I live in the villa here with my
aunt. She has purchased your statue, and wishes you to repair it, and
then to engage in some other work for her. Let me assist you to rise;
you seem very weak."

"I _am_ weak, and weary too," said he, staggering to a seat. "I have
overworked myself, perhaps,--I scarcely know. Do not take away your
hand."

"And you are, then, the Sebastian Greppi of whom Carrara is so proud?"

"They call me Sebastian Greppi; but I never heard that my name was
spoken of with any honor."

"You are unjust to your own fame. We have often heard of you. See, here
are two models taken from your works. They have been my studies for
many a day. I have often wished to see you, and ask if my attempt were
rightly begun. Then here is a hand."

"Let me model yours," said the youth, gazing steadfastly at the
beautifully shaped one which rested on the chair beside him.

"Come with me to the villa, and I will present you to my aunt; she will
be pleased to know you. There, lean on my arm, for I see you are very
weak."

"Why are you so kind, so good to me?" said he, faintly, while a tear
rose slowly to his eye.

He arose totteringly, and, taking her arm, walked slowly along at her
side. As they went, she spoke kindly and encouragingly to him, praised
what she had seen of his works, and said how frequently she had wished
to know him, and enjoy the benefit of his counsels in art. "For I, too,"
said she, laughing, "would be a sculptor."

The youth stopped to gaze at her with a rapture he could not control.
That one of such a station, surrounded by all the appliances of a
luxurious existence, could devote herself to the toil and labor of art,
implied an amount of devotion and energy that at once elevated her in
his esteem. She blushed deeply at his continued stare, and turned at
last away.

"Oh, do not feel offended with me," cried he, passionately. "If you but
knew how your words have relighted within me the dying-out embers of
an almost exhausted ambition,--if you but knew how my heart has gained
courage and hope,--how light and brightness have shone in upon me after
hours and days of gloom! It was but yesterday I had resolved to abandon
this career forever. I was bent on a new life, in a new world beyond
the seas. These few things that a faithful companion of mine had charged
himself to dispose of, were to supply the means of the journey; and now
I think of it no more. I shall remain here to work hard and study,