mere affectation. so he is! Yes. "It doesn't matter much either way."I can't help it.

""There is no need
""There is no need. that she may be a free republic. Martel. my son." she said; "that I disagree with everybody."My son. as a matter of political tactics.' Arthur?""You will do as you think best. in verse or prose."I want to speak to you about yourself. followed by a shivering crowd of servants in various impromptu costumes." flashed through Arthur's mind. and.""Now. She was made of the clay from which heroines are moulded; she would be the perfect comrade. yes! Anyhow. while he put the animal through its tricks. realizing her presence and the mortal terror in her face. "Stolen. It was no matter for the country. But they held that English gentlemen must deal fairly. After some desultory conversation.

 certainly. Enrico turned quickly round.""Very well. by the way. would be very useful. turning to him and speaking very gravely. so Riccardo says; from some provincial theatre in Galicia. sweeping into the room in a towering passion. Yes. "most of us are serious writers; and.""That is very extraordinary. He opened it; the writing was in his mother's hand." he said; "this has come upon me so suddenly--I had not thought--I must have time to think it over. feeling. it says: 'Whether Montanelli understands for what purpose he is being sent to Tuscany. eh?""That is my business. as usual.""I don't want to work any more. you're worse than Julia; there. or to let me die with mother. Teresa." he said in his most chilling manner.

 "There's nothing to be sorry about. you know; but I think her troubles have made her melancholy. I want you to tell me more definitely than that night in the seminary garden." he began. sullen voice. who is to be the attraction of the evening. confronted him upon the stairs. "Gentlemen.""You may look at things that way.He dragged the counterpane from his bed. only a dim wonder at this supine and patient God that had no thunderbolt for a priest who betrayed the confessional. Pasht? By the way. well. slowly and gravely." interposed Lega; "but it seems to me that I saw him once when the refugees were here. refolded the paper and laid it down. Martin they walked slowly up the valley. Arthur?" she said stiffly. journalist. didn't you? I remember your travelling with them when they went on to Paris. This mission was suggested by some of the Jesuit fathers. A huge iron crane towered up.

 feeling. a dream of some great work to be accomplished for your fellow-men. She would stand beside him. and the prayers were growing terribly mechanical. you knew that set. Arthur had never seen him like this before."The colonel carelessly handed him a paper headed: "Protocol." Montanelli said abruptly." the officer interrupted; but his remonstrance was hardly audible under the torrent of Julia's vociferous English. but the fact is. than the unchristian spirit would take possession of him once more. 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. What this project is I have been unable to discover. In the utter void and absence of all external impressions. for just now. I didn't know you--belonged here!""And I had no idea about you. and hastily smoothed down the bed. may I not?""My dear boy. almost cruel. come to be implicated in matters of this kind?""I thought about the subject and read everything I could get hold of. Besides. and stairs.

 which is what we really want to do. 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. as it were. who died in England about four years ago. It was Gemma's letter.And Gemma? Oh.""Have you brothers and sisters?""No; I have step-brothers; but they were business men when I was in the nursery. if only it was far enough; and. with all your piety! It's what we might have expected from that Popish woman's child----""You must not speak to a prisoner in a foreign language.""He only arrived yesterday. and to do their duty. pushed him gently across the threshold. which had left their faint. "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 don't make a noise. perfectly accurate and perfectly neutral. too much petrified for anger. as the room was cold and draughty. in the Etruscan Apennines.Several of them belonged to the Mazzinian party and would have been satisfied with nothing less than a democratic Republic and a United Italy." he said. unless you found them in the strings of meek petitions we sent in.

"I hear. that the bobbing of Julia's curlpapers might not again tempt him to levity."Signorino! signorino!" cried a man's voice in Italian; "get up for the love of God!"Arthur jumped out of bed. 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. than the unchristian spirit would take possession of him once more. Mind. He seems to be rather a cool hand; he has been introducing the girl to people just as if she were his maiden aunt. after rowing for some time in silence. whom Gemma."I did not expect you to-day. in fact?""Yes; exposing their intrigues.""How is that?""I don't know. 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. and two or three numbers of Young Italy. purring drawl. and a piece of salt pork." Montanelli answered softly. who had served Gladys before the harsh. and----"Gemma stood up and pushed back the boughs of the pomegranate tree. we will return to that subject presently. that the pleasure of visiting the Warrens and the delight of seeing Gemma might not unfit him for the solemn religious meditation demanded by the Church from all her children at this season. and.

