Master of art

????? Caio covered the paper with figures and charts, and the broken, two-inch blue pencil tip held in his hand like a magician's wand, opening the magic show. He is the U.S. consular agent here and is waiting for the U.S. side to send Corlario to replace the resigned consul Yatwu.

????? An IDEA was brewing IN Caio'S MIND, HEART, AND PEN TO EXPLOIT THE qualities and human fRAILTIES OF the new PRESIDENT. The plan to make Caio either rich or very rich deserves to go down in history.

????? President Rosalda, known as "the Dictator", had the talent and wit to stand out even among the Anglo-Saxons; But he never had the humble personality that would ruin a man's reputation.

????? He had the great patriotism of Washington (whom he admired most), the courage of Napoleon, and the great wisdom of many sages. These qualities can be confirmed by the title "Outstanding Liberator," but his extreme ego and vanity kept him in the lowest rank of dictators.

????? Nevertheless, he did his country a great service, a strong and powerful ruler, hardly encumbered by ignorant and lazy social scum, and a successful order. In international meetings, to establish the image of a strong country. He ran schools and hospitals, built Bridges and roads, opened railways, built buildings, and generously endowed funds for the arts and sciences. He was the only king and idol of his people. Other presidents are unreasonable and insatiable. Although Roshada amassed the nation's untold wealth, he was willing to share the profits with the people.

????? In combination with the above characteristics, he revealed his inexhaustible use of sculpted monuments and symbolic memorials to highlight his glory. In every town he erected a statue of himself, inscribed with words extolling his great deeds. On the walls of every building are plaques detailing his achievements and how he is remembered. Statues and photographs of him adorn quaint houses all over the country. One of his sycophantic officers painted him in the likeness of St. John, surrounded by a halo of light and surrounded by an army of armed attendants. Rossada saw nothing wrong with the picture and hung it high above the capital's cathedral. He ordered a series of marble figures from French sculptors, including himself, Napoleon, Alexander the Great, and one or two people he thought worthy of reverence.

????? He scoured Europe for MEDALS, using diplomacy, bribery, and beauty to get the MEDALS he coveted from rulers. When he attended the national ceremony, his chest and shoulders were covered with the Cross, the star, the gold rose, the medal and the sash. It was said that whoever could get him a new medal, or devise a new way of making his work more widely known, could enter the Treasury and take what he liked. Such a person, is Billy? The object of Kaio's secret attention. The mild-MANnered pirate watched as little favors rained down on the president's sycophants. But he did not believe in keeping the umbrella open and standing in the way of money.

????? A few weeks later, a new consul arrived, removing Caio as deputy. The new consul was a young man fresh from school who had been studying botany as his career. His post as consul in Corario gave him the opportunity to study tropical plants. He wore smoke-blackened glasses and carried a green umbrella. His verandah at the back of the consulate was so full of plants and specimens that there was no room for a chair. Kiah looked at him, sad but uncomplaining, and for a moment began to pack his bags. According to the plan, he had to go on a long sea voyage.

????? The Casefin, adrift at sea, returns with a cargo of coconuts ready to hit the New York speculative market. Kai has reserved a place on the return boat.

????? "Yes, I'm going to New York." "He explained to the countrymen who saw him off on the dock.

????? "But I'll come back before you miss me. I have been committed to arts education in this mixed nation, and I will not abandon my efforts just when they are starting to improve."

????? Leaving this message behind, Kaio boarded the Casefen and left.

????? New York in ten days. Caio turned up the collar of his coat, trembling as he broke into Carolus? Mr. White's studio on the top floor of a building on 10th Street.

????? Karolus? White is smoking a bologna in the oven! Although he is only twenty-three, he has great insight in artistic theory. The two met out West. At the time, Caio was a wanderer, and White loved art.

????? "Billy? Kay o!" White shouted, holding out his free hand. What wild world have you sprung from? !"

????? "Hi, Carlo," said Caio, pulling a stool to the fire and putting his hand close to it. I'm glad I found you so quickly. I've been looking for you all day in the phone book and at the art gallery. The free lunch guy on the street pointed me here. I always thought you were still painting."

????? Caio scanned the studio with the eye of a connoisseur.

