wont.  But it is remarkable how soon the charm of this delightful occupation seizes hold of you.  For really the sensations of moulding this plastic matter into shape are wonderfully and quite unaccountably pleasing.  It is ever so much easier than drawing things—­“anyone can do it,” as the advertisement people say—­and the work is so much more substantial in its effects.  Technical questions arise.  In moulding a head, do you take a lump and fine it down, or do you dab on the features after the main knob of it is shaped?

So soon as your guests realise the plastic possibilities before them, a great silence, a delicious absorption comes over them.  Some rash person states that he is moulding an Apollo, or a vase, or a bust of Mr. Gladstone, or an elephant, or some such animal.  The wiser ones go to work in a speculative spirit, aiming secretly at this perhaps, but quite willing to go on with that, if Providence so wills it.  Buddhas are good subjects; there is a certain genial rotundity not difficult to attain, and the pyramidal build of the idol is well suited to the material.  You can start a Buddha, and hedge to make it a loaf of bread if the features are unsatisfactory.  For slender objects a skeletal substructure of bent hairpins or matches is advisable.  The innate egotism of the human animal becomes very conspicuous.  “His tail is too large,” says the lady with the fish, in self-criticism.  “I haven’t put his tail on yet—­that’s his trunk,” answers the young man with the elephant.

[Illustration]

It’s a pretty sight to see the first awakening of the artistic passion in your guests—­the flush of discovery, the glow of innocent pride as the familiar features of Mr. Gladstone emerge from the bust of Clytie.  An accidental stroke of the thumbnail develops new marvels of expression. (By the bye, it’s just as well to forbid deliberate attempts at portraiture.) And I know no more becoming expression for everyone than the look of intent and pleasing effort—­a divine touch almost—­that comes over the common man modelling.  For my own part, I feel a being infinitely my own superior when I get my fingers upon the clay.  And, incidentally, how much pleasanter this is than writing articles—­to see the work grow altogether under your hands; to begin with the large masses and finish with the details, as every artist should!  Just to show how easy the whole thing is, I append a little sketch of the first work I ever did.  I had had positively no previous instruction.  Unfortunately the left ear of the animal—­a cat, by the bye—­has fallen off. (The figure to the left is the back view of a Buddha.)

However, I have said enough to show the charm of the new amusement.  It will prove a boon to many a troubled hostess.  The material is called modelling-clay, and one may buy it of any dealer in artists’ materials, several pounds for sixpence.  This has to be renewed at intervals, as a good deal is taken away by the more careless among your guests upon their clothes.