A Foregone Conclusion

s knife and neatly buttering them on the palette's edge, while he wondered what the priest meant by

n house. There he stopped, and after an absent contemplation of the boats, from which the gondoliers were clamoring for his custom, he stepped

ed naiad held a pipe above her head, and from this rose a willowy spray high enough to catch some colors o

elessly taking the young girl's hand. "I

eeds it," said Florida. "He seems to think it a hard bargain, for he only lets it play about half an h

rough him like a pang, likewise to do something for Miss Vervain. "

o you think there are many practical ideas amongst his things? I hope there are-he seemed

, "Miss Vervain," he said, knitting his brows, as he always did when he had something on his conscience and meant to ease it at any cost, "I'm the dog that fetches a bone

asked Florida. "You said no

fail to do them perfect justice, of course; and yet the imperfect result remains representative of them in my mind; it limits them and fixes them; and I can't get them back ag

said Florida, breathing quickly. "Perha

faults. I declared against doing so, and you immediately infer that my motive is remorse. I don't know that you have any faults

colored

I was mistaken," said

ou said?" demanded the

l of confidence," said Ferri

mentioned the mat

suppose, and sin again. I wanted t

y at Ferris's face, while her

t to say of him?"

puzzles me, to begin with. You know

es

im, if it hadn't been for your mother's talk

Florida, with

e, a weakness for the man himself, as the desire to se

" answered t

ly young men with the modern Italian ideas, or old liberals-hate and despise the priests. They believe

cret thoughts to the police," said Florida, wh

sts that made me think of him for a moment. He seems to be as much cut off from the church as from the world. And yet he is a priest, with a priest's educat

n any case," said Florida; "but

ying to put into words an undefined uneasiness of mine, a quite formless desire to have you possessed of the whole case as it had c

my mother, so. I'm glad you didn't speak to her. I don't misunderstand you, I think; I expressed

r. As she turned to Ferris, and asked in her deep tones, to which some latent feeling imparted a slight tremor, "What do you want me to do?" the sense of her willingness to be bidden by him gave him a delicious thrill. He looked at the superb creature, so proud, so helpless; so much a woman, so much a child; and he caught his breath before he answered. Her gauzes blew about his

with a disappointed, almost wounded manner, keeping her

t, with a flush

e so much his friend that he couldn't dream of my making any sort of trouble for him. It would break his heart, I'm afraid, if you treated him in a different way from that in which you've treated him till now. It's really touching to listen to his gratitude to you and your mother. It's only conceivable on the ground that he has never had friends before

Miss Vervain's mind. She walked now with her face turned from his, and she an

"Good-by," said Ferris,

?" asked Florida, with her awkwar

just dropped in for a moment, to blast an innocent man

answered Florida, coldly,

worst," returned Fer

part, first to embarrass them with Don Ippolito's acquaintance, if it was an embarrassment, and then try to sneak out of his respon

nd over and over again, nothing comforted him save the thought that, bad as it was to