11. Peter resigned himself to his fate. The walls of his garret were white; Thomas supplied the young artist with more charcoal than he could use for his sketches, and Peter set vigorously to work to draw on the walls. We know not by what means little Thomas succeeded in procuring a small piece of money; but the child had too good a heart to be wanting in honesty, therefore we must believe that the little scullion had legitimately' obtained the half-pistole' which he one day triumphantly brought to his companion.

12. What joy was there, then! The artist could now have pencils and paper. He went out at break of day to study the pictures in the churches, the monuments in the public squares, and the views around the city; and in the evening, with an empty stomach, but with a mind we!! filled with what he had seen, he furtively3 returned to the garret, where he was always sure to find his dinner ready, and placed by Tho:nas under the măt'tress, less for the purpose of concealment, than to keep it warm during his friend's absence.

THE

10. PETER OF CORTONA-CONCLUDED.

HE charcoal sketches' soon disappeared under more correct designs, for Peter covered with his best drawings the walls of the narrow cell, in which the friendship, of a child had afforded him so generous an asy'lum.

2. One day, the Cardinal Sachetti, whose palace was under going repair, visited, in company with the architect, the upper stories, to which, perhaps, he had never before ascended, and entered the garret of the little scullion. Peter was absent; but his numerous drawings sufficiently testified the laborious in'dustry of the child who inhabited this retreat.

3. The Cardinal and the architect were struck with the merits of these productions; they at first supposed Thomas to be the

'Le git' i mate ly, honestly; in a lawful manner.-- Pis tòle', a gold piece of money, worth about three dollars and sixty cents.-'Fur' tive ly, secretly.— Sketch' es, drawings.—"A sy' lum, a safe retreat or abode.-Architect (årk'e tekt), one who directs in building houses and other structures

author of them, and the prěl'ate' summoned him into Lis pres ence, in order to compliment him on his talents. When poor Thomas became aware that the Cardinal had visited his garret, and that he had seen what he called the smudges of his friend Peter, he believed himself lost.

4. "You are no longer one of my scullions," said the Cardinal to him, little thinking that the child had a fellow-lodger, Thomas, mistaking the purport of his words, imagined that his master dismissed him from his kitchen: then the poor little fellow, seeing that his own existence, as well as that of his friend, was much compromised by this act of severe justice, threw himself at his master's feet, saying:

if

5. “Oh, signore! what will become of my poor friend Peter, you send him away ?" The Cardinal demanded an explanation of these words, which he could not understand, and thus discovered that the drawings were the work of a little shepherd, whom Thomas had secretly maintained for two years.

6. "When he returns at night, you will bring him to me," said the Cardinal, laughing at the mistake, and generously forgiving Thomas. That evening, the artist did not make his appearance at the palace of the Cardinal; two days, a week, a fortnight, elapsed, and still nothing was heard of Peter of Cortona.

7. At length, the Cardinal, who was greatly in'terested in the fate of the young artist, succeeded in discovering that, for a fortnight, the charitable monks of an isolated' convent had received and detained with then a young draughtsman,5 from fourteen to fifteen years of age, who had come to ask permission to copy a picture of Raphael's which was in the chapel of the cloister. This child was Peter. He was taken back to the palace of the Cardinal, who, after receiving him with kindness, placed him in the school of one of the best painters in Rome.

8. Fifty years later, there were two old men, living together

'Prêl' ate, a clergyman of high rank. A cardinal is a prelate of the highest order in the Roman Church, next in rank to the Pope.-- Pur'port, meaning. Com' pro mised, put in danger. Is' o låt ed, separated from others; lonely.-"Draughtsman (drafts' man), painter, sketcher. Raphael was a very eminent painter, whose works are the admiration of the world. He lived between the years 1483 and 1520.

6

like brothers, in one of the handsomest private dwellings of Florence. It was said of the one-" He is the greatest painter of our day;" of the other-" He will be the model of friends in all future ages."

1

I

11. THE LAST LEAF.

SAW him once before,
As he pass'd by the door,
And again

The pavement stones resound,
As he totters o'er the ground
With his cane.

2. They say that in his prime,
Ere the pruning-knife of Time
Cut him down,

Not a better man was found
By the Crier on his round
Through the town.

3. But now he walks the streets,
And he looks at all he meets

Wan (won), pale and sickly.-Mar' bles, tombstones. Bl80x❤ youth.-Carved, sculptured; cut out.

That he had a Roman' nosc,
And his cheek was like a rose
In the snow.

6 But now his nose is thin,
And it rests upon his chin
Like a staff,

And a crook is in his back,
And a melancholy crack
In his laugh.

7. I know it is a sin

For me to sit and grin
At him here;

But the old three-corner'd hat,
And the breeches, and all that,
Are so queer!

8. And if I should live to be
The last leaf upon the tree
In the spring,-

Let them smile as I do now,
At the old forsaken bough
Where I cling.

O. W. HOLMES.

A

12. AMUSING ANECDOTE.

4

YOUNG Parisian,' going to Amsterdam, was attracted by the remarkable beauty of a house situated near the canal. He addressed a Dutchman in French, who stood near him in the vessel, with, "Pray, sir, may I ask who that house belongs to ?" The Hollander answered him in his own language, “Ik kan niet verstaan" [I do not understand you].

2. The Parisian, not doubting that he understood, took the

'Roman nose, a nose that is slightly curved like the beak of an eagle, and hence sometimes called an aquiline nose.- Breeches (brich ́ez). — Par is' e an, an inhabitant of the city of Paris in France; a Frenchman.Am' ster dam, an important city, the capital of the king dom and province of Holland

Dutchman's answer for the name of the proprietor." "Oh, oh," said he, “it belongs to Mr. Kaniferstane. Well, I am sure he must be very agreeably situated; the house is most charming, and the garden appears delicious. I don't know that ever I saw a better. A friend of mine has one much like it, near the river at Chaise; but I certainly give this the preference." He added many other observations of the same kind, to which the Dutch man, not understanding them, made no reply.

3. When he arrived at Amsterdam, he saw a most beautiful woman on the quays,3 walking arm in arm with a gentleman. He asked a person that passed him who that charming lady was; but the man, not understanding French, replied "Ik kan niet verstaan." "What, sir," replied our traveler, "is that Mr. Kaniferstane's wife, whose house is near the canal? Indeed, this gentleman's lot is enviable; to possess such a noble house, and so lovely a companion."

4. The next day, when he was walking out, he saw some trumpeters playing at a gentleman's door, who had secured the largest prize in the Dutch lottery. Our Parisian, wishing to be informed of the gentleman's name, he was still answered, “Ik kan niet verstaan." "Oh," said he, "this is too great an accession of good fortune! Mr. Kaniferstane, proprietor of such a fine house, husband of such a beautiful woman, and to get the largest prize in the lottery! It must be allowed that there are some fortunate men in the world."

5. About a week after this, our traveler, walking about, saw a věry superb burying. He asked whose it was. "Ik kan niet verstaan," replied the person of whom he asked the question. “Ah!” exclaimed he; "poor Mr. Kaniferstane, who had such a noble house, such an angelic wife, and the largest prize in the lottery. He must have quitted this world with great regret; but I thought his happiness was too completes to be of lõng duration." He then went home, reflecting all the way on the instability' of human affairs.

996

Pro pri' e tor, owner.-Chaise (Sház), a small town in France.— 'Quays (kèz), wharfs; moles or piers used for the purpose of loading or unloading vessels.— Ac cês' sion, addition.- Com plète', wanting noth ing; full.-Du rà' tion, remaining in a particular state; continuance --In sta bil'i ty, changeableness.