rm my master," he went on; "and he will not fail to put
himself at the orders of My Lady Abbess."

With this assurance, the Lady Usimbalda left the Church. No sooner was
he alone than Buffalmacco arranged on the scaffolding, just at the spot
where he was at work, two stools with a crock on the top. Then going to
the corner where he had laid them, he pulled out his cloak and hat,
which as it happened were in a very fair state of freshness, and put
them on the lay figure he had improvised; next, he stuck a brush in the
spout of the crock, which was turned towards the wall. This done, after
assuring himself the thing had quite the look of a man busy painting, he
decamped with all speed, determined to keep away till he had seen what
happened.

Next day the Nuns paid their usual visit to the scene of action. But
finding instead of the merry fellow they were accustomed to, a stately
gentleman who held himself In the stiffest of attitudes and seemed
entirely indisposed to laugh and talk, they were afraid and took to
flight.

Madame Usimbalda on the contrary, when _she_ returned to the Church, was
delighted to see the master at work in lieu of the apprentice.

She proceeded to give him much valuable advice, exhorting him for a good
ten minutes to paint figures that should be modest, noble and
expressive--before she discovered she was addressing her remarks to a
crock.

She would hardly have found out her mistake even then, had she not grown
impatient at receiving no reply, and pulling the master by his cloak,
brought crock, stool, hat, brush and all tumbling at her feet. Then, as
she was by no means wanting in sense, she saw it was intended as a
lesson not to judge the artist by his dress. She sent her steward to
Buffalmacco, and begged him to finish what he had begun.

He completed the work greatly to his credit. Connoisseurs especially
admired in these frescoes the figure of the Crucified Redeemer, the
three Marys weeping at the foot of the Cross, Judas hanged on a tree,
and a man blowing his nose. Unfortunately the paintings were all
destroyed along with the Church of the Nunnery of the Ladies of Faenza.

IV

THE PAINTER

Equally famous for his wit and humour and for his skill in devising
figure subjects on the walls of Church and Cloister, Buonamico, surnamed
Buffalmacco, had already left his youth behind when he was invited from
Florence to Arezzo by the Lord Bishop of that city, who wished the halls
of his P