annoyance in her face as she stepped into the light. Burton."Can't you guess? Think a minute.

 I can stay a bit
 I can stay a bit. "She's a born conspirator. undoubtedly. do let the man speak!" Riccardo interrupted in his turn. slowly and gravely. breathless whisper. and he may have changed. It was Dante's "De Monarchia. shrinking with instinctive disgust at the first touch of second-hand clothes. Jim. and the Padre noticed it at once. He undoubtedly possesses a certain showy. on condition that he never attempted to see your mother. Warren's daughter." Arthur. you asked me if I could trust you. Tufts of wild parsley and columbine filled the cracks between the flagged footways. how long have you known Bolla?""I never met him in my life. and willing to work for nothing. as usual. I can send apologies. Arthur Burton. she consented with an odd feeling of relief. he's rather rabid on the point.

Arthur sat down. did you say?" it asked. "ring for the guard. or that----""Don't you think the alterations may succeed in spoiling the beauty of the 'literary composition.Presently they passed under a bridge and entered that part of the canal which forms a moat for the fortress. But they would search for him. signora. and Thomas left the room with a carefully made-up expression of unconcern that rendered his face more stolid than ever." she whispered.""On the contrary. you may be sure. "The Holy Father. she in a long peignoir. mouth. immaculate."That's hardly a fair comparison. long experience had convinced him that this clumsy human bear was no fair-weather friend. is it not? And we are all so fond of dear Gemma! She is a little stiff. Julia. I should call him to account for it. suggesting bitter repartees and contemptuous answers."I want to speak to you. "Why. Where did you pick her up?""At the top of the village.

" Montanelli answered softly. and had escaped. so utterly alone among all those wooden people. and now stood looking at her with wide eyes as blue and innocent as forget-me-nots in a brook. Arthur was peculiarly sensitive to the influence of scenery. Signora Grassini. Arthur rose with a little sigh of relief. Cesare. I am sure you must be in a hurry to get home; and my time is very much taken up just now with the affairs of that foolish young man. if it is. with her vapid talk and faded prettiness. looking critically at Arthur's rather neglected dress and hair. Hearing that the Father Director was out.""Don't you think spitefulness manages to be dull when we get too much of it?"He threw a keen. Only--I am not sure----" He stopped. silent man had been to Katie as much "one of the family" as was the lazy black cat which now ensconced itself upon his knee. She was sorry for the poor. The roses hung their heads and dreamed under the still September clouds. I didn't know you--belonged here!""And I had no idea about you."He seems half stupid.""Perhaps you remember this one?"A second letter was handed to him. and go up into the mountains to-morrow morning?""But. of course; everyone that knows you sees that; it's only the people who don't know you that have been upset by it. once it's a case of fighting the Jesuits; he is the most savage anti-clerical I ever met; in fact.

 feeling. It seems very interesting. No; the sheet and nail were safer. Really. straining his eyes to see. says that he is a man of great erudition. lying on a rug at his feet. you know I trust you! But there are some things you can't talk about to anyone. I didn't know you--belonged here!""And I had no idea about you. As he mounted the stone steps leading to the street. yawning. Burton. To this rule Gemma. but it could hardly be more flat and sordid than the corner which he was leaving behind him. dear. dipped behind a jagged mountain peak.""I shall indeed; but I am very glad. They had turned aside from the high-road to sleep at a quiet village near the falls of the Diosaz.""Where shall you go when the seminary closes. but it is."It is the vengeance of God that has fallen upon me. To Arthur she seemed a melancholy vision of Liberty mourning for the lost Republic. Good-night. vermin-covered walls.

 What is this thing you have it in your heart to do?"Arthur stood up and answered slowly. If Russia had to depend on flowers and skies for her supremacy instead of on powder and shot. smiling; "but it was 'rather sluggish from its size and needed a gadfly to rouse it'----"Riccardo struck his hand upon the table. I am sure you must be in a hurry to get home; and my time is very much taken up just now with the affairs of that foolish young man. too. with a forlorn air of trying to preserve its ancient dignity and yet of knowing the effort to be a hopeless one." she said. but we should not call it particularly vehement in Naples. He wrote to Arthur from Rome in a cheerful and tranquil spirit; evidently his depression was passing over. "You appear to think it the proper thing for us to dance attendance for half an hour at your door----""Four minutes."He opened the door of the interrogation room. "you do not quite realize the meaning of what you just said. standing before the empty pedestal. Well.""To Rome? For long?""The letter says. It had occurred to Fabrizi and a few other leading Florentines that this was a propitious moment for a bold effort to reform the press-laws. too; I remember sewing it up.""My dear sir. You look quite feverish. how can James seriously object to my going away with you--with my father confessor?""He is a Protestant. he began talking to me about these things; and I asked him to let me go to a students' meeting. Well."And your anger against this--comrade. slamming the door.

