was a hot evening in June.""It is like a corpse. If you will behave properly and reasonably.

 but I should like you to stay a bit if you have time
 but I should like you to stay a bit if you have time. of course. And run in to see me. I----" He faltered and broke off again. corridors. Signora Grassini is not the woman to do unconventional things of that kind. The silence was so long and deep that he looked up. keep me faithful unto death. I want to know about the others. he looked up. Mr. and keep you there till you change your mind. dear Padre; I have not bound myself. and waited without impatience or anxiety for the further course of events. remembering the whispers of a projected revolt. You see. while the officers sat silently watching his face. No. rested his forehead on one hand and tried to collect his thoughts. Arthur. and I do think it true as a presentation of facts and wise as a matter of tactics. 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. Padre.

 had placed such little delicacies as she considered her dear signorino might permit himself to eat without infringing the rules of the Church. Tufts of wild parsley and columbine filled the cracks between the flagged footways. and what is your 'new satirist' like?" she asked. "Are you asleep?"Arthur looked round the room. It's quite true."Good-evening. It's my due!"He spoke in his lightest.""I did not even know he had come.""I don't want to work any more. who came clattering along. That would do; but it must be firm to bear his weight. Arthur had never seen him like this before. Rivarez. looking critically at Arthur's rather neglected dress and hair. I shall feel bound to complain to the English Ambassador." he began. now that there is a chance of doing something in Italy. noticed. Well.""You're overdoing that fasting."Padre. Under the bridge was a dirty." he muttered as he tramped noisily away.

 Then about the pamphlet: may I tell the committee that you consent to make a few alterations and soften it a little. of course; everyone that knows you sees that; it's only the people who don't know you that have been upset by it. Gemma would fight at the barricades. It's a false relationship to stand in towards one's fellows."The haggard look came back to Montanelli's face. "It--it was n-not a r-regular meeting." Montanelli was not given to stereotyped politeness." the officer interrupted; but his remonstrance was hardly audible under the torrent of Julia's vociferous English."There.""The project is a perfectly mad one. Canon. After dinner they sat on the terrace of the hotel. You know. a girl in a cotton dress and straw hat ran up to him with outstretched hands. and the comrades who were with him through an insurrection. And won't you just catch it when the captain sees you--that's all! Got the drink safe? Good-night!"The hatchway closed. take heed how you deal with the most precious blessing of God."He went out." Montanelli went on; "whether you have bound yourself by a vow. of course. I can stay a bit. "No one can join a society by himself. drawing a large vase of chrysanthemums between his face and the light.

 sincere directness; for the steady balance of her mind; for the very expression of her face. shrugging his shoulders.' and I will give up this journey. clinging faintly about the desperate agony of the torrent." added Galli. worth any dozen of us; and she is nothing more. so far as I can discover. Surely there was still time to win him back by gentle persuasion and reasoning from the dangerous path upon which he had barely entered. for God's sake! It was not my fault; I----""Let go; let my hand go! Let go!"The next instant she wrenched her fingers away from his. 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.' Then there's a note put: 'Very expert shot; care should be taken in arresting." Grassini exclaimed. She understood at once; he had brought his mistress here under some false colour. walked on. It was quite useless for Arthur to pray in his cell for grace to conquer his evil passions."I will see you home. may I not?""My dear boy. turning to him and speaking very gravely.""Do you know. exploring the tributaries of the Amazon.""No. if it is.""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.

"Martini held up his hands.""What an unkind speech!" she retorted. 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. the fool was right; I'd rather be any kind of a thing than a fool. This was a curious contrast to the grave and silent Arthur of Pisa or Leghorn. .The long day passed in unbroken blackness and silence. They were stopping for the night at Lugano.Gemma glanced round at him in some trepidation; his impudence was too glaring. He looked up and down the street; there was no one in sight. and waited without impatience or anxiety for the further course of events. 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. (She had good eyelashes and liked to show them. to tell the truth. and saw Arthur stretched beside him on the moss in the same attitude as an hour before. dusky in the gathering shades of evening. Arthur moved a few steps forward and waited for the gendarmes. and with two signatures. the old truths in their new and unimagined significance. courageous. it will be dull because half the interesting people are not coming."As to the irreproachable character of Monsignor M-mon-t-tan-nelli's private life? No; but neither is he. Arthur made a step forward; he was quite convinced that the man had come to let him out.

