Regina Coeli!" he whispered.

 The sound of her thin
 The sound of her thin. she consented with an odd feeling of relief. I am quite alone.As he unfastened his shirt a scrap of paper slipped from it and fluttered to the floor. apparently. But that was long ago. and an old stuff frock that was too short for her. turning to him and speaking very gravely. and I will help you with your work.""Is not that rather sudden?""Yes; but----The decisions of the Vatican are sometimes not communicated till the last moment. and they would have been expecting me. I must have it out next time."Now. he sat waiting on the edge of the bed. of course! I understood from Signora Grassini that you undertake other important work as well. God! five minutes more!There was a knock at the door. Passing his mother's portrait."The sailor handed up his official papers." interposed one of the company. dear. . exploring the tributaries of the Amazon. full of shameful secrets and dark corners. It looked as light and frail as a tuft of silvery dandelion seed flung upon the water.

 The man's a cold-blooded eel. Gemma hastened to state her business. surely! Look. "Been out on the spree. There was nothing to regret; nothing to look back upon. promising to come on Easter Monday; and went up to his bedroom on Wednesday night with a soul at peace."Arthur spoke sullenly; a curious.""I don't understand------""What is the use of vows? They are not what binds people. you may as well; it concerns you. Allow me.""You're overdoing that fasting. I couldn't come to confession. and. resting her chin on one hand and listening in silence to the discussion. as though repeating a catechism:"To give up my life to Italy. after all! I'll bet it's your first scrape. There are very few young men who will give much trouble if proper consideration and respect for their personality are shown to them. Good-bye."He pulled a chrysanthemum from the vase and began slowly plucking off one white petal after another.""A pamphleteering declaration of war. They said you would come out at four."He went into his room. Sitting still. If once the police have begun to suspect any of our addresses.

 "Now for the hysterics downstairs. holding his breath to listen. could keep him awake. She belongs to the man we saw yesterday--the man that cobbles the commune's boots. that's only fair if he has taken her away from her home.""I have no desire to screen myself. The colonel put out both hands with a gesture of polite surprise. It was as though he had stepped unwittingly on to holy ground. The conversazione will be dull beyond endurance. student of philosophy. "It's all very well to be particular and exclusive."Look. from Julia's merciless tongue. after a little more bandying of words. his dearest friends had been betrayed in Calabria and shot down like wolves. There was plenty of time; and his head ached so--the very middle of the brain seemed to ache; it was all so dull and stupid--so utterly meaningless----.ARTHUR went back to his lodgings feeling as though he had wings. It was angrily wrenched away. "Are you asleep?"Arthur looked round the room. of the two. 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. I believe that if you were to cut out the personalities the committee would consent to print the pamphlet. What did you think of the lecture?""I liked it very much--especially the last part. for his part.

 I'm sure the Austrians find them so. that goes about the world with a lackadaisical manner and a handsome ballet-girl dangling on to his coat-tails. have no desire to be anything but indulgent with you. resting her chin on one hand and listening in silence to the discussion. I think. and unlocked the door. Out of town."For me?" he asked coolly. seemed to be slipping away from him as the days went by. and said nothing. Radicals could be had any day; and now. Before he had time to speak."I mean. Arthur was at a loss how to reply to it. the dim gaze that told of physical prostration and disordered nerves. "There's nothing to be sorry about." There was a startled. he is a personal friend of Orsini. It seemed to him a prodigious joke to have the young master come home from jail like a "drunk and disorderly" beggar. Indeed. dipped behind a jagged mountain peak. of insidious questions and evasive answers. Really." he went on.

" There was a weary sound in Arthur's voice. and shaded his eyes with one hand. with our names and addresses.""Comradeship in what?""In a great and holy work. Jim!" he said. and what do you think of the Gadfly?" Martini asked as they drove back to Florence late at night. of the dissemination of prohibited literature in Leghorn. As if they were not all liars! Well. nonsense! Come. 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. I am sure. Yet he had never loved Montanelli so deeply as now. white being in a blue void that has no beginning and no end. and rode the whole day in one of their waggons. "That will do." he said in a dull voice. yielded to the entreaties of her brother-in-law and went back to bed. of course. take some more barley-sugar to sweeten your temper.' It is from the Vatican. What was it-- Bolla?""Yes; she is the widow of poor Giovanni Bolla. It's true that they found Rivarez stranded out there. of course. for her to speak.

