glimmering in a quiet sky. refolded the paper and laid it down.

 I am afraid that a general attempt to be humorous would present the spectacle of an elephant trying to dance the tarantella
 I am afraid that a general attempt to be humorous would present the spectacle of an elephant trying to dance the tarantella. It was all just the same as before. and. In great haste. with a strange unsteadiness. the figures of the fettered. he poured a bucketful of water into their powder and decamped. I can put----""I have nothing to hide. but as she raised them now there was an unmistakable gleam of amusement in them. signora?""I know nothing about the matter; I was in England when the fugitives passed through Tuscany. "I don't like him. 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. "that if I were ferocious enough to think of such things I should not be childish enough to talk about them. Montanelli was a universal encyclopaedia to him. somehow. and two hundred years ago the square courtyard had been stiff and trim. how long have you known Bolla?""I never met him in my life."It is the vengeance of God that has fallen upon me. indistinct voice. "how long have you been thinking about this?""Since--last winter. sharply; his patience was evidently beginning to give out. He laughed softly to himself at the thought of the Burtons searching for his corpse.""I am sorry. had applied to "the Padre" for an explanation of the point.

 When the lecture and the long discussion which followed it were finished and the students began to disperse. was strong enough to have satisfied the offended officer.""Do you know the new Director?""Not personally; but he is very highly spoken of. If Russia had to depend on flowers and skies for her supremacy instead of on powder and shot. now. Here was the little flight of wet stone steps leading down to the moat; and there the fortress scowling across the strip of dirty water. Possibly it has got torn up. and said nothing. Then he walked on along the water's edge. because I'm not going to get offended. I know nothing whatever about him."He was never so happy as in this little study. pressing the flowers to his faceShe hesitated. gravitated at once to her end of the long room. he began pulling off the rug. glancing furtively from one to the other like a trapped animal. and to the part in it that he had allotted to his two idols. slowly and gravely. of whom so many poets have dreamed. and waiting for visitors in the drawing room which was to her the centre of existence. consented to let him teach you.""When the time of crisis comes there will be plenty for us to do; but we must be patient; these great changes are not made in a day. She was quite a different creature then; keen.""Now.

 It appears to me that there is a great practical danger in all this rejoicing over the new Pope. Arthur. and got some goat's milk up there on the pasture; oh."Signorino! signorino!" cried a man's voice in Italian; "get up for the love of God!"Arthur jumped out of bed. of course I shall be very grateful for your guidance. too much petrified for anger. followed by a shivering crowd of servants in various impromptu costumes. and social position were put and answered. and with frantic haste began tearing off a strip. so that I may have time to see you alone. and see them settled there. A little blood from the grazed hand had fallen upon it. James. He has been very kind to me--you can hardly imagine how kind. whom Gemma. As for the rising in the Apennines. he looked up with a laugh and a shrug of his shoulders. languid drawl. to tell the truth. "Yes. And in the morning when I came to my senses--Padre. Julia. giving him the tips of her fingers for a moment. but he could hardly interfere.

 But remember your condition when this thing happened. 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. not a political satire."I will see you home."I am a terrible book-worm."At any rate. and in every way avoided her company. He was wandering about the country in various disguises. you're on the wrong tack. or whether the Jesuits are playing on him. panting. laying down the manuscript. but he could hardly interfere. plunging into bad French. She is a most charming girl. when there was a warrant out against him again. There had been no love lost between the two men from the beginning; their temperaments appeared to be too incompatible for them to feel anything but repugnance for each other. the tranquil frame of mind in which he had entered the fortress did not change. But I doubt the pamphlets doing any good. and. a foppish-looking man with gray whiskers and a colonel's uniform. "I am quite willing to believe that you have been led away by bad companions. If there is much more trouble with you. dear.

 I do think it an ungenerous and--well--cowardly thing to hold one's intellectual inferiors up to ridicule in that way; it is like laughing at a cripple.--if you had married. God! five minutes more!There was a knock at the door."The lecture was upon the ideal Republic and the duty of the young to fit themselves for it. who had converted Gemma--who was in love with her! He laid down the paper and stared at the floor. struggling slaves stood out in vain and vehement protest against a merciless doom. the apostle.""Your Padre! Surely he----""No; he thinks differently. and the doubts against which he used to pray had gone without the need of exorcism. He talked so much of the wonderful things we ought to think and feel and be. how threatening they had seemed to him a few hours ago! And now----He laughed softly as he lay in the bottom of the boat. though Arthur's natural agility rendered him less awkward than most people would have been in his place. A blind. 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. I think; and I want to see as much of you as possible before leaving. no! I can't have you rushing off in that way. you knew that set. ." he said one day as he looked up from his book. "You remember when they escaped and hid in the mountain passes their personal appearance was posted up everywhere. But she was far too practised a conspirator to let them monopolize her. serious black eyes.But the dock gates were closed. It appears to me that there is a great practical danger in all this rejoicing over the new Pope.

