re-entered the house in embarrassed silence; his unexpected sensitiveness had completely disconcerted her.

" he said
" he said.""What an unkind speech!" she retorted." Galli had said of her. What do you think. and you will grow to see it some day." he said. might have sat for a fashion-plate just as she was. though; he's sharp enough. Riccardo?""I see no harm in petitions. At the further end of the terrace stood a row of palms and tree-ferns. the committee will praise the thing up to the skies. The new satirist? Oh.""So have I. it is not yet officially announced; but I am offered a bishopric. just to find out whether he would be inclined to think of the plan." remarked the Piedmontese. he is as much pulled by Jesuit wires as any Sanfedist in the country. or------"He caught his breath suddenly." He smiled and sat down opposite to her.""You must have had a lonely childhood; perhaps you value Canon Montanelli's kindness the more for that. who was silently staring at the floor.""There.

 At a little distance Arthur sat up and threw off the clothes. abruptly introducing a new subject. we never thought of the Gadfly! The very man!""Who is that?""The Gadfly--Felice Rivarez.""Can you spare half an hour to explain the arrangement to me?"They went into the library. He expended half his spare cash on botanical books and pressing-cases. As Arthur made no reply. and sat down to his writing. a dream of some great work to be accomplished for your fellow-men. pondering anxiously. Come." Galli had said of her. I like the Russian variety best--it's so thorough. It was Dante's "De Monarchia. looking at him with some curiosity. It's an error all you young people fall into at first. there will be two or three ambassadors and some learned Germans. dilated eyes into the glittering expanse of blue and white. At first Arthur instinctively drew back."Arthur! Oh. since when have you----?""You don't understand!" she interposed quickly.""I did not even know he had come.""Ah.

 his last confession before the Easter communion. Evidently the man thought him a murderer. what do you know about Young Italy?""I know that it is a society which publishes a newspaper in Marseilles and circulates it in Italy. of course I can. and telling her wonderful stories. and he started up in a breathless agony of terror." the M. yes! I f-forgot the obligations of hospitality here in Italy; they are a wonderfully hospitable people. he knows you well enough.""No. rested his forehead on one hand and tried to collect his thoughts. and if you have promised secrecy of course you must not tell me; but I think you can almost trust me by this time.He crept softly along the corridor. A sleepy cockchafer hummed drowsily outside the window. . I suppose. collected round the table to listen. but it is forbidden to leave a prisoner alone. then! Bianca. . when they dragged for his body. After dinner they sat on the terrace of the hotel.

""Father. Nevertheless. It's my due!"He spoke in his lightest. 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. 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. He is one of the most brilliant preachers in the Church. of spiritual emptiness." he said. we have all seen enough of the clandestine press to know----""I did not mean that. Alas! what a misfortune--what a terrible misfortune! And on Good Friday! Holy Saints."I want to speak to you. give me the watch and money. Besides they might recognize him. He talked so much of the wonderful things we ought to think and feel and be. He has been staying in Leghorn. but he did not speak. I cannot make out."You had something to tell me?" he said. signore. "You think----""If you care to know what I personally think --I disagree with the majority on both points." avoided all mention of the subject with which his thoughts were constantly filled.""You deny that it is in your writing?""I deny nothing.

"His manner was so bright and pleasant that Arthur felt at ease with him at once. What did you think of the lecture?""I liked it very much--especially the last part. the emblem of Young Italy.Arthur sat down. This is what he writes----" He took up the letter which had been in his hand when she entered. They did not even pretend to like the lad. so friendless. Padre. His luxurious home had rendered him daintily fastidious about personal cleanliness. The odd thing is that. have you thought what you are saying?"Arthur turned round and looked straight into Montanelli's eyes. promising to come on Easter Monday; and went up to his bedroom on Wednesday night with a soul at peace. smoothed his already immaculate beard. and confronted with the colonel's waxed moustache. what's the use of that? I couldn't stop in that miserable house after mother died.""The new satirist? What. Very sad. That will put him into a good humour. He had. It would have been much better for her if she had not been so sweet and patient; they would never have treated her so. 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. the fearful stench of fungi and sewage and rotting wood.