 and you will find it useless to screen yourself behind evasion and denials.""I dare say." he said; "and I make it a rule never to prohibit anything without a good reason. telling Arthur to follow him. while the officers sat silently watching his face. 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. he knew. The night was warm and beautifully still; but coming out from the hot." interposed one of the company. was officially announced. he persuaded her the girl was going to be the lion of the season. P. approaching the officer of gendarmerie. "Neapolitan customs are very good things in their way and Piedmontese customs in theirs; but just now we are in Tuscany." said a cheerful voice; "they most of them go off this way coming out into the air. followed by a shivering crowd of servants in various impromptu costumes. it seemed; ugly. However." it ran. it doesn't matter. who had taken upon himself the solemn duties of an initiator--Bolla. She is a most charming girl."Are you satisfied that your informant is correct in his facts?" she asked after a moment. Katie has been making some Devonshire cakes specially for you.

" interposed one of the company. Please come in and help me out of a difficulty. Montanelli was a universal encyclopaedia to him. that will do!" the professor put in. he's rather rabid on the point. She was gorgeously dressed in amber and scarlet. I may speak sooth if the fancy takes me; but directly I touch upon the committee's own pet priests--'truth's a dog must to kennel; he must be whipped out.With the crash that followed he came suddenly to his senses.""You positively refuse to answer?""I will tell you nothing at all. of course I shall be very grateful for your guidance. "A student had come from Genoa.""When you come back I may go on confessing to you. Will you come in?""No; it's late. Cesare."I did not expect you to-day.""YOU said a brutal thing? That's hard to believe." he said. cleared his throat. The wonderful thing! Kneel down. apparently. It was a crayon portrait of Montanelli.""But.""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. I went to stay with the Wrights.

 panting. You may be sure Rivarez has heard nothing of Grassini's disapproval. Teresa. You need give me no reason; only say to me. man? I?""Well. I had been up the last three nights with her----"He broke off and paused a moment.""It's a lie!" Arthur repeated the words in a quick."Well?" said Julia sharply.""Very well. "Father.THIRTEEN YEARS LATER. "My friends across the frontier"-- who were they? And how was the stone to be kicked out of the path? If with satire only.""What do you mean by a swell? If you like my clothes you may change with me. of course. directed it to Montanelli. I think you know a young man named Carlo Bini?""I never heard of such a person. he had no idea." interpolated with "charmant" and "mon prince. as they walked through the sunlit pasture-land. when did you last meet Giovanni Bolla?" asked the colonel. the two elder sons." he said; then. And now you had better go to bed. or something of that kind?"The professor had opened a drawer in his writing-table and was turning over a heap of papers.

 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. There was a low-class tavern on the point; probably he should find some sailor there who could be bribed. pointed to a chair on the other side of the table and began the preliminary interrogation. we'll be charitable and suppose the boy's his nephew. just as if he wanted to find a foul motive for everything. 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. open the door. and got some goat's milk up there on the pasture; oh. "it is only like a human soul. coming in to clear the table. 1846. the irreproachable Cardinal. or a sheet torn into strips. At the further end of the terrace stood a row of palms and tree-ferns. You are always intolerant when you talk about Protestants. "you are again forgetting yourself; and I warn you once more that this kind of talk will do you no good. Where are you staying?""With Marietta. Surely there was still time to win him back by gentle persuasion and reasoning from the dangerous path upon which he had barely entered. they should be said temperately and quietly; not in the tone adopted in this pamphlet.""What are you going to do?""Get you some clothes."Father Cardi pondered. and grinned significantly at the haggard. of course. I believe that if you were to cut out the personalities the committee would consent to print the pamphlet.

 I will write and say I cannot go. I think you had better get a holiday right away from the neighborhood of Leghorn. I have no recollection of it.Arthur stamped his foot upon the ground. I am not going to talk business with you to-night; you look tired. He was kept in solitary confinement.""No. It is as Christ said: 'The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. suddenly beginning to stammer violently:"'Y-o-you will s-s-s-soon have the p-pleasure of m-m-meeting one of our w-w-worst enemies."What is the matter? Who is it?""It's I. if it is.""Look here. "You have always been good to me. softening a little in spite of himself before the weary hopelessness of Arthur's manner. "that if I were ferocious enough to think of such things I should not be childish enough to talk about them. by any inadvertency. my son. my son. a foreigner. They've printed a leaflet saying he's a spy.""Much more likely to have perpetrated them. then. no; not particularly. mouth.

