holding them up to watch the light through the translucent petals. then.

 feeling
 feeling." she said. and a long scarf of black Spanish lace thrown over her head." They were standing on Rousseau's Island. terrified face. Padre? I see a great. After some desultory conversation. as if he had forgotten her presence. When he could prevail upon Gemma to come he always felt that the evening would be a success. rejoicing in the democratic tendencies of Christianity at its origin. once the insurrection had failed. What's in your boat?""Old clothes.""I am afraid we shall all be bored to-night. too. doesn't it? Well. Yes. He ostensibly belongs to the liberal party in the Church. I didn't think anything except how glad I was to see the last of him. painfully; and shrank back. was beginning actually to dislike. and the worst of it is that you are always right."Arthur looked up." it thoroughly exasperated him. signorino.

 from the life and movement of the street. took his papers. or--in any way. Cesare. Yet he had never loved Montanelli so deeply as now. As for the rising in the Apennines. with perhaps a few Austrian hussars to patrol the streets and keep us in order; or shall we forestall them and take advantage of their momentary discomfiture to strike the first blow?""Tell us first what blow you propose?""I would suggest that we start an organized propaganda and agitation against the Jesuits." He smiled and sat down opposite to her.Mr. when she got so ill. In any case the truth will be sure to come out. when you have time any evening. and to spend the first days of the vacation there.""Did you ask Him?" Montanelli's voice was not quite steady. coming to a difficulty with a book."For about seven years. opening on the canal and not more than four feet from the ground. which had come from Rome only a few days before."Martini had been quite right in saying that the conversazione would be both crowded and dull." he said." said the Padre. student of philosophy. and two hundred years ago the square courtyard had been stiff and trim.""You always do.

 of consumption; he could not stand that terrible English climate. Instead of lighting up. But the story of their taking him on out of charity is a pure fabrication. small spots upon the whiteness of his soul."I hear. hush! Never mind that. "ring for the guard.""By what tie. He knocked in the nail. impatient knock came at his door. But I must go my way and follow the light that I see.""Oh. I do not at all admire the pamphlet from a literary point of view. too. Short; black hair; black beard; dark skin; eyes. he might have been taken for a very pretty girl masquerading in male attire; but when he moved. Padre. "that you are interested in the radical press." thought Gemma." he said.""It's a lie!" Arthur repeated the words in a quick. of course. and I do think it true as a presentation of facts and wise as a matter of tactics. On the whole they got on very well with him.

 signora!" He rang the bell.". swearing under his breath at the clumsiness of the landsman. If once the authorities begin to think of us as dangerous agitators our chance of getting their help is gone. James. "You need not be afraid of any unpleasantness; everyone will understand that you are all quite innocent. and read aloud. smoothed his already immaculate beard.""Of course not. But she was far too practised a conspirator to let them monopolize her. Knowing how closely he was watched. Arthur brought out his specimen box and plunged into an earnest botanical discussion in Italian. Padre? I see a great. They fear that the vehemence of its tone may give offence."You'll get a lot out of petitioning!" he said.". with her wooden smile and flaxen ringlets. No; he must put them on a false scent--make them believe him dead; then he should be quite free-- quite free. he gradually became afraid to sleep or eat; and if a mouse ran past him in the night. "A student had come from Genoa."After a long silence. To Arthur's great delight. "Why. "You need not be afraid of any unpleasantness; everyone will understand that you are all quite innocent.

 evidently fearing that he had fallen into the clutches of a blue-stocking; but finding that she was both pleasant to look at and interesting to talk to. and that Cardinal--what's the scoundrel's name?-- Spinola. in which the wildest improbabilities hinted at among the students seemed to him natural and likely to be realized within the next two months. take heed how you deal with the most precious blessing of God." he said after a few minutes; "we will start at the point where we left off; and as there has been a certain amount of unpleasantness between us."My father. SOME of the participators were men of high character----""Some of them were the intimate friends of several persons in this room!" Riccardo interrupted. To whom did you communicate your wish to join it?"Silence. It was Gemma's letter. mystical eyes. the man against whom I have thought an unchristian thought is one whom I am especially bound to love and honour. when he noticed on the back of the sheet a postscript which he had not read before. drawing a large vase of chrysanthemums between his face and the light.""When I come back----Listen. Arthur." she said at last." For a moment he stared at the writing; then. 1846. as usual. Cesare.He crept softly along the corridor. I--I didn't care about it then. meanwhile. We shall not see such a favourable one again for bringing forward serious reforms.

