“Almost as soon as I could creep. I was born in Madison, Ohio, in 1857, and as far back as I can remember, I had a determination to become an artist. My path often swerved from my ambition, on account of necessity, but my determination was back of me, and whenever an obstacle was removed I advanced thus much farther toward my goal. “I went to the village school till I was fourteen years of age, and then I went to work in the village store. Both at school and in the store, every spare moment found me with pencil and paper, sketching something comical; so much so, indeed, that I became known for it.” A PRINTER’S DEVIL. “I remained in the store for a few months, and then went to work on the weekly paper, and acted the part of a ‘printer’s devil.’ Afterward, I set type. In about a year, the idea firmly possessed me that I could draw, and I decided that it was best to go to New York. But my self-esteem was not so great as to rate myself a full-fledged artist. My idea was to obtain a position as a compositor in New York, to draw between times, and gradually to land myself where my hopes all centered. So my disappointment was great when, on arriving in the city, I discovered that, to become a compositor, I must serve an apprenticeship of three years. I was in New York, in an artistic environment, and had burned my bridges; accordingly I looked for a place, and obtained one in a store. One of my duties there was to make window cards, to advertise the whole line, or a particular lot of goods. I decorated them in my best fashion.” GOOD USE OF LEISURE TIME. “All the leisure I had to myself, evenings and holidays, I spent in making comic sketches, and I took them to the comic papers,—to the ‘Phunny Phellow,’ and ‘Wild Oats.’ I just submitted rough sketches. Soon the editors permitted me to draw the sketches also, which was great encouragement. I met Frank Beard, and called on him, by request, and he proposed that I come into his office. So I left the store, after having been there eight or nine months, and ceased drawing show-cards for the windows. I drew for ‘Wild Oats,’ ‘Harper’s Weekly,’ ‘Frank Leslie’s,’ and the ‘Century,’ which at that time was Scribner’s publication; and later for ‘St. Nicholas.’” It was then that Mr. Opper had an offer from “Leslie’s” to work on the staff at a salary, which he accepted. “I was only a little over twenty years of age,” he continued. “I was a humorous draughtsman, and a special artist, also; going where I was directed to make sketches of incidents, people and scenes.” Six years before, Mr. Opper had left the village school with a burning determination to become an artist. It can be seen how well he sailed his bark,—tacking and drifting, and finally beating home with the wind full on the sails. This shows what determination will do. HIS CONNECTION WITH “PUCK.”