“Oh, he always looks like that,” was the answer.  “You will soon get accustomed to him.  Come along!  I must finish my ‘Blind Beggar’ this afternoon.”

In a few minutes most of the workers were busy again, although there were some who continued to chat quietly, and several young men who seemed reluctant to leave their girl friends, and who were by no means encouraged to go!  One young man came to claim his book and pipe, which he had left in the charge of a bright-eyed girl, who was copying Sir Joshua’s “Angels.”  She gave him his treasures, and received in exchange a dark-red rose, which she fastened in her belt; and then he returned to his portrait of Mrs. Siddons.  But there was something in his disconsolate manner which made one suspect that he thought less of Mrs. Siddons’s beauty than of the beauty of the girl who was wearing the dark-red rose!  The strangers, strolling through the rooms, stopped now and again to peer curiously at the students’ work.  They were stared at indignantly by the students themselves, but they made no attempt to move away, and even ventured sometimes to pass criticisms of no tender character on some of the copies.  The fierce-looking man who was copying “The Horse Fair” deliberately put down his brushes, folded his arms, and waited defiantly until they had gone by; but others, wiser in their generation, went on painting calmly.  Several workers were painting the new Raphael; one of them was a white-haired old gentlewoman, whose hand was trembling, and yet skilful still.  More than once she turned to give a few hints to the young girl near her, who looked in some distress and doubt.  Just the needful help was given, and then the girl plied her brush merrily, smiling the while with pleasure and gratitude.  There seemed to be a genial, kindly influence at work, a certain homeliness too, which must needs assert itself where many are gathered together, working side by side.  All made a harmony; the wonderful pictures, collected from many lands and many centuries, each with its meaning and its message from the past; the ever-present memories of the painters themselves, who had worked and striven and conquered; and the living human beings, each with his wealth of earnest endeavour and hope.

Meanwhile the old man read on uninterruptedly until two hands were put over his book and a gentle voice said: 

“Mr. Lindall, you have had no lunch again.  Do you know, I begin to hate Lucretius.  He always makes you forget your food.”

The old man looked up, and something like a smile passed over his joyless face when he saw Helen Stanley bending over him.

“Ah,” he answered, “you must not hate Lucretius.  I have had more pleasant hours with him than with any living person.”

He rose and came forward to examine her copy of Andrea del Sarto’s portrait.

“Yours is better than mine,” he said, critically; “in fact, mine is a failure.  I think I shall only get a small price for mine; indeed, I doubt whether I shall get sufficient to pay for my funeral.”