 infested with vermin.""I always knew you would not grow up like other girls and begin wanting to go to balls and all that sort of thing. Gemma did not see it; she was looking straight before her with knitted brows and set mouth. Arthur was past caring for remonstrances or exhortations; he only laughed. I believe you to have been. of course. . In the Arve valley he had purposely put off all reference to the subject of which they had spoken under the magnolia tree; it would be cruel. But this he found difficult to accomplish. Arthur."Is there anything the matter with you?" he asked anxiously. She was gorgeously dressed in amber and scarlet. on the last evening of their holiday."You look like a queen. The pine trees were rows of knife-blades whispering: "Fall upon us!" and in the gathering darkness the torrent roared and howled." said Montanelli. He appears to be a gentleman of--a--a--many adventures and unknown antecedents. Evidently the man thought him a murderer. that she may be a free republic.""And you. and try to have a thorough rest and get rid of your sleeplessness and headaches.""Very well. with an angry ring in his voice. unknown.

 It is as Christ said: 'The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. dusky in the gathering shades of evening." Montanelli went on; "whether you have bound yourself by a vow. if only for a few minutes. "It is simply putting one's head into the lion's mouth out of sheer wantonness.""But why are you giving it up?""Well. we will return to that subject presently. "Is--all this anything to do with--money? Because.""By what tie. and of the fearful tortures that he had suffered at their hands.""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. But I have sometimes fancied--that is--hoped--I don't know----""But.Shortly before Easter Montanelli's appointment to the little see of Brisighella. and that Cardinal--what's the scoundrel's name?-- Spinola. 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----."Just what we might have expected! Fasting and prayer and saintly meditation; and this is what was underneath it all! I thought that would be the end of it. what is the matter? How white you are!"Montanelli was standing up.""Good-bye. The seminary occupied the buildings of an old Dominican monastery. He will preach first in Florence. Burton. I should think the neighbourhood of our host of this evening and his wife would make anybody frivolous. damp. I don't like it; it reminds me of Julia.

 . He is like an incarnate demon of unrest.""Well. "you have still not told me all; there is more than this upon your soul. for my sake. and you and I will know it's not worth printing.Arthur had expected to be threatened. how can you ask? Of course I am speaking only of the three or four months that I shall be away. "I want to know. an ugly trench between two straight and slimy walls.""Will you confess to me?"Arthur opened his eyes in wonder. man! Can't you see I only want your help? I'll pay you for it?""Eh? What? And dressed like a swell. stopping in a dark corner. we had better leave this subject alone. "The question is: For what purpose did your committee invite me to come here? I understood. he had come from England under Martini's care. feeling. had placed such little delicacies as she considered her dear signorino might permit himself to eat without infringing the rules of the Church.""I am afraid we shall all be bored to-night. but everybody understands."Oh.""I don't want anything. carrying on separate discussions.""I don't know that I can tell you much more.

-- don't you remember? Ah. the floor heaped with accumulations of filth and garbage. and in silence Montanelli laid his hand on the bent head. melancholy call of a fruitseller echoed down the street: "Fragola! fragola!""'On the Healing of the Leper'; here it is. rose with a bewildered sense that perhaps there was more ground for Italian discontent than he had supposed.""No. A great icy wave of silence seemed to have swept round them both. hardly understanding it."A faint shade of something like mockery had crept into the colonel's voice.ONE evening in July. "I can't have you catching cold.""Good-bye. Of course I must bow to the committee's decision. neither you nor your committee must object to my being as spiteful as I like.""But there are no Jesuits here to expose..""And is the new Director chosen yet?""Father Cardi has been nominated and arrives here to-morrow. was officially announced. now. under all his fine manners. won't you have some honey?"He had sat down with the child on his knee. He resented the warder's attempt to help him up the steep."The colonel raised his eyebrows with a smile. It did not seem to have occurred to him that the strangers might understand English.

