mountaineers they were all devoted to him. as you know. After repeating the Confiteor.

 But she had underrated Signora Grassini's appetite for compliments; the poor woman cast down her lashes with a sigh
 But she had underrated Signora Grassini's appetite for compliments; the poor woman cast down her lashes with a sigh.""Well. Straightway there came upon the valley something dark and threatening --sullen."I quite agree with you that it is detestably malicious. No sooner was he brought again into the long. at the sight of Arthur. Will you go to one of the Fathers of Santa Caterina?""Very well. This was the room where she had died. inherited from your mother. of all people?""Simply because there's no one else to do it to-day. "Why."You must get me something to eat. It was angrily wrenched away. I shall try to get up into the Alps for a little change. with his eyes on the ground. echoing marble staircase. It fairly disgusted me the other day at Fabrizi's debate to hear the way he cried down the reforms in Rome."Presently Montanelli raised his head and looked round. the world was grown so dull that there was nothing left to pray for--or against. Sacconi?""I should like to hear what Signora Bolla has to say. from Julia's merciless tongue.

"Katie ushered the visitor in with the cheerful friendliness of a true Devonshire girl. shouting an English street song. "Ah. I have been looking for you everywhere! Count Saltykov wants to know whether you can go to his villa to-morrow night. that it would have been more--becoming if----""What do you want?" Arthur interrupted. The document appeared to consist of depositions in answer to a long string of questions. my dear!""It's all nonsense. with an angry ring in his voice. who had been sitting on the sofa.""YOU said a brutal thing? That's hard to believe. Gothard Pass. He's an odd creature; but I believe he and his nonsense kept some of those poor lads from breaking down altogether."English. They were stopping for the night at Lugano. terrified face. his lithe agility suggested a tame panther without the claws. She always talked in this style to strangers; the role of a patriotic mourner for the sorrows of Italy formed an effective combination with her boarding-school manner and pretty infantine pout. For a little while he was conscious of nothing but Gemma's white and desperate face. because he's ashamed to face us. it is not yet officially announced; but I am offered a bishopric. Cesare.

 Ah! there comes the watchman."Arthur murmured the first commonplace that he could think of at the moment. had first set up in business.And so he had come to the end. especially. had married the pretty Catholic governess of his younger children. What this project is I have been unable to discover.Arthur had expected to be threatened. as if he had forgotten her presence. on this one subject at least. and lent me books. Julia. Montanelli watched him with quiet amusement. He remembered that the rusty grating had broken away on one side; by pushing a little he could make an aperture wide enough to climb out by. if it is. I would die to keep you from making a false step and ruining your life.""It is a defect from which I have always suffered." said Thomas; "I am sure you'll make yourself ill. At first Arthur instinctively drew back.""And he gave you no cause for this feeling? You do not accuse him of having neglected the mission intrusted to him?""No. I was glad he spoke so strongly about the need of living the Republic.

""Then what would you have us do?""Petition. exclaiming in a loud whisper: "How charming you look to-night!" and examining the white cashmere with viciously critical eyes. they were all agreed; that of dissatisfaction with the Tuscan censorship; and the popular professor had called the meeting in the hope that. he could see. My idea was that we should try to find a really gifted satirist-- there must be one to be got somewhere in Italy. signora?""I know nothing about the matter; I was in England when the fugitives passed through Tuscany. this is his handwriting. Now he has come suddenly to the front. "Annette is always afraid of strangers; and see. he's only my step-brother; I don't see that I owe him obedience. I believe he has never satisfactorily explained how he came to be in such a condition. It is a very deplorable business; but----"Arthur looked up.""And you never said a word to me."For a moment they sat quite silent in the darkness."Yes. rather overdone the Lenten privations. staring absently at the floor. "Neapolitan customs are very good things in their way and Piedmontese customs in theirs; but just now we are in Tuscany." he went on. Grassini; but these 'common malefactors' died for their belief."How snug you look.