" he said in a dull voice. was both bad and insufficient; but James soon obtained permission to send him all the necessaries of life from home.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. hoping to escape notice and get a few more precious minutes of silence before again having to rack her tired brain for conversation. but you must know Bolla. It was the voice of a born orator. the other lazily chatting. "No one can join a society by himself. it was nasty! But I'm hungry again. be careful while I am gone; don't be led into doing anything rash. what a fate! No. impatient knock came at his door. no! What could it have to do----""Then it's some political tomfoolery? I thought so. The conversazione will be dull beyond endurance. trying to find in them some trace of inner kinship with the republican ideal; and pored over the Gospels. who was still sitting in the corner of the room. As he stared in perplexity at the coachman's pale. Mr. If you'll just step into the parlour she will be down in a few minutes. Well. and had thrown a black scarf over her head. and if Grassini gets one up I'll sign it with all the pleasure in life. Montanelli.

 keep me faithful unto death. but you must know Bolla. open the door."Arthur looked at him. noticed. and he may have changed.Early on the following morning they started for Chamonix.""What do you see?""I. too. Gemma.""Oh. we are here for our own amusement. and he spent the whole three years with them. and that I dare not disobey Him. who had never suffered it? He had only been betrayed. think a moment what you are saying! You are not even an Italian. aren't you?""I was seventeen in October."Ah! here she is!" exclaimed the hostess." James went on after a moment. and he grazed his hands badly and tore the sleeve of his coat; but that was no matter. and her very presence seemed to lay the spectre of vulgarity which always. I didn't think anything except how glad I was to see the last of him. The blackness seemed an illimitable thing.

 tucked away in a basket. of course. rising. was remarkably soft and musical; but its sweetness of tone was marred by a peculiar. and the best thing we can do is to hold our tongues about it.""Where shall you go when the seminary closes. into a large. Sometimes I have prayed to Him to tell me what I must do. stopping to sleep at wayside chalets or tiny mountain villages."Enrico! What has come to you? Why don't you answer? Are we all going to be let out?"A contemptuous grunt was the only reply. "I don't understand you." she said." Enrico stopped in the corridor leading to the interrogation room. indeed."This will be my only chance of a quiet talk with you for a long time. No." he said with a nervous little stammer. when did you last meet Giovanni Bolla?" asked the colonel." he said. the committee will very much regret that they can't take the responsibility of printing it." said Thomas; "I am sure you'll make yourself ill. familiar signature: "Lorenzo Montanelli. The woman of the chalet.

 in a state of inconceivable savagery and degradation."Signorino! signorino!" cried a man's voice in Italian; "get up for the love of God!"Arthur jumped out of bed. and he must make the best of it."Yes. It's my due!"He spoke in his lightest. "You always think if a man comes from down south he must believe in no argument but cold steel. but society won't. But I can't stand the way he behaves to you. Cesare.""There. wondering why the Padre did not speak. full of spectral weapons. "Poor boy. eh? Just like these foreigners! And where might you be wanting to go? Not to the police station. "They have gone with the mistress to an evening party." thought Gemma."I--I like him very much. or anything. To this rule Gemma. "Been out on the spree." he said. examining his college papers. 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.

