ime afterwards the strength of the
patient had been at its lowest ebb. She was improving, and the only
thing that might eventually restore her to health would be to send her
into the country, where pure air and careful tending might possibly
effect a cure. Situated as she was, there seemed no prospect of her
securing that advantage, so Dupont volunteered to defray the cost of
placing her in a convalescent home, as soon as she could leave the
hospital. The country air worked wonders, and, one thing leading to
another, in due time he placed her in a school, a convent, where she was
in every respect well taken care of, and where she still enjoyed the
full benefit of healthy surroundings. Under these circumstances she made
rapid progress, both physically and intellectually.

In the meanwhile Claude was busy all through the winter. After our
return from the pedestrian tour he had set to work on the picture for
which he had accumulated so many studies. It was original in more than
one respect. He had selected a canvas of a peculiar shape, about twice
as wide as it was high, but his composition seemed to fill the space
allotted to it quite naturally and spontaneously.

His figures were half life-size; the main group, somewhat to the right,
was enveloped in the haze of a mysterious chiaroscuro. On the extreme
left, at the entrance to the primitive dwelling, the figures of three
children stood out dark against the bright sky, a beautiful silhouette
and true to nature, for he had taken it from life, noting it during a
halt in a peasant's cottage near Orleans. He knew the text tells us that
none but the apostles and the child's father and mother were allowed to
follow the Master; but children were children all the world over, he
said, and they might well have disregarded the command.

The picture was destined to remain on the easel for a long while, for
whilst devoting much of his time to it, Claude continued his studies
with unabated energy, attending lectures, making a series of elaborate
anatomical drawings, and I fear, generally burning the artistic candle
at both ends.

But towards the close of the winter, the picture, being very far
advanced, Claude showed it to some friends whose opinion he valued. They
were evidently much struck by his rendering of the subject.

Some very eulogistic remarks must have reached l'oncle Auguste, for, on
the strength of them, he resolved to visit the studio. He had hitherto
not condescende