Whistler as I knew him . nard old man then told us that his secret was fric-tion. At twenty-one he had been given over as incur-ably consumptive; but by chance he had been led todiscover the immense curative force of friction, andthe best mode of employing it. He had begun witha babys brush, rubbing himself from the head to thetoes, and from the toes to the head, and had gone ongradually increasing the hardness of his brushes untilhe had arrived at steel; and was now, at eighty, usingthe hardest brush that could be manufactured. Headvised us to do the same, and assured us that weshoul
Whistler as I knew him . nard old man then told us that his secret was fric-tion. At twenty-one he had been given over as incur-ably consumptive; but by chance he had been led todiscover the immense curative force of friction, andthe best mode of employing it. He had begun witha babys brush, rubbing himself from the head to thetoes, and from the toes to the head, and had gone ongradually increasing the hardness of his brushes untilhe had arrived at steel; and was now, at eighty, usingthe hardest brush that could be manufactured. Headvised us to do the same, and assured us that weshould live to be a hundred. We called a meeting in order that the schoolshould begin to practise the method of prolonginglife by friction. We felt that, though young andstrong and not incurably consumptive, we ought tobe possessed of brushes, and therefore laid in a stock,a series of three — soft, medium, and steel — for eachmember. We were none of us rich; but we sub- VENICE From a pastel in the possession of Lady MASTER AND FOLLOWERS 29 scribed in proportion to our means. For a weekafter this meeting there was not much work done, forwe were all brushing ourselves. Somehow our enthu-siasm for the old mans hygienic method didnt a fortnight our skins became so tender that wewere obliged to give it up, and by tacit agreement thesubject of brushes was dropped. The Master sometimes encouraged us. Once heencouraged me very much indeed. Before I had metWhistler, I had been etching a series of plates in Brit-tany, and I showed him some of the proofs. Theywere the first I ever did. He told me to send them tothe Crystal Palace exhibition, where he himself wasone of the judges. I sent several of them in a frame,and received a gold medal. This mark of his favournaturally elated me tremendously. The Master waswith me! He had given me a gold medal! I feltthat I had a future before me. He said, You havethe gold medal, Menpes, and Du Maurier the silverone; but dont forget th
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