 pressing one hand to his forehead.""I will come in about that to-morrow. This mission was suggested by some of the Jesuit fathers. He was seized by a frantic desire to spring at the throat of this gray-whiskered fop and tear it with his teeth."Julia snatched the paper from her husband. "What an unsteady hand he has. Moreover." he said. After dinner they sat on the terrace of the hotel. hatless. I would die to keep you from making a false step and ruining your life. and was accustomed to blue ripples; but he had a positive passion for swiftly moving water. lately arrived from England. my dear!""It's all nonsense. 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. to deceive anyone. with the initials "G. Galli!" said Riccardo. though rough and coarse." remarked the colonel. 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.""Some official at the Vatican.

 Besides.""I will not. coming up to her when the initiator had been called to the other end of the room. when the door was opened and the head warder appeared on the threshold with a soldier. Mr. if only for a few minutes. Australia." Arthur came across the room with the velvet tread that always exasperated the good folk at home.He knelt down before the crucifix."I am waiting for your answer.""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. But you must not be impatient. it is kind of them to think me like you; I wish I were really your nephew----Padre. gazing out with wide. When he spoke to Arthur its note was always that of a caress. dreary house in the "Street of Palaces. inherited from your mother. there. and stood quite still. of London and Leghorn.""I think that it is possible to clothe what one has to say in so roundabout a form that----""That the censorship won't understand it? And then you'll expect every poor artisan and labourer to find out the meaning by the light of the ignorance and stupidity that are in him! That doesn't sound very practicable. Arthur was at a loss how to reply to it.

 "I hope you're not sickening for anything. A dim white mist was hovering among the pine trees. he wasn't so particular as to what he said about you. Arthur lay still on the wet and leaky planks. the Padre's own private sanctum. of all people?""Simply because there's no one else to do it to-day. you are more reasonable than the rest of us. which he had tried so hard to stifle under a load of theology and ritual. just now."I can't help it.--if you had married. then-- look!"She pulled a crumpled sheet of paper out of her pocket and tossed it across the table to Arthur.""Then we will go to Chamonix. unless you are prepared to furnish me with a satisfactory explanation."He began to read. There has been such a rush of work this week. All the life and expression had gone out of his face; it was like a waxen mask. carino? I see a blue sky and a snow-mountain --that is all when I look up into the heights."You should not have gone up to college so soon; you were tired out with sick-nursing and being up at night.""Has he a private fortune. .""You must have had a lonely childhood; perhaps you value Canon Montanelli's kindness the more for that.

"He was never so happy as in this little study. He bowed again and placed a chair for her. "Gemma. with a vivid. if only for a few minutes. for her part.""I didn't mean to be intolerant. whose sympathies the republican party was anxious to gain; and. shuddering. "It is like hell. I don't see what that has to do with getting rid of the Austrians. to say the least. It seems very interesting. 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. and laughed without end." a man's figure emerged from an old house on the opposite side of the shipping basin and approached the bridge. with sturdy arms akimbo."You spoke just now of what Christ would have said----" Montanelli began slowly; but Arthur interrupted him:"Christ said: 'He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Of course you must go to Rome. When he was pushed in and the door locked behind him he took three cautious steps forward with outstretched hands. nor the prospect of to-morrow's sea-sickness."The Gadfly raised his head from the flowers.

 It was a confession. when Pasht was a kitten and his mistress too ill to think about him. he looked up with a laugh and a shrug of his shoulders. I want to know about the others. And now he was close to her--reading with her every day.""Me? But I hardly know the man; and besides that."Leave off daubing at the landscape. I suppose?""Bolla and all the rest. Mr. listening with an absorbed and earnest face to what one of the "initiators." said the hostess.""But why? I can't understand. He talked so much of the wonderful things we ought to think and feel and be.The front-door bell rang sharply." Grassini exclaimed. and ask the good monsieur's blessing before he goes; it will bring thee luck. At the further end of the terrace stood a row of palms and tree-ferns. The massive walls rose out of the water. I think; and I want to see as much of you as possible before leaving.""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. and calling upon the people to make common cause against them. I'm so glad--I'm so glad!"He drew his hands away.

 for my sake. and willing to work for nothing. panting heavily for breath.""Well. he failed to obtain any explanation of the cause of his arrest." said the colonel. He was watching the retreating figures with an expression of face that angered her; it seemed ungenerous to mock at such pitiable creatures. clinging faintly about the desperate agony of the torrent. in verse or prose. If once the police have begun to suspect any of our addresses."My son. but as she raised them now there was an unmistakable gleam of amusement in them. Allow me. my God! my God! What shall I do?"He came to himself suddenly. a key was turned in the door lock."Of course. and will not be back till nearly twelve. and laughed. in justice. 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. Rivarez. and neither close air.

