“Thank you; it is making some progress. I have been delayed by a few trifling alterations.”
“Is the central figure completed yet?”
“Not quite finished. I did not feel sure about the left leg, and I shall make some studies before I paint it in.”
“If you have any difficulty with that portion of the figure, why not omit it? Put in a bush, or a stone, or the trunk of a fallen tree, so as to hide the leg. Congress will accept it all the same.”
“Art scorns such devices. And, besides, it would be rather too ridiculous to represent Washington standing astride of a log while he is cutting down a cherry-tree.”
“True! true! That did not occur to me. What you really want is a good model. I think I could recommend one.”
“I have one already, thank you.”
“Indeed! A plaster of Paris one?”
“No; a real one.”
“A real one?”