Then, as he had only twenty francs left,
he took up his quarters with his friend Mahoudeau. He had no talent,
but had a certain skill in copying pictures with extreme exactness.
The relations of Chaine and Mahoudeau with Mathilde Jabouille led to a
coldness between the two friends, and ultimately they ceased to be on
speaking terms, though they continued to live together, and even to
sleep in the same bed. Some time afterwards Chaine gave up art, and
started a booth at country fairs, in which he ran a wheel-of-fortune
for trifling prizes. The booth was decorated with some of his alleged
masterpieces. L'Oeuvre.
CHAMBOUVARD, a celebrated sculptor. He was said to be the son of a
veterinary surgeon of Amiens, and at forty-five had already produced
twenty masterpieces. He had, however, a complete lack of critical
acumen, and was unable to distinguish between the most glorious
offspring of his hands and the detestably grotesque figures which he
happened to put together now and then. At one _Salon_ he exhibited a
_Sower_, admirable in every way, while at another he showed an execrable
_Reaping Woman_, so bad that it seemed like a hoax; but he was no less
pleased with the later work, feeling sure that he had turned out yet
another masterpiece.
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