1 68 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



MR. BORGLUM FORDING THE LITTLE RIVER 

 ON HIS STALLION. 



southward from the house. My friend 

 and I rode in an automobile and Mr. 

 Borglum accompanied us on a spirit- 

 ed Arabian stallion. As he forded the 

 little river, the scene was so beautiful 

 that I requested him to stop until I 

 could set up my camera and take a 

 photographic souvenir to show the 

 reader. I now understand where Mr. 

 Borglum got the inspiration for the 

 Sheridan statue. 



We arrived at the studio where he 

 told us with no little pride that the 

 beautiful blocks of granite had all been 

 quarried in the immediate neighbor- 

 hood. As he patted one of the stones 

 lovingly, he said to Mr. Davenport 

 who was with me, "You could not have 

 found better stone than that if you had 

 searched all over the United States. 

 Indeed, I like our American marble 

 much better than I do the Grecian 

 marble. It works better and has a 

 finer lustre." 



For a time I interested myself in 

 looking around and in watching the 

 workmen, and then walked down a pic- 

 turesque path to the brook, not far 

 from the ford. I found that Mr. 

 Borglum had there built a rustic 

 bridge above the deepest pool in the 

 little river. When he does not ride on 

 horseback to the studio, and ford the 

 stream, he walks across the bridge, 

 and always pauses to watch the fish 

 as they glide through the glistening 

 waters of the pool below. 



"Marcelline," his clownish dog, so 

 named from the famous clown of the 

 Hippodrome, seems to understand 

 what is going on and assists his master 

 in these observations. He can assume 

 so dignified, thoughtful and inspira- 

 tional an air, in close resemblance of 

 the at times solemn visaged original 

 at the Hippodrome, that it makes one 

 think that he is rightly named. "Mar- 

 celline" has fallen into the ways of hi9 

 master and is inclined to retrospection 

 and a quiet observation of the beauties 

 of nature. 



It was not the mission of my visit, 

 nor is it the purpose of this article, to 



THE SHERIDAN STATUE. 



