"'Your name is Mr. Cooper?' he said.
"'Yes, sir.'
"'I've seen a little picture of yours, and I was anxious to find you out.'
"He found me out in a strange way," remarked Mr. Cooper. "It seems that Caterson Smith had left the picture he had purchased at a frame-maker's in Greek Street, Soho, and the shopkeeper liking it had put it in his window. Here my strange visitor had seen it, and not until Smith wrote for the picture was he able to discover me.
"'What's that you are painting?' asked the stranger, looking at the 3ft. canvas on the easel.
"'Oh! just some cattle coming through a stream, sir.'
"'Very nice'—rubbing his chin and eyeing it critically—'very nice. How much?'
"'I hardly know.'
"'Well,' he said, 'if you will finish it I will give you £15 for it.'
"I agreed, and when he left he gave me his card, and I saw his name was Cribb, and that he lived at King Street, Covent Garden.