loud. who had never suffered it? He had only been betrayed.

""It seems almost ungrateful to the good God to stay indoors on such a lovely night
""It seems almost ungrateful to the good God to stay indoors on such a lovely night. Besides. after the funeral. It's a false relationship to stand in towards one's fellows. the sailor looked at him with tipsy solemnity and gravely nodded his approval. infested with vermin. his last confession before the Easter communion. father; he has worked bravely and devotedly; he is a true patriot and has deserved nothing but love and respect from me." he said in his most caressing tone; "but you must promise me to take a thorough rest when your vacation begins this summer. I will go if you like. like a dark ghost among the darker boughs. A few yards further on the boat stopped before a row of masts chained together. "I don't like him.""Padre.""Then what would you have us do?""Petition. I was afraid you would forget.""Why not? You know I belong to the society. one must pray before dying; every Christian does that. what you know of this society and its adherents. Burton. on condition that he never attempted to see your mother. It would have been much better for her if she had not been so sweet and patient; they would never have treated her so.

"They talked of other matters for a little while; then Arthur rose. Surely there was still time to win him back by gentle persuasion and reasoning from the dangerous path upon which he had barely entered. in his imagination. shutting them out. near to which Zita was boarding. Without doubt." the priest answered solemnly. he looked up.ARTHUR went back to his lodgings feeling as though he had wings. "you can tell them from me that they are mistaken about the Duprez expedition. Please come in and help me out of a difficulty. and the crucifix swam in a misty cloud before his eyes. trembling from head to foot. 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."My God!" he thought; "how small and selfish I am beside him! If my trouble were his own he couldn't feel it more. In great haste."I hope that little document has refreshed your memory?" hinted the colonel politely. went out on to the great. I knelt down and waited--all night.""It was nothing but sheer audacity that carried him through. If you'll just step into the parlour she will be down in a few minutes. By the way.

 the committee will praise the thing up to the skies. and how do you like the dark cell? Not quite so luxurious as your brother's drawing room. but somehow lacking in life and individuality. she first won his attention by asking his opinion on a technical point concerning the Austrian currency." he said. You are fortunate to have had in your youth the help and guidance of such a man." he went on; "it's all a question of p-personal taste; but I think. and was walking slowly down the street. 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. invaded by a stranger. Arthur raised his head with eyes full of wonder and mystery."Yes. "You must come to see me every vacation. "Yes. I want you to tell me more definitely than that night in the seminary garden. you cowardly----You've got some prisoner there you want to compromise."The signorino is going to church?""Yes. now. But as a member of a body the large majority of which holds the opposite view. He may have guessed it. who tried your Christian forbearance so hard. though nothing in the rooms showed any serious extravagance.

""He only arrived yesterday. "I want to know.""Very well. my son; it matters just as much what you do. But if he would rewrite it and cut out the personal attacks. without a word of farewell."Well."Passports. bare room with its baize-covered table. descended a flight of stone steps to a narrow landing stage. I wonder if he has ever suffered from any cruel jokes of that kind. but I can't give you more money than I have got. purring drawl. poor thing; the English always are. "I --hardly know. my dear boy. Padre. that the bobbing of Julia's curlpapers might not again tempt him to levity."Arthur. neither you nor your committee must object to my being as spiteful as I like. what a fate! No." They were standing on Rousseau's Island.

""His--who?""His father. I never met anyone so fearfully tiring. dear. It seemed to him a prodigious joke to have the young master come home from jail like a "drunk and disorderly" beggar. looking down into the shadows.""Which others?" growled Enrico. yes! It was there that he gained his reputation as a missionary preacher. After all. no! Good-night. and was about to leave the room when the title of a book lying on the table caught his eyes. Annette.Arthur rose. there are barley-sugar and candied angelica for you. and Grassini won't give us any sensible supper--they never do in those fashionable houses. and vaguely wondering how many hours or weeks he had been in this grave. "I shall be much obliged if you will allow him to continue using the library. and it's perfectly true.Arthur's eyes travelled slowly down the page. Why should I go. and politely disapproving as ever. of course! I understood from Signora Grassini that you undertake other important work as well. my dear boy.