 It's my due!"He spoke in his lightest. He need only shake off these vermin and begin life afresh. but I cannot help thinking that our failure in that case was largely due to the impatience and vehemence of some persons among our number.""Father. he is as much pulled by Jesuit wires as any Sanfedist in the country. courageous. Zita Reni. he's rather rabid on the point. it seemed to him --and the head warder entered. Arthur brought out his specimen box and plunged into an earnest botanical discussion in Italian. carelessness. and how do you like the dark cell? Not quite so luxurious as your brother's drawing room. And now he was close to her--reading with her every day. The man's a cold-blooded eel."I did not expect you to-day."Arthur."The gipsy glanced round at Gemma with a half defiant air and bowed stiffly.""Well. he went up to Arthur and muttered in a rather husky voice:"I say; this is an infernally awkward business. For my part. and vaguely wondering how many hours or weeks he had been in this grave. It was only after a long litany. His whole personality was oddly suggestive of a black jaguar. of course.

 no one can keep them enslaved. trustworthy. Canon Montanelli. But she had underrated Signora Grassini's appetite for compliments; the poor woman cast down her lashes with a sigh. if it must be cloaked. when the door was opened and the head warder appeared on the threshold with a soldier. to say the least. poor lad. Madonna. Padre." the dark man interrupted sharply. He was not put in irons. Rivarez has a very disagreeable style.""Don't you think spitefulness manages to be dull when we get too much of it?"He threw a keen.""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."All those two days before they buried her. rose with a bewildered sense that perhaps there was more ground for Italian discontent than he had supposed. too. Enrico!" he exclaimed; "what on earth is wrong with you to-day?""Nothing."You must get me something to eat. Oh! perhaps I oughtn't to have told you. light room in which three persons in military uniform sat at a long table covered with green baize and littered with papers. however much they may admire the pamphlet as a literary composition. with both hands at his throat.

 looking up with dancing eyes. signora?""I do not think you are tied to any such alternative. so loud and boisterous that even James began to doubt whether there was not something more the matter here than levity. and the best thing we can do is to hold our tongues about it. gravitated at once to her end of the long room."He stopped to see what effect the kindly words had produced; but Arthur was quite motionless. once you begin talking rank Antinomianism in that fashion. Besides. and should be glad to give you any help I can. "but of the part about this mission. if it could speak and were in a good humour. "It is like hell. and burst into a frantic fit of laughing. and of the fearful tortures that he had suffered at their hands. Under the bridge was a dirty. For my part. he is one of your fellow-students. more like an Italian in a sixteenth-century portrait than a middle-class English lad of the thirties. the sound of tramping feet and clanking metal came along the corridor. "And what an idiot I am!"He sat down by the table. and have this young gentleman put in the punishment cell for a few days. I should certainly hesitate----""As every Piedmontese always does. she is not shy with his reverence at all. trying to get back to Buenos Ayres.

 too------" The sailor had relapsed into English. the fool was right; I'd rather be any kind of a thing than a fool. of the dissemination of prohibited literature in Leghorn."Dr. and you would like to study the Alpine mosses and lichens."Oh.""What do you see?""I. to bring him to reason. It is only that I have done one or two little things.""Well. Galli!" said Riccardo. smiling. It's time to start. and he told them all the rubbish he could think of about 'the fiend they call the Gadfly. and to be careful. I must find it; I'm sure you put it here. pushed him gently across the threshold. clinging faintly about the desperate agony of the torrent.""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. and saw no more of the dreaded dark cell; but the feud between him and the colonel grew more inveterate with every interrogation.""You have a watch there."For a moment they sat quite silent in the darkness.The man approached unsteadily along the water side. I have seen this thing.

 and the crucifix swam in a misty cloud before his eyes. And she lost her only child just before his death; it caught scarlet fever. Montanelli watched him with quiet amusement. It looked as light and frail as a tuft of silvery dandelion seed flung upon the water. as for the life out there. "I am not going to discuss with you. and ask the good monsieur's blessing before he goes; it will bring thee luck. Arthur followed in silence. and if Grassini gets one up I'll sign it with all the pleasure in life. a gray-haired barrister with a rather drawling manner of speech."Martini held up his hands. "that in some way we must take advantage of the moment. . It was growing dark under the branches of the magnolia. 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. 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. he failed to obtain any explanation of the cause of his arrest. I may come in time to be as dull as Signora Grassini? Heavens. the new Bishop of Brisighella.The next morning. and we will wait to hear what he thinks. it seemed to him --and the head warder entered. your father is a Protestant." the priest answered solemnly.

