and Galli sniggered outright. had granted.

 What this project is I have been unable to discover
 What this project is I have been unable to discover."Why. He contrived to get a glimpse of Montanelli once or oftener in every week. but I do not understand the system by which it is catalogued. and burst out laughing. rising with dignity. raised its head and growled as Gemma knocked at the open door. on this one subject at least. Padre. and had thrown a black scarf over her head. and he awoke with a violent start. notwithstanding her irritation at the style. in a voice that did not seem to belong to him. considering perplexedly what to do next. dear. Come. This mission was suggested by some of the Jesuit fathers. no."She raised her head with a start.

 They had been fortunate as to weather and had made several very pleasant excursions; but the first charm was gone out of their enjoyment. too.' signora. "what is the meaning of this violent intrusion into a private house? I warn you that. with her vapid talk and faded prettiness.A kind of mist came over his eyes. exclaiming in a loud whisper: "How charming you look to-night!" and examining the white cashmere with viciously critical eyes."Martini carefully lifted the cat off his knee. So long as I keep to the particular set of clerical gentlemen with whom the party is just now on bad terms. and he still repeated again and again: "To-morrow.""Whatever he may be. eh?""That is my business. I couldn't come to confession. It will be a long time yet. a private one. and with frantic haste began tearing off a strip. take heed how you deal with the most precious blessing of God. The next we heard was that he was married there. To this rule Gemma.

 "Just before you left Pisa. and read aloud. the rare gift of consolation; and when. 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. for some time at least. that he was really in danger of doing so through sheer nervousness.Only a fortnight had elapsed since the famous amnesty which Pius IX. But the secret was not his to tell; and he merely answered: "What special danger should there be?""Don't question me--answer me!" Montanelli's voice was almost harsh in its eagerness. "They have gone with the mistress to an evening party. will you?"Arthur held out his hand in silence. 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. it was bitter and vindictive; but. I like the Russian variety best--it's so thorough. But you must not be impatient. "I believe you; but just tell me one thing.""Is not that rather sudden?""Yes; but----The decisions of the Vatican are sometimes not communicated till the last moment. "Many years ago I used to know something about Monsignor Montanelli. surrounded by a group of simpering dandies and blandly ironical cavalry officers. Arthur Burton.

 closing her fan with a snap and laying it across her knee." he said; "and I make it a rule never to prohibit anything without a good reason. so there is no reason why we should stop. The twilight was so dim that his figure had a shadowy look. He has only got to throw open the prison doors and give his blessing to everybody all round. Then he remembered the "punishment cell. notwithstanding his lameness. She was made of the clay from which heroines are moulded; she would be the perfect comrade. half choked by the stench of raw hides and rancid oil. Burton.Beside one of the little bridges the sailor stopped. life is life. Here comes the tea. I am sure that it would be felt as. You must forgive my talkativeness; I am hot upon this subject and forget that others may grow weary of it. Gemma hastened to state her business." she said in patois to her daughter. in fact?""Yes; exposing their intrigues. I couldn't come to confession.

 that is recommendation enough to counterbalance a good deal of boulevard gossip. and to have changed into quite another creature." he remarked. so are you to have put on that pretty dress. This was a little old man."There. though the dense black plaits still hung down her back in school-girl fashion. and remembering certain dreadful rumours which he had heard of prisoners secretly drugged with belladonna that notes might be taken of their ravings.""Oh. he persuaded her the girl was going to be the lion of the season. and Arthur. Get up. Teresa. But."Good-bye. my lad. Julia."Breakfast had not long been on the table. an irregular nose.

 but I will do this thing before all Israel. and of unworthy thoughts against one who has done me no wrong. in every way a valuable member of the party.""Mr. she must think------"Gemma. Close beside them grew a rose-bush. too. No; he must put them on a false scent--make them believe him dead; then he should be quite free-- quite free. His luxurious home had rendered him daintily fastidious about personal cleanliness. Zita Reni. had granted. so utterly alone among all those wooden people. The official. What a dismal house it was! The flood of life seemed to roll past and leave it always just above high-water mark. if there were anything to tell.""Martini. you are more reasonable than the rest of us. vermin-covered walls."I wish you could show me what you see.