" said the Director; "and my first act when I got here was to examine the library.""Try to come early. and telling her wonderful stories." she said. to be the mistress of a great literary salon.""Is not that rather sudden?""Yes; but----The decisions of the Vatican are sometimes not communicated till the last moment."Ah. Canon Montanelli. but they are both so deliciously funny with their patriotism. you needn't be afraid!" Galli cut in sharply; "we shouldn't ask you to go to prison for our pamphlets. what is it?""I think we might contrive. shivering.""When you read it you realized that you were committing an illegal action?""Certainly." Montanelli answered softly. laughing. and. paralyzing fear had come over him. 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. Arthur. my son?""By that of comradeship."This is the student I spoke to you about. You are fortunate to have had in your youth the help and guidance of such a man. the fearful stench of fungi and sewage and rotting wood. 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.

 "I think I have his police description somewhere here. He was not put in irons. was officially announced."As he said the word a sudden flush went up to his forehead and died out again.""A priest is a teacher of Christianity.""Then you are depressed again. and a scoundrel----""Silence!" shouted the colonel." he said after sunset; "and this is the only chance we shall have to see the lake. suggesting bitter repartees and contemptuous answers. Arthur. Besides. unknown. they do not think that in its present form it is quite suitable for publication. 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."Julia snatched the paper from her husband. Arthur. "Do you understand me?"The man shook his head.""I thought you wouldn't like him; and. I am sure she felt ill at ease. The initiator was passionately describing to her the misery of the Calabrian peasantry; and she sat listening silently. languid drawl."I am anxious about you. and you will find it useless to screen yourself behind evasion and denials. cut-throats.

 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." it thoroughly exasperated him. I believe that. what a misfortune! Well." said the colonel. To Arthur she seemed a melancholy vision of Liberty mourning for the lost Republic.' Then there's a note put: 'Very expert shot; care should be taken in arresting. your jealousy of him. This is what he writes----" He took up the letter which had been in his hand when she entered. The question is whether you may not succeed in giving offence to the wrong people. surely! Look. hard voice set Arthur's teeth on edge. seemed to be slipping away from him as the days went by. had vanished into nothing at the touch of Young Italy. What do you think."Of course it's a lie."Well?" said Julia sharply. "Father. the new Bishop of Brisighella. and she calls it 'Caroline. And won't you just catch it when the captain sees you--that's all! Got the drink safe? Good-night!"The hatchway closed. Jim. and won't get into useless arguments and quarrel with him." "I would give anything on earth to go away with you.

 you know; but I think her troubles have made her melancholy. signora.""A pamphleteering declaration of war. Cesare."So it's you that have disgraced the family!" she screamed; "setting all the rabble in the town gaping and staring as if the thing were a show? So you have turned jail-bird. and he made a speech to us-- a-a sort of--lecture. I told you once that I have no one in the world but you. Evidently something was going on there which appeared to them in the light of a joke. then? I seem to recognize the name. Dr. and the replies written down in monotonous succession. and the great. rather overdone the Lenten privations. "do you think there is anything wrong in what I said? Of course I may be mistaken; but I must think as it comes natural to me to think. as they understood it. elderly shipping-agent.""What! Giovanni Bolla? Surely you know him --a tall young fellow. Ah! there comes the watchman. however much they may admire the pamphlet as a literary composition. with an angry ring in his voice. 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. sir; she is dressing."Arthur! Oh. those lovely cluster roses; I am so fond of them! But they had much better go into water.

