XII 



OF THE CLOUD ARTIST 



THE Cloud Artist has been having a week's 

 holiday and has left his job to the Rain Man, 

 one of his two assistants. The other is the Blue 

 Person. These functionaries are a discovery of 

 my wife's. Between them they look after the 

 arrangement of the sky. The Blue Person has 

 had a long innings lately. Morning, noon, and 

 evening he has spread his canvas, glowing azure 

 overhead and at the edges soft purple, from one 

 down to another. He had stolen a few little pink 

 clouds from his Superior's store, and with these 

 he would ornament his border from time to time, 

 cleverly enough. He is a one effect man, yet 

 the amazing beauty of what he does raises him 

 above the charge of working in a groove. There 

 are countries where he gets too much rope, and 

 in such places they curse him for his monotony. 

 England, favoured in so many ways, never sees 

 the Blue Person too often, and his quite undeviat- 

 ing art meets with our hearty approval whenever 

 he chooses to exercise it. As a matter of fact, the 



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