human
It's cert'nly a grand little thing t' break trainin', lady. This here sculptor game is a hard life. Y' been pipin' me ear, ain't y'?
gpt
W'y, it's all right, lady, said the signor, with generous reassurance.
human
It's one o' me trade-marks. Say, y'd never guess how I got it. Listen: I landed on it when I did a Brodie off a scaffold in th' sixteenth chapel. Uhuh; down in Rome.
gpt
Sistine!
human
Sistine, repeated the signor.
gpt
That's wot hung it on me, lady. I was up there a coupla hundred feet--easy that--copyin' off one o' them statues of Mike th' Angelus. You know th' guy; one o' th' old champs. All of a sudden, off I goes an' down on me ear. Gee, lady, it had me down f'r nine all right; but I wasn't out. Ain't never been out yet. So I goes up again an' finishes th' job in th' next round. That's th' kind of a bird I am, lady.
human
I got th' twisted beezer in th' same mixup, added the signor, as he scratched his nose reflectively.
gpt
First I lit on me ear an' then I rolled over on me nose. But, gee; that's nothin'. Guys in my game gotta have noive.
human
It would appear to require much courage,
gpt
You said it, advised the signor.
human
But y' gotta have noive in any game, bish. Yes, ma'am; y' gotta have guts.
gpt
The signor, explained Bill,
human
Slippin' it in on th' vernacular is one o' me best tricks, assented the signor.
gpt
Lady, I remember once I caught a guy on th' vernacular----
human
See them mitts? he asked, as he held forth a pair of knotted hands.
gpt
All in the same game, lady. Y' see, I got a studio in Naples, just like th' one I got over on th' East Side. This is th' way I get from handlin' them big hunks of Carranza marble.
human
Cheese it, Kid; you're in Mexico. Get it right--Carrara.
gpt
Sure, observed the signor, undisturbed.
human
This here Carrara marble, lady, is all heavyweight stuff. It's like goin' outa y'r class t' handle it. I don't take it on regular.
gpt
I--I've heard so much of the Carrara marble,
human
There ain't nothin' better f'r hitchin' blocks, pavin' stones an' tombstones, declared the signor. Then, with an inspiration:
gpt
An' holy-stones, too. Get that, bish? Holy-stones. Ain't that a hot one? Hey, Bill, did you get it? I'm tellin' the bish they take this here Carranza marble----
human
I doubt if the bishop would be interested in the details, signor, he said.
gpt
Your work speaks for itself. You see --to the bishop--
human
Portrait work,
gpt
Exactly. The expression that he can put into a face is often marvelous.
human
Do you think, inquired Aunt Caroline, hesitating as though she were asking the impossible,
gpt
Any time, lady; any time, said the signor heartily.
human
Only I ain't brung me workin' clothes an'----
gpt
My Gawd! It's Pete!
human
Why, he knows your valet, William,
gpt
I have had Peter over at his studio; he's interested in ecclesiastical art, you know.
human
Of course; I might have known. Aunt Caroline hesitated for an instant, then:
gpt
William, does he always talk in that curious manner?
human
It's due to his spirit of democracy, he explained.
gpt
He chooses to live among the lowly. He loves the people. He falls into their way of speech. I'll admit that it may sound strange, Aunt Caroline----
human
Oh, I wasn't objecting, she said, hastily.
gpt
I know so little about the foreign artists that I am ignorant; that's all.
human
Some time, Aunt Caroline, I should like to have the signor bring some of his fellow-artists here. At a small affair, I mean.
gpt
And you certainly shall, William. By all means.