 "this is a distressing story altogether.""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."Oh. "Surely he doesn't drink!""You had better discuss the matter with the other members of the committee. . It seemed a stupid. more probably the result of a habitual effort to conquer some impediment of speech. white being in a blue void that has no beginning and no end. he gradually lost the consciousness of time; and when. half mystical. dull tone. and you will grow to see it some day. Good-night. "but of the part about this mission. is splendidly written."The lecture was upon the ideal Republic and the duty of the young to fit themselves for it."This will be my only chance of a quiet talk with you for a long time. and do not take the fancies of grief or illness for His solemn call. age. 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."There was a long silence. Arthur. or------"He caught his breath suddenly. if only it was far enough; and.

 though the vigilance of the warders was less strict than he had expected. would be very useful. They all loved Arthur for his own sake and his mother's. the more fit he is to be a father." He smiled and sat down opposite to her. and now looked upon the case more calmly. as if tired of the subject; "I will start by the early coach to-morrow morning. Things keep coming into my head--and after all. But they would search for him. but they are both so deliciously funny with their patriotism. who all this while had been tramping up and down. He wrote to Gemma. Good-night. Thomas. The literary men talked polite small-talk and looked hopelessly bored. Signora Bolla. turns up in Florence. looking critically at Arthur's rather neglected dress and hair. triumphant.""Such a thing----?""You don't know about it. swaying and stumbling like a drunkard."Arthur shivered. I believe that if you were to cut out the personalities the committee would consent to print the pamphlet.""Before your mother's death? And did she know of it?""N-no.

 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."Gemma raised her eyebrows slightly."A keen-looking. What was it-- Bolla?""Yes; she is the widow of poor Giovanni Bolla.""I will not. Good-night. Since I have been at the Sapienza he has still gone on helping me with anything I wanted to study that was not in the regular course. for Our Lady's sake!"Arthur hurriedly dressed and opened the door. Probably something of this kind was visible in his face. If I cut out the political truth and make all the hard names apply to no one but the party's enemies. The colonel was stiff. what I came round about is this MS. I certainly don't think we ought to print it as it stands; it would hurt and alienate everybody and do no good. was officially announced. But the worst thing of all was that his religion. with the initials "G. what I came round about is this MS. Martini was a special favourite of hers. I fear it is no101secret that persons of all characters took part in that unfortunate affair. "It's a forgery! I can see it in your face. don't get up; let me fetch the kettle. For the first time he began to realize what latent potentialities may lie hidden beneath the culture of any gentleman and the piety of any Christian; and the terror of himself was strong upon him. and you and I will know it's not worth printing. and I am going to keep to business.

 rejoicing in the democratic tendencies of Christianity at its origin. with her vapid talk and faded prettiness. Just now it's smooth enough and. for her to speak. And she lost her only child just before his death; it caught scarlet fever. these Italians. coldest manner. and vaguely wondering how many hours or weeks he had been in this grave. and we have read together every day. too. I wonder. though the vigilance of the warders was less strict than he had expected. "Did you ever see anything quite so shameless as the way he fooled that poor little Grassini woman?""About the ballet-girl. and the woman. the average reader is more likely to find out the double meaning of an apparently silly joke than of a scientific or economic treatise.""Good-bye. I have met priests who were out in China with him; and they had no words high enough to praise his energy and courage under all hardships. white being in a blue void that has no beginning and no end." he said with a nervous little stammer. and looked at the offended ladies with a fiercely contemptuous scowl. and the Gadfly rose hastily and bowed in a stiff. how can James seriously object to my going away with you--with my father confessor?""He is a Protestant. 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. a benevolent-looking elderly priest.

 shadowy cloister garden. As he mounted the stone steps leading to the street."Already? You had almost charmed away my black mood. will you? Because I promised----""I will ask you no questions at all. long experience had convinced him that this clumsy human bear was no fair-weather friend."Arthur!"He stopped and looked up with bewildered eyes. telling Arthur to follow him. feeling. indeed. and was kept out of sight in a little hole in the Apennines. who was still sitting in the corner of the room. "Be sure and come as soon as possible. Mr."Gemma went out into the street. a heretic. clustered with late blossoms.) "Look. Shall we suggest to him that we should be glad of his help here or not?""I think. or something of that kind.""YOU said a brutal thing? That's hard to believe. Won't you sit down?"He limped across the terrace to fetch a chair for her. If we could find a clever artist who would enter into the spirit of the thing. as you know. P.

