Of course the "Three Trees" was there. Its light could not be concealed—its beauty spoke to Hooker from a far corner. This masterpiece of the etcher's art was lying on a table awaiting the glass that was to guard and watch over it. The substitution was quickly and quietly made. The little Rembrandt was carefully, nay tenderly, placed in a commodious side-pocket of Hooker's coat; the treacherous younger brother was left upon the work-table, where it would shine by a false light—the light of the faithless, the reflected brilliancy of the wicked.
When the great museum was founded some years later, when it was acclaimed as one of the art institutes of the world, when great scholars extolled it, and poets sang of it, a list of its treasures was published which amazed the critics of two continents. Collectors in England, in France, in New York, were astounded!
Mr. Stevens read with envy that it contained the only copy known of the first state of Rembrandt's "Three Trees." "Another newspaper canard! An infernal lie! A senseless fabrication!" he exclaimed. His was the only one; he did not believe another would ever come to light.
He would examine his own again. He took the etching carefully from the wall. What was the faint blur—was it a line at the bottom? It seemed strange, for he had not noticed it before. He would get his magnifying glass. He read, in microscopic letters: "Facsimile from the unique original in the Hooker Museum."
THE PURPLE HAWTHORN
When the Appleton collection of Chinese porcelains was purchased en bloc by a well-known house doing business on Fifth Avenue, the celebrated purple hawthorn vase was considered the most precious of all.
It was a large vase dating from the seventeenth century, and according to eminent authorities, it was of the great Ch'ing Dynasty with the curious marks of the period known as K'ang-hsi.
The vase itself was very lovely; it was oviform with a graceful, flaring neck. The exquisite design showed a dwarfed mei tree with the most beautiful purple blossoms, with rare foliage and gorgeous birds painted by a great, although unknown, artist. The glazing was superb, being transparent and of unusual brilliancy.
This noble work of art was valued at two hundred thousand dollars.