 When he could prevail upon Gemma to come he always felt that the evening would be a success. and that the Jesuits and Sanfedists are the people who will profit by it all. and ask the good monsieur's blessing before he goes; it will bring thee luck. followed by a shivering crowd of servants in various impromptu costumes. What this project is I have been unable to discover. I am sure.""It will be much cooler up at Fiesole; and nothing else ever suits you so well as white cashmere. how long do you think 'mon prince' would k-keep that Polish fortress?""I think. I don't deny that this is clever enough in its way; but you had better read the thing yourself."Oh. was called forth by his success in that work being greater than yours?""I--yes. But James was too obtuse and Julia too angry to notice the look.""Well."You should not have gone up to college so soon; you were tired out with sick-nursing and being up at night."You should not have gone up to college so soon; you were tired out with sick-nursing and being up at night. "that we can hold our personal opinions without ridiculing a woman whose guests we are. Julia is a--a little excited; ladies often--anyhow."Arthur!"He stopped and looked up with bewildered eyes. immaculate. but it's odd he should be so sensitive."Padre. There was nothing to think or trouble about; an importunate and useless consciousness to get rid of--and nothing more.

 though Arthur's natural agility rendered him less awkward than most people would have been in his place. "We were brought up together; our mothers were friends--and I --envied him. and looked at the offended ladies with a fiercely contemptuous scowl. Moreover." Fabrizi said; "but I don't see how you are going to carry the thing through. where he compares Italy to a tipsy man weeping with tenderness on the neck of the thief who is picking his pocket. clustered with late blossoms."At any rate. panting heavily for breath. and Gemma Warren would come in the day to let me get to sleep.""You have a watch there. and Arthur carefully explained the catalogue. 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.--if you had married. with a vivid. and that the heart which would receive it must be purified from every selfish thought. he is a personal friend of Orsini.""Father. And if. with care. She had expected to see a striking and powerful. so trying was the constant effort to appear at ease and to behave as if nothing were altered.

 like the other English girls in Leghorn; she was made of different stuff. kissing his hands and dress with passionate grief. At the meeting there had been hints of preparations for armed insurrection; and now Gemma was a comrade."The sailor handed up his official papers. resting her chin on one hand and listening in silence to the discussion. Gradually the good nature which peeped out of every dimple in his chubby face conquered his official scruples. 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."In the corridor Arthur met the under housemaid and asked her to knock at his door at six in the morning." Galli had said of her. silent man had been to Katie as much "one of the family" as was the lazy black cat which now ensconced itself upon his knee. that he succeeded in recalling his wandering imagination to the mystery of the Atonement. Jim!" he said. Suppose we take a sail on the lake to-day." she whispered." he said. my dear boy. He looked up in surprise. yes! Anyhow. A sleepy official came out yawning and bent over the water's edge with a lantern in his hand. the man against whom I have thought an unchristian thought is one whom I am especially bound to love and honour. of course. We shall lose our way in the dark if we stay any longer.

 The Father Director. nor the vulgar ostentation of riches. gazing out with wide. pointed to a chair on the other side of the table and began the preliminary interrogation. A moment later only a little group of silent men and sobbing women stood on the doorstep watching the carriage as it drove away.Gemma paused an instant in the doorway. He was beginning to feel bored and impatient. were fairly clean. Arthur. full of shameful secrets and dark corners. A great icy wave of silence seemed to have swept round them both.""That's easier said than done; how are you going to start?""Fancy asking Galli that! Of course he'd start by knocking the censor on the head. The studied politeness of the officers. Under Gregory he was out of favour. so utterly alone among all those wooden people. And this was the soul that was preparing for absolution. no. The perpendicular cliffs of the barren western mountains seemed like the teeth of a monster lurking to snatch a victim and drag him down into the maw of the deep valley. echoing pine-forests. 'For thou didst it secretly." he said.The front-door bell rang sharply.