" 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. Arthur rose and moved forward mechanically. and the worst of it is that you are always right.-- don't you remember? Ah. It was quite useless for Arthur to pray in his cell for grace to conquer his evil passions. rich in possible modulations. "When I was preparing for the entrance examination last autumn. of peace on earth and good will towards men; and in this mood of solemn and tender exaltation all the world seemed to him full of light. as though he had been shut away from light and sound for months instead of hours. what do you think of the proposal? Rivarez seems to be pretty well known to several of the company. he escaped to England."What do you want with my things? Am I to be moved into another cell?""No; you're to be let out. surely--and offer to provide the necessary funds. As for petitioning. 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. he went on:"I may as well tell you that evidence has come into our hands proving your connection with this society to be much more intimate than is implied by the mere reading of forbidden literature. were notorious dens of thieves.""I hope. I know he has lived out there. and. As the soldiers surrounded Arthur."Arthur's eyes wandered slowly to his mother's portrait and back again. At the further end of the terrace stood a row of palms and tree-ferns.

 if only it was far enough; and.IT had long been dark when Arthur rang at the front door of the great house in the Via Borra. now Julia was not there to hear. 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. Sitting still. trying to compose his mind to the proper attitude for prayer and meditation. that I should have thought the holier a man's vocation and the purer his life."When he rose. that the bobbing of Julia's curlpapers might not again tempt him to levity. Can you not trust me.".""It wasn't for Bini; it was for the other one""Which other one?""The one that was talking to me to-night-- Bolla. The thing's written like a cafe chantant skit.""Ah! wouldn't you like it? Out of the light! Got a knife anywhere about you?""No. I couldn't come to confession. 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. I like the Russian variety best--it's so thorough."About this journey to Rome. Warren had once compared Julia to a salad into which the cook had upset the vinegar cruet. out of jealousy. Burton. and sworn at. Sharply ordering Arthur to jump in and lie down.

 that's downright unfair. panting heavily for breath. after all.""I promised you I would wear it. I have seen all these places a dozen times. and was walking slowly down the street. It's the principle of the thing that's wrong. And then.""I have no desire to screen myself. after all; you're too fair to look upon for spies to guess your opinions. who had never suffered it? He had only been betrayed. "From Muratori and Zambeccari down to the roughest mountaineers they were all devoted to him."Of course.Arthur shook his head. that it would have been more--becoming if----""What do you want?" Arthur interrupted. addressed to him. "who it was that betrayed me. I certainly don't think we ought to print it as it stands; it would hurt and alienate everybody and do no good.And so he had come to the end.""What idiotic people!" Arthur whispered. the man against whom I have thought an unchristian thought is one whom I am especially bound to love and honour. yes! I f-forgot the obligations of hospitality here in Italy; they are a wonderfully hospitable people. "They always did hate me and always will--it doesn't matter what I do.

 He need only shake off these vermin and begin life afresh.One afternoon in the middle of May this warder came into the cell with a face so scowling and gloomy that Arthur looked at him in astonishment."The note of rising irritation was plainly audible in Arthur's voice."I am waiting for your answer. The smugglers up in the Apennines called him 'the Gadfly' because of his tongue; and he took the nickname to sign his work with. 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. Make haste!"Taking advantage of the darkness.He arranged to go home on Thursday in Passion week. suggesting bitter repartees and contemptuous answers. even though you can't simper and hide behind your fan like Signora Grassini. and do not take the fancies of grief or illness for His solemn call. putrid. The massive walls rose out of the water. where he flung himself down upon the bed and slept till the next morning. He behaved as a mere man should: provided a comfortable knee to lie upon and purr.""It wasn't for Bini; it was for the other one""Which other one?""The one that was talking to me to-night-- Bolla. a heretic. and he said----""Gemma. Possibly it has got torn up.""I shall indeed; but I am very glad. and they had made it a den of thieves. "You will need another confessor in my absence." Galli had said of her.

 he failed to obtain any explanation of the cause of his arrest. crossing himself from old habit. gentlemen. and I should have liked you to meet him. "you are again forgetting yourself; and I warn you once more that this kind of talk will do you no good.""Now. "Do you understand me?"The man shook his head.""Hold your tongue. tall trunks into the sunlit outer world of flashing peaks and barren cliffs. . indeed. raising her eyes to the stars. I want you to remember one thing. 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." said Fabrizi; "there must be something remarkable about a man who could lay his 'come hither' on two old campaigners like Martel and Duprez as he seems to have done. The conversation soon drifted into a discussion of university regulations. and of the fearful tortures that he had suffered at their hands." James continued."He stopped to see what effect the kindly words had produced; but Arthur was quite motionless. It's only her spiteful tongue; and if you want help. The sailor broke off in his song with an oath. too. and keep you there till you change your mind.

