"I will paint or die!" So stoutly resolved a poor, friendless boy, on a
far-away Ohio farm, amid surroundings calculated to quench rather than
to foster ambition. He knew not how his object was to be accomplished,
for genius is never fettered by details. He only knew that he would be
an artist. That settled it. He had never seen a work of art, or read or
heard anything on the subject. It was his soul's voice alone that
spoke, and "the soul's emphasis is always right."
Left an orphan at the age of eleven, the boy agreed to work on his
uncle's farm for a term of five years for the munificent sum of ten
dollars per annum, the total amount of which he was to receive at the
end of the five years. The little fellow struggled bravely along with
the laborious farm work, never for a moment losing sight of his ideal,
and profiting as he could by the few months' schooling snatched from
the duties of the farm during the winter.
Toward the close of his five years' service a great event happened.
There came to the neighborhood an artist from Washington,--Mr. Uhl,
whom he overheard by chance speaking on the subject of art. His words
transformed the dream in the youth's soul to a living purpose, and it
was then he resolved that he would "paint or die," and that he would go
to Washington and study under Mr. Uhl.
On his release from the farm he started for Washington, with a coarse
outfit packed away in a shabby little trunk, and a few dollars in his
pocket. With the trustfulness of extreme youth, and in ignorance of a
great world, he expected to get work that would enable him to live,
and, at the same time, find leisure for the pursuit of his real life
work. He immediately sought Mr. Uhl, who, with great generosity,
offered to teach him without charge.
Then began the weary search for work in a large city already
overcrowded with applicants. In his earnestness and eagerness the youth
went from house to house asking for any kind of work "that would enable
him to study art." But it was all in vain, and to save himself from
starvation he was at length forced to accept the position of a day
laborer, crushing stones for street paving. Yet he hoped to study
painting when his day's work was done!
Mr. Uhl was at this time engaged in painting the portraits of Mrs.
Frances Hodgson Burnett's sons. In the course of conversation with Mrs.
Burnett, he spoke of the heroic struggle the youth was making. The
author's heart was touched by the pathetic story. She at once wrote a
check for one hundred dollars, and handed it to Mr. Uhl, for his
protege. With that rare delicacy of feeling which marks all beautiful
souls, Mrs. Burnett did not wish to embarrass the struggler by the
necessity of thanking her. "Do not let him even write to me," she said
to Mr. Uhl. "Simply say to him that I shall sail for Europe in a few
days, and this is to give him a chance to work at the thing he cares
for so much. It will at least give him a start."
In the throbbing life of the crowded city one heart beat high with hope
and happiness that night. A youth lay awake until morning, too
bewildered with gratitude and amazement to comprehend the meaning of
the good fortune which had come to him. Who could his benefactor be?
Three years later, at the annual exhibition of Washington artists, Mrs.
Burnett stood before a remarkably vivid portrait. Addressing the artist
in charge of the exhibition, she said: "That seems to me very strong.
It looks as if it must be a realistic likeness. Who did it?"
"I am so glad you like it. It was painted by your protege, Mrs.
Burnett."
"My protege! My protege! Whom do you mean?"
"Why, the young man you saved from despair three years ago. Don't you
remember young W----?"
"W----?" queried Mrs. Burnett.
"The young man whose story Mr. Uhl told you."
Mrs. Burnett then inquired if the portrait was for sale. When informed
that the picture was an order and not for sale, she asked if there was
anything else of Mr. W----'s on exhibition. She was conducted to a
striking picture of a turbaned head, which was pointed out as another
of Mr. W----'s works.
"How much does he ask for it?"
"A hundred and fifty dollars."
"Put 'sold' upon it, and when Mr. W---- comes, tell him his friend has
bought his picture," said Mrs. Burnett.
On her return home Mrs. Burnett made out a check, which she inclosed in
a letter to the young painter. It was mailed simultaneously with a
letter from her protege, who had but just heard of her return from
Europe, in which he begged her to accept, as a slight expression of his
gratitude, the picture she had just purchased. The turbaned head now
adorns the hall of Mrs. Burnett's house in Washington.
"I do not understand it even to-day," declares Mr. W----. "I knew
nothing of Mrs. Burnett, nor she of me. Why did she do it? I only know
that that hundred dollars was worth more to me then than fifty thousand
in gold would be now. I lived upon it a whole year, and it put me on my
feet."
Mr. W---- is a successful artist, now favorably known in his own
country and in England for the strength and promise of his work.