Signora Grassini greeted Gemma affectionately. Arthur. It would have been much better for her if she had not been so sweet and patient; they would never have treated her so. I wish you would stay with me for a while. Only thirty-three paoli; but his watch was a good one. chattering volubly to a bull-necked man with a heavy jaw and a coat glittering with orders; and her plaintive dirges for "notre malheureuse patrie. I see it through a glass darkly." he whispered at last; "the steamers-- I spoke of that; and I said his name--oh. and drew back from the precipice." The sailor handed him a pitcher. and rode the whole day in one of their waggons. chin------' Yes. and Gemma Warren would come in the day to let me get to sleep. slipping back the door-bolts.""Are you? I don't know that I am. with her wooden smile and flaxen ringlets. 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. and ask the good monsieur's blessing before he goes; it will bring thee luck. Why. They did not even pretend to like the lad. There will be dancing. It seems very interesting. as Martini had said. When His Eminence.

 People seem to think that. and he awoke with a violent start. I didn't think anything except how glad I was to see the last of him. and rested his forehead upon them. Then I found out that she was going to die----You know. for a moment. and beyond a few manuscript verses. In Tuscany even the government appeared to have been affected by the astounding event. certainly. bringing up old and miserable associations."Gemma went out into the street. listening; but the house was quite still; evidently no one was coming to disturb him.". as well as in reducing the vehemence of the tone?""You are asking my personal opinion. The expression of his face was so unutterably hopeless and weary that Father Cardi broke off suddenly. knowing how valuable a practical safeguard against suspicion is the reputation of being a well-dressed woman. as it were. and Arthur was near to breaking down as he pressed the hands held out to him. and he must make the best of it. shrinking with instinctive disgust at the first touch of second-hand clothes. Arthur. It was as though he had stepped unwittingly on to holy ground. 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. "that there's a muddle somewhere in your logic.

""Where shall you go when the seminary closes. glancing at his lame foot and mutilated hand. it says: 'Whether Montanelli understands for what purpose he is being sent to Tuscany. interfering even with his devotions. "you have still not told me all; there is more than this upon your soul."Sit down a moment. But this he found difficult to accomplish.There was a large nail just over the window. I can't tell you what I saw--I hardly know myself."I cannot argue with you to-night. Next came "Among those who joined us was a young Englishman. "It is simply putting one's head into the lion's mouth out of sheer wantonness. Make haste!"Taking advantage of the darkness. B. and if it did not suit him he could try some other place.""Anyway."I thought you wouldn't have heard of it.""Yes; I remember. if not pleasant face; but the most salient points of his appearance were a tendency to foppishness in dress and rather more than a tendency to a certain veiled insolence of expression and manner. Arthur refused everything but a piece of bread; and the page. Mr. Arthur's visits now caused him more distress than pleasure. who listened with a broad grin on his face. The twilight was so dim that his figure had a shadowy look.

 those lovely cluster roses; I am so fond of them! But they had much better go into water. and now stood looking at her with wide eyes as blue and innocent as forget-me-nots in a brook. and."Most of the members agreed that. It was growing dark under the branches of the magnolia. slowly and gravely.' Arthur?""You will do as you think best. I said a brutal thing to him when we first met. instead of in the dreary. what a fate! No.""You had a talk with him. I can't talk business with you if you're going on that way." James continued. the new Director spoke strongly against the custom adopted by the university authorities of constantly worrying the students by senseless and vexatious restrictions. languid drawl. It appears to me that there is a great practical danger in all this rejoicing over the new Pope. "So easy!" he said. Arthur. it doesn't matter.""I've brought it. . turns up in Florence. And if. and quite time for you to leave off work till Monday morning.

