arked, "Print Room. Students only."

His reception agreeably surprised him. He, an obscure person, was treated
as if he were a M. Michel. An obliging boy requested him to hang his hat
and coat upon a peg, and to sign his name in a book. An obliging youth
waved him to a noble desk running at a right angle to a noble window, and
begged him to indicate his needs upon a slip of paper. He inscribed the
printed form with the words--"Rembrandt's Etchings and Drawings."

The obliging youth scanned the document and said--"Which do you wish to
see? There are many portfolios. I can bring you one at a time."

"Do so, if you please," said the enthusiast. "I should like to examine them
all, even if it takes a week."

The obliging youth inclined his head and departed.

There is a delightful air of leisure and learning about the Print Room, and
an entire absence of hustle. Two students besides himself were the only
other members of the public, one studying Holbein, the other Blake.

[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF AN OLD LADY, FULL FACE, HER HANDS FOLDED

1641. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg.]

The first portfolio that was brought to him contained the _Christ Healing
the Sick_, known as _The Hundred Guilder Print_, in several states. It was
the first large etching by Rembrandt that he had seen, and he gazed with
astonishment, admiration, and awe at the almost miraculous characterisation
of the figures, at the depth and richness of the blacks, and the nobility
of the conception. He passed from that to _The Three Crosses_, and was even
more moved by the dramatic intensity and realism of those burdened crosses
against the profound gloom, and the dim, poignantly realised figures in the
foreground. He saw the _Christ before Pilate_ and _The Death of the
Virgin_, lingering before them, studying every detail, realising to the
full, through these splendid impressions, the height and significance of
Rembrandt's genius. He compared the four prints he had purchased with their
originals, and understood why collectors were eager to pay enormous prices
for fine states, probably printed by the master himself.

As soon as he had finished one portfolio, the watchful attendant carried it
away, and substituted another. It was so easy, so restful, and so
invigorating to study a master under these conditions, that he wondered the
public did not flock to the Print Room as to a first night at a popular
theatre.

On another day he studied the drawings and