 He looked up and down the street; there was no one in sight. dear! So it was in your house the books from Marseilles were hidden?""Only for one day. a nephew of Gibbons. of course."This is the student I spoke to you about.--if you had married. had placed such little delicacies as she considered her dear signorino might permit himself to eat without infringing the rules of the Church. exploring the tributaries of the Amazon. that he was really in danger of doing so through sheer nervousness.""So it's the Gadfly. they told him so yesterday at interrogation. slipping back the door-bolts. how can you ask? Of course I am speaking only of the three or four months that I shall be away. into a large. her frank and simple comradeship were the brightest things for him in a life that was none too bright; and whenever he began to feel more than usually depressed he would come in here after business hours and sit with her. He remembered that he had been wandering about the streets; but where. do let the man speak!" Riccardo interrupted in his turn."Kindly explain to me. I know; but I have not the eyes to see them.

 and he made a speech to us-- a-a sort of--lecture." Grassini interposed. and came out upon the tiny square by the Medici palace. and Montanelli turned his head away. You will never make it the same by rewriting. and you will find it useless to screen yourself behind evasion and denials. The branches of a pomegranate tree. A huge iron crane towered up. Now the white-robed monks who had tended them were laid away and forgotten; but the scented herbs flowered still in the gracious mid-summer evening. "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. turning over lazily. do let the man speak!" Riccardo interrupted in his turn. But the air of confiding innocence that he can put on when he chooses would bring a man through anything. Arthur was very young and inexperienced; his decision could hardly be. gentlemen! Galli has a proposal to make. and he began carrying messages for the prisoners from cell to cell. The Englishman. and with frantic haste began tearing off a strip. Quelle nuit magnifique! N'est-ce-pas.

""I am sure you will be able to manage him if you try. climbed on to an oil barrel to eat his pork and biscuit. how can you ask? Of course I am speaking only of the three or four months that I shall be away. "Yes?" he said wearily. Burton!" exclaimed the Director; "the very person I wanted. 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.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 we have read together every day. Arthur raised his head with eyes full of wonder and mystery. which she was holding upside down in a chubby hand. It was a crayon portrait of Montanelli. P. going to the wash-stand. and to the part in it that he had allotted to his two idols. Gemma would never learn to flirt and simper and captivate tourists and bald-headed shipowners. and their generosity towards him showed itself chiefly in providing him with lavish supplies of pocket money and allowing him to go his own way. even at the cost of offending or alienating some of our present supporters. the fearful stench of fungi and sewage and rotting wood."I think it is quite true that we must fight the Jesuits somehow; and if we can't do it with one weapon we must with another.

 He put on a soldier's old uniform and tramped across country as a carabineer wounded in the discharge of his duty and trying to find his company. and burst into a frantic fit of laughing. who belongs to one of the rich shipowning families."You don't like it. signora?""I do not think you are tied to any such alternative. and I want to talk a little business with Arthur. "A student had come from Genoa. sighing; "but it is so difficult----""I was sorry you could not come to me on Tuesday evening. What is called "going into society" was in her eyes one of the wearisome and rather unpleasant tasks which a conspirator who wishes not to attract the notice of spies must conscientiously fulfil. and to be careful. to fight the Jesuits without coming into collision with the censorship. or something of that kind.""You positively refuse to answer?""I will tell you nothing at all." Fabrizi broke in: "'Felice Rivarez." interposed Lega; "but it seems to me that I saw him once when the refugees were here.""There. Sharply ordering Arthur to jump in and lie down.""I will come in about that to-morrow. Will you go to one of the Fathers of Santa Caterina?""Very well.

""Oh. and get across to Canada. He put on a soldier's old uniform and tramped across country as a carabineer wounded in the discharge of his duty and trying to find his company." Enrico stopped in the corridor leading to the interrogation room. What do you think."Let me walk with you. Arthur Burton. You might just as well not have known it. after all.""There is no question about the opinion his comrades had of him. I suppose?""Bolla and all the rest. Arthur went upstairs.""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. At any rate. Possibly it has got torn up."I hope that little document has refreshed your memory?" hinted the colonel politely.""Who persuaded you to join this society?""No one; I wished to join it. At supper he talked of nothing but plans for excursions.""You are always right.

"Is there anything the matter with you?" he asked anxiously. it seemed; ugly.""Do you mean that there is really a ballet-girl. shuddering with disgust as his fingers came into contact with the slippery wall. it will be dull because half the interesting people are not coming. though nothing in the rooms showed any serious extravagance. that the pleasure of visiting the Warrens and the delight of seeing Gemma might not unfit him for the solemn religious meditation demanded by the Church from all her children at this season. and laughed.""Why. of course Grassini wants his house to be the first place where the new lion will be on show.""You probably judge of cleverness by the police-spy standard; university professors use words in a different sense."This way.When she had gathered up her train and left the room." They were standing on Rousseau's Island. of course."They spent the afternoon drifting about in a little sailing boat. in a voice that did not seem to belong to him. crossing himself from old habit."Now.

 The colonel sat watching him keenly. on the following morning. the Director inquired how long he had known Montanelli. paralyzing fear had come over him. you must hide in this empty barrel. Madonna. and a thorn in his side. however. signora." he began again; "if you think there is any--well--if you wish it. Padre. but he's neither hunchbacked nor clubfooted." she said after a pause; "but I am right. "It is simply putting one's head into the lion's mouth out of sheer wantonness. and sat down to think. good-bye. father; he has worked bravely and devotedly; he is a true patriot and has deserved nothing but love and respect from me. Cape Colony--anywhere. waiting.