????? "Well, you'll be famous," he nodded slightly. "The one in the corner with the angels and the clouds and the wagon train is just what we want. What do you call it, Carlo? Is it called "Coney Island Shrine"?

????? "That ONE," White said. "I was going to CALL IT 'Elyka Ascending TO HEAVEN,' but you might have chosen it better."

????? "The name doesn't matter," Kiah said. "The layout and variety of the painting are perfect. Now, I'm going to tell you something right now. I made a little journey of two thousand miles to pick you up and carry you on a project with me. When I think of this plan, I think of you right away. How about that? Why don't you come back and paint a picture with me? ! Five grand for three months."

????? "Produce or hair tonic posters?" "White asked.

????? "Not a poster."

????? "What kind of picture is it?" "It's a long story." Kay said.

????? "Go on. If you don't mind, I'll keep an eye on these sausages as I listen. I want them to be a little darker than Vandyke's dark brown, and make your mouth water."

????? Caio began to explain his plan, and the two of them would return to Corario, where White would pose as a well-known American portrait painter and take a break from his difficult but lucrative work in the tropics. Even in a bad economy, the idea of an internationally renowned artist being commissioned by the president to paint a lasting portrait and sharing silver pesos with the pandering crowd is not a delusion.

????? Kaio is expected to ask for $10,000. Artists usually charge high prices for portraits. They split the travel expenses and all the profits equally. That was Kaio's plan.

Before long, the two partners left the rough and cold studio and walked into an elegant and warm coffee shop. They talked late into the night, with a few old envelope covers and Kiah's blue pencil ends between them.

????? It was twelve o 'clock in the night. White was curled up in his chair with his hands propped up and his eyes closed.

????? "I'll come with you, Billy." His voice was calm and firm. I've saved $200, $300 on sausages and rent. I'll take that risk with you. Five thousand yuan! Two or three years in Paris and a year in Italy will be enough for me. I'll pack tomorrow."

????? "You're going to do it in ten minutes." "It's tomorrow now," Kiah said. The Casefin sails at four o 'clock in the afternoon, and I'll help you back to your studio to tidy up."

????? From November to March of each year, Corario is the most visible place in the country of Giulia. Only in these five months does the town come alive. The president, government officials and their families come here for vacation, which is the seat of government, and the common people also enjoy the advantages and advantages. The long holiday is regarded by those who indulge in leisure as a season of fun and revelry. Carnivals, ball games, competitions, sea baths, parades, and small theaters all cater to their needs. Every evening, fourteen carriages and cars marched around the city in a somber, funeral atmosphere, accompanied in the small square by the famous Swiss orchestra from the capital. Indians, who looked like stone statues in prehistoric times, also came from the mountains to sell their handicrafts in the streets.

????? People crowded the narrow streets, chatting freely. Little children put on the shortest of tutus and gold wings, Shouting and running through the crowd. Government officials arrive at the opening of this joyous season, with spectacular banquets and patriotic parades filled with emotion and joy.

????? The Casefin brought Caio and White home on a colorful winter day. They could hear the music from the square as they stood on the shore, and the village girls decorated their black hair with fireflies and walked barefoot with shy eyes and graceful steps. Dressed in white linen, the young man shook his cane and began to make love. The air is full of hypocrisy, artificial temptation and debauchery, and everywhere you look there is an artificial spectacle.

????? Within two or three days of their arrival, they began to move. Caio accompanied the artist around the city, introducing White to the English-speaking world and using various channels to raise his profile as a painter far and wide. Then Caio planned an even more impressive way to spread his reputation in public.

????? First, he and White checked into the Trangiro Grand Hotel. Then he put on his white linen suit, his American straw hat, and his walking stick, which serves no purpose but status. The ease and elegance of their manners were very noticeable. This was Kiah and his friend, the great American painter Lord White.

????? White set up an easel on the beach and drew delicate, realistic sketches of the landscape. Behind him the crowd formed a semicircle of loud, chattering people. On the other hand, the meticulous Kai also carefully arranged his disguise identity. He plays the great artist's friend, a laid-back industrialist. The best symbol of his status is a pocket camera.

