rflowed with
zechins; but with the red gold, Art withdrew from him her powerful ally,
necessity, the pressing need of gaining a livelihood by the exertion of
his own strength.

He spent the hours appointed for study like a careless lover, and worked
without inclination, without pleasure, without ardor, yet with visible
increase of skill.

In gambling he forgot what tortured him, it stirred his blood, dispelled
weariness; the gold was nothing to him.

The lion's share of his gains he loaned to broken gamblers, without
expectation of return, gave to starving artists, or flung with lavish
hand to beggars.

So the months in Ferrara glided by, and when the allotted time was over,
he took leave of Sebastiano Filippi without regret. He returned by sea
to Spain, and arrived in Madrid richer than he had gone away, but with
impoverished confidence in his own powers, and doubting the omnipotence
of Art.

CHAPTER XXII.

Ulrich again stood before the Alcazar, and recalled the hour when, a
poor lad, just escaped from prison, he had been harshly rebuffed by
the same porter, who now humbly saluted the young gentleman attired in
costly velvet.

And yet how gladly he would have crossed this threshold poor as in those
days, but free and with a soul full of enthusiasm and hope; how joyfully
he would have effaced from his life the years that lay between that time
and the present.

He dreaded meeting the Coellos; nothing but honor urged him to present
himself to them.

Yes--and if the old man rejected him?--so much the better!

The old cheerful confusion reigned in the studio. He had a long time to
wait there, and then heard through several doors Senora Petra's scolding
voice and her husband's angry replies.

At last Coello came to him and after greeting him, first formally, then
cordially, and enquiring about his health and experiences, he shrugged
his shoulders, saying:

"My wife does not wish you to see Isabella again before the trial.
You must show what you can do, of course; but I.... you look well and
apparently have collected reales. Or is it true," and he moved his hand
as if shaking a dice-box. "He who wins is a good fellow, but we want no
more to do with such people here! You find me the same as of old, and
you have returned at the right time, that is something. De Soto has told
me about your quarrel in Venice. The great masters were pleased with
you and this, you Hotspur, you forfeited! Ferrara for Venice! A