[Illustration]





MARZIO'S CRUCIFIX



CHAPTER I


"The whole of this modern fabric of existence is a living lie!" cried
Marzio Pandolfi, striking his little hammer upon the heavy table with an
impatient rap. Then he dropped it and turning on his stool rested one
elbow upon the board while he clasped his long, nervous fingers together
and stared hard at his handsome apprentice. Gianbattista Bordogni looked
up from his work without relinquishing his tools, nodded gravely, stared
up at the high window, and then went on hammering gently upon his little
chisel, guiding the point carefully among the delicate arabesques traced
upon the silver.

"Yes," he said quietly, after a few seconds, "it is all a lie. But what
do you expect, Maestro Marzio? You might as well talk to a stone wall as
preach liberty to these cowards."

"Nevertheless, there are some--there are half a dozen--" muttered
Marzio, relapsing into sullen discontent and slowly turning the body of