A DOG OF FLANDERS. 169

play for us; and the mother says
thou shalt stay by the hearth and
burn nuts with us all the Noél week
long — yes, even to the Feast of the
Kings! And Patrasche will be so
happy ! O Nello, wake and come!”
But the young pale face, turned
upward to the light of the great
Rubens with a smile upon its mouth,
answered them all, “ It is too late.”
For the sweet, sonorous bells went
ringing through the frost, and the
sunlight shone upon the plains of.
snow, and the populace trooped gay
and glad through the streets, but
Nello and Patrasche no more asked
charity at their hands. All they
needed now Antwerp gave unbidden.
Death had been more pitiful to