the artist writes in her "Street Arabs." Having once figured in a
circus as a green demon, or dragon, his experience made him very quick
at catching attitudes; and, proud of his powers of endurance, he begged
Mrs. Stanley to paint him standing on his head, assuring her that he
preferred that position to any other!

Larger pictures of merry street life are a company of young people
dancing to the music of a hand-organ, a group of children playing
blind-man's buff, and so many others that the description would become
tiresome. Many of these were made to illustrate children's stories in
"Little Folks" and the "Quiver," while others adorn the collections of
fortunate possessors. All of them illustrate admirably the artist's firm
conviction that "no ragamuffin is ever common or vulgar."

The sympathetic interest and enthusiasm which Mrs. Stanley has shown for
the London street Arab finds an interesting parallel in the work of
Marie Bashkirtseff. Though Russian by birth, Mademoiselle Bashkirtseff
passed the greater part of her short life in France, and, belonging to a
wealthy and distinguished family, was educated amidst all the luxuries
and gayeties of fashionable Parisian life. But the girl's indomitable
spirit was not to be hindered by the bonds of social restraint, and she
devoted herself to art with an almost passionate intensity. Struggling
constantly against the inroads of a fatal disease, and cut down on the
very threshold of life, she produced but few works to show to the world
what heights she was capable of attaining. Of these, the two which rank
first, and which are best known to her admirers, are studies of the
Paris _gamin_.

Jean and Jacques was exhibited at the Salon of 1883, and not only won
the high praise of many eminent artists, but also received "honorable
mention" from the committee. The picture is described in the artist's
journal as "two little boys, who are walking along the pavement, holding
each other by the hand; the elder, a boy of seven, holds a leaf between
his teeth, and looks straight before him into space; the other, a couple
of years younger, has one hand thrust into the pocket of his little
trousers, and is regarding the passers-by."

Scarcely had this picture been completed, when another street scene
suddenly flashed upon the imagination of the ambitious young painter,
and she straightway set to work upon it. The result was The Meeting,
exhibited at the Salon of 1884. It represents a gr