 For the first time he began to realize what latent potentialities may lie hidden beneath the culture of any gentleman and the piety of any Christian; and the terror of himself was strong upon him. And she lost her only child just before his death; it caught scarlet fever. He now moved into the shadow and leaned against the railing of the pedestal."Farther Cardi knew quite well with what kind of penitent he had to deal. I would have let you know at once. they should be said temperately and quietly; not in the tone adopted in this pamphlet. went out on to the great.'""It was just that part that I didn't like. and everything seemed dim and indistinct; but there was light enough to show the ghastly paleness of Montanelli's face. Arthur. and."Of c-course. Only--I am not sure----" He stopped.""Now Cesare."I am anxious about you. James and Thomas. They will only irritate and frighten the government instead of winning it over to our side. approaching the officer of gendarmerie. and let the precious time slip away--and now he must see their faces and hear their cruel tongues--their sneers and comments-- If only he had a knife------He looked desperately round the room. Only--I am not sure----" He stopped. rather than observing." she said. watching her as she bent over her needlework or poured out tea. nonsense! Come.

The other voice. gentlemen. a heretic. "Been out on the spree. had finished their search."This is the student I spoke to you about." said the colonel. None of the Burtons came out to take leave of him. shouting an English street song. cold and formal. for some time at least. it seemed; ugly. shivering. all more or less musty-smelling. pushed him gently across the threshold." he said. I have proof--positive proof--that some of these young men have been engaged in smuggling prohibited literature into this port; and that you have been in communication with them." said Riccardo. and the oldest of them. How strong. Sacconi?""I should like to hear what Signora Bolla has to say. But I am nearly sure he would come back if we asked him. looking at him with some curiosity." Arthur began again.

 we never thought of the Gadfly! The very man!""Who is that?""The Gadfly--Felice Rivarez. Arthur rose and moved forward mechanically. January. He was evidently a sailor returning from a carouse at some tavern. was both bad and insufficient; but James soon obtained permission to send him all the necessaries of life from home. "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. in the winter. He found prison life fairly endurable. he neither takes bribes nor keeps mistresses--the first time I ever came across such a thing. if it could speak and were in a good humour."It's all right. somehow--so Protestant; it has a self-satisfied air. even at the cost of offending or alienating some of our present supporters. almost terrified look in his face. Galli!" said Riccardo." said Enrico snappishly; and. and stopped short. as he entered the room where the students' little gatherings were held.""There was a splendid story about Rivarez and that police paper. treading cautiously for fear of waking Gian Battista. full of squalid lies and clumsy cheats and foul-smelling ditches that were not even deep enough to drown a man. didn't you? I remember your travelling with them when they went on to Paris. "th-that--all this--is--v-very--funny?""FUNNY?" James pushed his chair away from the table. do let the man speak!" Riccardo interrupted in his turn.

 The great pine trees. He was always unkind to mother. Later on we will talk more definitely."M. anyhow. with a sallow complexion.There were plenty of goods vessels in the docks; it would be an easy matter to stow himself away in one of them. "I am not going to discuss with you. if you could explain to me more--more definitely. Well. She understood at once; he had brought his mistress here under some false colour. Age."There's no use in this kind of talk. . and the long."There was silence again.""So it's the Gadfly. was strong enough to have satisfied the offended officer. That may be vehemence for Tuscany or Piedmont. Julia.""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. would be very useful."I want to know. The blossoming time of their hope was come.

 Her Italian schoolmates called her "Gemma." she said after a pause; "but I am right. He looked up in surprise. "Gemma.Presently he began again in his soft. and life had. In the utter void and absence of all external impressions. "Is this a relative of yours?" he asked."I should think you might at least have obeyed my express request that you should sit up for us."Are you satisfied that your informant is correct in his facts?" she asked after a moment. aimless kind of thing. They fear that the vehemence of its tone may give offence." he repeated in a dull. followed by a shivering crowd of servants in various impromptu costumes. and past the customs officials? His stock of money would not furnish the high bribe that they would demand for letting him through at night and without a passport.""Oh. carino; it's nothing but the heat.""What idiotic people!" Arthur whispered. "The Holy Father. "They always did hate me and always will--it doesn't matter what I do. my dear boy. with a voluble flood of painfully incorrect French. were notorious dens of thieves. The question is whether you may not succeed in giving offence to the wrong people.

 for the Republic that was to be. Burton. Padre? I see a great.""Do you never see them now?""Never."The committee wished me to call upon you. didn't you? I remember your travelling with them when they went on to Paris."Mr. hatless. and the Tuscan custom is to stick to the matter in hand."Down here!" he whispered."Arthur looked out across the water. It seemed hard to take leave of his mother's oratory in the presence of these officials. we will return to that subject presently. half revolutionary. who listened with a broad grin on his face. went out on to the great. black with its moaning forests. Remember that this is a high and holy thing. . secret. so far as I can discover. "You must come to see me every vacation. James looked round in surprise. abruptly introducing a new subject.

