The Winslow mail., 1900-04-12

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 it would
be well for him to quit Rome"
"Then | am wrong" said; eyes, l 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 to Rome,
l dropped little behind, rejecting on
what Bayard had told me. | was certain
that St. Armande had lied to me, and
began to feel sure he had done this not for
my good. In short, it seemed to me that
this innocent-looking boy, with his shy, re-
tirlng manners and apparent want OF
knowledge of the world, was nothing more
nor less than an accomplished actor. Then
again he was Frenchman, and how came
he, obviously fresh from France, to become
an agent of the Medici plotters, for so |
put him down to be? There were the let
ters from Nine. de la Tremouille, his intro
ductions 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 it fail with
me, and with St. Armande there was NO
such warning, no such silent signal which
goes straight from soul to soul. On the
contrary, L 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 towards a defenseless child. AS
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. Armande, and as | dis
mounted he came up to me with cordial
greeting, and asked:
well, cavaliere, good sport, trust?"
Very" l replied, shortly, and then
looked him straight in the face as l added:
"Do you intend to give the Colonna his re-
venge to-night?"
Something in my tone caught him, he met
my eyes for moment, then dropped his
gaze, and looked towards the ground. We
stood thus before each other for a little
time before he replied, and his voice wds
almost inaudible.
"Perhaps-I am not sure" he added,
with an effort.
l was standing, holding Castors reins:
but as he spoke | handed the horse over
to groom, and, linking my arm in St. Ar
mande's, said, loudly, and with a tone of
affected gayety:
. ou missed great ride, chevalier-come
take turn with me in the garden
He yielded passively, and in a few steps
we had crossed the courtyard and were in
a secluded portion of the palace gardens
that was called the Lemon walk. This l
may add was subsequently improved out of
existence by the architect, in the course of
completion of the palace and grounds.
When we reached this point, unslipped
my arm, and, turning round, faced st. Ar
mande, having resolved to- end my suspi-
cions.
"See here, chevalier," said, q am play
ing for heavy stakes, am walking on dam
gerous ground, and must know where put
my feet, will you answer u plain question?
Are you friend or foe?'
He looked round in helpless sort of way,
his color coming and going, but said moth
ing. Was it possible the man was cow
ard?
''If you do not reply" said, 81 will take
the risk, and treat you as an enemy, do
you hear: You lied to me when you said
last night you had played at the vatican
with Colonna-now draw" l pulled out
my weapon, and stood before him, expect
ing every instant to see his rapier in his
hands; but he stood absolutely still, his
head hanging down.