The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1899-12-13

/ through. somehow l dld not ike the tdea
Of this, however; but determined to get
rid of him in one way or the other. would
allow nothing to stand between me and the
road back to honor. So musing, ! sat for
q half-hour or so, and was startled by ia.
eopo'ssudden entry. so lost was in thought
! lie came and stood. bolt upright, next to
my chair. without saying a word. ! knew
from this that he had some request TO
make, some favor to ask, as otherwise he
would not have hesitated to make play with
his tongue at once.
What is it, Jaeopo"
He shifted uneasily from one foot TO the
other, and then replied
/ Your excellency, ! want leave"
Leave. What for? You are not going
to be married, are you?"
Heaven and the saints forbid, excel.
lency. No-no-it is not that. il is only
leave for the day | want, and also for our
men,"
The devil! What are you going TO doy'
Only little dinner. cxcellency. which I
am giving"
And wasting those crowns you got the
! other day. Well. that ~ your affair, not
mine. Yes, you can have the leave"
"A hundred thanks, excellency."
Mind you, there must be no Drawing
no trouble"
"Excellency."
well, good night, and remember what
| say. iiere, you may remove this vine
cup at you &c"
Good night, signore," and Jaecpo, lifting
the goblet, vent out. The night being fairly
warm, kept my door open, and rs he passed
into the rortiCo | saw him drain the con
tents Of the goblet with gulp. and heard
him draw his lips together with a smack
Of approval. and march of to his quarters.
chucking at something or other.
The following afternoon ! rode out with
Bayard and half dozen others. II was
a hawking party, and there was a long gal
lop to our point OF operation, which was 60
begin a little way beyond Ponte Molle. In
short time we started noble heron. and.
liayard linging his peregrine into the air.
VIC rode after the birds. Ii was glorious
ride, and Castor and Pollux far outstripped
the others, so much so that when we drew
rein beside the stricken heron. and Bayard
slipped the hood onto his hawk, our com
panions were not in sight This, however,
troubled US little. and turning rein we made
backwards. On our way back. ] seized the
opportunity to mention to Bayard that 81
Armande had volunteered TO aid me in my
task, and that had accepted his offer.
1T will do him good. he said; che seems
a noble youth. who has been tied too long
to apronstrings.'
me as being eifeminate to a degree--and yet
| cannot help liking him"
lie has a wonderful pure mind, said
bayard; 'the boy, for he is no less, is as
innocent as a child"
ss'rba -aftaau will NOT fu,prox-o hirt, than
especially If lac plays for gold crowns with
Colonna.'
plays for gold crowns." exclaimed Bay
ard; you are surely mistaken, cayaliere.' -
did he not do so last night, my lord!
understood he won three hundred of Fab
rizio?"
Impossible" said Bayard, Il was at the
vatican last night, and the party in which
Colonna was playing consisted Of Strigonia,
Mgr. Florido, our lord the pope, and Colon
ma himself-no more. st. Armande was
standing hard at hand for some little time,
but never took a wager. In fact, he passed
most of the evening with Giulia Bella.
drumming on a lutte, much to the annoy
ance of his holiness. | should say ii would
be well for him to quit Rome"
Then | am wrong" | said; yes fancy
it would be well for him to quit Rome
BY this time the others came up, and we
said no more. As we went back 10 Rome.
l dropped little behind, rejecting Oh
what Bayard had told me. was certain
that St. Armande had he'd to me, and |
began TO feel sure he had done this not for
my good. In short it seemed to me that
this innocent locking boy, with his shy, re
firing manners and apparent want OF
knowledge Of the world was nothing more
nor less than an accomplished actor. Then
again he was a Frenchman. and how came
he, obviously fresh from France, TO become
an agent of the Mediei plotters, for 30 |
put him down to bey There were the let |
tiers from Nine. de la Tremouille, his INTRO !
auctions were unimpeachable, the cardinal |
believed in him-the whole thing was con
Trajectory, Above all, there was my strong |
personal liking for st. Armande. In his |
presence ! never felt that secret warning |
which all men feel when they are with AN
enemy. have never known il fail with |
me, and with St. Armsnde there was no |
such warning, no such silent signal which |
goes straight from soul to soul On the |
contrary, ! felt he was almost more than |
friendly towards me, and felt. in my turn |
towards him, despite our short acquaintance,
very nearly the same protective feeling that !
one has NONdiuh a ueicustiths cuAus hs /
may be imagined was in no very com.
Portable frame Of mind about this, and rode /
back silently, revolving the point. When
we reached the palace, almost the first per
son | met was st. Arnande, and as | dis
he came up TO me with a cordial
greeting, and asked:
well, cavaliere, good sport, | trusti"
Very" l replied, shortly, and then
ID ~ aal.N IN Nha a.l. laIs
"Do you intend TO give the Colonna his re-
yenge tonight
Something in my tone caught him, he met
my eyes for a moment, then dropped his
gaze, aud looked towards the ground. We
stood thus before each other for a little
time before he replied, aud his voice was
almost inaudible.
"perhaPs-l am not sure be added.
With an effort. !