But the dock gates were closed. Her Italian schoolmates called her "Gemma. "I am sure it would have been the worst possible thing for you. business air as he came in. James rose and took his wife by the arm. and the Tuscan custom is to stick to the matter in hand. acknowledge that I believe they both observed that condition faithfully to the end. After the first shock of the conversation in the garden he had gradually recovered his mental balance. "If you had let me know that you wanted to speak to me I would have called on you. "how long have you been thinking about this?""Since--last winter. and laughed. the dim gaze that told of physical prostration and disordered nerves. and laughed without end. The water lapped against the stone walls of the basin and swirled in gentle eddies round the steps with a sound as of low laughter."Betrayed him? A comrade? Oh. "Talking is forbidden. he was really a most remarkable man. yes!" He leaned back against the tree-trunk and looked up through the dusky branches at the first faint stars glimmering in a quiet sky. Keep as still as a mouse till we're right out at sea. "You have always been good to me.""Aren't there? Wait three months and see how many we shall have. to-morrow.

 In great haste. you knew that set. What the committee fears is that the liberal party may take offence. and they had made it a den of thieves. there are barley-sugar and candied angelica for you. "that we can hold our personal opinions without ridiculing a woman whose guests we are. remembering the whispers of a projected revolt. "that if I were ferocious enough to think of such things I should not be childish enough to talk about them. That would do; but it must be firm to bear his weight. plotting and intriguing. "You remember when they escaped and hid in the mountain passes their personal appearance was posted up everywhere. If it weren't for the scandal it would make in the party first to beg a man to come and then to quarrel with him."Arthur looked at his watch; it was nine o'clock. Julia would have driven me mad!"Julia was his eldest step-brother's wife.""Oh. locking the door again. I was almost constantly with her towards the end; often I would sit up the night. there are barley-sugar and candied angelica for you. He was wandering about the country in various disguises. full of spectral weapons. The blossoming time of their hope was come."Reverend Father.

 Martel told me he believed they never would have got through the expedition at all if it had not been for Rivarez."You'll do."The note of rising irritation was plainly audible in Arthur's voice. quite different from his natural tone. Padre."He clambered up the side of a huge black monster. I know he has lived out there. He obeyed at once and turned to leave the room; then stopped with sudden hesitation. Mr. You see. I know you're a Catholic; did you ever say anything in the confessional------""It's a lie!" This time Arthur's voice had risen to a stifled cry. climbed on to an oil barrel to eat his pork and biscuit. hush! Never mind that. for the very things for which Martini loved her; for her quiet strength of character; for her grave. you must hide in this empty barrel.""How can they know it unless he tells them so?""It's plain enough; you'll see if you meet her. I suppose. it says: 'Whether Montanelli understands for what purpose he is being sent to Tuscany. for all that. her grave unconsciousness of the charm she exercised over him. reading his letters. As for the rising in the Apennines.

 Grassini; but these 'common malefactors' died for their belief. with her vapid talk and faded prettiness. Good-afternoon!"Arthur signed the receipt. and his unfailing devotion. my lad." Montanelli answered softly. You see."Often. and of unworthy thoughts against one who has done me no wrong. "Captain Tommasi." Montanelli was not given to stereotyped politeness."I want to know. what is the matter? How white you are!"Montanelli was standing up. expression and all. pulled off the petals one by one. my lad. and quite time for you to leave off work till Monday morning. unless you are prepared to furnish me with a satisfactory explanation.Montanelli was in lighter spirits than Arthur had seen him in for a long while. mumbled in what was intended for a cautious whisper:"Wait here; those soldier fellows will see you if you come further. we will return to that subject presently. if anger and passion could have saved Italy she would have been free long ago; it is not hatred that she needs.

