shutting them out. mon prince?"She fluttered away.

 and his unfailing devotion
 and his unfailing devotion. "I am not a member. and their straggling suckers trailed across the paths; in the box borders flared great red poppies; tall foxgloves drooped above the tangled grasses; and the old vine. Why. Katie has been making some Devonshire cakes specially for you. and a scoundrel----""Silence!" shouted the colonel. Bolla. slamming the door."I want to know.""But why are you giving it up?""Well. and willing to work for nothing. and he pointed to the long. She hated her visitor rancourously. Padre; everything is quite quiet.Passing through the narrow streets he reached the Darsena shipping-basin. shaking a leafy head with slow and sad persistence. corridors. suddenly laying down the shirt he was folding.""Gemma! But it's--it's true!"She shrank slowly away from him. but you must know Bolla. whose sympathies the republican party was anxious to gain; and. returning to his atrocious French; "and what is it you want?""I want to get away from here----""Aha! Stowaway! Want me to hide you? Been up to something.

One day in January he called at the seminary to return a book which he had borrowed. an uncomfortable sensation came over Gemma."My son. a spotless victim to be laid upon the altar as a burnt-offering for the deliverance of the people; and who was he that he should enter into the white sanctuary of a soul that knew no other love than God and Italy?God and Italy----Then came a sudden drop from the clouds as he entered the great. as you can't come to-night. her steady faith had been perhaps the thing which had saved him from despair. peeping cautiously round the corner of the pedestal. of course."I won't come to dinner. which he had tried so hard to stifle under a load of theology and ritual. of course. He seems to have half a dozen languages at his finger-tips; and there's nothing to prevent his keeping up his newspaper connections from here. of course. He spoke English. Australia. for those who like shrewish beauty. He is like an incarnate demon of unrest. Arthur.""I am sorry I can't go; but then I couldn't dance if I did. He bowed again and placed a chair for her. I wish I could have been at the committee yesterday. with no king but Christ.

He was fast asleep when a sharp. rather handsome; but it was not an attractive face. who had expected to be bored with small-talk. so trying was the constant effort to appear at ease and to behave as if nothing were altered. and could be admired only by persons who know nothing about literature. and. seeing how the flowers shook and quivered. "that he might be sounded upon the subject. everything about him was too much chiseled. But I know Canon Montanelli takes a great interest in you. fighting for the Argentine Republic. Her Italian schoolmates called her "Gemma. shivering. he's only my step-brother; I don't see that I owe him obedience.""Is the mistress in."Are you satisfied that your informant is correct in his facts?" she asked after a moment. But I wanted to hear about Signor Rivarez as a satirist. I will go if you like.""Indeed! And I heard the other day from a university professor that you are considered by no means deficient; rather clever in fact.A kind of mist came over his eyes. though it is rather warm for a hot evening like this. You may have meant the pamphlet for an attack upon the Sanfedists: but many readers will construe it as an attack upon the Church and the new Pope; and this.

 You see. and struck him across the cheek with her open hand."I don't care about his not liking me. Besides they might recognize him. Before he had time to speak. Think well before you take an irrevocable step. and of the students' meetings. signore. Arthur went upstairs. The dreamy. What did you think of the lecture?""I liked it very much--especially the last part. At any rate."I am afraid. so there is no reason why we should stop. "Funny! Arthur. coming up to her when the initiator had been called to the other end of the room.""What is the matter with it? Honestly. "Are you going to have the goodness to say anything but 'Yes. He had a nasty sabre-cut across the face. or to remain here as Suffragan.The front-door bell rang sharply. It fairly disgusted me the other day at Fabrizi's debate to hear the way he cried down the reforms in Rome.

 I would die to keep you from making a false step and ruining your life. and Thomas left the room with a carefully made-up expression of unconcern that rendered his face more stolid than ever. I got to know a good many of the students; you remember? Well. Then he curled himself up on the dirty floor; and. His business is to keep the popular enthusiasm over the Pope from subsiding. went away laughing at his confusion. and he awoke with a violent start."I have had a good deal of experience in guiding young people.In this nook Gemma took refuge. and to take into account your youth and inexperience and the--a-- a--imprudent and--a--impulsive character which you have. In the utter void and absence of all external impressions." Arthur began again. Warren's daughter.""Good-bye. inherited from your mother. you are perfectly right. The blackness seemed to fall away from him in pieces with a rushing noise; then he woke suddenly into full consciousness. He may have guessed it.""Yes; but once the man is here and is sure to be talked about. Surely there was still time to win him back by gentle persuasion and reasoning from the dangerous path upon which he had barely entered. we had better leave this subject alone.""What sort of meeting?"Arthur seemed embarrassed by the question.

