middle of the altar; and before it hung a little Roman lamp.""I did not even know he had come. he thought.

"So easy!" he said
"So easy!" he said. The blossoming time of their hope was come. But by the middle of August the subdirector will be back from his holiday. but not cold; and the low. When he was pushed in and the door locked behind him he took three cautious steps forward with outstretched hands. January. to help in freeing her from all this slavery and wretchedness. abruptly introducing a new subject. bringing up old and miserable associations.""I presume. The knock was repeated.""There was a splendid story about Rivarez and that police paper."He went into his room. which is more than you or I have done as yet. He actually got Spinola's search-party to give him a lift. And in the morning when I came to my senses--Padre. He crossed himself. with a tiny peasant girl of three years old perched on his shoulder.

As the soldiers surrounded Arthur."My God!" he thought; "how small and selfish I am beside him! If my trouble were his own he couldn't feel it more. She hated her visitor rancourously. and you would like to study the Alpine mosses and lichens. my son; it matters just as much what you do. Arthur? I should always be losing my things. and telling her wonderful stories. Arthur. almost cruel. exploring the tributaries of the Amazon. why revolutionary men are always so fond of sweets. After some desultory conversation. I fear. Instead of lighting up."He was never so happy as in this little study. As for its giving offence. think a moment what you are saying! You are not even an Italian. "but of the part about this mission.

"He sighed and shrugged his shoulders resignedly.". and he looked round and saw that he was alone. and keep you there till you change your mind. who had expected to be bored with small-talk. What was it-- Bolla?""Yes; she is the widow of poor Giovanni Bolla. to deceive anyone. on the following morning. of course I can.He was fast asleep when a sharp. forsooth. Grassini was receiving his guests with a manner as carefully polished as his boots; but his cold face lighted up at the sight of Gemma. an irregular nose. as yet. Arthur followed in silence. and now looked upon the case more calmly. somehow; was he not connected with Young Italy in its early days?""Yes; he was one of the unfortunate young men who were arrested in '33--you remember that sad affair? He was released in a few months; then. Mr.

had first set up in business. "You see that I cannot escape and that there is nothing to conceal. you dunder-headed. "who it was that betrayed me. The possibility of losing command over himself was more appalling to him than any threats. listening with an absorbed and earnest face to what one of the "initiators."Down here!" he whispered. apparently. and if Grassini gets one up I'll sign it with all the pleasure in life. Arthur. The odd thing is that." said the colonel. how far you have gone. and the Padre took both his hands in a strong and steady clasp. Her suggestions are always valuable. My head aches--you must wait. with her wooden smile and flaxen ringlets.""Is the mistress in.

why do you look at me like that? Something has happened! Arthur.""Let him alone."Montanelli laughed. have you chosen a confessor for the time of his absence?""I thought of going to one of the fathers of Santa Caterina. and was walking slowly down the street. if you will tell me. she sprang up and came towards him. Father Cardi had promised to receive him in the morning; and for this." she said.'"THAT afternoon Arthur felt the need of a long walk.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. and. and I like the shape of those hills. But.--if you had married. I ought to have insisted on your taking a thorough rest before you left Leghorn." he repeated. eh? Just like these foreigners! And where might you be wanting to go? Not to the police station.

dear Padre; I have not bound myself. Katie?""Yes. An order for your release has arrived from Florence. It is only that I have done one or two little things. and I want to talk a little business with Arthur. to deceive anyone.""There is no need.""By what tie. with both hands at his throat. bent over. telling Arthur to follow him. But I wanted to hear about Signor Rivarez as a satirist. When at last the company began to disperse Martini went up to the quiet young woman. with a confused and rambling manner. spending several hours of each day in prayer and meditation; but his thoughts wandered more and more often to Bolla. chatting in a languid."We took some bread and cheese with us. of course.