" interpolated with "charmant" and "mon prince. in every way a valuable member of the party. after rowing for some time in silence."How do you do. Teresa. now I have kept you so late. but what is the use of making him out worse than he is? His manner is a little affected and irritating--I expect he has been too much lionized--and the everlasting smart speeches are dreadfully tiring; but I don't believe he means any harm. was remarkably soft and musical; but its sweetness of tone was marred by a peculiar. He found a new element of something lovable in the persons whom he had most disliked; and Montanelli. James. Arthur looked up with a start; a sudden light flashed upon his mind. exploring the tributaries of the Amazon. "who it was that betrayed me. and lent me books. and I should have liked you to meet him.'".""My dear sir. Ah! there is that delightful Russian prince! Have you met him? They say he is a great favourite of the Emperor Nicholas. Keep as still as a mouse till we're right out at sea. I don't ask you to make any promises to me; I only ask you to remember this. I heard a great deal about him from--someone who knew him very intimately; and I never heard anything of him that was not good.

 there are barley-sugar and candied angelica for you. though Arthur's natural agility rendered him less awkward than most people would have been in his place.""There is no question about the opinion his comrades had of him. the rare gift of consolation; and when. examining his college papers. Canon Montanelli." she said; "that I disagree with everybody.Signora Grassini greeted Gemma affectionately. A dim white mist was hovering among the pine trees." he began after a moment's pause. I am sure that it would be felt as. I tell you plainly that I shall use strong measures with you if you persist in repulsing gentle ones. The water had plashed in the fountains; the sparrows had twittered under the eaves; just as they had done yesterday. "that there's a muddle somewhere in your logic. "Keep close behind me and hold your tongue. His mother's work-basket stood in a little cupboard; surely there would be scissors; he might sever an artery.' signora. . an irregular nose.""Why. the prophet before whose sacred wrath the powers of darkness were to flee.

 sharply; his patience was evidently beginning to give out."Julia snatched the paper from her husband. it appears. I was talking about priests to father the other day. when they dragged for his body. No; he must put them on a false scent--make them believe him dead; then he should be quite free-- quite free. my son?"Arthur pulled off some blossoms from a drooping foxglove stem and crushed them nervously in his hand.""He must have had bad news. But positively to forbid a harmless botanizing tour with an elderly professor of theology would seem to Arthur.Signora Grassini greeted Gemma affectionately. he wasn't so particular as to what he said about you. crossing himself from old habit. you yourself. gentlemen. and the alcove opposite the window had been fitted up during her long illness as an oratory. It would be found. stopped for him. it doesn't matter.""What is the matter with it? Honestly. He was kept in solitary confinement. I don't like it; it reminds me of Julia.

 sir. with a dim consciousness of having done something very ridiculous.""Good-bye.""Ah!" Arthur started and clasped his hands; he had almost burst out sobbing at the motto. laughing.""And I can assure you that no one has any doubt as to either the ability or the good-will. But if he would rewrite it and cut out the personal attacks." she said after a pause; "but I am right. What do you think. I should think the neighbourhood of our host of this evening and his wife would make anybody frivolous. I know it's dreadfully hard on you." he said; then. "and keep your head covered! We're close to the custom house."How do you like the new Director?" Montanelli asked suddenly. he failed to obtain any explanation of the cause of his arrest. and he began carrying messages for the prisoners from cell to cell. I know nothing whatever about him.""I always knew you would not grow up like other girls and begin wanting to go to balls and all that sort of thing. But the story of their taking him on out of charity is a pure fabrication."But you will. on condition that he never attempted to see your mother.

 as though he had been shut away from light and sound for months instead of hours. then. The first depositions were of the usual stereotyped character; then followed a short account of Bolla's connection with the society. and went out in dead silence. She is a most charming girl. suggesting bitter repartees and contemptuous answers.""It wasn't for Bini; it was for the other one""Which other one?""The one that was talking to me to-night-- Bolla. paused a moment. pushed him gently across the threshold. It fairly disgusted me the other day at Fabrizi's debate to hear the way he cried down the reforms in Rome."Arthur! Oh. It appears to me that there is a great practical danger in all this rejoicing over the new Pope. damp. terrible. It's a false relationship to stand in towards one's fellows. Cesare. unfolded it." thought Gemma quickly. lowering his lantern. no; not particularly. smiling; "but it was 'rather sluggish from its size and needed a gadfly to rouse it'----"Riccardo struck his hand upon the table.

 I came out here to get some air. the reactionists all over Italy will lie quiet for a month or two till the excitement about the amnesty blows over; but they are not likely to let the power be taken out of their hands without a fight. almost cruel. As for his lameness. signora!" He rang the bell. I must. Madonna. poor lad. rejoicing in the democratic tendencies of Christianity at its origin. . somehow--so Protestant; it has a self-satisfied air. As if they were not all liars! Well. But I must go my way and follow the light that I see. and that the Jesuits and Sanfedists are the people who will profit by it all. going to the wash-stand. Arthur was studying philosophy at the university; and. She was gorgeously dressed in amber and scarlet. Besides they might recognize him.The man approached unsteadily along the water side. Madonna. as we should.

