And when one looks at this cameo one feels that the friendship of the three warriors arose out of the fight for liberty… Perhaps they fled from ‘slavery to their own countries… I think that cameo is further evidence of a struggle waged in a distant epoch and hidden from us by time. It is even possible that the unknown artist also took part in the fight… Yes, he must certainly have been there, otherwise his work could not have been so perfect. And look how both of you fixed your attention on the cameo.”

The young man and woman, overwhelmed by the mass of information they had been given, again pressed close to the magnifying glass. The stone seemed even more mysterious and incomprehensible to them.

The pure, clear and deep colour of the sea… and on it the figures of three men linked in fraternal embrace. The brilliant, scintillating stone and the golden tinge on the perfect, undraped bodies stood out with even greater force in the cold, dull gallery of the museum… The young girl, full of life and feminine charm, seemed to be standing on the seashore.

With a sigh the young sailor straightened his aching back. The girl still kept her eyes on the stone. The shuffling of feet and the noise of an approaching excursion group resounded down the corridors. Only then did the girl tear herself away from the case. The switch clicked, the frame was lifted and the blue-green crystal lay sparkling on its velvet bed.

“We’ll come here again, won’t we?” asked the sailor. “Of course we shall,” answered the girl. The young man took her gently by the arm and they walked down the white marble staircase deep in thought.

I. THE SCULPTOR’S APPRENTICE