But still he hoped ; nor was it unnatural that he should do so. He had a strong taste for art. He could do what few young men can do — draw nicely. He had been famous for his pen and ink sketches at Cambridge ; but Kate was much more proficient with her pencil than he was. Kate guided their course. She choose the lodgings near the. Museum. She was bursar for the family, and did the maketing, often at night, nl the Ful hani-road: for her mother would speedily have outrun the constable by a dis tance. ■. •,...:. As it was. , John Heathcote's gift was reduced to small dimensions. Grace's hundred pounds ' Frank held sacred, proposing to use it for his mo ther.. ... •; ■:■,•, Kate took the necessary steps to their painting at the public galleries. They went at first on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, to the Museum. Then Frank went on Thursdays' and Fridays to the National Gallery, leaving Kate to go to the South Kensington Museum by herself. They wanted to learn Art. Now, Art is learned, they had been told, by copying. So they set to work to copy. Kate spent three days a-week for four months at Dyck nians' " Blind Beggar." It is a pretty picture, but copying teaches nothing. She found that out before it was half done ; but she made a splendid copy of it on panel, like the original. Frank copied Sir Joshua's "Heads of An gels," at the National. In this work there was something to be learnt. The softness, the delicacy, the angelic ex pression of those little cherubs' heads, all painted from uno tiny mortal face, showed the student of art what itJx ! _i I ,_ the hands of a master. And Reynolds is a master for a very unartistic nation to be proud of. Frank had finished this picture when Kate's ' " Blind Beg- : gar " was half done. The copy he made was very good. At the: Gallery the old women praised it ; and as they they ' had often copied it themselves, they were judges. A dealer who came in one students' day called it " clever." He was a burly man, with a tremend ously red nose that told its own tale of knock-outs.- This professional opinion encouraged Frank. 