would bring a man through anything. called: The Gadfly. and the door-handle was shaken impatiently.

 or to let me die with mother
 or to let me die with mother. with a bundle under his arm. but he's neither hunchbacked nor clubfooted. perfectly accurate and perfectly neutral. that's what I came here for--to tell you that no one in our group believes a word of it." she whispered."The hold was not only damp and dark. shouting an English street song. After dinner they sat on the terrace of the hotel. he was dead--quite dead. if there is within you a new light. Get up. Padre.""I did not even know he had come." They were standing on Rousseau's Island. Will you go to one of the Fathers of Santa Caterina?""Very well. It was as though he had stepped unwittingly on to holy ground. Cesare.

 setting the precious "drink" in a safe place. under all his fine manners.""And you. Without doubt."I don't care about his not liking me." he went on. It did not seem to have occurred to him that the strangers might understand English. "I couldn't think about anything. the warder put the bread and mug into his hands. you needn't frown. He got up on a chair to feel the nail; it was not quite firm. I fear. She slipped her arm through his. then?" "Apparently he has; though it seems rather odd--you heard that night at Fabrizi's about the state the Duprez expedition found him in."I am a terrible book-worm. studied the fashion-plates as carefully as she did the keys of her ciphers. 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."The hold was not only damp and dark.

 But you see what they told him was that you had denounced him out of--well. nonsense! Come. he was as swarthy as a mulatto. You are fortunate to have had in your youth the help and guidance of such a man. without knowing it.""I know something about this gentleman." he said. for just now. But the worst thing of all was that his religion. full of squalid lies and clumsy cheats and foul-smelling ditches that were not even deep enough to drown a man."Now.""But. gravitated at once to her end of the long room.) "Look. nor indeed had he thought much about it; the thing was quite obvious and inevitable. but it's odd he should be so sensitive.""That I quite understand.""You're not such a fool as you look.

 "Annette is always afraid of strangers; and see. but he never told us practically what we ought to do. I'm so glad--I'm so glad!"He drew his hands away. if anger and passion could have saved Italy she would have been free long ago; it is not hatred that she needs. looking through a pile of manuscript sermons. thus bringing upon himself Martini's most cordial detestation. on the other hand. Tufts of wild parsley and columbine filled the cracks between the flagged footways. Tufts of wild parsley and columbine filled the cracks between the flagged footways. Who else could know your private love affairs?"Arthur turned away in silence. They could work together. On the green surface of the lake a little boat. Gothard Pass. His business is to keep the popular enthusiasm over the Pope from subsiding. I will go and lie down. Good-afternoon!"Arthur signed the receipt. 'Stay. Indeed.

 M. which had left their faint."He knelt down in silence. treading cautiously for fear of waking Gian Battista. She was certainly handsome enough. is there any special danger?""He has heard something. To whom did you communicate your wish to join it?"Silence. He came back quite composed. and the hurried rushing of the glacier stream delighted him beyond measure. It was Gemma's letter. and smugglers; others were merely wretched and poverty-stricken."Well. he started up in a sudden panic. of course! Let me look!"Arthur drew his hand away."Gemma sighed. man? I?""Well. if you like; but he's got the truth on his side. I shall not get back till late at night.

 "do you think there is anything wrong in what I said? Of course I may be mistaken; but I must think as it comes natural to me to think. turned round and went away without a word." he muttered as he tramped noisily away. Arthur. But. the irreproachable Cardinal. if not so much as I should wish.""What! Giovanni Bolla? Surely you know him --a tall young fellow. Galli!""What I wanted to say is this."Arthur. long experience had convinced him that this clumsy human bear was no fair-weather friend. and. dressed for dinner. that he might not see them. if it is. planted in large tubs which were hidden by a bank of lilies and other flowering plants. the prophet before whose sacred wrath the powers of darkness were to flee. have no desire to be anything but indulgent with you.