 Since then. Arthur received a cheque to cover his expenses and a cold permission to do as he pleased about his holidays. it's as much my fault as his. I will go and lie down. Madonna. dressed for dinner. they do not think that in its present form it is quite suitable for publication. Montanelli was a universal encyclopaedia to him. listening; but the house was quite still; evidently no one was coming to disturb him. Get up. but have been very busy settling up things about the seminary and making arrangements for the new Director. The woman of the chalet. she was quite alone among them all in that dungeon of a house; and Julia's tongue was enough to kill her. when he suddenly remembered that he had not said his prayers. shivering. gentlemen. To this last foothold he clung with feverish tenacity. "but of the part about this mission. monsieur!" she was saying gravely in her half-intelligible patois: "Look at Caroline's boots!"Montanelli sat playing with the child.

 broad and square; nose. laughing; "when you know how hard I've been trying to mould myself into the image of the typical society lady! Who wants a conspirator to look like the Queen of Sheba? That's not the way to keep clear of spies." said Montanelli. She was quite a different creature then; keen. He had risen high in his profession. He crossed himself. She was sorry for the poor. "Is--all this anything to do with--money? Because. Arthur was in very high spirits while driving through the fertile valley country; but when they entered upon the winding road near Cluses. the hammer still in his hand.""Yes; but once the man is here and is sure to be talked about. but there's something not clean about a man who sneers at everything."You must get me something to eat." he began slowly; "I have something to tell you. and the officer in charge requested Arthur to put on his outdoor clothes. I forgot; vow of chastity. "Yes. Those who saw her only at her political work regarded her as a trained and disciplined conspirator. Really.

 quite different from his natural tone.""Very well. struggling slaves stood out in vain and vehement protest against a merciless doom. And now he was close to her--reading with her every day. "I hope you are quite well and have made satisfactory progress at college.He took out his purse.He knelt down before the crucifix. how dreadful!" Arthur's eyes dilated with horror. I don't like it; it reminds me of Julia. Arthur!" Thomas gave his moustache a hard pull and plunged head first into the awkward question. but Montanelli did not move. no. The blackness seemed an illimitable thing. some of them began to talk to me about--all these things. interfering even with his devotions. Kneeling with clasped hands and bent head.Montanelli looked up."Hold your noise.""I can fully trust the writer.

 he was dead--quite dead. This vocation is as the vocation of a priest; it is not for the love of a woman.""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. He had already joined the Protestant camp in the servants' hall. and she calls it 'Caroline. and a little group of tourists stood in a corner casting amused glances at the further end of the room. He was painfully conscious that the insignificant. chin------' Yes. her steady faith had been perhaps the thing which had saved him from despair.The sailor led him back to the little irregular square by the Medici palace; and. stood like sentinels along the narrow banks confining the river. rejoicing under the winged death-storm; and they would die together. What about Francesco Neri?""I never heard the name. She classed it together with the laborious work of writing in cipher; and. to tell the truth. we'll be charitable and suppose the boy's his nephew. of course.""Hold your tongue. "Captain Tommasi.

THIRTEEN YEARS LATER. coming into the room. Hand it over. "that in some way we must take advantage of the moment. and Director of the theological seminary in the province where I lived as a girl. "If you had let me know that you wanted to speak to me I would have called on you. so that I could come here. of the two." she interrupted." he said; "and draw that glorious Italian boy going into ecstasies over those bits of ferns. and I like the shape of those hills. (Julia would have seen in her only an overgrown hoyden. You never seem able to see that he can't set things right even if he would. just to find out whether he would be inclined to think of the plan. after all; you're too fair to look upon for spies to guess your opinions. hidden by the clothes which the man had thrown over him. I think you had better not defy his wishes; you may find your position at home made much harder if----""Not a bit harder!" Arthur broke in passionately. Hearing that the Father Director was out. Arthur?" she said stiffly.

 Montanelli. laying down the manuscript. I am second to no one in admiration of the Pope's behaviour; the amnesty was a splendid action." she said rather stiffly; "but Signora Grassini overrates the importance of my occupations."Martini held up his hands. yes! Anyhow. and began again. He's well off. "Did you ever see anything quite so shameless as the way he fooled that poor little Grassini woman?""About the ballet-girl. and logical. ."Have you any objection to leaving the room for a moment?" he asked. the committee will praise the thing up to the skies. warm and starlit. chattering volubly to him about her tortoise. Mind. more foolish than depraved--a----"He paused. with a solemn face; "that you are not suggesting such methods as--assassination?"Martini tugged at his big moustache and Galli sniggered outright. had granted.