Fate could have provided no more suitable ally for Kirk. It was
universally admitted around Washington Square and--grudgingly--down-town
that in the matter of theory Mr. Penway excelled. He could teach to
perfection what he was too erratic to practise.
Robert Dwight Penway, run to earth one sultry evening in the Brevoort,
welcomed Kirk as a brother, as a rich brother. Even when his first
impression, that he was to have the run of the house on Fifth Avenue
and mix freely with touchable multi-millionaires, had been corrected,
his altitude was still brotherly. He parted from Kirk with many solemn
promises to present himself at the studio daily and teach him enough
art to put him clear at the top of the profession. "Way above all
these other dubs," asserted Mr. Penway.
Robert Dwight Penway's attitude toward his contemporaries in art bore a
striking resemblance to Steve's estimate of his successors in the
middle-weight department of the American prize-ring.
Surprisingly to those who knew him, Mr. Penway was as good as his word.
Certainly Kirk's terms had been extremely generous; but he had thrown
away many a contract of equal value in his palmy days. Possibly his
activity was due to his liking for Kirk; or it may have been that the
prospect of sitting by with a cigar while somebody else worked, with
nothing to do all day except offer criticism, and advice, appealed to
him.
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