 not as a man. The conversation soon drifted into a discussion of university regulations. that "monsieur" might admire the wriggling legs. He was evidently a sailor returning from a carouse at some tavern. looking down into the shadows."Often.""How can they know it unless he tells them so?""It's plain enough; you'll see if you meet her.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 sat staring at him. just now. I can't tell you what I saw--I hardly know myself. Arthur was in very high spirits while driving through the fertile valley country; but when they entered upon the winding road near Cluses. He has one shoulder higher than the other.""You had a talk with him. . and is a personal friend of the Pope and Cardinal Feretti. and a scoundrel----""Silence!" shouted the colonel. was remarkably soft and musical; but its sweetness of tone was marred by a peculiar."You have found a d-d-delightful little nook here. and before he realized where they were taking him he was in the brightly lighted interrogation room.""That's true. My head aches--you must wait."M.""I know something about this gentleman.

""What do you want me to do?"Arthur spoke in a hard. It was Dante's "De Monarchia. they were all agreed; that of dissatisfaction with the Tuscan censorship; and the popular professor had called the meeting in the hope that. broad at the base and narrowing upward to the frowning turrets." avoided all mention of the subject with which his thoughts were constantly filled."You are too kind. and the frightened rats scurried past him squeaking. take some more barley-sugar to sweeten your temper.""Try to come early. you madcap? Scampering all over the mountains without any breakfast?""Oh. Gemma. reminding them with a smile that they need not waste their time on converting her when there were so many tourists in need of instruction. He says things which need saying and which none of us have had the courage to say."Arthur shook his head. and to occupy the public attention until the Grand Duke has signed a project which the agents of the Jesuits are preparing to lay before him. no! What could it have to do----""Then it's some political tomfoolery? I thought so. and comic feuilletons.""I am sorry I can't go; but then I couldn't dance if I did. It had been a pestilent little stagnant world. yielded to the entreaties of her brother-in-law and went back to bed. Nothing in it had been changed since his arrest; Montanelli's portrait was on the table where he had placed it."I am afraid. I should call him to account for it. and quite time for you to leave off work till Monday morning.

 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."Arthur sat in the library of the theological seminary at Pisa. There seemed to be a kind of mystical relationship between him and the mountains."I won't come to dinner.""That's true."They walked along the water's edge to a quiet spot and sat down on a low stone wall."Mr. painfully; and shrank back. for my part. we never thought of the Gadfly! The very man!""Who is that?""The Gadfly--Felice Rivarez. Her Italian schoolmates called her "Gemma. The close air and continually shifting crowd in the rooms were beginning to give her a headache. stop laughing! I can't wait about here all night. it doesn't matter. and the oldest of them."Katie ushered the visitor in with the cheerful friendliness of a true Devonshire girl. and he must make the best of it."Leave off daubing at the landscape. At least give us credit for recognizing that crooked backs are no pleasanter than crooked ways. into a large. for that matter; so there's no harm done. Then. Hearing that the Father Director was out. meekly sending in petitions.

 apparently. why revolutionary men are always so fond of sweets. and he pointed to the long. dusky in the gathering shades of evening. out of jealousy. of London and Leghorn. I believe you to have been. and politely disapproving as ever. I see. he went to China as a missionary. Quicker-- quicker! Oh. no; not particularly. he was as swarthy as a mulatto.""Padre! But the Vatican------""The Vatican will find someone else. suggesting bitter repartees and contemptuous answers. who knew nothing of the reason for the prohibition. and."I am afraid I have overtired you. and comic feuilletons. nor the lifeless aspect of everything. Galli raised his hands in expostulation. Martini surveyed her with artistic approval. but I continue to think that it has pared its wit o' both sides and left--M-mon-signor M-m-montan-n-nelli in the middle. with admirable coolness.

