who used the wood to make barrels. He
made hundreds and hundreds of barrels, and though it took a great many
trees to give him wood enough, he always spared the oak tree.
Sometimes when this man came out to see about his trees his little
daughter Mary came with him. And so Bernardo and little Mary became
great friends. In fact, the old man said he had only two friends, the
oak to whom he talked and little Mary who talked to him.

One day there was a dreadful storm and Bernardo's little house shook
so in the wind that he was afraid to stay in it. He looked at the oak
tree, and it seemed to motion to him and tell him to come into its
branches, where he would be safe. So he put some bread in his pocket,
for he knew the storm would last a long time, and climbed up into the
tree. It was a good thing he did so, too, for very soon his house was
blown down. Hundreds of birds also hid among the branches of the big
tree during the storm, which lasted three days.

The old man wished he had brought more bread to eat, for the ground
was covered with water so deep he did not dare leave the tree. Just as
he began to think he would starve, Mary and her father came in search
of him and took him to their home. Little Mary had been thinking of
him all the time, and just as soon as they could they had come for
him. So you see his two friends, Mary and the oak, had saved his life,
and Bernardo loved them more than ever. He prayed that in some way his
two good friends might always be remembered together.

[Illustration: _Madonna of the Chair_]

Many years after, Bernardo died. By that time the oak was so old it
seemed as if it would fall over and break the other trees near it, or
maybe hurt somebody. So it was cut down, and Mary's father had it made
into fine new barrels. By this time the little Mary had grown up, was
married, and had two fine boys of her own. She was sitting out on the
nice big porch of her home one day, holding the baby in her arms, when
the older boy came running to her to show her a stick which one of the
workmen had carved into a cross. And who should happen to be passing
the house at that very moment but the great artist, Raphael.

When he looked up and saw the lovely mother and her children, he
thought he had never seen anything so beautiful. He was on his way
home after a long walk, and did not even have his paints with him. But
he saw the empty barrels in the yard, and choosing one with a nice
smooth head, he d