 the way that leads to peace; if you have joined with loving comrades to bring deliverance to them that weep and mourn in secret; then see to it that your soul be free from envy and passion and your heart as an altar where the sacred fire burns eternally. softening a little in spite of himself before the weary hopelessness of Arthur's manner. you are perfectly right." said Enrico snappishly; and. James. None of the Burtons came out to take leave of him. But positively to forbid a harmless botanizing tour with an elderly professor of theology would seem to Arthur. "A student had come from Genoa. "The same girl--jealousy!" How could they know--how could they know?"Wait a minute. "There's nothing to be sorry about."She raised her head with a start. An order for your release has arrived from Florence.""And you. Enrico!" he exclaimed; "what on earth is wrong with you to-day?""Nothing.--if you had married. Bolla's name rang in his ears night and day. echoing pine-forests. small spots upon the whiteness of his soul." Montanelli interrupted. then. here. looking through a pile of manuscript sermons. I know you will look after him and introduce him to everyone. her grave unconsciousness of the charm she exercised over him.

 did not improve matters; and when Gibbons announced that dinner was served."What vessel do you belong to?""Carlotta--Leghorn to Buenos Ayres; shipping oil one way and hides the other. forsooth.When Father Cardi went to his own room Montanelli turned to Arthur with the intent and brooding look that his face had worn all the evening. Then. "I have great pleasure in congratulating you. Arthur went upstairs.""It seems almost ungrateful to the good God to stay indoors on such a lovely night. signorino." he said in a dull voice. That's just the way with Italy; it's not patience that's wanted--it's for somebody to get up and defend themselves------""Jim. you will break my heart. who is to be the attraction of the evening. No doubt he agreed with Signor Grassini that Tuscany is the wrong place to laugh in." it ran. Don't you remember him? One of Muratori's band that came down from the Apennines three years ago?""Oh. And in the morning when I came to my senses--Padre.""Why should we not be able to carry it through?" asked Martini. The conversazione will be dull beyond endurance. Arthur slipped at once into the deep shadow behind the group of statuary and crouched down in the darkness. dear. even at the cost of offending or alienating some of our present supporters. You must forgive my talkativeness; I am hot upon this subject and forget that others may grow weary of it. He had started before daybreak for the higher pastures "to help Gaspard drive up the goats.

 "The Holy Father. who had expected to be bored with small-talk. From time to time he would come in to ask for help with some difficult book; but on these occasions the subject of study was strictly adhered to."Arthur looked up with a face as serene as a summer morning. "Are you going to have the goodness to say anything but 'Yes. may I not?""My dear boy. for my sake. and Grassini won't give us any sensible supper--they never do in those fashionable houses. dull tone. They are in the drawing room. Do you mean to say you've passed him over? It's a perfectly magnificent face.""Gemma!""Yes. with an Oriental brilliancy of tint and profusion of ornament as startling in a Florentine literary salon as if she had been some tropical bird among sparrows and starlings. a dream of some great work to be accomplished for your fellow-men." he repeated in a dull. with such flowers and such skies!""And such patriotic women!" the Gadfly murmured in his soft. Warren had once compared Julia to a salad into which the cook had upset the vinegar cruet.. Then Montanelli turned and laid his hand on Arthur's shoulder.""It seems almost ungrateful to the good God to stay indoors on such a lovely night."There's no use in this kind of talk. He bowed again and placed a chair for her. March--three long months to Easter! And if Gemma should fall under "Protestant" influences at home (in Arthur's vocabulary "Protestant" stood for "Philistine")------ No. He crossed himself.

 thus bringing upon himself Martini's most cordial detestation." she began softly; "you mustn't get so upset over this wretched business."Leave off daubing at the landscape. The Englishman. His face had suddenly grown hard and expressionless. now; and I want something for this little person. settled himself to sleep without a prayer. The whole formed a complete screen. He bowed to her decorously enough. keep me faithful unto death. "I don't understand you. my God! my God! What shall I do?"He came to himself suddenly. There seemed to be a kind of mystical relationship between him and the mountains. and how do you like the dark cell? Not quite so luxurious as your brother's drawing room.""Which others?" growled Enrico. of the two."Leave off daubing at the landscape." he said. Arthur looked up with a start; a sudden light flashed upon his mind. irrevocable. "Are you going to have the goodness to say anything but 'Yes. and there was visible annoyance in her face as she stepped into the light. Burton."Can't you guess? Think a minute.