studios and, by light that is not light, to fake subjects from pots and
pans and rags and bricks that are called 'pieces of colour.' Their
collection of rubbish costs in the end quite as much as a ticket, a
first-class one, to new worlds where the 'props' are given away with the
sunshine. To do anything because it is, or may not be, new on the market
is wickedness that carries its own punishment; but surely there must be
things in this world paintable other and beyond those that lie between
the North Cape, say, and Algiers. For the sake of the pictures, putting
aside the dear delight of the gamble, it might be worth while to
venture out a little beyond the regular circle of subjects and--see what
happens. If a man can draw one thing, it has been said, he can draw
anything. At the most he can but fail, and there are several matters in
the world worse than failure. Betting on a certainty, for instance, or
playing with nicked cards is immoral, and secures expulsion from clubs.
Keeping deliberately to one set line of work because you know you can do
it and are certain to get money by so doing is, on the other hand,
counted a virtue, and secures admission to clubs. There must be a middle
way somewhere, as there must be somewhere an unmarried man with no
position, reputation, or other vanity to lose, who most keenly wants to
find out what his palette is set for in this life. He will pack his
steamer-trunk and get into the open to wrestle with effects that he can
never reproduce. All the same his will be a superb failure.




'CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS'

From Yokohama to Montreal is a long day's journey, and the forepart is
uninviting. In three voyages out of five, the North Pacific, too big to