[Illustration]
"'Now I'm furnished,'" hummed the Baron. "'Now I'm furnished'--with
several books for my journey, and----" "Tickets, please," broke in the
inspector. "Just when I was comfortable," growled the Baron; "but no
matter. And now for the _Pen and Pencil Sketches_."
[Illustration: "Little Billee."]
The father of Mr. STACY MARKS predestined him for the coach-building
business. Providence, interposing, made him a painter, and the gaiety of
nations has been increased by the possession of some storks. In _Pen and
Pencil Sketches_ (CHATTO AND WINDUS) he has given the world some
reminiscences of a career justly crowned by the laurels of the Royal
Academy. The work is in two volumes, and my Baronite says would have
been more than twice as good had it been in one. The first volume is
charming, with its chat about LEIGH'S studio and the men met there; of
CHARLES KEENE and the delightful cruise off Gravesend in the _William
and Mary_; of merry days with the St. John's Wood clique; of nights at
ARTHUR LEWIS'S; and of days with FRED WALKER. When the flood of memory
runs dry, and there still remains a second volume to be produced, Mr.
MARKS grows desperate, and shovels in anything he finds handy in the
pigeon-holes of his desk. Thus the pleased reader finds reprinted
articles that appeared in the _Spectator_ thirty years ago, when Mr.
MARKS was art critic to that respectable journal. Also there is a
description of BAMPTON, which once thrilled the readers of the _Tiverton
Gazette_. This gives to the second volume something of the smell of an
apple store-room. But the first is good enough to atone for the burden
of the second. By a happy coincidence, whilst Mr. DU MAURIER in _Trilby_
has made all the world in love with _Little Billee_, he appears under
his own name in many of Mr. MARKS' pages, and is always the same
charming, simple-minded, sensitive man of genius. It is pleasant to read
how our Mr. AGNEW--"WILLIAM" the wise call him--gave the young painter
his first substantial lift. WALKER had painted a picture he called
"_Spring_," a young girl gathering primroses in a wood. Yielding to the
advice of his friends, he put on it a price the amount of which abashed
him. Mr. AGNEW saw the picture, recognised its merit, and wrote a cheque
for the full amount asked. When the young artist heard of his good
fortune he burst into tears, and gasping out "I must go and tell my
mother," rushed from the place. Of the original sketches with which the
volumes are enriched are some pen-and-ink drawings by FRED WALKER, which
reveal in a new light the painter of "_The Almshouse_." Amongst many
good stories, Mr. MARKS tells how he was addressed by a clergyman, who,
believing from his name that he was a Jew, invited him to look in at his
church and be converted. "MARCO'S" reply conclusively proved his
possession of a Christian spirit.
[Illustration: "A Late Physician."]
Since SAMUEL WARREN wrote his _Diary of a Late Physician_,--to which, as
the Baron supposes, allusion is made in p. 200 of this book, where the
narrator says, "Thus it happens that the ablest chronicler of their
(_i.e._ medical men's) experiences in our literature was a lawyer,"--no
more interesting, and occasionally sensational, stories have appeared
than those written by Mr. CONAN DOYLE, and published by METHUEN & CO. in
a single volume, under the title of _Round the Red Lamp_. One of these,
_A Straggler of '15_, has been recently developed into a one act
dramatic sketch for Mr. IRVING, who, in the part of the ancient veteran
"lagging superfluous," is reported to have achieved a remarkable
success. For pathos, _A Physiologist's Wife_ is as perfect in style as
it is original in design; to those who want to take something strong
before going to bed, the Baron can confidently recommend _The Case of
Lady Sannox_; while for those of the inferior sex whom Providence has
blessed with nerves, the Baron prescribes to be taken, the last thing at
night, with a favourite pipe and a tumbler of the reader's special
"wanity," the story of _Lot No. 249_; "lights full up," as the stage
directions say, the door locked, and the room previously searched, in
order to be quite sure that no practical joker is in hiding behind
screen, curtains, or under table, who might think it humorous to pop out
when you are deep in the story, and "give you fits."
[Illustration: "Reading _Lot No. 249_."]
In the _Yellow Book_, No. 3, let me praise Mr. DOWSON'S "Apple Blossoms
in Brittany"; a charming unfinished picture. You must guess what the
fruit may possibly be from the blossom. Also very good is HENRY
HARLAND'S "When I am a King."