106 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



upon us, and very naturally the conversation turned 

 upon that art of which we were then professors. 

 The portrait of this lady was mentioned, and by the 

 time he had finished his third straw cigar, he unbur- 

 dened himself of the special object of his visit, which 

 was to procure a portrait of her for himself. This 

 seemed natural enough, and we assented, provided 

 he would get her to sit ; but he did not wish either 

 her or her friends to know anything about it. This 

 was a difficulty. It was not very easy to take it by 

 stealth. However strong an impression a young 

 lady may make by a glance upon some substances, 

 she can do nothing upon a silver plate. Here she 

 requires the aid of iodine, bromine, and mercury. 

 But the young man was fertile in expedients. He 

 said that we could easily make some excuse, prom- 

 ising her something more perfect, and in making two 

 or three impressions, could slip one away for him. 

 This was by no means a bad suggestion, at least so 

 far as he was concerned, but we had some qualms 

 of conscience. While we were deliberating, a mat- 

 ter was introduced which perhaps lay as near Doc- 

 tor Cabot's heart as the young lady did that of our 

 friend. That was a pointer or setter dog for hunt- 

 ing, of which the doctor was in great want. The 

 gentleman said he had one — the only one in Meri- 

 da — and he would give it for the portrait. It was 

 rather an odd proposition, but to offer a dog for his 

 mistress's portrait was very different from offering 

 his mistress's portrait for a dog. It was clear that 