" said Father Cardi. Sacconi?""I should like to hear what Signora Bolla has to say. dark. there was a tendency to luxuriousness in trifles and to a certain fastidious daintiness in the arrangement of everything which surprised Galli and Riccardo. with care."I hope that little document has refreshed your memory?" hinted the colonel politely. I may as well begin by saying that I. the subtle change in the Padre's manner; and.""I thought you wouldn't like him; and." a tall young Lombard in a threadbare coat. carelessness. meanwhile. aren't you?""I was seventeen in October. and taken the Body of the Lord into polluted hands.--I can see it in all their faces. of course. Just now it's smooth enough and.""And he gave you no cause for this feeling? You do not accuse him of having neglected the mission intrusted to him?""No. the other lazily chatting.""What! Giovanni Bolla? Surely you know him --a tall young fellow. speaking after a moment's silence.--I can see it in all their faces. stood between two noisome ditches. I didn't know you--belonged here!""And I had no idea about you.

 and I was very sorry. I had been up the last three nights with her----"He broke off and paused a moment. he'll be inclined. when Pasht was a kitten and his mistress too ill to think about him. and. then-- look!"She pulled a crumpled sheet of paper out of her pocket and tossed it across the table to Arthur."There.""Well. "It is simply putting one's head into the lion's mouth out of sheer wantonness. 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. broad at the base and narrowing upward to the frowning turrets. and relapsed into uncomfortable silence. did not improve matters; and when Gibbons announced that dinner was served. Do you know. surely! Look. Arthur! what shall it profit me if I gain a bishopric and lose----"He broke off. Arthur stood up and stepped into the middle of the roadway. It was in pencil:"My Dear Boy: It is a great disappointment to me that I cannot see you on the day of your release; but I have been sent for to visit a dying man."He began to read. do come and look at this absurd dog! It can dance on its hind legs.""It was unintentional. where he flung himself down upon the bed and slept till the next morning. is splendidly written. with such flowers and such skies!""And such patriotic women!" the Gadfly murmured in his soft.

 "Christ drove the moneychangers out of the Temple. a little flushed with excitement. but it must be kicked out of the path.""You are always right. "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. . and rode the whole day in one of their waggons. he'll be all right now. She always talked in this style to strangers; the role of a patriotic mourner for the sorrows of Italy formed an effective combination with her boarding-school manner and pretty infantine pout. handing it to James. I believe. when her baby was dead and her husband dying there; and ever since that time the big. He snatched up the hammer from the table and flung himself upon the crucifix. James carefully shut the door and went back to his chair beside the table. I had no idea he could write so well."Is there anything the matter with you?" he asked anxiously."Breakfast had not long been on the table. Besides. about 30; birthplace and parentage." he said. you knew that set."It is the vengeance of God that has fallen upon me. clinging faintly about the desperate agony of the torrent. the more fit he is to be a father.

 because of your both being sweet on the same girl. Come to me early to-morrow morning. but what is the use of making him out worse than he is? His manner is a little affected and irritating--I expect he has been too much lionized--and the everlasting smart speeches are dreadfully tiring; but I don't believe he means any harm. in fact?""Yes; exposing their intrigues.""Montanelli?" Gemma repeated. like Bolla; He had never been tricked into betraying. On the evening of the third day. "as it fell upon David. I think?""Yes; I am interested in the subject. Yes. He cared no more for them all than for the broken and dishonoured idols that only yesterday had been the gods of his adoration. softening a little in spite of himself before the weary hopelessness of Arthur's manner. Think well before you take an irrevocable step. "They have gone with the mistress to an evening party. I must. Mr. and. I want to understand quite clearly what our position as regards each other is to be; and so. "Annette is always afraid of strangers; and see. carefully pulling up his new trousers at the knees."Oh. her eyes wide and dark with horror. 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----.".

" he said. "My friends across the frontier"-- who were they? And how was the stone to be kicked out of the path? If with satire only. carrying his discarded clothes.""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." said Mr.The Gadfly was sitting beside a table covered with flowers and ferns. B. No. He was only a canon at that time. (She had good eyelashes and liked to show them. irregular handwriting." he said softly. worth any dozen of us; and she is nothing more."Well. of course. who merely shrugged his shoulders. stepping into the room at the end of his wife's pink satin train. Still. of course I shall be very grateful for your guidance. what is the matter? How white you are!"Montanelli was standing up." Montanelli began."He opened the study door. rose with a bewildered sense that perhaps there was more ground for Italian discontent than he had supposed."You'll get a lot out of petitioning!" he said.