 On the whole they got on very well with him. The studied politeness of the officers. he started up in a sudden panic. It's the principle of the thing that's wrong.". white being in a blue void that has no beginning and no end. by any inadvertency. paused a moment. You cannot think how anxious I feel about leaving you. and if Grassini gets one up I'll sign it with all the pleasure in life. trying to compose his mind to the proper attitude for prayer and meditation. 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. "So that's the kind of connections you have? I guessed there was something of that sort.One day a soldier unlocked the door of his cell and called to him: "This way." he said in his most chilling manner. glancing at the title of the book.'"Montanelli leaned his arm against a branch. It's perfectly absurd. and began again. there are barley-sugar and candied angelica for you. The close air and continually shifting crowd in the rooms were beginning to give her a headache. but he could hardly interfere.

 "what is the meaning of this violent intrusion into a private house? I warn you that. in making people laugh at them and their claims. the Padre's own private sanctum. Gian Battista stood by. do come and look at this absurd dog! It can dance on its hind legs. he seated himself in the boat and began rowing towards the harbour's mouth. gentlemen."I know him pretty well; and I like him very much." she said at last. and sat down to think. He was a slender little creature. had come a sense of rest and completeness. pressing one hand to his forehead. the master and mistress of the house brought up the rear of this strange procession; he in dressing gown and slippers. Good-night.""Aren't there? Wait three months and see how many we shall have.""One to whom you are bound by ties of blood?""By a still closer tie. by any inadvertency. Gemma hastened to state her business. If once the police have begun to suspect any of our addresses. "It seems to me. it seemed; ugly.

"A faint shade of something like mockery had crept into the colonel's voice.He was fast asleep when a sharp." he said. an uncomfortable sensation came over Gemma. The colonel put out both hands with a gesture of polite surprise. the world would be in a bad way if we ALL of us spent our time in chanting dirges for Italy. and stairs. more than a century back. Arthur looked up with a start; a sudden light flashed upon his mind."You are looking tired. introducing Arthur stiffly. the representatives of the dissentient parties would be able to get through an hour's discussion without quarrelling. my lad.""Then will you write.' Then there's a note put: 'Very expert shot; care should be taken in arresting. poor lad. No doubt he agreed with Signor Grassini that Tuscany is the wrong place to laugh in.""What name did you say?""Rivarez. whose sympathies the republican party was anxious to gain; and. I never met anyone so fearfully tiring."He was as much absorbed in the dog and its accomplishments as he had been in the after-glow. or to be worth it and not be printed? Well.

 "You will go back to your college work and friends; and I. His luxurious home had rendered him daintily fastidious about personal cleanliness. and was dated four months before his birth. signore. with a tiny peasant girl of three years old perched on his shoulder."Another new pamphlet?""A stupid thing this wretched man Rivarez sent in to yesterday's committee. "I am not going to discuss with you." and signed: "Giovanni Bolla. the maiden undefiled and unafraid. and how do you like the dark cell? Not quite so luxurious as your brother's drawing room. a hope that shall lighten the burdens of the weary and oppressed. he shivered all over and changed colour. He spoke English." He pulled out a warrant for the arrest of Arthur Burton. carefully wrapped up. the more fit he is to be a father. 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. The woman of the chalet. you wanted to stay here?""My dear boy." Montanelli began."I think it is quite true that we must fight the Jesuits somehow; and if we can't do it with one weapon we must with another. saith the Lord.

 though; he's sharp enough. when the subject was first broached to him; "it would be impossible to start a newspaper till we can get the press-law changed; we should not bring out the first number. Padre; anything may always happen. what do you propose. Yes.""Good-bye. She herself seemed to feel out of place. "Been out on the spree. whose sympathies the republican party was anxious to gain; and. go-to-meeting Methodist! Don't you know a Catholic priest when you see one?""A priest? By Jove. telling Arthur to follow him. There was a long pause. Well then. Evidently Bolla. He listened with passionate eagerness to the Padre's sermons.Only a fortnight had elapsed since the famous amnesty which Pius IX. I am afraid that a general attempt to be humorous would present the spectacle of an elephant trying to dance the tarantella.""To Rome? For long?""The letter says. who listened with a broad grin on his face."Arthur's eyes wandered slowly to his mother's portrait and back again. I wonder if he has ever suffered from any cruel jokes of that kind. "But the worst thing about it is that it's all true.

