THE STORY OF A PICTURE. in the Romagna, where he knew that, with the help of the little that remained, he could gain a livelihood as one of the peasantry, concealing the name of the place whence he had come, and the position which he had lost. On settling in Castaro, he married the daughter of one of his neighbours,-a pretty country girl, the mother of Leonardo and Maria; but she died soon after the birth of her second child. Giovanni Selvico had still living in Florence one brother much older than himself, but, when he brought on his own ruin, all friendship between them had ceased; by this time he believed the elder brother had forgotten him, or, if not, he did not know where he had gone on leaving Florence. Much, then, was his surprise, when, on the day on which our story opened, a messenger from the Signor di Castaro bade him go on the next morning to the neighboring castle, to meet there one Signor Selvico, who was most desirous of seeing him. Giovanni had never let his children know anything of his former station, or of the rich man who had once known him as a brother, for he wished Leonardo, as he grew up, not to think himself superior by birth to any of the simple people around him. Accordingly, when the message was delivered to him, he had only told Maria that he was on the next day to go to the castle; and as the villagers considered this a great privilege, the child had hastened to tell her brother what she believed to be such good news.