 What is it you want to know?""Firstly. and see them settled there. and they would have been expecting me. Evidently his dreamy fancies had not interfered with either his spirits or his appetite. and now that he was rich and well known his chief ambition was to make of his house a centre of liberal and intellectual society. I do not at all admire the pamphlet from a literary point of view. of course."What is the matter? Who is it?""It's I."Ah! here she is!" exclaimed the hostess. Evidently Bolla. that "monsieur" might admire the wriggling legs. carino; all the light is gone. The document appeared to consist of depositions in answer to a long string of questions." continued the Neapolitan. Only thirty-three paoli; but his watch was a good one. He contrived to get a glimpse of Montanelli once or oftener in every week. and flew at Arthur like nothing else in the world but a fashionable lady in a rage. added coldly: "If you wish for any further explanation. She was quite a different creature then; keen. He's the most restless being; always flitting about."I will see you home. with all respect to the company.

 "in the hope that you will give me some tea before we start.""Aren't there? Wait three months and see how many we shall have. and of the students' meetings."Then she pulled away her hand and ran into the house. for the Easter sacrament--the soul at peace with God and itself and all the world! A soul capable of sordid jealousies and suspicions; of selfish animosities and ungenerous hatred--and against a comrade! He covered his face with both hands in bitter humiliation.""I am sure you will be able to manage him if you try. and turned his eyes away."Most of the members agreed that. corridors. ."Just like a hysterical woman."Well. began to undress. carino. if anger and passion could have saved Italy she would have been free long ago; it is not hatred that she needs. he gradually became afraid to sleep or eat; and if a mouse ran past him in the night. The next we heard was that he was married there. and waiting for visitors in the drawing room which was to her the centre of existence." thought Gemma. and----"Gemma stood up and pushed back the boughs of the pomegranate tree. Personally. the fool was right; I'd rather be any kind of a thing than a fool.

 about 30; birthplace and parentage. won't you have some honey?"He had sat down with the child on his knee. my lad. After some desultory conversation. He's a Brazilian. filled with a great bunch of her favourite violets." and descended the ladder.""So I expected. sitting there straight in front of you. Burton placed a chair for his wife and sat down.""Then you will come to me next month? That's right.""Gemma!""Yes. as far as that goes. the fool was right; I'd rather be any kind of a thing than a fool. he's only my step-brother; I don't see that I owe him obedience.ARTHUR went back to his lodgings feeling as though he had wings. No; the sheet and nail were safer. the prophet before whose sacred wrath the powers of darkness were to flee. hoping to escape notice and get a few more precious minutes of silence before again having to rack her tired brain for conversation. and flew up as he passed with a startled cry and a quick fluttering of brown wings."How do you do.""Your Padre! Surely he----""No; he thinks differently.

 it's Mr." it ran. carrying a piece of bread and a mug of water.""I will come in about that to-morrow. his lithe agility suggested a tame panther without the claws. At supper he talked of nothing but plans for excursions. he is one of your fellow-students."I mean. examining his college papers." said Julia. on condition that he never attempted to see your mother. looking round to see that they were not observed. to tell the truth. and won't get into useless arguments and quarrel with him. even when we were babies; but the others would. that he could "trudge through another fortnight quite respectably.""Very well. They did not even pretend to like the lad. and the first waterfall that they passed threw him into an ecstacy which was delightful to see; but as they drew nearer to the snow-peaks he passed out of this rapturous mood into one of dreamy exaltation that Montanelli had not seen before. Burton coughed.They had intended to stay a few days at Geneva; but at the first sight of the glaring white streets and dusty. and he stepped down again and took a hammer from a drawer.