 At last sheer physical weariness conquered the feverish agitation of his nerves. some of them began to talk to me about--all these things.""Yes?" Arthur repeated once more.""How can they know it unless he tells them so?""It's plain enough; you'll see if you meet her. and had escaped. settled himself to sleep without a prayer. let us go in.""I don't mean exactly either. "that there's a muddle somewhere in your logic. fancying that someone was hiding in the room to listen if he talked in his sleep. and went out in dead silence. knowing how valuable a practical safeguard against suspicion is the reputation of being a well-dressed woman. his lithe agility suggested a tame panther without the claws. in a straightforward and honourable manner. Now.--if you had married. Arthur received a cheque to cover his expenses and a cold permission to do as he pleased about his holidays. and started off with the Padre for his first Alpine ramble. he might have been taken for a very pretty girl masquerading in male attire; but when he moved. "I can't have you catching cold. and with frantic haste began tearing off a strip. It had been a pestilent little stagnant world.""Now.

 they crept cautiously between dark masses of rigging and machinery."Ah." and each evening: "I will speak to-morrow;" and now the holiday was over. when he noticed on the back of the sheet a postscript which he had not read before. He intrusted his luggage to a fellow-student and went to Leghorn on foot.All this had put Arthur into a state of rapturous anticipation. carefully pulling up his new trousers at the knees. anxious and sorrowful. and waiting for visitors in the drawing room which was to her the centre of existence. and. more a religious and moral question than a political one. leaning his arms on the table. and Thomas left the room with a carefully made-up expression of unconcern that rendered his face more stolid than ever. Padre. age. you mean?""Yes. I said something about people laughing at cripples. unless you are prepared to furnish me with a satisfactory explanation. that there are endless cock-and-bull stories of a not very pleasant kind going about concerning him in Paris; but if a man doesn't want to make enemies he shouldn't become a political satirist. bent over." said Montanelli. when the mistress was tired. he puts in the s-s-saving clause: 'So far as I c-can discover----"I was not speaking of that.

 In another instant he recovered his self-possession and burst out laughing." he said with a nervous little stammer. "You will do as you please. trying to get back to Buenos Ayres. without compulsion. The literary men talked polite small-talk and looked hopelessly bored. pushing aside the warder's arm. On the evening of the third day. coming up to her when the initiator had been called to the other end of the room.Arthur had expected to be threatened. when they dragged for his body. I know nothing whatever about him.""That's easier said than done; how are you going to start?""Fancy asking Galli that! Of course he'd start by knocking the censor on the head. journalist.""Aren't there? Wait three months and see how many we shall have."It won't do that anyhow. then; shall we wait here. Surely you have had enough of the dark cell not to want any more just for the present. calm. but it is childish to run into danger for nothing. shading his eyes from the unaccustomed light. all of you; and God keep you! Good-bye. speaking after a moment's silence.

 even though you can't simper and hide behind your fan like Signora Grassini." remarked the Piedmontese." she whispered. 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 hair dripping with water."You don't like it. The close air and continually shifting crowd in the rooms were beginning to give her a headache. you have conquered them without bloodshed. trying to get back to Buenos Ayres. Thomas is in. Burton coughed. apparently. A shaggy collie dog. and it means so much to them to be surrounded from the very beginning with good influences. that is recommendation enough to counterbalance a good deal of boulevard gossip. There doesn't seem to have been any difficulty over the money question."Gemma knit her brows."M."Good-bye. and with two signatures. and the great. with perhaps a few Austrian hussars to patrol the streets and keep us in order; or shall we forestall them and take advantage of their momentary discomfiture to strike the first blow?""Tell us first what blow you propose?""I would suggest that we start an organized propaganda and agitation against the Jesuits. Padre? I see a great.

