ng for glory in that narrow personality which
had made him a mere day-laborer in art, as if his relations with
Renovales imposed on him the duty of seeking a place near his in the
world of painting.

He had gone back to landscapes, never winning any greater success than
the simple admirations of wash-women and brickmakers who gathered around
his easel in the suburbs of Madrid, whispering to each other that the
gentleman who wore on his lapel the variegated button of his numerous
Papal Orders, must be a famous old "buck," one of the great painters the
papers talked about. Renovales had secured for him two honorable
mentions at the Exhibitions and after this victory, shared with all the
young chaps who were just beginning, Cotoner settled down in the rut, to
rest forever, counting that the mission of his life was fulfilled.

Life in Madrid was no more difficult for him than in Rome. He slept at
the house of a priest whom he had known in Italy, and had accompanied on
his tours as Papal representative. This chaplain, who was employed in
the office of the Rota, considered it a great honor to entertain the
artist, recalling his friendly relations with the cardinals and
believing that he was in correspondence with the Pope himself.

They had agreed on a sum which he was to pay for his lodging, but the
priest did not seem to be in any hurry for payment; he would soon give
him a commission for a painting for some nuns for whom he was confessor.

The eating problem offered still less difficulty for Cotoner. He had the
days of the week divided among various rich families noted for their
piety, whom he had met in Rome during the great Spanish pilgrimages.
They were wealthy miners from Bilbao, gentlemen farmers from Andalusia,
old marchionesses who thought about God a great deal, but continued to
live their comfortable life to which they gave a serious tone by the
respectable color of devotion.

The painter felt closely attached to this little group; they were
serious, religious and they ate well. Everyone called him "good
Cotoner." The ladies smiled with gratitude when he presented them with a
rosary or some other article of devotion brought from Rome. If they
expressed the desire of obtaining some dispensation from the Vatican, he
would offer to write to "his friend the cardinal." The husbands, glad to
entertain an artist so cheaply, consulted him about the plan for a new
chapel or the designs for an altar, and on their saint'