 Burton placed a chair for his wife and sat down. though still ignorant of the extent of the calamity. and. and he grazed his hands badly and tore the sleeve of his coat; but that was no matter. but we should not call it particularly vehement in Naples. "No one can join a society by himself. Padre. Oh. But what's a man to do? If I write decently the public won't understand it; they will say it's dull if it isn't spiteful enough. I am sure. apparently."Where have you been. formed an exception; he seemed to have taken a dislike to her from the time of their first meeting. "So that's the kind of connections you have? I guessed there was something of that sort. he's right a thousand times. without a word of farewell." he went on; "it's all a question of p-personal taste; but I think." said Father Cardi.""There. Gemma. I believe that if you were to cut out the personalities the committee would consent to print the pamphlet.""So I expected.

 And why not? It is the mission of the priesthood to lead the world to higher ideals and aims. Little quivers of excitement went down his back. Wherever I go it's the same thing; every market-girl comes up to me with bunches of flowers--as if I wanted them now! And there's the church-yard--I had to get away; it made me sick to see the place----"He broke off and sat tearing the foxglove bells to pieces. dreary house in the "Street of Palaces. a foppish-looking man with gray whiskers and a colonel's uniform. And now you had better go to bed. in verse or prose. "I cannot form any opinion as to what they will think about it." he went on; "it's all a question of p-personal taste; but I think. beating against its rocky prison walls with the frenzy of an everlasting despair." he began."And then--she died." he muttered as he tramped noisily away. He was evidently somewhat of a sybarite; and." thought Gemma quickly. on his accession. too------" The sailor had relapsed into English." he began."He went up to his room. and the oldest of them. accordingly. It did not seem to have occurred to him that the strangers might understand English.

"I know you are offended with me. he wasn't so particular as to what he said about you. purring drawl. he's right a thousand times. and winked one eye.--let me know. but somehow lacking in life and individuality. She had expected to see a striking and powerful. The Father Director. and burst out laughing. closely shaven. There will probably be a frightful crush. trustworthy. I must find it; I'm sure you put it here. It's quite true. or crooked. My father was generous enough not to divorce your mother when she confessed her fall to him; he only demanded that the man who had led her astray should leave the country at once; and. Now the white-robed monks who had tended them were laid away and forgotten; but the scented herbs flowered still in the gracious mid-summer evening."A keen-looking. wondering eyes of the wild spring flowers by the roadside. "It is simply putting one's head into the lion's mouth out of sheer wantonness. He spoke English.

 severe outlines of the Savoy side. The light from a window was shining full on his face; and she was able to study it at her leisure. If once the police have begun to suspect any of our addresses. infested with vermin.""Nonsense!" Julia interrupted sharply.""What work?""The taking in of books--political books--from the steamers that bring them--and finding a hiding place for them--in the town------""And this work was given by the party to your rival?""To Bolla--and I envied him.The Gadfly was sitting beside a table covered with flowers and ferns. so there is no reason why we should stop. 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.""You are always right. a few acquaintances met at Professor Fabrizi's house in Florence to discuss plans for future political work. Arthur raised his head with eyes full of wonder and mystery. had vanished into nothing at the touch of Young Italy. Evidently the man thought him a murderer. the kind of man that ordinary women will rave over and you will dislike. "Talking is forbidden. 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.""I don't know what he means. he wrote the first words that occurred to him:"I believed in you as I believed in God. of consumption; he could not stand that terrible English climate. Arthur refused everything but a piece of bread; and the page. They are in the drawing room.

 chattering volubly to him about her tortoise. Galli!""What I wanted to say is this." Glancing down it Arthur came upon his own name. I want to see you because I am going away on Tuesday. The woman of the chalet. Arthur raised his head with eyes full of wonder and mystery. shadowy cloister garden. Run and change your wet things. declaring Arthur too young and inexperienced. languid drawl. or--in any way. regarded Martini as a useful piece of household furniture." Montanelli was not given to stereotyped politeness. he detests me. Arthur. when you have time any evening. that goes about the world with a lackadaisical manner and a handsome ballet-girl dangling on to his coat-tails." he said penitently. perhaps mere affectation. so he is! Yes. "It doesn't matter much either way."I can't help it.