artists receive makes
the men. There are not many persons in our country who are willing to
pay ten, fifty, or a hundred thousand dollars for a picture. So much
money in a painting is dead capital among an energetic people who need
all they can get to carry on agricultural, commercial, and manufacturing
enterprises."

"Of course people will follow that calling which pays best, either in
money or in reputation."

"Certainly, and the number of Dutch and Flemish artists assures us that
painting has been a cherished art in the Low Countries. Vandyck was
another celebrated painter of this country. He was born in Antwerp, and
was a pupil of Rubens. There is a story that The Descent from the Cross
was thrown down by the carelessness of a student, and badly injured by
the fall. Vandyck, who was then a pupil of the great Flemish master,
undertook to repair the mischief with his brush, and did it so well that
Rubens declared the work was superior to his own. This story is current
in the guide-books, and in the mouths of the _commissionaires_, who
point out the places on the face of the Virgin and on the arm of one of
the Marys where the pupil touched it up. But there is no truth in it,
since the picture was hung up in the Cathedral before Vandyck entered
the studio of Rubens."

"I suppose these people like to tell good stories, whether true or not."

"Yes; and you will find a man up in this steeple who believes that his
spire is the tallest in the world," added Dr. Winstock.

They continued on their long ascent till they reached the region of the
bells, where they found the attendant who glories in magnifying the
wonders of the chimes and the spire. He had a small furnished apartment,
which the visitors were invited to enter, and where he dispensed
refreshments, of which no total abstinence man could partake. The
doctor, knowing what the man had to say, skilfully turned his attention
away from his favorite topic, until they were sufficiently
refreshed--not by the _eau de vie_ and _noyau_, but by the rest--to
explore the bell towers.

The bells composing the chime were fixed in the lofts, which were filled
with wires, cranks, and other machinery, used in operating them. In one
place there was a bank of keys like those of an organ, where a person
could play any tune he pleased upon the bells. The keeper had a history
to relate of each bell, many of which were contributed by kings,
princes, and lords, and bore their names. In