cchi's exorbitant demands. The lawyer was in need of money,
Marzio thought, and as he himself was the possessor of what the other
coveted, there could be little doubt as to the side on which the
advantage would ultimately be taken. Marzio went half-way up the steps
of the Capitol, and then stopped to look at the two wretched wolves
which the Roman municipality thinks it incumbent on the descendants of
Romulus to support. He thought one of them very like Carnesecchi. He
watched the poor beasts a moment or two as they tramped and swung and
pressed their lean sides against the bars of their narrow cage.

"What a sympathetic animal it is!" he exclaimed aloud. A passer-by
stared at him and then went on hurriedly, fearing that he might be mad.
Indeed, there was a sort of family likeness between the lawyer, the
chiseller, and the wolves.

Other thoughts, however, occupied Marzio's attention; and as soon as he
was sure that his friend was out of the way, he descended the steps. He
did not care whither he went, but he had no especial reason for climbing
the steep ascent to the Capitol. The crucifix his brother had ordered
from him on the previous evening engaged his attention, and it was as
much for the sake of being alone and of thinking about the work that he
had taken his solitary morning walk, as with the hope of finding in some
church a suggestion or inspiration which might serve him. He knew what
was to be found in Roman churches well enough; the Crucifixion in the
Trinita dei Pellegrini and the one in San Lorenzo in Lucina--both by
Guido Reni, and both eminently unsympathetic to his conception of the
subject--he had often looked at them, and did not care to see them
again. At last he entered the Church of the Gesu, and sat down upon a
chair in a corner.

He did not look up. The interior of the building was as familiar to him
as the outside. He sat in profound thought, occasionally twisting his
soft hat in his hands, and then again remaining quite motionless. He did
not know how long he stayed there. The perfect silence was pleasant to
him, and when he rose he felt that the idea he had sought was found, and
could be readily expressed. With a sort of sigh of satisfaction he went
out again into the air and walked quickly towards his workshop.

The men told him that Gianbattista was busy within, and after glancing
sharply at the work which was proceeding, Marzio opened the inner door
and entered the studio. He strode up to