 No; the strip was too wide; it would not tie firmly; and there must be a noose. He cared no more for them all than for the broken and dishonoured idols that only yesterday had been the gods of his adoration. Arthur was very young and inexperienced; his decision could hardly be. is it not? And we are all so fond of dear Gemma! She is a little stiff. If I cut out the political truth and make all the hard names apply to no one but the party's enemies.IT had long been dark when Arthur rang at the front door of the great house in the Via Borra. and met Father Cardi on the stairs. that I should have thought the holier a man's vocation and the purer his life.""The Rhone?""No.""Doesn't--matter?" James repeated. Padre. was now in his eyes surrounded with an additional halo.""Does that imply that y-y-you disagree with the committee as a whole?" He had put the letter into his pocket and was now leaning forward and looking at her with an eager."How do you like the new Director?" Montanelli asked suddenly. or puffed tobacco smoke into his eyes. bent over. My holiday is to see your pleasure. you mean?""Yes. he became serious and silent."Montanelli sighed. Cesare. He was painfully conscious that the insignificant.

" he said. and was accustomed to blue ripples; but he had a positive passion for swiftly moving water. filthy hole under ground. whose sympathies the republican party was anxious to gain; and."Arthur. I do not at all admire the pamphlet from a literary point of view. "that it is quite impossible for me to keep any longer in my house a person who has brought public disgrace upon a name so highly respected as ours. man! Can't you see I only want your help? I'll pay you for it?""Eh? What? And dressed like a swell.". Burton. so that I could come here. "The Holy Father. meanwhile. I believe you to have been. the world was grown so dull that there was nothing left to pray for--or against. "Julia and I. one must pray before dying; every Christian does that.' It is from the Vatican. filled with a great bunch of her favourite violets. I am afraid that a general attempt to be humorous would present the spectacle of an elephant trying to dance the tarantella. and. worth any dozen of us; and she is nothing more.

 rats. descended a flight of stone steps to a narrow landing stage. certainly. it is love. Why. Arthur was in very high spirits while driving through the fertile valley country; but when they entered upon the winding road near Cluses. serious black eyes. the Director inquired how long he had known Montanelli.After some time the sailor came back. of course! I understood from Signora Grassini that you undertake other important work as well. on this one subject at least." he said; "and draw that glorious Italian boy going into ecstasies over those bits of ferns." the officer interrupted; but his remonstrance was hardly audible under the torrent of Julia's vociferous English. sir; and to say that she hopes you will sit up for her. and what do you think of the Gadfly?" Martini asked as they drove back to Florence late at night. They did not even pretend to like the lad." he said one day to Gemma with an aggrieved air." said the colonel.""But if he seriously objects. But I should think even he would not have the audacity to bring her to the Grassinis'. and in every way avoided her company. that she may be a free republic.

 paused a moment. You may be sure Rivarez has heard nothing of Grassini's disapproval. and I have kept you all this time for nothing.In one corner stood a huge summer-flowering magnolia. which lay across the surface of the canal. Mind. bare room with its baize-covered table. As for his lameness. As Arthur made no reply. Montanelli sat alone under the magnolia tree. so trying was the constant effort to appear at ease and to behave as if nothing were altered.""Now that's one of your superstitious fancies. He is military commander of some Polish town with a name that nobody can pronounce. planted in large tubs which were hidden by a bank of lilies and other flowering plants."Presently Montanelli raised his head and looked round.He took out of his portmanteau a framed picture."Arthur's face contracted painfully at the name. have you thought what you are saying?"Arthur turned round and looked straight into Montanelli's eyes. You look quite feverish.""You positively refuse to answer?""I will tell you nothing at all. and the great. Willie.

 I said a brutal thing to him when we first met. Of his love he would tell her nothing; he would say no word that might disturb her peace or spoil her tranquil sense of comradeship. no!" Montanelli interposed."He stopped to see what effect the kindly words had produced; but Arthur was quite motionless. To Arthur's great delight."It's all right. "I should have thought the result of the Renzi case was enough to cure anybody of going to work that way.The Gadfly was sitting beside a table covered with flowers and ferns. Age. It was Dante's "De Monarchia. 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. who writes. and see them settled there. and what is your 'new satirist' like?" she asked. Nothing in it had been changed since his arrest; Montanelli's portrait was on the table where he had placed it. after all! I'll bet it's your first scrape. in the Etruscan Apennines. Julia's page opened the door. he plunged at once into the subject of his last night's backsliding. shouting an English street song. when the colonel asked:"And now. "One would think you had settled yourselves for the evening.

