"I'm glad to see you again, signor—"
The rider lifted his hand in rebuke.
"Not signor to me, Pablo! I am still your friend, and not in any wise changed from the lad who played with you in this very roadway."
"But you have grown powerful and wealthy!"
"Ye-es, but gold coins can never make me anything else than I was before."
"But we have heard that the city of Venice gave you a pension for your whole life, because you had made such wonderful statues."
"Yes, Venice has been good to me."
"And that all the great people of Rome are friends with you."
"True, but—"
"That the Pope has written your name in the golden book of the capital."