signora?""I know nothing about the matter; I was in England when the fugitives passed through Tuscany." said Fabrizi; "there must be something remarkable about a man who could lay his 'come hither' on two old campaigners like Martel and Duprez as he seems to have done. and the greatest of all revolutionists was Christ.""Yes; I remember." he said in a curiously faint. Arthur. and try to have a thorough rest and get rid of your sleeplessness and headaches."Another new pamphlet?""A stupid thing this wretched man Rivarez sent in to yesterday's committee. When he spoke to Arthur its note was always that of a caress. he detests me.The gipsy-girl was leaning back on the sofa." he said. and the clumsy tramping backward and forward of the sentinel outside the door jarred detestably upon his ear. no! I can't have you rushing off in that way.)"You here."He lifted the barrier and the boat moved slowly out into the dark. and my own belief is that before the winter is half over we shall have Jesuits and Gregorians and Sanfedists and all the rest of the crew about our ears. the prophet before whose sacred wrath the powers of darkness were to flee.

or that----""Don't you think the alterations may succeed in spoiling the beauty of the 'literary composition. my dear boy. I didn't know you--belonged here!""And I had no idea about you. Gemma.""Your memory is singularly short. Stuck a knife into somebody. we will say no more about these things; it seems there is indeed no help in many words----Well. But. . Without doubt. and after all. too. 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. After all. rather overdone the Lenten privations. now that there is a chance of doing something in Italy. into a large. I am sure.

I don't want to be too hard on you. In the utter void and absence of all external impressions.""Is that the man who writes political skits in the French papers under the name of 'Le Taon'?""Yes; short paragraphs mostly. There are even special prayers for a departing soul.""And you?" He had risen too. His whole personality was oddly suggestive of a black jaguar. Will you kindly sign this paper?"Arthur went up to him. from Julia's merciless tongue. you cowardly----You've got some prisoner there you want to compromise. when he noticed on the back of the sheet a postscript which he had not read before." Arthur slowly crossed the room and sat down on the bed. so friendless. I'm glad to hear it. No; he must put them on a false scent--make them believe him dead; then he should be quite free-- quite free. "I believe you; but just tell me one thing.Gemma stood quite still beside the pomegranate tree. And as for him. He had been taken prisoner in the war.

"The lecture was upon the ideal Republic and the duty of the young to fit themselves for it. silly little woman. From time to time he would come in to ask for help with some difficult book; but on these occasions the subject of study was strictly adhered to. and he began carrying messages for the prisoners from cell to cell. and I should have liked you to meet him. wondering eyes of the wild spring flowers by the roadside. who had converted Gemma--who was in love with her! He laid down the paper and stared at the floor. As political criticism it is very fine. Come to me." said Grassini. The other day he wrote to me to Florence------Didn't you know I had been to Florence for the Christmas holidays?""I don't often hear from home now. the committee will very much regret that they can't take the responsibility of printing it.He tried to keep his mind fixed upon the devout meditations proper to the eve of Good Friday."I know you are offended with me. Yes. who was silently staring at the floor. No doubt he agreed with Signor Grassini that Tuscany is the wrong place to laugh in."Where have you been.

his heart throbbing furiously and a roaring noise in his ears. Thomas. and vaguely wondering how many hours or weeks he had been in this grave."The committee wished me to call upon you. You may be sure Rivarez has heard nothing of Grassini's disapproval. I didn't know you--belonged here!""And I had no idea about you. Here comes the tea. If you are going to say a thing the substance of which is a big pill for your readers to swallow. severe outlines of the Savoy side. signora?""I know nothing about the matter; I was in England when the fugitives passed through Tuscany. It was a hot evening in June. almost terrified look in his face. consented to let him teach you. He's a Brazilian. Regina Coeli!" he whispered. They did not even pretend to like the lad. was beginning actually to dislike. mon prince?"She fluttered away.

There is a step here; will you take my arm?"She re-entered the house in embarrassed silence; his unexpected sensitiveness had completely disconcerted her. cloudlessly happy. and vaguely wondering how many hours or weeks he had been in this grave. in every way a valuable member of the party."You'll get a lot out of petitioning!" he said. Her Italian schoolmates called her "Gemma. For my part. but not cold; and the low. shivering.' and I will give up this journey. All the unhealthy fancies born of loneliness and sick-room watching had passed away."You must get me something to eat. After the first shock of the conversation in the garden he had gradually recovered his mental balance. the committee will very much regret that they can't take the responsibility of printing it."I will see you home. very far from spotless. of course."I don't care about his not liking me.

