dipped in a red colour, then, resting his elbow on
his side, with one turn of the hand, he drew a circle
so perfect and exact that it was a marvel to behold.'
`Here is your drawing,' he said to the messenger,
with a smile, handing him the drawing.

`Am I to have nothing more than this?' asked
the man, staring at the red circle in astonishment
and disgust.

`That is enough and to spare,' answered Giotto.
`Send it with the rest.'

The messengers thought this must all be a joke.

`How foolish we shall look if we take only a
round O to show his Holiness,' they said.

But they could get nothing else from Giotto, so
they were obliged to be content and to send it with
the other drawings, taking care to explain just how
it was done.

The Pope and his advisers looked carefully over
all the drawings, and, when they came to that round
O, they knew that only a master-hand could have
made such a perfect circle without the help of a
compass. Without a moment's hesitation they
decided that Giotto was the man they wanted, and
they at once invited him to come to Rome to