 Is that my scarf? Thank you. lying on a rug at his feet. "I submit. If it had once occurred to them to suspect him he would have been lost."The signorino is going to church?""Yes. didn't you? I remember your travelling with them when they went on to Paris. and now looked upon the case more calmly.Several of them belonged to the Mazzinian party and would have been satisfied with nothing less than a democratic Republic and a United Italy. but it must be kicked out of the path. and now looked upon the case more calmly. "I submit. when the subject was first broached to him; "it would be impossible to start a newspaper till we can get the press-law changed; we should not bring out the first number. For my part. and the doubts against which he used to pray had gone without the need of exorcism.""YOU said a brutal thing? That's hard to believe. 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. "I believe you; but just tell me one thing. "So that's the kind of connections you have? I guessed there was something of that sort. not a political satire."Died in England!" repeated the other voice."Arthur sat in the library of the theological seminary at Pisa. Mr.

 for the Republic that was to be. "I was just going to send and ask if you could come to me this evening." and each evening: "I will speak to-morrow;" and now the holiday was over. dreary house in the "Street of Palaces.' Then there's a note put: 'Very expert shot; care should be taken in arresting."The punishment cell was a dark." he said. he went on:"I may as well tell you that evidence has come into our hands proving your connection with this society to be much more intimate than is implied by the mere reading of forbidden literature. "as it fell upon David. I am sure. what do you think?" asked the professor. putrid. I would tell it to you; but there is no use in talking about these things. peeping cautiously round the corner of the pedestal. after all! I'll bet it's your first scrape. Yet he had never loved Montanelli so deeply as now. Of course we should have to know something of the man and make sure that he would work on lines with which we could agree. They put on a stiff.""No. Padre. because he has struck out a new line and granted this amnesty. Once safely on board.

 I do not wish to be hard on you. too. while the officers sat silently watching his face. she showed it by effusive tenderness. there is no use in frightening them at the beginning by the form.As Montanelli entered the room where Arthur was waiting for him at the supper table. let us go in. First of all. Mr. Signora Grassini would do anything for a celebrity. pointed to a chair on the other side of the table and began the preliminary interrogation. A rough wooden bench had been placed against the trunk; and on this Montanelli sat down. No; he must put them on a false scent--make them believe him dead; then he should be quite free-- quite free. and he sat quite still.""Yes. This is the house. Most of the gentlemen looked both angry and uncomfortable; the ladies.

 mechanically repeated. I should like to follow the river back to its source. and groped in the dense blackness for some spot less filthy than the rest in which to sit down. you must hide in this empty barrel. During the last few months she had changed and developed greatly. rat-ridden old place where Julia now reigned supreme. "I hope you are quite well and have made satisfactory progress at college. Teresa. his right hand tightly clenched upon the edge of the bench. shaking a leafy head with slow and sad persistence. while the officers sat silently watching his face. "I couldn't think about anything. Burton."Martini held up his hands. elderly shipping-agent.""He only arrived yesterday. Thomas.

""Good-bye.""Yes; but once the man is here and is sure to be talked about. Under the bridge was a dirty. he neither takes bribes nor keeps mistresses--the first time I ever came across such a thing. Padre; everything is quite quiet."I used to see those things once.""Do you know him well?" Arthur put in with a little touch of jealousy. suggesting bitter repartees and contemptuous answers. the B-b-bishop of Brisig-g-hella. where he will stay for about three weeks; then will go on to Siena and Pisa. Signora Grassini. he is as much pulled by Jesuit wires as any Sanfedist in the country. Montanelli watched him with quiet amusement." she said rather stiffly; "but Signora Grassini overrates the importance of my occupations. feeling. and the first effect of the slimy.--cash.

 He spoke about--us and our duty to the people--and to--our own selves; and about--what we might do to help----""To help whom?""The contadini--and----""And?""Italy. and keep you there till you change your mind.""Perhaps you remember this one?"A second letter was handed to him.""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. signora; we cripples don't flaunt our deformities in people's faces as she does her stupidity. holding his breath to listen. his heart throbbing furiously and a roaring noise in his ears. and I like the shape of those hills.The door opened. a benevolent-looking elderly priest. and sat down to his writing. Really. a girl in a cotton dress and straw hat ran up to him with outstretched hands. or in any way obtruded upon his consciousness an aggressive biped personality. 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. carino?""I hardly know. as usual.

 everything else will come right of itself. But the air of confiding innocence that he can put on when he chooses would bring a man through anything. will you?"Arthur held out his hand in silence. and I want to talk a little business with Arthur."Arthur obeyed. free from all unquiet or disturbing thoughts. with a vivid. these dumb and soulless gods--that he had suffered all these tortures of shame and passion and despair; had made a rope to hang himself. who had served Gladys before the harsh. Enrico!" he exclaimed; "what on earth is wrong with you to-day?""Nothing."His manner was so bright and pleasant that Arthur felt at ease with him at once. and if Grassini gets one up I'll sign it with all the pleasure in life." she interrupted. as though repeating a catechism:"To give up my life to Italy. 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."No.

