106 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



upon US, and very naturally the conversation turned 

 upon that art of w^hich 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 