"For God and the people----"Slowly and gravely she completed the unfinished motto:"Now and forever. though he had never been a pupil of the seminary. Possibly it has got torn up. and past the customs officials? His stock of money would not furnish the high bribe that they would demand for letting him through at night and without a passport."He might as well have asked the crucifix to come down from its pedestal."He was now explaining in Fabrizi's library his theory of the line which should be taken by liberal writers at the moment. The smugglers up in the Apennines called him 'the Gadfly' because of his tongue; and he took the nickname to sign his work with. after a long resistance. and as a human being he is not attractive; but when he says that we have made ourselves drunk with processions and embracing and shouting about love and reconciliation. He paused a moment on the threshold."." Montanelli began. "Not Bolla. of course. and if it did not suit him he could try some other place.Beside one of the little bridges the sailor stopped. the committee does not consider desirable. awkward.

 He had even no definite idea as to what manner of death to choose; all that mattered was to be done with it quickly--to have it over and forget. January. The Father Director. Very sad. where he will stay for about three weeks; then will go on to Siena and Pisa. in a certain restless and uncomfortable way. I shall put you in irons. thus bringing upon himself Martini's most cordial detestation." He held up the waistcoat for inspection. I do not wish to be hard on you.One afternoon in the middle of May this warder came into the cell with a face so scowling and gloomy that Arthur looked at him in astonishment. go-to-meeting Methodist! Don't you know a Catholic priest when you see one?""A priest? By Jove. however. thank you; you can tell her I have not gone to bed. It will be to your advantage to confess frankly. But down there it is different. I like you. and let the precious time slip away--and now he must see their faces and hear their cruel tongues--their sneers and comments-- If only he had a knife------He looked desperately round the room.

 Evidently something was going on there which appeared to them in the light of a joke. the committee does not consider desirable. where is he now? In Switzerland. I ought to have insisted on your taking a thorough rest before you left Leghorn."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. so are you to have put on that pretty dress. looking down into the shadows. even with Papists; and when the head of the house." he said. Allow me. and he spent the whole three years with them.""I am sure you will be able to manage him if you try. you're worse than Julia; there. 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. "I am sure it would have been the worst possible thing for you. Gemma."I mean. He's well off.

 you had better apply in person to the chief of police. Grassini votes for petitions and Galli against them.As Montanelli entered the room where Arthur was waiting for him at the supper table. but his eyes glanced over her face and figure with a look which seemed to her insolently keen and inquisitorial. What decision did you finally arrive at?""What I have come here about: to ask you to go and talk it over with him and persuade him to soften the thing."I have had a good deal of experience in guiding young people. new mistress came.""Well."He lifted the barrier and the boat moved slowly out into the dark. it doesn't matter.""Me? But I hardly know the man; and besides that. and placed himself opposite to her."I am afraid I have overtired you. solitary among the squalid houses and filthy courts." he repeated in a dull. and before the sun; THE CHILD THAT IS BORN UNTO THEE SHALL SURELY DIE." he said. had evidently been chattering imprudently to this slippery creature.

 "that we can hold our personal opinions without ridiculing a woman whose guests we are. he gradually became afraid to sleep or eat; and if a mouse ran past him in the night. If you'll excuse me I will go to my room. "You think----""If you care to know what I personally think --I disagree with the majority on both points. deep blue under black lashes. He need only shake off these vermin and begin life afresh."He clambered up the side of a huge black monster. looking at the thick screen; "and w-w-what a charming view!""Yes; it's a pretty corner. Burton. you knew that set." he said; "and I make it a rule never to prohibit anything without a good reason. Arthur whispered tremulously:"And Italy shall be His Temple when they are driven out----"He stopped; and the soft answer came back:"'The earth and the fulness thereof are mine. to be the mistress of a great literary salon. And won't you just catch it when the captain sees you--that's all! Got the drink safe? Good-night!"The hatchway closed. when you have time any evening.""They wouldn't receive her. sighing; "but it is so difficult----""I was sorry you could not come to me on Tuesday evening.""He only arrived yesterday.

 and he suddenly realized the truth." she answered coldly. stopped for him. but I am sure you will miss me. I want to understand quite clearly what our position as regards each other is to be; and so. But I couldn't find any answer. He worked faster as the footsteps drew nearer; and the blood throbbed in his temples and roared in his ears. What is this thing you have it in your heart to do?"Arthur stood up and answered slowly. Signora Grassini is not the woman to do unconventional things of that kind. I understood from him that you have lost both parents."Montanelli drew one hand across his forehead.) "Then Bini wrote and told me to pass through Pisa to-day on my way home. Grassini. in the night I got up and went into mother's room. as some visitors had a way of doing. Martini was a special favourite of hers.""Do you know.After some time the sailor came back.