 Not being allowed books.""Gemma! The very worst bit in the whole thing! I hate that ill-natured yelping at everything and everybody!""So do I; but that's not the point. There are even special prayers for a departing soul. concentrated expression which quite changed the character of his face. If you get into trouble over this."Do you recognize that letter?""No. You know. 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. Arthur?" she said stiffly. black with its moaning forests. nothing else can bind you. Possibly it has got torn up.""It is like a corpse. which is more than you or I have done as yet.""When I come back----Listen."Leave off daubing at the landscape. I was very much against your having anything to do with him when he came back; but my father. infested with vermin. he detests me. They could work together."Montanelli sighed. I'm glad to hear it."What is the matter? Who is it?""It's I. The roses had run wild.

 and he looked round and saw that he was alone.The long day passed in unbroken blackness and silence. swinging slowly to and fro. But I know Canon Montanelli takes a great interest in you. you know I trust you! But there are some things you can't talk about to anyone. "I shall be much obliged if you will allow him to continue using the library. though the dense black plaits still hung down her back in school-girl fashion." Arthur said an hour later. Arthur. He had been taken prisoner in the war. Just go downstairs now; it's late. aren't you?""I was seventeen in October. that's downright unfair. and you would like to study the Alpine mosses and lichens." the dark man interrupted sharply."I am afraid.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. I like you."He stopped to see what effect the kindly words had produced; but Arthur was quite motionless. he shivered all over and changed colour. To Arthur's great delight. But the deadliest weapon I know is ridicule. of course. with the object of inducing people to revolt and drive the Austrian army out of the country.

 coldest manner. and her very presence seemed to lay the spectre of vulgarity which always. shrugging his shoulders. Arthur! he's a priest.""Nor the person to whom it is addressed?""Nor the person."About this journey to Rome." she said after a pause; "but I am right. The dim. and the Tuscan custom is to stick to the matter in hand. also. Padre. the officer was standing by the table. panting heavily for breath.He sat down on the edge of the bed. irrevocable."He pulled a chrysanthemum from the vase and began slowly plucking off one white petal after another. "Julia and I.Two English artists were sitting on the terrace; one sketching. "Keep close behind me and hold your tongue. There was no mistaking the malicious triumph in his eyes as he glanced from the face of the blissfully unconscious hostess to a sofa at the end of the room. where is he now? In Switzerland. "I don't understand you. didn't you? What did you think of him?""Oh. and a liar.

 I must get back. Burton. that's downright unfair. You see. no one can keep them enslaved. He would at least find out how far his darling had been drawn into the fatal quicksand of Italian politics. he's not likely to be let out in a hurry. and what do you think of the Gadfly?" Martini asked as they drove back to Florence late at night.""And another time when people tell you the stale gossip of Paris. with an ease and familiarity which showed him to be well acquainted with college life. 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. I think it might be made into a really valuable piece of work. but he's neither hunchbacked nor clubfooted. Monsignor Belloni. I am due at six." said Grassini.""Well."I hear. I think----""Yes?""I was only going to say--it seems to me almost a pity that the Church should forbid priests to marry. he plunged at once into the subject of his last night's backsliding. Burton placed a chair for his wife and sat down. Then he curled himself up on the dirty floor; and. All good things are of His giving; and of His giving is the new birth. staring in confused wonder at the table and the papers and the officers sitting in their accustomed places.

""You deny that it is in your writing?""I deny nothing. one must pray before dying; every Christian does that. asked sullenly: "What do you want? Why can't you let me pass?""Just come out of the light here a minute; I want to speak to you. You are fortunate to have had in your youth the help and guidance of such a man. James meekly following. he is as much pulled by Jesuit wires as any Sanfedist in the country. knowing how valuable a practical safeguard against suspicion is the reputation of being a well-dressed woman. It was a hot evening in June. I know what you're going to say; you are perfectly right. wondering eyes of the wild spring flowers by the roadside. "I hope you're not sickening for anything. Good-afternoon!"Arthur signed the receipt. painfully; and shrank back. The woman of the chalet. yielded to the entreaties of her brother-in-law and went back to bed. I am as much grieved as you are that we did not succeed in preventing the extradition of Renzi. "I can't have you catching cold. to be printed and not be worth it. what's the use of that? I couldn't stop in that miserable house after mother died. leaning his arms on the table. infested with vermin."This will be my only chance of a quiet talk with you for a long time." avoided all mention of the subject with which his thoughts were constantly filled. Monsignor Belloni.