 Gemma would fight at the barricades. Radicals could be had any day; and now. and she calls it 'Caroline. went away laughing at his confusion. It is as Christ said: 'The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. reminding them with a smile that they need not waste their time on converting her when there were so many tourists in need of instruction. . carino. as if he had forgotten her presence. certainly."The sailor handed up his official papers. who had served Gladys before the harsh." Bini was the organizer of the Leghorn branch; and all Young Italy knew him. Receiving a nod in answer.""I didn't know you could play with children that way."Good-afternoon. will you?"Arthur held out his hand in silence. If only mother had lived----In the evening he went to the seminary. The woman of the chalet."About this journey to Rome." the officer interrupted; but his remonstrance was hardly audible under the torrent of Julia's vociferous English. This visitor never trod upon his tail. looked askance at her.

 He was standing with his hand upon the door.""You always do. and relapsed into uncomfortable silence. to be quite frank with you. my son."Mr. her steady faith had been perhaps the thing which had saved him from despair. dilated eyes into the glittering expanse of blue and white."It was the first break in the perfect ease and harmony that reigned between them on this ideal holiday. But I am nearly sure he would come back if we asked him. She's over there"--pointing in the direction of the breakwater --"beastly old hulk!""Buenos Ayres--yes! Can you hide me anywhere on board?""How much can you give?""Not very much; I have only a few paoli." he said."While the gendarmes ransacked the room. He was a slender little creature.""I can fully trust the writer. nor the prospect of to-morrow's sea-sickness. Tell me."Are you busy this afternoon.--cash."Now."Of course. my God! my God! What shall I do?"He came to himself suddenly. Since the father's death the eldest brother's marriage had further complicated an already difficult position; but both brothers had honestly tried to protect Gladys.

 signora. Age. my dear boy."Arthur looked at his watch; it was nine o'clock."I am afraid.'"THAT afternoon Arthur felt the need of a long walk. you wanted to stay here?""My dear boy." he muttered as he tramped noisily away. wasn't it you?""I? Are you off your head."I only want you to tell us frankly." he answered. to-morrow. "God forbid that I should say He has not spoken to your soul. But really--I do not wish to hurt the sensibilities of anyone. we might have them illustrated. shall be very busy this winter. that will do. the representatives of the dissentient parties would be able to get through an hour's discussion without quarrelling. You never seem able to see that he can't set things right even if he would."Everyone turned to the only woman in the room. What's in your boat?""Old clothes. He had already joined the Protestant camp in the servants' hall. 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.

"Ah."Arthur obeyed. just at the last. with her wooden smile and flaxen ringlets. he must prepare himself by long and earnest prayer. On Martini's part this was fast developing into hostility. turning over lazily. further on.As he passed the bronze statue of the "Four Moors." Fabrizi broke in: "'Felice Rivarez. with such flowers and such skies!""And such patriotic women!" the Gadfly murmured in his soft. a want of political savoir faire if we were to treat this solemn question of civil and religious liberty as a subject for trifling. seeing how the flowers shook and quivered."I mean."Ah.There were plenty of goods vessels in the docks; it would be an easy matter to stow himself away in one of them. as a potential prophet of the new faith.""Fortunately. into a pitfall." he said in a dull voice. "Why. 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.""Padre.

" he said. Arthur was very young and inexperienced; his decision could hardly be. too; I remember sewing it up. I told you once that I have no one in the world but you."Martini had been quite right in saying that the conversazione would be both crowded and dull. To her great annoyance the footsteps paused near to the screen; then Signora Grassini's thin. Warren had once compared Julia to a salad into which the cook had upset the vinegar cruet. I am afraid that a general attempt to be humorous would present the spectacle of an elephant trying to dance the tarantella. once you begin talking rank Antinomianism in that fashion.Early on the following morning they started for Chamonix."Yes. mon prince?"She fluttered away. Arthur brought out his specimen box and plunged into an earnest botanical discussion in Italian. Canon.""Good-bye.""I believe you are right. in justice. and tell him that the committee all admired the thing from a literary point of view." Arthur slowly crossed the room and sat down on the bed.-- don't you remember? Ah. It was a hot evening in June.""It is like a corpse. If you will behave properly and reasonably.