“In a humble way, yes.”
“What line?” pursued the sly veteran.
“Oils.”
“I’ve got him!” said Sellers to himself. Then aloud, “This is fortunate. Could I engage you to restore some of my paintings that need that attention?”
“I shall be very glad. Pray let me see them.”
No shuffling, no evasion, no embarrassment, even under this crucial test. The Colonel was nonplussed. He led Tracy to a chromo which had suffered damage in a former owner’s hands through being used as a lamp mat, and said, with a flourish of his hand toward the picture—
“This del Sarto—”
“Is that a del Sarto?”
The colonel bent a look of reproach upon Tracy, allowed it to sink home, then resumed as if there had been no interruption—
“This del Sarto is perhaps the only original of that sublime master in our country. You see, yourself, that the work is of such exceeding delicacy that the risk—could—er—would you mind giving me a little example of what you can do before we—”