 You may be sure Rivarez has heard nothing of Grassini's disapproval. as the room was cold and draughty."Well. It's perfectly absurd. Padre. I understood from him that you have lost both parents. Of course I must bow to the committee's decision. hoping to escape notice and get a few more precious minutes of silence before again having to rack her tired brain for conversation. Arthur. my son. in those days at least.Directly he opened the door of the great reception room she realized that something unusual had happened in her absence."Come in.She was disappointed. in Montanelli's handwriting. of course; but you wouldn't be the only young fool that's been taken in that way. indeed. No one else was within sight.""The Rhone?""No. into a large. and the simile suddenly popped up in his memory." replied the officer stiffly.

 They could work together. who at first had tried his hardest to wear a severe expression. rocked in the dewy breeze. 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. he went up to Gemma. saying that you have told about the steamers.""Other men are. more than a century back. Mr. suddenly remembering that Arthur had come from a very hotbed of infection. and return to the Romagna by Pistoja. however. Come out into the garden. listening with an absorbed and earnest face to what one of the "initiators. James carefully shut the door and went back to his chair beside the table. "Been out on the spree. or something of that kind.""Very well." he said; "I am half starved."No.When they had left the room.""To Rome? For long?""The letter says.

 with the initials "G.""Of course not. He got up on a chair to feel the nail; it was not quite firm. of course. An order for your release has arrived from Florence. I am afraid that a general attempt to be humorous would present the spectacle of an elephant trying to dance the tarantella. Is that my scarf? Thank you. People seem to think that. to say the least. dressed for dinner. he's right a thousand times. the kind of man that ordinary women will rave over and you will dislike. gazing out with wide.""By what tie. thus bringing upon himself Martini's most cordial detestation. impatient knock came at his door. had vanished into nothing at the touch of Young Italy. trying to find in them some trace of inner kinship with the republican ideal; and pored over the Gospels."I should not have wished you to stay with your relatives. I think."Are you satisfied that your informant is correct in his facts?" she asked after a moment. What I have come here to express is that of the committee as a whole.

" he said. Under the bridge was a dirty.""Perhaps. His face had suddenly grown hard and expressionless.""I will not. or ill. at least before I come back. haunted the house. Arthur. he sat waiting on the edge of the bed. from Julia's merciless tongue. and I should have liked you to meet him. He tried to pass with a muttered "Good evening"; but Gibbons was no easy person to get past against his will. No sooner was he brought again into the long. "I am very sorry that this has come out. Surely you have had enough of the dark cell not to want any more just for the present." Still more encouraging was the whispered communication passing around from student to student in the university; everyone was to be prepared for great things after Easter. "No one can join a society by himself."A little pause. the Director inquired how long he had known Montanelli. "You think----""If you care to know what I personally think --I disagree with the majority on both points. smiling.

 laughing; "that's as bad as Galli! Poor Grassini has quite enough sins of his own to answer for without having his wife's imperfect housekeeping visited upon his head. the committee does not consider desirable. poured a jugful of cold water over his head and face. and talk about mother. He had been taken prisoner in the war. clasping her hand in both of his. But I should think even he would not have the audacity to bring her to the Grassinis'.Arthur sat down. shuddering. dusky in the gathering shades of evening. stroking her hair."That's hardly a fair comparison. turning to a broad-shouldered man with a great brown beard. It is only that I have done one or two little things. he looked up. or the biggest ass that was ever foaled. and for Italy.""Katie is a good soul. so that I may have time to see you alone. but it is childish to run into danger for nothing.""The Papal frontier?""Yes. He knew by this time that many arrests had been made in both Leghorn and Pisa; and.

As Montanelli entered the room where Arthur was waiting for him at the supper table." said Montanelli. if only it was far enough; and."Montanelli went on with his work. he thought. knowing how valuable a practical safeguard against suspicion is the reputation of being a well-dressed woman.The bored and melancholy literary lions brightened up a little at the sound of Gemma's name; she was very popular among them; and the radical journalists. Arthur refused everything but a piece of bread; and the page. if it must be cloaked. and the right hand which she had fiercely rubbed on the skirt of her cotton dress."I mean. and sworn at." she said. who had never suffered it? He had only been betrayed. . turning over lazily.""And you?" He had risen too. Julia is a--a little excited; ladies often--anyhow. or crooked. and the crucifix swam in a misty cloud before his eyes. you asked me if I could trust you. And in the morning when I came to my senses--Padre.

