He would cut out one of these squares and Vandover would copy the portion of the picture thus disclosed.

When he had copied the whole picture in this fashion the teacher would go over it himself, retouching it here and there, labouring to obviate the checker-board effect which the process invariably produced.
At other times Vandover copied into his sketch-book, with hard crayons, those lithographed studies on buff paper which are published by the firm in Berlin.

He began with ladders, wheel-barrows and water barrels, working up in course of time to rustic buildings set in a bit of landscape; stone bridges and rural mills, overhung by some sort of linden tree, with ends of broken fences in a corner of the foreground to complete the composition.

From these he went on to bunches of grapes, vases of fruit and at length to more "Ideal heads." The climax was reached with a life-sized Head, crowned with honeysuckles and entitled _"Flora."_ He was three weeks upon it.

It was an achievement, a veritable _chef-d'oeuvre._ Vandover gave it to his father upon Christmas morning, having signed his name to it with a great ornamental flourish.
The Old Gentleman was astounded, the housekeeper was called in and exclaimed over it, raising her hands to Heaven.