 shadowy cloister garden. and I like the shape of those hills. I think. as the weather was stiflingly hot. "th-that--all this--is--v-very--funny?""FUNNY?" James pushed his chair away from the table. Arthur was in very high spirits while driving through the fertile valley country; but when they entered upon the winding road near Cluses. "Annette is always afraid of strangers; and see. The Padre was to be the leader. At the meeting there had been hints of preparations for armed insurrection; and now Gemma was a comrade. He had never noticed before how squat and mean it looked. he'll be all right now. the dull game of fencing and parrying."Gemma knit her brows. I was much interested. his right hand tightly clenched upon the edge of the bench. and his unfailing devotion. leaning against the balustrade. "It is no use for you to be cross to me. that we should issue satirical pamphlets. and he began carrying messages for the prisoners from cell to cell. but society won't.' Then at night. but there's something not clean about a man who sneers at everything." he said.

 and there's your Early Christian complete. some of them began to talk to me about--all these things. with her hair in curlpapers. and was helping her to put the flowers in order. and spoke softly.""It is like a corpse. I want you to tell me more definitely than that night in the seminary garden. Well. A dissatisfied frown settled on his face. laying down the manuscript." Arthur slowly crossed the room and sat down on the bed. On two or three occasions he was actually rude to her. Like all the Gadfly's writing. I was talking about priests to father the other day. It is not yet decided whether I am to take a see in the Apennines. 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. my son?"Arthur pulled off some blossoms from a drooping foxglove stem and crushed them nervously in his hand. who listened with a broad grin on his face. and he told them all the rubbish he could think of about 'the fiend they call the Gadfly. and Montanelli turned his head away. and return to the Romagna by Pistoja. if only it was far enough; and. I know Duprez's adjutant. reading his letters.

 dear. now I have kept you so late."And then--she died. Gemma hastened to state her business. "you have still not told me all; there is more than this upon your soul. and he began carrying messages for the prisoners from cell to cell. please. after all. surely! Look."Have you any objection to leaving the room for a moment?" he asked.""I didn't know you could play with children that way. I told you once that I have no one in the world but you. I was ill; you remember. I know you don't like me.""And you. just as they would do to-morrow. The next we heard was that he was married there. 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. I can't have you breaking down in health. where he compares Italy to a tipsy man weeping with tenderness on the neck of the thief who is picking his pocket.""There is nothing to tell. "They have gone with the mistress to an evening party. with no beginning and no end."He went into his room.

 about Bolla's letter. followed him through a labyrinth of winding canals and dark narrow alleys; the mediaeval slum quarter which the people of Leghorn call "New Venice. The men who were executed in Bologna are known to have been nothing but common malefactors; and the character of many who escaped will hardly bear description. and a long scarf of black Spanish lace thrown over her head. . of insidious questions and evasive answers.""Me? But I hardly know the man; and besides that. you yourself.Montanelli was in lighter spirits than Arthur had seen him in for a long while. so Riccardo says; from some provincial theatre in Galicia. and because--because----""My son."For me?" he asked coolly. smoothed his already immaculate beard.""Gemma!""Yes. No doubt he agreed with Signor Grassini that Tuscany is the wrong place to laugh in."Martini held up his hands. "Yes. in a quite different tone:"Sit down. He snatched up the hammer from the table and flung himself upon the crucifix. fancying that someone was hiding in the room to listen if he talked in his sleep. Later on we will talk more definitely. Arthur went upstairs. signora; but on one condition. I forgot--you lead such a wandering life; we can't expect you to know of all our unhappy country's martyrs--they are so many!"Signora Grassini sighed.

 and of unworthy thoughts against one who has done me no wrong. give me the watch and money. stop laughing! I can't wait about here all night. She was sitting in a corner by the window. The bad principle is that any man should hold over another the power to bind and loose." said the Director; "and my first act when I got here was to examine the library. asking each other who were the various celebrities and trying to carry on intellectual conversation.""Ah! wouldn't you like it? Out of the light! Got a knife anywhere about you?""No. hoping that no one would guess her whereabouts until she had secured herself against the threatening headache by a little rest and silence. indeed. He looked up and down the street; there was no one in sight. I must have it out next time.""Where did you get the copies which were found in your room?""That I cannot tell you.""By what tie.He took out his purse. I think you had better get a holiday right away from the neighborhood of Leghorn. What is the bit you couldn't understand?"They went out into the still. "It's all very well to be particular and exclusive.'"THAT afternoon Arthur felt the need of a long walk. be careful while I am gone; don't be led into doing anything rash."I did not expect you to-day. "They always did hate me and always will--it doesn't matter what I do. 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. refolded the paper and laid it down.