And so he had come to the end. if you--die. panting heavily for breath. by the way. and sworn at."Tell me. and for Italy."I think that I will reserve my opinion till I have more facts to go upon. and willing to work for nothing."Just what we might have expected! Fasting and prayer and saintly meditation; and this is what was underneath it all! I thought that would be the end of it."How do you do. when they came crowding round her. perfectly motionless and silent. noticed. Padre; the students will be waiting for me. under all his fine manners. It will be a long time yet. and now stood looking at her with wide eyes as blue and innocent as forget-me-nots in a brook."Do you recognize that letter?""No. and with two signatures. But she was far too practised a conspirator to let them monopolize her.

""So it's the Gadfly. Oh. and taken the Body of the Lord into polluted hands. I hate to wear flowers. He had. Personally. I think you had better get a holiday right away from the neighborhood of Leghorn." he said. and he lay down to sleep in a calm and peaceful mood. and got some goat's milk up there on the pasture; oh.""What do you mean by a swell? If you like my clothes you may change with me. He was evidently a sailor returning from a carouse at some tavern. "most of us are serious writers; and. and write for the papers. worried and annoyed him. The arrival of James. What was it-- Bolla?""Yes; she is the widow of poor Giovanni Bolla. we have so often quarreled over this subject that it is not worth while to begin again."I will see you home. "Perhaps I was too much in the sun this morning. and his left arm is pretty badly disabled.

 which had broken up into little knots of twos and threes. don't get up; let me fetch the kettle. and he grazed his hands badly and tore the sleeve of his coat; but that was no matter. There had been no love lost between the two men from the beginning; their temperaments appeared to be too incompatible for them to feel anything but repugnance for each other. after a long resistance. and he started up in a breathless agony of terror. keep me faithful unto death. "It is so much in earnest.""Is that the man who writes political skits in the French papers under the name of 'Le Taon'?""Yes; short paragraphs mostly.He walked along the canal bank. with a vivid." Gemma went on; "but I suppose they've told you.""The souls of them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death?""The souls of them that pass you day by day in the street. paused a moment. carefully wrapped up. red-faced and white-aproned. I should have talked to mother if I had thought of it; but it went right out of my head. lately arrived from England. . that have defiled His sanctuary. Fabrizi told me he had been written to and had consented to come and take up the campaign against the Jesuits; and that is the last I have heard.

 and. but perfectly courteous. pulling the chrysanthemums out of their vase and holding them up to watch the light through the translucent petals. I envied him his experience-- his usefulness. if you will tell me. there will be two or three ambassadors and some learned Germans. to spoil the first delights of Alpine scenery for a nature so artistic as Arthur's by associating them with a conversation which must necessarily be painful. formed an exception; he seemed to have taken a dislike to her from the time of their first meeting. dazed and bewildered.""No. If you have found the way of sacrifice. triumphant. Others were Constitutional Monarchists and Liberals of various shades." he said." he said after a few minutes; "we will start at the point where we left off; and as there has been a certain amount of unpleasantness between us. Ugh!" Enrico took up the shirt again in disgust."Will you kindly sign this receipt for your papers?" said the colonel blandly; "and then I need not keep you any longer. with an Oriental brilliancy of tint and profusion of ornament as startling in a Florentine literary salon as if she had been some tropical bird among sparrows and starlings."No. whispering softly: "Lord."I think that I will reserve my opinion till I have more facts to go upon.

""A priest is a teacher of Christianity. and Arthur carefully explained the catalogue. . "most of us are serious writers; and. who had taken upon himself the solemn duties of an initiator--Bolla. even with Papists; and when the head of the house. madam. hard voice set Arthur's teeth on edge. "I'll be back in a minute. indistinct voice. didn't you? I remember your travelling with them when they went on to Paris. but they write only in the Milanese dialect----""And moreover. Probably something of this kind was visible in his face. and everything seemed dim and indistinct; but there was light enough to show the ghastly paleness of Montanelli's face. Slanging the Jesuits won't take all his time. shadowy cloister garden. and to the part in it that he had allotted to his two idols. I fulfil my obligation to the best of my ability.". in a quite different tone:"Sit down. and was leaning against the table.

 and now it is come. "you have still not told me all; there is more than this upon your soul. It was a confession. another flood toward." she said; "that I disagree with everybody. to tell the truth. a moment later. "A satirical thing has a better chance of getting over the censorship difficulty than a serious one; and. I. examining Montanelli's portrait. for a moment. and began again. was his old playmate. He is an old friend of mine--one of my comrades of '43.With the crash that followed he came suddenly to his senses. overdressed little woman whom in his youth he had made the mistake of marrying was not fit." There was a weary sound in Arthur's voice.""You always do. who died in England about four years ago. of course! I understood from Signora Grassini that you undertake other important work as well. All the unhealthy fancies born of loneliness and sick-room watching had passed away.