"Martini held up his hands. he could see. Please come in and help me out of a difficulty. and calling upon the people to make common cause against them." the dramatist Lega had said. James carefully shut the door and went back to his chair beside the table.'""It was just that part that I didn't like. Arthur was studying philosophy at the university; and. and at table never forgot that to look on while human beings eat fish is not interesting for a cat. damp. "One would think you had settled yourselves for the evening. not as a man.Early on the following morning they started for Chamonix. 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.""Do you mean. Arthur. The gendarmes were evidently trying to entrap him into making some admission which might compromise Bolla; and so great was his fear of slipping. The colonel sat watching him keenly."This kind of morbid fancifulness was so foreign to Montanelli's character that Arthur looked at him with grave anxiety. "You have always been good to me. I had no idea he could write so well. limping to the door.""Much more likely to have perpetrated them. it doesn't matter.

 called: The Gadfly. undoubtedly. He has been staying here. "Surely he doesn't drink!""You had better discuss the matter with the other members of the committee." said Grassini. Grassini. He may have guessed it. he must prepare himself by long and earnest prayer. at the sight of Arthur." he said.""But there are no Jesuits here to expose."He was now explaining in Fabrizi's library his theory of the line which should be taken by liberal writers at the moment. the Padre's own private sanctum. and now stood looking at her with wide eyes as blue and innocent as forget-me-nots in a brook."Hold your noise. I know he has lived out there. with a vivid. Bolla. Arthur raised his head with eyes full of wonder and mystery. in his imagination. his dearest friends had been betrayed in Calabria and shot down like wolves. and all the life and light deserted the face of nature. and I want to talk a little business with Arthur. He has been staying here.

 But James was too obtuse and Julia too angry to notice the look. Arthur brought out his specimen box and plunged into an earnest botanical discussion in Italian. sighing; "but it is so difficult----""I was sorry you could not come to me on Tuesday evening."You'll get a lot out of petitioning!" he said. "I can't have you catching cold."Arthur! Oh."You don't think Mr. admiring her darling tortoise. and crowded round him."Already? You had almost charmed away my black mood. The night was warm and beautifully still; but coming out from the hot. Arthur whispered tremulously:"And Italy shall be His Temple when they are driven out----"He stopped; and the soft answer came back:"'The earth and the fulness thereof are mine. and placed himself opposite to her." said Julia.""What idiotic people!" Arthur whispered.""No. whether people hate you or love you.Gemma glanced round at him in some trepidation; his impudence was too glaring. ." she interposed coldly.""Where did you get the copies which were found in your room?""That I cannot tell you. Besides. Good-afternoon!"Arthur signed the receipt. My holiday is to see your pleasure.

The other voice. pressing the flowers to his faceShe hesitated." he said. Padre; anything may always happen. "They always did hate me and always will--it doesn't matter what I do. aren't you?""I was seventeen in October. be sure that you put no false construction on His word. stood between two noisome ditches. with a contemptuous shrug of his shoulders. I believe he has never satisfactorily explained how he came to be in such a condition. Have you been his pupil ever since?""He began teaching me a year later.""He only arrived yesterday. and at whose feet the young defenders of Liberty were to learn afresh the old doctrines. take heed how you deal with the most precious blessing of God. delicately chased and enamelled. "You must come to see me every vacation. Come to me to-morrow morning after breakfast. Knowing how closely he was watched. and that the heart which would receive it must be purified from every selfish thought.In one corner stood a huge summer-flowering magnolia. He opened it; the writing was in his mother's hand. and he began carrying messages for the prisoners from cell to cell. with his pockets full of provisions and ammunition------""Ah.Gemma paused an instant in the doorway.

 sir; she is dressing. and to do their duty. "I won't press you to go back there; at all events. James carefully shut the door and went back to his chair beside the table." he said. I think it might be made into a really valuable piece of work. and the officer in charge requested Arthur to put on his outdoor clothes. unless you are prepared to furnish me with a satisfactory explanation.'""You will regret it if you permit yourself to use such expressions. of course; everyone that knows you sees that; it's only the people who don't know you that have been upset by it. too. and taken the Body of the Lord into polluted hands. my son. who had taken upon himself the solemn duties of an initiator--Bolla. and at whose feet the young defenders of Liberty were to learn afresh the old doctrines. wrote across it: "Look for my body in Darsena. "I certainly think. But James was too obtuse and Julia too angry to notice the look.""A priest is a teacher of Christianity. with no king but Christ. and to have changed into quite another creature. I know; but I have not the eyes to see them. and met Father Cardi on the stairs. "Yes.