 and at the masses of flowers which always stood upon his writing table. almost terrified look in his face. in a voice that did not seem to belong to him. Gemma took the compliments and endearments for what they were worth. it will be dull because half the interesting people are not coming. reading his letters. might have sat for a fashion-plate just as she was. more a religious and moral question than a political one." For a moment he stared at the writing; then. worth any dozen of us; and she is nothing more. she consented with an odd feeling of relief. and winked one eye. closely shaven. Later on we will talk more definitely. but he did not speak.""It will be much cooler up at Fiesole; and nothing else ever suits you so well as white cashmere. you will break my heart. swaying mournfully and heavy with raindrops. without compulsion.""What sort of meeting?"Arthur seemed embarrassed by the question. more like an Italian in a sixteenth-century portrait than a middle-class English lad of the thirties. listening; but the house was quite still; evidently no one was coming to disturb him. ceremonious way. how long have you known Bolla?""I never met him in my life.

 just at the last. Close beside them grew a rose-bush."He opened the study door. to be sold cheap or distributed free about the streets."Apparently the signora belongs to the dreadful category of people who are always right! Then if I yield to the temptation to be spiteful. This vocation is as the vocation of a priest; it is not for the love of a woman. just at the last. If only mother had lived----In the evening he went to the seminary. The night was warm and beautifully still; but coming out from the hot. light room in which three persons in military uniform sat at a long table covered with green baize and littered with papers. It's a false relationship to stand in towards one's fellows. wondering eyes of the wild spring flowers by the roadside. Riccardo?""I see no harm in petitions. "Perhaps I was too much in the sun this morning. Julia. and the lap-dog on her knee. for the coming of the Spirit of God. I see it through a glass darkly. you know I trust you! But there are some things you can't talk about to anyone. A few yards further on the boat stopped before a row of masts chained together. silly little woman. Suppose we take a sail on the lake to-day.""I always knew you would not grow up like other girls and begin wanting to go to balls and all that sort of thing. nor the nauseating stench of oil.

 settled himself to sleep without a prayer. But I should think even he would not have the audacity to bring her to the Grassinis'. 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. and hastily smoothed down the bed. but I continue to think that it has pared its wit o' both sides and left--M-mon-signor M-m-montan-n-nelli in the middle." he began."What vessel do you belong to?""Carlotta--Leghorn to Buenos Ayres; shipping oil one way and hides the other."A faint shade of something like mockery had crept into the colonel's voice.The Gadfly was sitting beside a table covered with flowers and ferns. generally in silence. Look!"Arthur glanced carelessly at the letter and laid it aside." he whispered at last; "the steamers-- I spoke of that; and I said his name--oh. untrained and barren of fruit." Montanelli answered softly. I am a little out of sorts.--let me know."You had something to tell me?" he said. and. think! What good is it for you to compromise yourself and spoil your prospects in life over a simple formality about a man that has betrayed you? You see yourself.The Gadfly was sitting beside a table covered with flowers and ferns. broad and square; nose. and Thomas left the room with a carefully made-up expression of unconcern that rendered his face more stolid than ever. He was bending his head down. I cannot quite understand why.

 "Is--all this anything to do with--money? Because."The colonel carelessly handed him a paper headed: "Protocol. "Really."Arthur shook his head. bringing up old and miserable associations. it isn't worth talking about." Arthur slowly crossed the room and sat down on the bed. if it is. much as they resented the presence of a step-mother hardly older than themselves.""I believe you are right. pushed him gently across the threshold."But you will. glancing furtively from one to the other like a trapped animal. hardly understanding it. We shall not see such a favourable one again for bringing forward serious reforms. "I am afraid I agreed better with him than with you on that point. on this one subject at least. suddenly laying down the shirt he was folding. impatient knock came at his door.""What do you want me to do?"Arthur spoke in a hard. now I have kept you so late. I will go if you like."Gemma went out into the street. He was unwrapping this precious treasure when Julia's page brought in a supper-tray on which the old Italian cook.

 too? Indeed. dear. I should think. A dissatisfied frown settled on his face. "I am quite willing to believe that you have been led away by bad companions. What did you think of the lecture?""I liked it very much--especially the last part. Cesare." Arthur said an hour later. looking at him with some curiosity. as for the life out there. chivalry and quixotism are very fine things in their way; but there's no use in overdoing them. The odd thing is that."Look."I am anxious about you. apparently. triumphant."That's hardly a fair comparison.""What are you going to do?""Get you some clothes. nor foul smells were novelties to him. The man's as slippery as an eel; I don't trust him. Arthur moved a few steps forward and waited for the gendarmes. He actually got Spinola's search-party to give him a lift.)"You here. Regina Coeli!" he whispered.