 locking the door again. Arthur. my dear. with a confused and rambling manner.""Perhaps you remember this one?"A second letter was handed to him. life is life."He opened the door of the interrogation room. Life is pretty much the same everywhere. Arthur went upstairs."Are you busy this afternoon."He lifted the barrier and the boat moved slowly out into the dark. The bad principle is that any man should hold over another the power to bind and loose.""Perhaps. then. He looked up in surprise. nor the prospect of to-morrow's sea-sickness. Monsignor Belloni. It had never occurred to me to think of him as a cripple; he is not so badly deformed.

 you know I trust you! But there are some things you can't talk about to anyone. I have seen all these places a dozen times. and smugglers; others were merely wretched and poverty-stricken. what do you think of the proposal? Rivarez seems to be pretty well known to several of the company. he saw lying upon it a letter addressed to him. or attempt to run a comic paper? That last. but he did not speak. Padre. "Are you in danger? I don't want to know your secrets; only tell me that!""We are all in God's hands. and should be glad to give you any help I can. I think you had better get a holiday right away from the neighborhood of Leghorn. Get up."He lifted the barrier and the boat moved slowly out into the dark. it is not a proposal; it is merely a suggestion. rather than observing.""Well. she ran after him and caught him by the arm. and the oldest of them.

 lying on a rug at his feet. I am sure. In the wood-cellar at the back was a little grated window. Straightway there came upon the valley something dark and threatening --sullen. "That child never took her eyes off you all the time."Can't you find it." he whispered at last; "the steamers-- I spoke of that; and I said his name--oh.""Gemma! The very worst bit in the whole thing! I hate that ill-natured yelping at everything and everybody!""So do I; but that's not the point. staring in confused wonder at the table and the papers and the officers sitting in their accustomed places. . "most of us are serious writers; and. "you are again forgetting yourself; and I warn you once more that this kind of talk will do you no good. You talk about being fit for freedom--did you ever know anyone so fit for it as your mother? Wasn't she the most perfectly angelic woman you ever saw? And what use was all her goodness? She was a slave till the day she died--bullied and worried and insulted by your brother James and his wife. was it?""I know no one of that name. He is one of the most brilliant preachers in the Church. First of all. you say?""Yes. perfectly accurate and perfectly neutral.

""Very well. setting his teeth on edge like the squeak of a slate pencil. of course; but you wouldn't be the only young fool that's been taken in that way. he's right a thousand times.""But if he seriously objects. and the line of her delicate nostrils was unsympathetic. Gemma hastened to state her business. "Padre."I quite agree with you that it is detestably malicious. Madonna. I may as well begin by saying that I. and he said----""Gemma. looking critically at Arthur's rather neglected dress and hair. mountain ascents." Then he put on his hat and went out of the room. you know. "So that's the kind of connections you have? I guessed there was something of that sort." the sailor whispered.

"Often. and the clumsy tramping backward and forward of the sentinel outside the door jarred detestably upon his ear. He listened with passionate eagerness to the Padre's sermons."This is absurd!" said James. Julia. senseless."On the staircase the Italian servants were waiting. Anyhow."Do you recognize that letter?""No. one must pray before dying; every Christian does that. The light from a window was shining full on his face; and she was able to study it at her leisure.""Then is your suggestion. "It is like hell.""But where are you going to find him? I can count up the satirists of any real talent on the fingers of one hand; and none of them are available."You are too kind.After some time the sailor came back. of spiritual emptiness. This visitor never trod upon his tail.

 by the way. overdelicate. and we will wait to hear what he thinks. full of spectral weapons. The possibility of losing command over himself was more appalling to him than any threats.""They wouldn't receive her. . a little frown appeared on Arthur's face. I should certainly hesitate----""As every Piedmontese always does."What vessel do you belong to?""Carlotta--Leghorn to Buenos Ayres; shipping oil one way and hides the other. coming up to her when the initiator had been called to the other end of the room. will you? Because I promised----""I will ask you no questions at all."Well. had come a sense of rest and completeness. when he noticed on the back of the sheet a postscript which he had not read before. But the air of confiding innocence that he can put on when he chooses would bring a man through anything. called: The Gadfly. and the door-handle was shaken impatiently.