ed up at the lofty spire.

"There you have me, Paul! I don't know. In Murray's Guide-Book it is
set down at four hundred and three feet. The man up in the tower there
says it is four hundred and sixty-six. Other authorities put it at less
than four hundred. My guide assured me it was one hundred and
forty-seven French metres in height; but this, reduced to English
measure, would give four hundred and eighty-three feet. My own idea is,
that Murray is right," replied Dr. Winstock, as they walked over to the
church.

"What's this?" asked Paul, pointing to a beautiful iron canopy in Gothic
style, near the foot of the church tower.

"That's a draw-well. It is the handiwork of Quentin Matsys."

"I don't know him."

"He was a blacksmith until he was twenty years old, when he fell in love
with the fair daughter of a painter. The story goes that the father
would not permit his daughter to marry any man that was not an artist,
and the blacksmith abandoned his anvil for the easel. He had a genius
for art, and soon painted better than his masters. He won his bride, and
achieved a great reputation in his new art. The picture of The Misers,
which you saw at Windsor Castle, was executed by him."

They bought a couple of tickets and were admitted to the church. The
interior was grand and imposing; but the chief attraction was the
pictures, which were now unveiled, and a small audience was present
examining them. Several artists were making copies of them. In the south
transept hangs Reubens's masterpiece, The Descent from the Cross.

Paul did not pretend to be a connoisseur in paintings, and could neither
understand nor appreciate the fine writing he read about them in books,
or the "hifalutin" which affected men bestowed upon them; but in the
presence of the grand old painting, he was awed and silenced. It
produced a deep impression upon his mind and heart, and for the first
time in his life he realized the sublime in art. The figure of The Dead
Christ seemed to be real, so painfully natural were the hanging head of
the Savior, and the relaxed muscles of the body. The young student gazed
long and earnestly at the picture, studying it as a whole and in detail.

It is said that Rubens paid this picture as the price of the land on
which he erected his house in Antwerp. In the north transept of the
Cathedral hangs its companion piece, The Elevation of the Cross; but its
reputation is far inferior to his masterpiece, grand as it is