But to let you run away as if you were
whipped, is what I am too proud to do."
My heart leaped at this proposal, and then sank again.
It seemed easier to paint a Meissonier on the spot than
to win ten thousand dollars on that mimic stock
exchange. Nor could I help reflecting on the
singularity of such a test for a man's capacity to be a
painter. I ventured even to comment on this.
He sighed deeply. "You forget, my dear," said he, "I
am a judge of the one, and not of the other. You might
have the genius of Bierstadt himself, and I would be
none the wiser."
"And then," I continued, "it's scarcely fair. The
other boys are helped by their people, who telegraph
and give them pointers. There's Jim Costello, who
never budges without a word from his father in New
York. And then, don't you see, if anybody is to win,
somebody must lose?"
"I'll keep you posted," cried my father, with unusual
animation; "I did not know it was allowed. I'll wire
you in the office cipher, and we'll make it a kind of
partnership business, Loudon:--Dodd and Son, eh?" and
he patted my shoulder and repeated, "Dodd and Son, Dodd
and Son," with the kindliest amusement.
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