as he had never met with among his learned friends.
Day after day the old man and the boy bent eagerly
together over their problems, and when night fell
Toscanelli would take the child up with him to his
lonely tower above Florence, and teach him to know
the stars and to understand many things.

`This is all very well,' said Ser Piero, `but the boy
must do more than mere star-gazing. He must earn
a living for himself, and methinks we might make a
painter of him.'

That very day, therefore, he gathered together
some of Leonardo's drawings which lay carelessly
scattered about, and took them to the studio of
Verocchio the painter, who lived close by the Ponte
Vecchio.

`Dost thou think thou canst make aught of the
boy?' he asked, spreading out the drawings before
Verocchio.

The painter's quick eyes examined the work with
deep interest.

`Send him to me at once,' he said. `This is
indeed marvellous talent.'

So Leonardo entered the studio as a pupil, and
learned all that could be taught him with the same