satisfaction of both. Signor Cavaliere _s'accommodi_." Thus admonished of _our_ breach of manners in having kept the Cavaliere standing, we would fain atone for it on the spot, by begging the "mezzano" also to take a chair; but he declines it with modest confusion of face. "_Come? ma che?_" he has no pretension or business to place himself between "_due illustrissimi signori_," whose poor interpreter he is. We overcome his scruples, and all sit down, closely packed round a small table; while the noble dealer was unshrouding what seemed, from the length of time and material employed upon it, to be a _mummy_, and, from its size, perhaps a _rat_. We were all eagerness and expectancy, forming, as we sat, a _capo d'opera_ for Valentine or Caravaggio, well grouped, and ripe and ready for the canvass. At length the "unwinding bout" draws to its close; the last wrapping is unwrapped; and a small bronze Venus, without a shift, falls on her haunches on the table. "What a beautiful _pezzo_ have we here!" says the umpire, assuming the air of a man well versed in such matters, and turning her round to admire her proportions; "and where," asks he, in a manner that showed he had guessed the answer before receiving it; "where might this have been _dug up_?" "_Nei contorni di Lentine_," was the ready answer, and so _he_ "had expected to hear it was; all the best _opere Greche_ now come from that neighbourhood." We made no remark; there was a pause; we watched the countenance of the _mezzano_; he seemed to be getting more and more absorbed in the contemplation of the little Venus, till, after taking his time, while he appeared oblivious of time, his pent-up enthusiasm at the sight of charms which rivet his attention, but are beyond his powers of expression, finds vent in the very convenient formula of "_Pare impossibile!_" which, in the language of _English_ dilletanteism has no equivalent; then suddenly recollecting himself, and fearing lest, if he kept her too long, we might be jealous, he confided her gently to our hands, and having done so, said a second time, "_Pare impossibile!_" We, too, turned her round, and (one good turn tending to another) in the absence of any better occupation at the moment, we turned her round a second time; and having done so, put her down upon the table, without a word of comment. It was a tolerably well-shaped little figure, in a very _green modern gown_, and when _we_ were very green, three years ago, we had purchased a twin-born sister of hers at Capua, which we now rose to produce, and placed her side by side the other. Our visitors exchanged glances; the Cavaliere would have said that _ours_ is a copy--_his_ the original; but we remind him that a week ago his _model_ did not exist, from which to have made such a copy; and the _mezzano_, seeing that the game is up, says his friend must have been imposed upon! that there is not a more honest man breathing than the Cavaliere! that, in fact, it