A DOG OF FLANDERS. 107

All the spring and summer and
autumn Nello had been at work
upon this treasure, which, if triumph-
ant, would build him his first step
toward independence and the myste-
ries of the art which he blindly, ig-
norantly, and yet passionately adored.

He said nothing to any one: his
grandfather would not have under-
stood, and little Alois was lost to
him. Only to Patrasche he told all,
and whispered, “ Rubens would give
it me, I think, if he knew.”

Patrasche thought so too, for he
knew that Rubens had loved dogs, or
he had never painted them with such
exquisite fidelity ; and men who loved
dogs were,as Patrasche knew, always

pitiful.