XXIX.
X. XXX.
XI. XXXI.
XII. XXXII.
XIII. XXXIII.
XIV. XXXIV.
XV. XXXV.
XVI. XXXVI.
XVII. XXXVII.
XVIII. XXXVIII.
XIX. XXXIX.
XX.

THE COAST OF BOHEMIA.

I.

The forty-sixth annual fair of the Pymantoning County Agricultural
Society was in its second day. The trotting-matches had begun, and the
vast majority of the visitors had abandoned the other features of the
exhibition for this supreme attraction. They clustered four or five
deep along the half-mile of railing that enclosed the track, and sat
sweltering in the hot September sun, on the benching of the grandstand
that flanked a stretch of the course. Boys selling lemonade and
peanuts, and other boys with the score of the races, made their way up
and down the seats with shrill cries; now and then there was a shriek
of girls' laughter from a group of young people calling to some other
group, or struggling for a programme caught back and forth; the young
fellows shouted to each other jokes that were lost in mid-air; but, for
the most part, the crowd was a very silent one, grimly intent upon the
rival sulkies as they flashed by and lost themselves in the clouds that
thickened over the distances of the long, dusty loop. Here and there
some one gave a shout as a horse broke, or settled down to his work
under the guttural snarl of his driver; at times the whole throng burst
into impartial applause as a horse gained or lost a length; but the
quick throb of the hoofs on the velvety earth and the whir of the
flying wheels were the sounds that chiefly made themselves heard.

The spectacle had the importance which multitude givers, and Ludlow
found in it the effects which he hoped to get again in his impression.
He saw the deep purples which he looked to see with eyes trained by the
French masters of his school to find them, and the indigo blues, the
intense greens, the rainbow oranges and scarlets; and he knew just how
he should give them. In the light of that vast afternoon sky,
cloudless, crystalline in its clearness, no brilliancy of rendering
could be too bold.

If he had the courage of his convictions, this purely American event
could be reported on his canvas with all its native character; and yet
it could be made to appeal to the enlightened eye with the charm of a
French subject, and impressionism could