Theodore Robinson Valley of the Seine Giverny painting

Theodore Robinson Valley of the Seine Giverny painting
Frederic Edwin Church North Lake painting paper was covered with the tracings of the footmarks of some small animal. It
-27-had five well-marked footpads, an indication of long nails, and the whole print might be nearly as large as a dessert-spoon.
"It's a dog," said I.
Did you ever hear of a dog running up a curtain? I found distinct traces that this creature had done so."
"A monkey, then?"
But it is not the print of a monkey."
"What can it be, then?"
Neither dog nor cat nor monkey nor any creature that we are familiar with. I have tried to reconstruct it from the measurements. Here are four prints where the beast has been standing motionless. You see that it is no less than fifteen inches from fore-foot to hind. Add to that the length of neck and head, and you get a creature not much less than two feet long -- probably more if there is any tail. But now observe this other measurement. The animal has been moving, and we have the length of its stride. In each case it is only about three inches