HOW BENNY WEST LEARNED TO BE A PAINTER.


In old times there lived in Penn-syl-va-ni-a a little
fellow whose name was Ben-ja-min West. He
lived in a long stone house.

[Illustration: Painting Baby's Portrait]

He had never seen a picture. The country was new, and there were not many
pictures in it. Benny's father was a Friend or Quaker. The Friends of
that day did not think that pictures were useful things to make or to
have. Before he was seven years old, this little boy began to draw
pictures. One day he was watching the cradle of his sister's child.
The baby smiled. Benny was so pleased with her beauty, that he made a
picture of her in red and black ink. The picture of the baby pleased
his mother when she saw it. That was very pleasant to the boy.

He made other pictures. At school he used to draw with a pen before he
could write. He made pictures of birds and of animals. Sometimes he
would draw flowers.

[Illustration: Flower and Fruit of the Poke-Berry.]

He liked to draw so well, that sometimes he forgot to do his work. His
father sent him to work in the field one day. The father went out to
see how well he was doing his work. Benny was no-where to be found. At
last his father saw him sitting under a large poke-weed. He was making
pictures. He had squeezed the juice out of some poke-berries. The
juice of poke-berries is deep red. With this the boy had made his