for all people ever knew, he was born of that mist. The carver was a } kindly man, and a lonely one, so he welcomed the advent of the year-old a) manchild. He took it into his home, and would not part with it, though mh 4 if the daughter of the tetrarch, the lady Celia (whose name be written in wie |) gold before the gods for her kind deeds) pleaded with him to give her the child for its up-bringing. ne ET ee _ PR an ee re ee aah ga REG ore an "No, for here was a boy to learn the trade and to be a pride and com- mA fort in August's old age, and so he took the boy, when he was old enough, into the trade. There, to his instructor's joy, the youth surpassed his teacher, and besides carvings for capitals of columns, he soon mastered | Rt j figures in clay. ie "Business called the carver to Athens, for, with the skill of his assistant, i 4 his work was in demand. He took the young Marcus with him, and could td | hardly tear him away and home again from the wonders of the Acropolis. | } The Parthenon, the Porch of Maidens, all the beautiful marbles had greatly affected the young artist. flawless marble, for the old man had planned for his protege to cut a magnificent figure. But this was somewhat permature, for although the boy made sketch after sketch in clay, when he remembered the wonders of Athens, he destroyed them in despair. | "However, home they came, bringing with them a beautiful block of as Bai’ | "When he felt despondent, he would come to this place, where few have a \ been. | was very happy when he was with me. He told of his troubled spirit, of how he feared to spoil the marble. | knew of the capitals he had cut for columns, and that his stroke was sure and true even on the | most delicate foliage. | suggested, for | longed to have him stay, that he carve one of the huge boulders with which this pasture is strewn. j This he did, and so made my SHEEP THAT STANDS STILL. When he had finished he flung down the tools, and shouting ‘I can do it!" he rushed down the path towards the village. / " After that | had no sight of him for some weeks. | heard, however, that he was working, after just a rough sketch in clay, on the marble. The | . model was, to everyone's surprise except by own, the lady Marfa ihe who had heard that the sculptor had been unable to find the beauty he . was seeking and offered of her own accord to sit for him. The boy, also | [42]