The Net

onsciousness of a coming celebration had penetrated the countryside. Among all who looked forward to the big event, perhaps the one who watched the hours fly with the greatest degree of su

s impulse burst into sudden flame and consumed his better sense, his judgment, and his loyalty, leaving him shaken and doubtful. Although this was his first serious soul conflict, he possessed more than average self-control, and he managed to conceal his feelings so well that Martel, who was the embodiment of loyalty and generosity, never for a moment suspected the truth. As for the girl, she was too full of her own happiness to see anything amiss. She took her lover's comrade into her heart with that odd unrestraint which characterized her, and, recognizing the bond which united the two young men, she strove to widen it s

for evil as they chanced to lean toward the one or the other. While she seemed wholly admirable, she exercised a damnable effect upon Norvin. He was tortured by a thousand devils, he was possessed by dreams and fancies hitherto strange and unrecognized. The nervous strain began to tell in time; he slept little, he grew weary of the struggle, things became unreal and distorted. He longed to end it all by fleeing from Sicily

tain crossroads above San Sebastiano with ten thousand lire. In that case candles would be burned and masses said for the soul of the murdered Galli, so the writer promi

f the kind Norvin had ever seen,

is fellow Narcone?" he inquired. "I under

nt declared. "I knew him slightly before he gave himself to the campagna

lled in the overseer for the discussion-"he is grossolano. He can ne

nk it is real

knows? Some say there is no such person, o

s your

man who ha

ho

ian

s such a liar!"

-a brigand-except when it suits his desires. That is why he comes and goes and the carabinieri can never trac

e to capture the w

suggested, and accord

ramme. But no one came to meet him, he encountered no one coming or going to the crossroads, and returned greatly disgusted. However, at his suggest

hted at the change of duty, because, as Norvin discovered, it brought him to the side of Lucrezia Ferara. Thus it happened that Martel had reason to regret the choice of hi

dding, or at least to go to Messina for it; but of course he refused and tried to lau

erawed by these ruffians. He says that to pay them the least attention would be to encourage them to

ng is only two days off now. Why, to-morrow is the gala-day! How could he notify the whole district, when all his preparations ha

ut it. Let them come and make merry. He can le

ish it, but I'm sure he won't consent to any change of

edged, doubtfully. "An

blackmailing scheme, and if he ignores it he'll probably never hear of it again. On t

wishes-how gladly he would yield to any wish of hers! He was a foreigner; he hated this island and its people, for the most part, and yet if he stood in Martel's place he would willingly c

d at last. "And yet-it is said

fia. It is the wor

erges into the other. Blood has be

d be injured, if these men should dare-all Sicily would not hold them. No power could save them,

nt in her. Love had caused her to glow, but it had required this breath of fear to fan the fire into ful

hanged, and

so frank, but that is my nature.

dn't if y

t. I never wished to. If he had not seen it I would have told

ppose his tongue ran away with him. Tongues have a wa

ot for L

's a fin

he is more like a sister to me than a servant, and I could not see her

the American with so much feeling t

good friend, the

d. "I ha

s, and beamed upon him with a

? Does

here's no use-n

ome great mistake. I cannot

ought of the dangerous ground he was treading and mise

she said, critically, after a moment's me

wn affairs. He had arrived at a better knowledge of her capabilities to-day and began to realize that she was as changeable as a chameleon. One moment she could be like the sirocco in warmth and languor, the next as sparkling as the sunlit ocean. Again she could be steeped in a dreamy abstraction or ali

and all arrangements made to leave for Messina immediately after the ceremony, which would take place in the church at Terranova. They would catch the boat for Naples on the evening after the wedding, he explained, and Blake was to accompany them at least that far on his way to America. Meanwhile, he had no intention of foregoing the pleasu

ceremony on the next morning. The contadini were coming in afoot, astride of donkeys and mules, or in gaily painted carts pictured with the miracles of the saints and the conquests of the Moors. There were dark-haired men and women, wild-haired boys with roses above their ears, girls with huge ear-rings and frin

rils just let him wander past the kitchen in the rear, where a dozen women had been at work since dawn. But that was not all; there would be gifts for the children and prizes for the best dancers. The handsomest woman would receive a magnificent shawl the like of which had never been dreamed of in Terranova, and then to prevent jealousy the others would receive presents also. But he would not say

s only southerners can, forgetting poverty, hardship, and all the grinding cares of their barren lives. They yielded quickly to the passion of the

rkness came and the trees began to twinkle and glow with their myriad lights that the fun reached its highest pitch. Then there was true Sicilian dancing

e strain to which he had been subjected for the past week was growing unbearable, and the sight of Margherita Ginini clad like a vision in some elaborate Parisian gown so intensified his

making merry?"

s shoulders, replying, s

r w

There are st

nner changed quickly-"

may he not be here at Terranova? I am looking for

wedding feast," said Blake, with

" the over

u seen a

thi

is Ip

eep in the stable. Th

be, of truculent countenance; some wore piratical ear-rings, others had shawls wrapped about their heads as if for concealment. Any one of them might have been a brigand, for all he knew, and he saw how easy it wou

, Margherita appeared, and he thought for a moment that she too m

this moment." Coming close to him, she inquired: "Has something gone amiss? You

adily: "Perhaps it

at certai

I'm a great f

rhaps the only chance I sha

er. "Glad for you. I have tried not to be a death'

pect, and yet I, who have known you so short a time, have

t. I share your happiness

Martel. And who knows? Perhaps she may. You say it is impossible, yet lif

, he took her hand and kissed it. A moment later she left him, but the to

red, yawning

d the notary's wife, and that village doctor! Colonel Neri is a good chap, notwithstanding his mustache in which he takes so m

" Norvin asserted. "I saw them dancing what I took to be the tar

Teresa will not retire at her usual hour. What a day it has been! It

er to-m

annot wait even for the fireworks, as much as I would like to. It is a long r

s about to bear you of

ve Ippolito fet

g the mastery of wine over matt

hark, but the belly of a herring. I ought to warm

rezia would not listen to his suit, poor

't be harsh with him at this time. And now we had best