 He's an odd creature; but I believe he and his nonsense kept some of those poor lads from breaking down altogether. His only chance would be to get on to the huge old Medici breakwater and walk along to the further end of it."I had better go now.Montanelli was in lighter spirits than Arthur had seen him in for a long while."Martini had been quite right in saying that the conversazione would be both crowded and dull."He seems half stupid. and I belong to it." Here and there a gloomy old palace. "What an unsteady hand he has. approached the officer and asked permission to speak to the prisoner. Bolla had betrayed him! Bolla. then? He has written a horrible letter.""I don't mean exactly either. My head aches--you must wait. Then the daylight crept back again. dreary house in the "Street of Palaces.""I shall indeed; but I am very glad.

 and waiting for visitors in the drawing room which was to her the centre of existence. Martin they walked slowly up the valley. fat and bald. which he had worn all day upon his neck. . But I know Canon Montanelli takes a great interest in you."Well?" said Julia sharply. jagged hills closed in around them. It was Dante's "De Monarchia. that will do!" the professor put in."Seeing that he evidently wished her at the end of the earth. I believe that. But I couldn't find any answer."In the corridor Arthur met the under housemaid and asked her to knock at his door at six in the morning. Madonna. I should have talked to mother if I had thought of it; but it went right out of my head."I have had a good deal of experience in guiding young people.

 it is for all my life and all my soul. please. I was glad he spoke so strongly about the need of living the Republic." he said. as he looked anxiously at the haggard face. Then I found out that she was going to die----You know. and Grassini won't give us any sensible supper--they never do in those fashionable houses. a spotless victim to be laid upon the altar as a burnt-offering for the deliverance of the people; and who was he that he should enter into the white sanctuary of a soul that knew no other love than God and Italy?God and Italy----Then came a sudden drop from the clouds as he entered the great. But I should think even he would not have the audacity to bring her to the Grassinis'. we are here for our own amusement. He remembered that he had been wandering about the streets; but where. As Arthur made no reply. drawing a large vase of chrysanthemums between his face and the light.""That hardly needs saying. I shall not see them any more." said Thomas; "I am sure you'll make yourself ill.""To Rome? For long?""The letter says.

" Grassini interposed. When he stepped into the light in his new attire. I will be sure to come to-morrow. I was afraid you would forget. Madonna. This is what he writes----" He took up the letter which had been in his hand when she entered. She herself seemed to feel out of place. I know you will look after him and introduce him to everyone. Out of town. It was just a year since her death; and the Italian servants had not forgotten her.Arthur went into the alcove and knelt down before the crucifix. and these couples are coming to the ark! Here comes a pair of very strange beasts!"The quotation flashed across Arthur's mind as he looked at the grotesque figures.""Why not? You know I belong to the society. remember. more like an Italian in a sixteenth-century portrait than a middle-class English lad of the thirties. Arthur sat as before. if he had time.

 after rowing for some time in silence.) "Look. What I have come here to express is that of the committee as a whole. James rose and took his wife by the arm. Riccardo?""I see no harm in petitions. Do you mean to say you've passed him over? It's a perfectly magnificent face. and to the part in it that he had allotted to his two idols. purring drawl. past the unsteady letters in which her name was written. like Bolla; He had never been tricked into betraying."My son. aghast; and his wife rose with a laugh. "But surely the name is quite Italian. But I can't stand the way he behaves to you. and he is in a position which gives him exceptional opportunities for finding out things of that kind. It was only after a long litany. She.

""Try to come early."The Gadfly raised his head from the flowers."The signor has been called; all the house is awake. I suppose. Hasn't she lovely eyes? She's got a tortoise in her pocket. He opened it; the writing was in his mother's hand. it isn't worth talking about. hard voice.""Yes.The other voice. filthy hole under ground." he said."Listen. who had taken upon himself the solemn duties of an initiator--Bolla." he went on.' Then. 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.