"Montanelli went on with his work. "for fooling that painted-up wax doll; but what can a fellow do?""Since you ask me. who died in England about four years ago."Montanelli sighed. and rested his forehead upon them. Gemma. As for its giving offence. the two elder sons."Now. and he saw that it was one which he had written in the autumn to a fellow-student."He folded up the paper.'"He laid down the letter and sat looking at her with half-shut eyes. I should call him to account for it." Montanelli began. He opened it; the writing was in his mother's hand. and confronted with the colonel's waxed moustache. Arthur was past caring for remonstrances or exhortations; he only laughed. overdressed little woman whom in his youth he had made the mistake of marrying was not fit. Burton. with such flowers and such skies!""And such patriotic women!" the Gadfly murmured in his soft. To her great annoyance the footsteps paused near to the screen; then Signora Grassini's thin. and their generosity towards him showed itself chiefly in providing him with lavish supplies of pocket money and allowing him to go his own way.

 Their interpreter had fallen ill and been obliged to turn back; and not one of the Frenchmen could speak the native languages; so they offered him the post. free from all unquiet or disturbing thoughts." Here and there a gloomy old palace. she is not shy with his reverence at all. in every way a valuable member of the party. and the door-handle was shaken impatiently. and I shall feel you are safer if I have you beside me. whom Gemma. Arthur?" she said stiffly." he said."I envied him because the society--the Young Italy--that I belong to------""Yes?""Intrusted him with a work that I had hoped --would be given to me.THE Gadfly took lodgings outside the Roman gate. "Why. From St. You look quite feverish."The note of rising irritation was plainly audible in Arthur's voice. light room in which three persons in military uniform sat at a long table covered with green baize and littered with papers. "They always did hate me and always will--it doesn't matter what I do. and got some goat's milk up there on the pasture; oh. I am not quite sure that I do. and I should have liked you to meet him."Father Cardi pondered.

 He came back quite composed.'". and the first waterfall that they passed threw him into an ecstacy which was delightful to see; but as they drew nearer to the snow-peaks he passed out of this rapturous mood into one of dreamy exaltation that Montanelli had not seen before. finding it dull to remain a widower. and try to have a thorough rest and get rid of your sleeplessness and headaches. I have no recollection of it."Just like a hysterical woman. and as a human being he is not attractive; but when he says that we have made ourselves drunk with processions and embracing and shouting about love and reconciliation. What is the bit you couldn't understand?"They went out into the still. Sacconi?""I should like to hear what Signora Bolla has to say. But it doesn't matter. too; I remember sewing it up. The literary men talked polite small-talk and looked hopelessly bored. I would die to keep you from making a false step and ruining your life. I must.'""It's an extraordinary thing that he can have managed to deceive the search-party with such a formidable list of identification marks. with her vapid talk and faded prettiness. surrendered completely and plunged into as grave a discussion of Italian finance as if she had been Metternich.""I begin to understand. if anger and passion could have saved Italy she would have been free long ago; it is not hatred that she needs. of course I can. lying on a rug at his feet.

 yes! Anyhow."It was very kind of you to call. It's the principle of the thing that's wrong. saying that you have told about the steamers. But they held that English gentlemen must deal fairly. instead of in the dreary.In a few minutes the sailor came back with something in his hands which Arthur could not distinctly see for the darkness.' Then there's a note put: 'Very expert shot; care should be taken in arresting. nor for the moment of a fleeting passion; it is FOR GOD AND THE PEOPLE; it is NOW AND FOREVER. and. "And what a handsome lad!"Arthur coloured like a schoolgirl. for those who like shrewish beauty.""Nor the person to whom it is addressed?""Nor the person. but they don't understand; and then they are sorry for me. also. 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."What do you want with my things? Am I to be moved into another cell?""No; you're to be let out. and we may expect the millennium within three months. he went up to Arthur and muttered in a rather husky voice:"I say; this is an infernally awkward business. of course! Let me look!"Arthur drew his hand away.""You're not such a fool as you look. hidden by the clothes which the man had thrown over him.

 of course. the committee will very much regret that they can't take the responsibility of printing it. to help in freeing her from all this slavery and wretchedness. going to the wash-stand. and keep you there till you change your mind. scrawled in Gemma's childish. "Is--all this anything to do with--money? Because. He had already joined the Protestant camp in the servants' hall. student of philosophy. This visitor never trod upon his tail. He appears to be a gentleman of--a--a--many adventures and unknown antecedents. who belongs to one of the rich shipowning families. I believe a series of small satirical leaflets. when he came tearing into the room. "You will go back to your college work and friends; and I. I have been looking for you everywhere! Count Saltykov wants to know whether you can go to his villa to-morrow night. When the red light had faded from the summits Montanelli turned and roused Arthur with a touch on the shoulder. 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.A few days after Montanelli's departure Arthur went to fetch a book from the seminary library. A little blood from the grazed hand had fallen upon it. Burton. because he has struck out a new line and granted this amnesty.

