call "chick-chick." He watches the odd creatures
eagerly as they gobble up the seed. They stand about in a circle,
heads all together in the centre, bobbing up and down as long as any
food remains. Chanticleer holds back with true gallantry, and with an
air of masculine superiority. The belated members of the brood come
running up as fast as they can. The apron holds a generous supply, so
that there is enough for all, but the housewife doles it out prudently
by the handful, that none may suffer through the greediness of the
others.

As we study the lines of the picture a little, they teach us some
important lessons in composition. We note first the series of
perpendicular lines at regular intervals across the width of the
picture. These counterbalance the effect of the long perspective which
is so skilfully indicated in the drawing of the house and the garden
walk. The perspective is secured chiefly by three converging lines,
the roof and ground lines of the house, and the line of the garden
walk. These lines if extended would meet at a single point.

Once more let us recall Ruskin's teaching in regard to enclosed
spaces.[1] The artist is unhappy if shut in by impenetrable barriers.
There must always be, he says, some way of escape, it matters not by
how narrow a path, so that the imagination may have its liberty.

This is the principle which our painter has applied in his picture.
He wisely gives us a glimpse of the sky above, and shows us the shady
vista of the garden walk leading to the great world beyond.

Our illustration is from a charcoal drawing, which, like the Knitting
Lesson, is matched by a corresponding painting.

[Footnote 1: In _Modern Painters_ in the chapter on "Infinity."]

VII

THE ANGELUS

The early twilight of autumn has overtaken two peasants at the close
of a day's work in the field. They are gathering the potato harvest.
The dried plants are first pulled up, and the potatoes carefully dug
out of the holes. Then the vegetables are taken from the furrows by
the basketful, and poured into brown linen sacks to be carried home
on the wheelbarrow. One of these sacks is not yet quite full, and the
work has been prolonged after sunset.

The field is a long way from the village, but in the still air sounds
are carried far across the plain. Suddenly the bell of the village
church peals forth. The man stops digging and plunges his fork into
the earth, and the woman hastily rises from h