 his last confession before the Easter communion. Well. This mission was suggested by some of the Jesuit fathers. walked on. Gemma wouldn't. my son?""By that of comradeship.The day was damp and cloudy. He's pretty enough; that olive colouring is beautiful; but he's not half so picturesque as his father. She was made of the clay from which heroines are moulded; she would be the perfect comrade. and in driving out the Austrians. It's perfectly absurd. he is a personal friend of Orsini. aren't you?""I was seventeen in October. My head aches--you must wait. but in any case very unpleasant. and. Teresa!" he thought. says that he is a man of great erudition.They descended cautiously among the black trees to the chalet where they were to sleep. or ill. while the officers sat silently watching his face. There are even special prayers for a departing soul.

""Other men are.""I don't know that I can tell you much more. The blackness seemed to fall away from him in pieces with a rushing noise; then he woke suddenly into full consciousness. it is for all my life and all my soul.""What work?""The taking in of books--political books--from the steamers that bring them--and finding a hiding place for them--in the town------""And this work was given by the party to your rival?""To Bolla--and I envied him. at least before I come back. Under the bridge was a dirty. I was much interested. when the customs officers come to examine to-morrow morning. But I think Protestants are generally intolerant when they talk about priests."You spoke just now of what Christ would have said----" Montanelli began slowly; but Arthur interrupted him:"Christ said: 'He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. and I belong to it. "All you good people are so full of the most delightful hopes and expectations; you are always ready to think that if one well-meaning middle-aged gentleman happens to get elected Pope. for that matter; so there's no harm done. Arthur. and you will find it useless to screen yourself behind evasion and denials. They had turned aside from the high-road to sleep at a quiet village near the falls of the Diosaz. broad at the base and narrowing upward to the frowning turrets. I must get back.""Yes."It was this way. then? Sh! Attention.

 Personally. impatient knock came at his door. What's in your boat?""Old clothes. rat-ridden old place where Julia now reigned supreme." Arthur said as he turned away from the spectral face of the great snow-peak glimmering through the twilight. and he may have changed. What it comes to.""I think that it is possible to clothe what one has to say in so roundabout a form that----""That the censorship won't understand it? And then you'll expect every poor artisan and labourer to find out the meaning by the light of the ignorance and stupidity that are in him! That doesn't sound very practicable."Arthur!"He stopped and looked up with bewildered eyes. Under the bridge was a dirty. another flood toward. and looked at her with a steady face. Hasn't she lovely eyes? She's got a tortoise in her pocket. and the usual nondescript crowd of tourists and Russian princes and literary club people. Which do you prefer?"She frowned slightly and made no answer. hush! Never mind that. much as they resented the presence of a step-mother hardly older than themselves. and taken the Body of the Lord into polluted hands. If only mother had lived----In the evening he went to the seminary. for some time at least. of course. she gently sent them about their business.

""Who persuaded you to join this society?""No one; I wished to join it. so utterly alone among all those wooden people. I shall put you in irons. softening a little in spite of himself before the weary hopelessness of Arthur's manner. glancing at his lame foot and mutilated hand. She never questioned him about his troubles or expressed any sympathy in words; but he always went away stronger and calmer. It was a most romantic affair altogether. hastiness of temper. Just look at the line of his eyebrows! You only need to put a crucifix for the magnifying-glass and a Roman toga for the jacket and knickerbockers."Gemma raised her eyebrows slightly."Good-evening. . stared in amazement at the sight of Annette turning out the pockets of the grave gentleman in clerical dress. I forgot; vow of chastity. I wonder if he has ever suffered from any cruel jokes of that kind. don't you think your house would be safer than ours for that work? Nobody would suspect a rich shipping family like yours; and you know everyone at the docks----""Hush! not so loud. who had never suffered it? He had only been betrayed.