????? "An AMATEUR artist WITH a bank ACCOUNT and a motorboat who DOESN't have a camera in HIS HAND IS a great INSULT." "If you see a guy doing nothing but taking snapshots and wasting his time, you know right away that he has studied Brand Street in depth," says Kay. Have you ever noticed those old - white kids who are worth millions?

????? When they see something, they take a picture of it. Because a Kodak camera gets more attention than a title or a four-carat drill needle on a lapel." So Caio wandered gracefully around the city, taking pictures of landscapes and shy village women; And White, too, poses in the lofty realm of art.

????? Two weeks after their arrival, their efforts began to bear fruit. The president's cronies drove hurriedly to the Grand hotel. The President wishes to meet Mr. White privately at Casa Molina.

????? Kai nibbled at the pie. "Ten thousand, not a dime less," he said to the artist. "Remember that price. It must be paid in gold or its equivalent. Do not let him deceive you with what is called money here."

????? 'Perhaps he didn't want me to do a portrait.' White said.

????? "Then turn around and go!" "I know exactly what he wants," Kiah said with immense confidence.

????? He asked the famous young American painter (and marauder) now living in the area to paint his portrait. Go quickly!"

????? The carriage took the artist away. Kiah walked up and down the room, his pipe blowing a great cloud of smoke. An hour later the coach came straight to the hotel, returned to White, and disappeared in another puff of smoke. The artist ran up the stairs three at a time. Kiah stopped, the ring of smoke forming a silent question.

????? "Login successful!" 'cried White, his childish face glinting with conceit. Billy, you know what? You know what? He asked for a painting. I'll tell you the whole story. Oh my god! This alone? The guy is so decisive! He's got the dictator's cells all over him. He is a strong combination of Caesar, Satan, and Josie Deipio. It was his style to be polite and cold and serious. The room where I saw him was ten acres in size, like a gilded, gleaming, white-painted Mississippi steamboat. His English is better than I expected. We talked quickly about the price. I asked for ten thousand dollars. I thought he was gonna call the guards, drag me out and shoot me. But without blinking his eyes, he waved a maroon hand and said carelessly, 'Whatever you ask, I will pay you.' I shall meet him again tomorrow to discuss the details of the portrait. '

????? Kiah hung his head. Inferiority was evident in his dejected features.

????? "I give up, Carlo." 'he said sadly. I'm no longer fit to run these plans.

????? The right kind of speculation for me would be to sell oranges with a wheelbarrow. I swear, I thought $10,000 was the best this brown man could do. But apparently even $15,000 is a drop in the bucket! A: hello! Carlo, you'll find little old Kaio safe in his well-appointed, quiet nursing home if he ever does anything like this again."

The Palazzo Casamorina is a one-story brown building with a palatial interior, surrounded by beautiful tropical gardens and guarded by a high wall on a hill on the upper edge of the city. The next day, the artist was picked up by the president's official carriage. Kiah went out for a walk along the beach, and now everyone on the beach knew him and his "photo box." When he returned to the hotel, White was sitting in a deck chair on the balcony.

????? "Well," said Kiah, "HAVE you decided with that haughty bossy what SLATE he wants?"

????? White got up and walked up and down the balcony several times before he stopped and began to laugh. His face was red, and his eyes shone with anger and ridicule.

????? "You see, Billy," he said gruffly, "when you came to my studio and mentioned painting, I thought you wanted a poster of oatmeal or hairspray. Well, now, both of those works, when done properly, are more artistically valuable than the one you want me to draw now. I can't draw pictures like that, Billy. You got to get me out of here. I'll tell you what that savage wants me to do. He had planned all the details, even sketched out his ideas. The old guy's not bad at all. But what kind of art! Listen to what freak he wants me to draw. Of course, he wants to be in the center of the canvas. Then he was shaped like Peter Jupp on Mount Olympus, with clouds at his feet and George Washington in full military costume at his side, with one hand on the president's shoulder. There is also an angel with wings spread, placing a crown on the president's head and crowning him - I think it looks like a May Queen pageant - with cannon, more angels and soldiers in the background. The soul of the man who painted such a picture must be as mean as a dog!"

????? Billy? Kiah's forehead began to sweat. The end of his blue pencil did not account for such contingencies. The mechanical precision of the plan has worked satisfactorily so far. He put White back in his seat,