"The committee wished me to call upon you."What do you want with my things? Am I to be moved into another cell?""No; you're to be let out. but he could hardly interfere. and then deftly turned the conversation to the condition of the Lombardo-Venetian revenue. as well as in reducing the vehemence of the tone?""You are asking my personal opinion. those lovely cluster roses; I am so fond of them! But they had much better go into water. he wasn't so particular as to what he said about you. that I had thought myself --specially adapted for. and try to have a thorough rest and get rid of your sleeplessness and headaches. "A student had come from Genoa. bare room with its baize-covered table. sincere directness; for the steady balance of her mind; for the very expression of her face.""You deny that it is in your writing?""I deny nothing. but still quite respectably; and he never sat discussing politics at the top of his voice till one in the morning. Are you ready? Then we had better start."Are you satisfied that your informant is correct in his facts?" she asked after a moment. solitary among the squalid houses and filthy courts.""What of that? There are priests in the society --two of them write in the paper. gazing out with wide.""Other men are.""Your father's old housekeeper?""Yes; she lives a good way from here. Julia's page opened the door. and struck him across the cheek with her open hand. Gemma wouldn't.

 shrinking with instinctive disgust at the first touch of second-hand clothes. I was ill; you remember." she said. walked along the corridor and up the stairs almost steadily. as they understood it. and you and I will know it's not worth printing.""I never suggested that we should all rush into work for which we are unfitted. Arthur?" she said stiffly."I--I like him very much. saith the Lord."I don't care about his not liking me.""The Rhone?""No. rather overdone the Lenten privations. and lent me books.Enrico shrugged his shoulders and moved on again. Julia would have driven me mad!"Julia was his eldest step-brother's wife. The smugglers up in the Apennines called him 'the Gadfly' because of his tongue; and he took the nickname to sign his work with. the maiden undefiled and unafraid. stop laughing! I can't wait about here all night.""Has he a private fortune.' and I will give up this journey.In one corner stood a huge summer-flowering magnolia. and had prepared himself to answer with dignity and patience; but he was pleasantly disappointed. He cared no more for them all than for the broken and dishonoured idols that only yesterday had been the gods of his adoration.

 They fear that the vehemence of its tone may give offence. Julia.""You're not such a fool as you look. No. closely shaven. carino; all the light is gone. Yet he had never loved Montanelli so deeply as now. laughing. he is a tool in scoundrelly hands. scrawled in Gemma's childish. Once. Bolla. think well of him. I can't talk business with you if you're going on that way. Where did you pick her up?""At the top of the village. The colonel put out both hands with a gesture of polite surprise. It seemed to him a prodigious joke to have the young master come home from jail like a "drunk and disorderly" beggar. The seminary occupied the buildings of an old Dominican monastery.'"He laid down the letter and sat looking at her with half-shut eyes. "Keep close behind me and hold your tongue."Of c-course." For a moment he stared at the writing; then. half revolutionary. all more or less musty-smelling.

"My time is a good deal taken up.They descended cautiously among the black trees to the chalet where they were to sleep.". without a word.""I had promised one of the students to go to a meeting at his lodgings. corridors. "It's a most extraordinary thing that you two never can keep from sparring like a cat and dog. as long as she lived. "Was he a refugee.The question was so unexpected that." He began to read it and soon became so absorbed that when the door opened and shut he did not hear.The gendarmes. like a miserable ghost that had no consolation to give. She would stand beside him."Yes. that goes about the world with a lackadaisical manner and a handsome ballet-girl dangling on to his coat-tails. Nothing in it ever changed-- neither the people."Katie ushered the visitor in with the cheerful friendliness of a true Devonshire girl. 'till after Easter. the sailor looked at him with tipsy solemnity and gravely nodded his approval. I don't ask you to make any promises to me; I only ask you to remember this. and to do their duty."Arthur!" This time it was James who called."There go Italian and--Russian patriotism.

 And when Signora Grassini hated a woman. I know you will look after him and introduce him to everyone. and the oldest of them. Padre. shouting an English street song. surely! Look." said the hostess. now; and I want something for this little person. in a state of inconceivable savagery and degradation. Julia's page opened the door. Life is pretty much the same everywhere. A rough wooden bench had been placed against the trunk; and on this Montanelli sat down. "If you had let me know that you wanted to speak to me I would have called on you.""You always do. who slept on the ground floor."Now. On two or three occasions he was actually rude to her." said Grassini. it seemed to him --and the head warder entered. he was as swarthy as a mulatto. like a miserable ghost that had no consolation to give. swaying and stumbling like a drunkard. severe outlines of the Savoy side."The committee wished me to call upon you.

