nd piled
many of them on the table, saying, "The others are in a basket at
the door; there are three hundred in all!"

--_Blanche Roosevelt_

[Illustration: GUSTAVE DORE]

It was at the Cafe de l'Horloge in Paris. Mr. Whistler sat leaning on his
cane, looking off into space, dreamily and wearily.

He roused enough to answer the question: "Dore--Gustave Dore--an artist?
Why, the name sounds familiar! Oh, yes, an illustrator. Ah, now I
understand; but there is a difference between an artist and an
illustrator, you know, my boy. Dore--yes, I knew him--he had bats in his
belfry!"

And Mr. Whistler dismissed the subject by calling for a match, and then
smoked his cigarette in grim silence, blowing the smoke through his nose.

Not liking a man, it is easy to shelve him with a joke, or to waive his
work with a shrug and toss of the head, but not always will the ghost
down at our bidding.

In the realm of art nothing is more strange than this: genius does not
recognize genius. Still, the word is much abused, and the man who is a
genius to some is never so to others. In defining a genius it is easiest
to work by the rule of elimination and show what he is not.

For instance, neither Reynolds, Landseer nor Meissonier was a genius.
These men were strong, sane, well poised--filled with energy and life.
They were receptive and quick to grasp a suggestion or hint that could be
turned to their advantage--to further the immediate plans they had in
hand. They had ambition and the ability to concentrate on a thing and do
it. Just what they focused their attention upon was largely a matter of
accident. They had in them the capacity for success--they could have
succeeded at anything they undertook, and they were too sensible to
undertake a thing at which they could not succeed. They always saw light
through at the other end.

"I have success tied to the leg of my easel by a blue ribbon," said
Meissonier.

They succeeded by mathematical calculation, and the fame, name and gold
they won was through a conscious laying hold upon the laws that bring
these things to pass.

They chose to paint pictures, and the entire energy of their natures was
concentrated upon this one thing. Practising the art, day after day,
month after month, year after year, they acquired a wonderful facility.
They knew the history of art--its failures, pitfalls and successes. They
knew the human heart--they knew what the people wanted and wha