Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 3).djvu/341

 Herkomer of Mr. J. S. Forbes, the chairman of the L. C. and D. Railway, hangs on the walls, and considerable space is taken up by the same accomplished artist's striking life-size picture of Mr. F. C. Burnand. Just beneath this is a crayon drawing of Mr. Burnand's mother at the age of fifteen, which we here reproduce. Upstairs in Mr. Burnand's dressing-room is a delightful painting of the same lady by A. E. Chalon, R.A., done in 1834. I could not help looking upon this room and the adjoining bedroom with some considerable curiosity. Mr. Burnand has only been an occupant of the house for a few months. This room was once occupied by Miss Elliott, who afterwards became Mrs. Osborne.

The study is to the left of the entrance hall, and is made bright by a small glass conservatory in the window. The writing table is a large one. The letter clips are suggestive. One takes the shape of a huge silver "B," the other is a silver anchor twined round with golden ropes. On this table a double row of books are set out—the back row comprising a dozen or more standard dictionaries.

The chair occupied by Mr. Burnand when writing is of black ebony—when reading, a distinctly comfortable-looking brown leather easy-chair. The little wooden stage which stands close by is five-and-twenty years old. It is an exact model of the stage of the old Royalty, with only one trap-door, which was used for everything, from the unexpected appearance of a sprite to the sudden disappearance of a banquet. Today Mr. Burnand works out all his situations on it when play-writing. He uses figures for his characters, just as Mr. W. S. Gilbert does, and, in the old 'New Royalty' days, Patty Oliver would often have these wooden characters dressed up in diminutive silks and satins. I counted a dozen pipes on the mantel-board—from a small meerschaum to a weighty cherrywood. All round the apartment are bookshelves, with convenient cupboards below.