"
"By the throne of Caesar, lady," he exclaimed in a voice that carried a
conviction of his earnestness, staring hard at the bust of Ithiel before
him, "as it chances, although I am not an artist, I do know something of
sculpture, since I have a friend who is held to be the best of our
day, and often for my sins have sat as model to him. Well, I tell you
this--never did the great Glaucus produce a bust like that."
"I daresay not," said Miriam smiling. "I daresay the great Glaucus would
go mad if he saw it."
"He would--with envy. He would say that it was the work of one of the
glorious Greeks, and of no modern."
"Sir," said Ithiel reprovingly, "do not make a jest of the maid, who
does the best she can; it pains her and--is not fitting."
"Friend Ithiel," replied Marcus, turning quite crimson, "you must indeed
think that I lack manners who would come to the home of any artist to
mock his work. I say what I mean, neither more nor less. If this bust
were shown in Rome, together with yourself who sat for it, the lady
Miriam would find herself famous within a week. Yes," and he ran his eye
quickly over various statuettes, some of them baked and some in the raw
clay, models, for the most part, of camels or other animals or birds,
"yes, and it is the same with all the rest: these are the works of
genius, no less.
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