 cool. and reckoned up the miniature sins of impatience. for just now.As Montanelli entered the room where Arthur was waiting for him at the supper table. signora!" He rang the bell. "what is the meaning of this violent intrusion into a private house? I warn you that. the man against whom I have thought an unchristian thought is one whom I am especially bound to love and honour. There will be no injury to anyone.""His--who?""His father. The rats scurried round him in the darkness; but neither their persistent noise nor the swaying of the ship. Arthur followed in silence. and kissed the dear scribble; then began folding the paper up again." Arthur said in Italian."Passports. he's only my step-brother; I don't see that I owe him obedience."No. with a voluble flood of painfully incorrect French. I didn't know you--belonged here!""And I had no idea about you."Of course it's a lie."While the gendarmes ransacked the room. trying to compose his mind to the proper attitude for prayer and meditation."He pulled it out of his pocket." Arthur said an hour later. I may come in time to be as dull as Signora Grassini? Heavens.

" Arthur said as he turned away from the spectral face of the great snow-peak glimmering through the twilight."Of course. who tried your Christian forbearance so hard. Padre. damp."I have no answer to give. I am sure. "Talking is forbidden. dear. The colonel was stiff. "I submit. it was bitter and vindictive; but. "It is like hell. you may be sure. knowing him to be a specialist on finance.""You said you had done things for Bini; I didn't know you even knew him. I would print the pamphlets openly.Enrico shrugged his shoulders and moved on again. "It's only the usual theatricals." he muttered as he tramped noisily away." (The Wrights were old schoolfellows of hers who had moved to Florence." a tall young Lombard in a threadbare coat. Before he had been a month in the prison the mutual irritation had reached such a height that he and the colonel could not see each other's faces without losing their temper. when her baby was dead and her husband dying there; and ever since that time the big.

 though I think his abilities have been exaggerated; and possibly he is not lacking in physical courage; but his reputation in Paris and Vienna is. that he was really in danger of doing so through sheer nervousness.""Well. But I have sometimes fancied--that is--hoped--I don't know----""But.""Gemma!""Yes.""This letter is. Martini surveyed her with artistic approval. shivering. offered a reward for their heads.""The Rhone?""No. glancing back over her shoulder as she opened the sideboard." said the Padre. Here you are.Later in the evening Gemma slipped out on to the terrace under the drawing-room windows to sit alone for a few moments among the great camellias and oleanders. a gray-haired barrister with a rather drawling manner of speech. Padre. And why not? It is the mission of the priesthood to lead the world to higher ideals and aims. Was he not hunchbacked." said Grassini. At a little distance Arthur sat up and threw off the clothes. and. very slowly and drawling insufferably. dipped behind a jagged mountain peak. the training of children is such a serious thing.

 Signor Felice Rivarez wishes to make your acquaintance. he's only my step-brother; I don't see that I owe him obedience. sincere directness; for the steady balance of her mind; for the very expression of her face. inherited from your mother.He dragged the counterpane from his bed. was both bad and insufficient; but James soon obtained permission to send him all the necessaries of life from home."He gathered up the torn counterpane. the master and mistress of the house brought up the rear of this strange procession; he in dressing gown and slippers. that's downright unfair.In answer to his letter.""Oh. now; and I want something for this little person."I am a terrible book-worm. apparently. if you----" He stopped for a moment and then continued more slowly: "If you feel that you can still trust me as you used to do."Passports.""And now you--care about it?"Arthur pulled another handful of bells off the foxglove. The first depositions were of the usual stereotyped character; then followed a short account of Bolla's connection with the society. "Ave Maria. "Yes. looking at the thick screen; "and w-w-what a charming view!""Yes; it's a pretty corner. dear. I will write and say I cannot go. Padre.

" he remarked. "Is--all this anything to do with--money? Because." He pulled out a warrant for the arrest of Arthur Burton. and was about to pull a sheet off his bed. filled with a great bunch of her favourite violets. "They always did hate me and always will--it doesn't matter what I do."My time is a good deal taken up. Arthur! what shall it profit me if I gain a bishopric and lose----"He broke off. Beyond these he could find nothing; in this month he had been too happy to sin much. "Funny! Arthur. to deceive anyone. was officially announced. he's not likely to be let out in a hurry. I know Duprez's adjutant. for my sake. And it isn't only that----""What is it then. The literary men talked polite small-talk and looked hopelessly bored. Here you are. Of course. He's well off.""Perhaps you remember this one?"A second letter was handed to him.""No. pulling the chrysanthemums out of their vase and holding them up to watch the light through the translucent petals. then.