"
We partook of our genial host's parting banquet, and I escorted Dick on
his walk to Edinburgh. We parted about a mile from the village, just as
we heard the distant cheer of the boys which accompanied the mounting
of the new symbol of the Wallace Head. Dick Tinto mended his pace to get
out of hearing, so little had either early practice or recent philosophy
reconciled him to the character of a sign-painter.
In Edinburgh, Dick's talents were discovered and appreciated, and he
received dinners and hints from several distinguished judges of the fine
arts. But these gentlemen dispensed their criticism more willingly than
their cash, and Dick thought he needed cash more than criticism. He
therefore sought London, the universal mart of talent, and where, as is
usual in general marts of most descriptions, much more of each commodity
is exposed to sale than can ever find purchasers.
Dick, who, in serious earnest, was supposed to have considerable natural
talents for his profession, and whose vain and sanguine disposition
never permitted him to doubt for a moment of ultimate success, threw
himself headlong into the crowd which jostled and struggled for notice
and preferment.
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