nature than color; and it seemed to be tacitly decided between us
that Art was to be my vocation. She thought that my strong hands,
accustomed to labor, could hew my own idea out of the marble for the
present, and save the expense of workmen. And then she described to me
the beautiful marbles she had seen abroad, where the artist's
inspiration was so chastely uttered by the purity of his material,
declaring that a subject which coloring would debase might be worthily
treated by the chisel. And when I exclaimed, that Autumn, with her
glowing palette, was as pure an artist as the old sculptor Winter,
chiselling in unvaried white, she reminded me that Nature was infinite,
handling all themes with equal power and purity; but that man, in
copying, became, as she thought some of the Preraphaelites had done, a
caricaturist, in attempting to follow her too closely. I was unconvinced
by her arguments, but held my newly bought color-box as a means of
proving to her the wisdom of my choice.
When I was about to leave, she said,--
"Sandy, pray don't make an enemy of Tracy Waters on account of any words
you had the other evening about the blacksmith's little girl. He's a
rough, but kind fellow, and your superiority and desire to rise in life
will stir up envy enough of themselves. Why not let him show his
admiration of the child, if he wanted to?"
"Oh, have they been telling you about that, Miss Darry?" I answered,
awkwardly. "If you knew Annie Bray, you would not ask me why I didn't
let him bend his great rough face over hers. She's only a child in
years, to be sure; but she has a woman's modesty."
"Oh, well, if she shrank from it, of course, as a gentleman, you were
bound to take her part; but don't spoil your chances in life, Sandy, I
beg, by any entanglement with these villagers of which you may repent. A
pretty country lassie to smile when you look at her would doubtless be a
comforting companion in your struggles. But once attain what you long
for in other ways, and you will crave an intelligent friend, whose
gaucheries shall not forever put you to the blush."
Miss Darry, in her appreciation of my abilities, sometimes forgot my
lack of attainment. I was not always familiar with her quotations, but
now I was more disturbed by her regarding so seriously my brotherly
devotion to Annie Bray, and by the depreciating estimate which she held
of her.
"I did not know you looked down so entirely upon our villagers. The only
way in which I could expect to differ from them is through my talent for
painting, if I prove to have any. My mother was a good woman, gentle and
quiet in her ways, but only a farmer's daughter; and though my father
was the village doctor, he studied his profession without any regular
training, and I suppose knew less of chemistry and anatomy than you,
Miss Darry. Annie Bray is as much a lady, in her childish way, as Miss
Merton; only she is the stone in its native soil, and Miss Merton has
been set by the jeweller."
I was irritated and had spoken warmly, but the bright smile did not
leave Miss Darry's face, as she answered,--
"Sandy, you have unmistakably the poetic temperament; but use your brush
on the canvas, and don't color every human being you see. I never could
comprehend why the practical affairs of life should not be ruled by
judgment and reason,--why the mental mansion should not have every
needful arrangement for comfort, though a hundred illusions may fresco
its ceilings. Every child is charming because it is a child, as every
bud is charming because it is a bud, though it may open a poppy or a
rose. I haven't a doubt but this little friend of yours will develop
some qualities of her ignorant ancestors to remove her in a few years
far from your ideal of womanhood. The rare gift of genius is as often
bestowed on the child of common parentage as on any other; but the
refinement which makes a woman a congenial companion is a mingling of
birth, education, and associations, in my opinion. It seems from your
own account, that poverty, not choice, apprenticed you to Amos Bray."
Her good-nature shamed me, and her unselfish labor for my improvement
touched me more deeply. So, though we did not agree about my profession
or friendship, I said no more.