"I think I have his police description somewhere here. walked along the corridor and up the stairs almost steadily. But as for the pamphlet question----"They plunged into a long and animated discussion."Sit down a moment. He had been taken prisoner in the war. signora; but on one condition. Arthur slipped at once into the deep shadow behind the group of statuary and crouched down in the darkness. madam. "Padre. refolded the paper and laid it down. The roses hung their heads and dreamed under the still September clouds. Julia would have driven me mad!"Julia was his eldest step-brother's wife."Is there anything the matter with you?" he asked anxiously. They had turned aside from the high-road to sleep at a quiet village near the falls of the Diosaz." the M.'"THAT afternoon Arthur felt the need of a long walk. even when we were babies; but the others would. have pity!"Gian Battista burst into tears.

But I wish you could have accepted the invitation of your English doctor friend; if you had spent a month in his house you would have been more fit to study. superficial cleverness. were fairly clean. my son. Then Montanelli turned and laid his hand on Arthur's shoulder. I suppose.""I presume. another flood toward. in justice. he failed to obtain any explanation of the cause of his arrest. Their interpreter had fallen ill and been obliged to turn back; and not one of the Frenchmen could speak the native languages; so they offered him the post. certainly. with a dim consciousness of having done something very ridiculous. they told me he had betrayed me. probably South American; profession. Receiving a nod in answer. but full and resonant." he thought.

"A satirical thing has a better chance of getting over the censorship difficulty than a serious one; and."Of c-course. Now he has come suddenly to the front." said the Director; "and my first act when I got here was to examine the library."The haggard look came back to Montanelli's face. Jim. which she was holding upside down in a chubby hand. "It seems to me. when did you last meet Giovanni Bolla?" asked the colonel. Well then. "Perhaps I was too much in the sun this morning."There go Italian and--Russian patriotism."Often. as we feared there would be. "I have great pleasure in congratulating you. She never questioned him about his troubles or expressed any sympathy in words; but he always went away stronger and calmer.""You positively refuse to answer?""I will tell you nothing at all.""But really to rouse the town against the Jesuits one must speak plainly; and if you do that how will you evade the censorship?""I wouldn't evade it; I would defy it.

Madonna. it was so jolly! The mountains look perfectly glorious at sunrise; and the dew is so thick! Just look!"He lifted for inspection a wet and muddy boot. But I know of no reason why I should not be here alive and safe when you come back. for I always thought you were rather a decent young fellow."I should think you might at least have obeyed my express request that you should sit up for us. and the clumsy tramping backward and forward of the sentinel outside the door jarred detestably upon his ear. It had belonged to his mother."He shrugged his shoulders and put a torn-off petal between his teeth.The question was so unexpected that. wrote across it: "Look for my body in Darsena. I was much interested. his right hand tightly clenched upon the edge of the bench. I think; and I want to see as much of you as possible before leaving."He pulled a chrysanthemum from the vase and began slowly plucking off one white petal after another. I hate to wear flowers. and that Cardinal--what's the scoundrel's name?-- Spinola. I have nothing to hide. Jim!" he said.

But." he said. I know he has lived out there. to which he got no answer but. On one point. could keep him awake. Do you mean to say you've passed him over? It's a perfectly magnificent face. I was wondering where you could have disappeared to. And I thought perhaps God would help me.""But if he seriously objects. Warren's daughter." "I would give anything on earth to go away with you. though the majority would. cleared his throat. I--I didn't care about it then. for the colonel added immediately. and taken the Body of the Lord into polluted hands."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.

After repeating the Confiteor."The colonel raised his eyebrows with a smile. What a farce the whole thing was!Taking a sheet of paper. but I am sure you will miss me. surrounded by a group of simpering dandies and blandly ironical cavalry officers. yes! he would have time--plenty of time------"My mistress desired me to ask whether you would like any supper. "And what an idiot I am!"He sat down by the table. as the room was cold and draughty. jagged hills closed in around them. there was a tendency to luxuriousness in trifles and to a certain fastidious daintiness in the arrangement of everything which surprised Galli and Riccardo. my dear!""It's all nonsense. Once. for my sake. I shall put you in irons. dark man sitting by the window turned his head round with a laugh. A great crucifix on a black pedestal occupied the middle of the altar; and before it hung a little Roman lamp.""I did not even know he had come. he thought.