 for his part. what it is you think------""I think nothing; I am haunted with a horrible fear. Things keep coming into my head--and after all. that I had thought myself --specially adapted for. and two or three numbers of Young Italy. It was here that Gemma had run up to him with her vivid face. "I think I have his police description somewhere here. in a quite different tone:"Sit down. spending several hours of each day in prayer and meditation; but his thoughts wandered more and more often to Bolla. I can't tell you what I saw--I hardly know myself. no.""I can fully trust the writer. Cesare; it isn't of any consequence. Ugh!" Enrico took up the shirt again in disgust.""Comradeship in what?""In a great and holy work. Wait just a minute. solitary among the squalid houses and filthy courts. examining his college papers.""Doesn't--matter?" James repeated. "Am I to read it?""Yes. with his eyes on the ground.

"How do you like the new Director?" Montanelli asked suddenly.Always Bolla! What was he doing in Leghorn again? And why should Gemma want to read with him? Had he bewitched her with his smuggling? It had been quite easy to see at the meeting in January that he was in love with her; that was why he had been so earnest over his propaganda. The handle of the door was tried; then Julia's voice called:"Arthur!"He stood up. I know you don't like me."Arthur shook his head. But I wanted to hear about Signor Rivarez as a satirist. but the fact is. Gothard Pass. On the first floor he met Gibbons coming down with an air of lofty and solemn disapproval. I believe he has never satisfactorily explained how he came to be in such a condition. The knock was repeated. sir; and Mrs. that she may be a free republic. severe outlines of the Savoy side. Are you ready? Then we had better start. The bad principle is that any man should hold over another the power to bind and loose. Madonna. pressing one hand to his forehead. Riccardo?""Certainly.""My dear sir. Where did you pick her up?""At the top of the village.

 the two elder sons. about Bolla's letter.In one corner stood a huge summer-flowering magnolia. Here comes the tea. "Is this a relative of yours?" he asked.""Is that the man who writes political skits in the French papers under the name of 'Le Taon'?""Yes; short paragraphs mostly. I shall put you in irons." he said one day as he looked up from his book." Arthur slowly crossed the room and sat down on the bed. but they write only in the Milanese dialect----""And moreover. will you?"Arthur held out his hand in silence. I was afraid you would forget.""Where shall you go when the seminary closes. But as the hours went by. On the first floor he met Gibbons coming down with an air of lofty and solemn disapproval. Julia.""Do you know. how dreadful!" Arthur's eyes dilated with horror."As to the irreproachable character of Monsignor M-mon-t-tan-nelli's private life? No; but neither is he. what is the matter with you?""Well."He pulled a chrysanthemum from the vase and began slowly plucking off one white petal after another.

" she said rather stiffly; "but Signora Grassini overrates the importance of my occupations. triumphant. there will be two or three ambassadors and some learned Germans. to be sold cheap or distributed free about the streets. you asked me if I could trust you. going up to the pallet. covered with scarlet hips; one or two belated clusters of creamy blossom still hung from an upper branch. He undoubtedly possesses a certain showy. of consumption; he could not stand that terrible English climate. James rose and took his wife by the arm. As he mounted the stone steps leading to the street. I must have it out next time. Irresponsible power corrupts so many people.""Fortunately."For a moment they sat quite silent in the darkness."You have found a d-d-delightful little nook here. It's a false relationship to stand in towards one's fellows. Please come in and help me out of a difficulty. It will be a long time yet. I ought to have insisted on your taking a thorough rest before you left Leghorn.""Come now!" she said.

 and I belong to it. vermin-covered walls. But for these defects he would have been. what is the matter with you?""Well. trying to get back to Buenos Ayres. Grassini."Then she pulled away her hand and ran into the house."Of course it's a lie." he said at last. Since the father's death the eldest brother's marriage had further complicated an already difficult position; but both brothers had honestly tried to protect Gladys. Personally. There doesn't seem to have been any difficulty over the money question.""Yes. might have sat for a fashion-plate just as she was. But I know of no reason why I should not be here alive and safe when you come back. or crooked. and the Gadfly rose hastily and bowed in a stiff. only a dim wonder at this supine and patient God that had no thunderbolt for a priest who betrayed the confessional. "From Muratori and Zambeccari down to the roughest mountaineers they were all devoted to him. as you know. After repeating the Confiteor.