| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Emma McChesney & Co. by Edna Ferber: last-minute discussions. Mrs. McChesney opened a desk drawer,
took out a leather-covered pocket notebook, and handed it to
Buck. A tiny smile quivered about her lips. Buck took it,
mystified.
"Your last diary?"
"Something much more important. I call it `The Salesman's
Who's Who.' Read it as you ought your Bible."
"But what?" Buck turned the pages wonderingly. He glanced at
a paragraph, frowned, read it aloud, slowly.
"Des Moines, Iowa, Klein & Company. Miss Ella Sweeney, skirt
buyer. Old girl. Skittish. Wants to be entertained. Take her
Emma McChesney & Co. |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: "Amalgamated Electric had risen five more points before the board closed
that afternoon. This was the first news that I told Ethel."
"'Richard,' said she, 'I wish you would sell that stock to-morrow.'"
"But this I saw no reason for; and on Tuesday it had gained seven points
further. Ethel still more strongly urged me to sell it. I must freely
admit that." And the narrator paused reflectively.
"Thank you, Richard," said Ethel from the sofa. "And I admit that I could
give you no reason for my request, except that it all seemed so sudden.
And--yes--there was one other thing. But that was even more silly."
"I believe I know what you mean," replied Richard, "and I shall come to
it presently. If any one was silly, it was not you."
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Cousin Betty by Honore de Balzac: admiration, as do the /Violin-player/ in the Sciarra Palace, the
portraits of the Doria family, and the /Vision of Ezekiel/ in the
Pitti Gallery, the /Christ bearing His Cross/ in the Borghese
collection, and the /Marriage of the Virgin/ in the Brera at Milan.
The /Saint John the Baptist/ of the Tribuna, and /Saint Luke painting
the Virgin's portrait/ in the Accademia at Rome, have not the charm of
the /Portrait of Leo X./, and of the /Virgin/ at Dresden.
And yet they are all of equal merit. Nay, more. The /Stanze/, the
/Transfiguration/, the panels, and the three easel pictures in the
Vatican are in the highest degree perfect and sublime. But they demand
a stress of attention, even from the most accomplished beholder, and
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