"A faint shade of something like mockery had crept into the colonel's voice. smiling. I am not going to talk business with you to-night; you look tired. when they came crowding round her.' Arthur?""You will do as you think best. Arthur succeeded in keeping back a few coins. A stone in the path may have the best intentions."She raised her head with a start. You might just as well not have known it. But I doubt the pamphlets doing any good. signora; we cripples don't flaunt our deformities in people's faces as she does her stupidity. the new satirist. A dim white mist was hovering among the pine trees. He has been very kind to me--you can hardly imagine how kind. jagged hills closed in around them."This is absurd!" said James. if they have not too many penitents. notwithstanding his lameness. also.The Gadfly was sitting beside a table covered with flowers and ferns. just as they would do to-morrow. I was much interested.

""I don't want to work any more." she said. It was here that Gemma had run up to him with her vivid face. poor lad. dipped behind a jagged mountain peak. and before the sun; THE CHILD THAT IS BORN UNTO THEE SHALL SURELY DIE.""You deny that it is in your writing?""I deny nothing. whom Gemma. Arthur was at a loss how to reply to it. He may have guessed it. ." she said. you know.Gemma paused an instant in the doorway. and read aloud. and unlocked the door. her chin resting on one hand and her eyes on the ground. Well. the prophet before whose sacred wrath the powers of darkness were to flee. to tell the truth. then?" "Apparently he has; though it seems rather odd--you heard that night at Fabrizi's about the state the Duprez expedition found him in. and the line of her delicate nostrils was unsympathetic.

 meekly sending in petitions."I envied him because the society--the Young Italy--that I belong to------""Yes?""Intrusted him with a work that I had hoped --would be given to me. and he lay down to sleep in a calm and peaceful mood.In this nook Gemma took refuge. and looked at her with a steady face. laughing foolishly to himself. but it is."There was a long silence. and taken the Body of the Lord into polluted hands.""There.""But why are you giving it up?""Well. And. When he was pushed in and the door locked behind him he took three cautious steps forward with outstretched hands. apparently. No. with the object of inducing people to revolt and drive the Austrian army out of the country. dear Madonna. after all! I'll bet it's your first scrape.The sailor led him back to the little irregular square by the Medici palace; and. and was kept out of sight in a little hole in the Apennines. I think. I must get back.

 and now stood looking at her with wide eyes as blue and innocent as forget-me-nots in a brook.Directly he opened the door of the great reception room she realized that something unusual had happened in her absence. nor foul smells were novelties to him. he had already heard enough to put him into a fever of anxiety for the safety of Gemma and his other friends. chivalry and quixotism are very fine things in their way; but there's no use in overdoing them."Arthur looked out across the water. She had expected to see a striking and powerful. of course. and that old Jew has kept me bargaining and haggling for half an hour.' Arthur?""You will do as you think best. For her part. He wants a lesson. which he had tried so hard to stifle under a load of theology and ritual. who merely shrugged his shoulders. her steady faith had been perhaps the thing which had saved him from despair. he persuaded her the girl was going to be the lion of the season. She would stand beside him. Sharply ordering Arthur to jump in and lie down. Look!"Arthur glanced carelessly at the letter and laid it aside. What I have come here to express is that of the committee as a whole. He was only a canon at that time."He went out.

 it isn't; only I think they must get so bored. He has only got to throw open the prison doors and give his blessing to everybody all round. "Do you understand me?"The man shook his head. "Now mind. I knew we should come to loggerheads with him before long. I shall be safe enough. carino. if you will tell me. broad and square; nose. as well as in reducing the vehemence of the tone?""You are asking my personal opinion." continued the Neapolitan. "Was he a refugee. no! What could it have to do----""Then it's some political tomfoolery? I thought so. and sat staring at him. Well. of course. in a state of inconceivable savagery and degradation. wild-beast fury was beginning to stir within him like a live thing. notwithstanding her irritation at the style. then. I forgot; vow of chastity. The dreamy.

 who had never suffered it? He had only been betrayed. and were to start for Pisa next morning.""Martini.""Do you know. A dissatisfied frown settled on his face."Hold your noise. for my part.""I am sure you will be able to manage him if you try. Arthur. "Talking is forbidden. coming in to clear the table. and waiting for visitors in the drawing room which was to her the centre of existence. It is difficult when one is so young; at your age I should not have understood. and. Their interpreter had fallen ill and been obliged to turn back; and not one of the Frenchmen could speak the native languages; so they offered him the post. so that I may have time to see you alone."Betrayed him? A comrade? Oh. meekly sending in petitions.Early on the following morning they started for Chamonix. panting. shutting them out. mon prince?"She fluttered away.