The San Francisco call., 1905-05-07

to Gordon in London. The clergyman,
Just arrived in Pisa. asked the use or
the ground floor of the Lanfranchi
Palace-he understood it was unoccu>
pied-in which TO hold service on the
following Sunday.
over the smart Of his sorrow the
wrath of a satiric smile touched Cor
don's lips. He. the unelect and unre-
generate, to furnish tabernacle Tor
Pisan orthodoxy? The last sermon he
had read was one preached py a Lon
don divine and printed in an Engllsh
MAGAZINE; its text was his drama OF
Cain" and it held him UP to the
world as a denaturalized being, who,
having drained the cup of sensual SIN
10 its bitterest dregs, was resolved IN
that apocalypse of blasphemy TO show
himself a cool, unconcerned fiend.
And vet. after all, the request was
natural enough. The palace that housed
him was the most magnificent in Pisa,
in proportions almost a castle And, IN
fact. the lower floor>was empty and ull-
used. Was he to mar this saner exist
ence in which he felt waking those
old inspirations and ideals, with the
crude spirit of combativeness, in which
his bruised pride took refuge when
popular clamor thrust him from his
kind? If he refused would not the very
refusal be made further weapon
against him?
Had Gordon seen the mottled clerical
countenance that waited for answer IN
the street below he might have read a
partial answer to this question.
Cassidy's ship having anchored at
Leghorn, he had embraced the oppor-
tunity 10 distribute q few doctrinal
tracts among the English residents OF
this near cathedral town. OF Gordon's S
life in Pisa he heard before he left the
ship. In the Rev. DR.. Mott he had
found an accidental travelling compan-
ion with an eye single to the glory OF
the Established Church, who was even
then bemoaning the lack Of spiritual
advantages in the town TO which ne
was bound. His jealous soul reJoiced
Ia the acquaintance and fostered II on
arrival. The idea of Sabbath service In
English had been the clergymans; that
of the Lanfranehi Palace as a place
wherein to gather the elect had been
Cassidy's. The suggestion was not
without a certain genius. To the doc
tors uplifted hands he had remarked
with JUNCTION that TO ask could 40 no
harm, and the request, even II refused,
might be precious seed sown. CASSIDY
mentally presaged refusal, which should
make text and material for future dis
course of his own.
Waiting at the Lanfranchi entrance
he remembered a sermon OF which ne
had delivered himself years before at
Newstead Abbey-perched upon a ta-
bic. He had never forgotten II. He
touched his lips with his tongue at the
pious thought that he who had then
been master of the abbey-host of that
hare-brained crew who afterward made
him a, butt of egregious ridicule in Lon
don-was now spurned Of the righteous.
Gordon at that hour had no thought
of Cassidy, whom he had not seen in
wears. Say to the messenger that Mr..
Mott is very welcome TO the use Of the
floor" was the answer he gave the
valet.
A moment later Teresa and Count
Pietro Gambia re-entered. Teresa's eyes
were wet and shining. Her brother 8
face was calm. He came frankly to
Gordon and held out his hand.
While the two men clasped hands
the naval surgeon was Illuminating in
chagrin. Gordon's courteous assent
gave him anything but satisfaction.
He took it to DR.. Motifs lodgings.
As Cassidy set foot in the street
again he stopped suddenly and unae-
countably. At the Lanfranchi portal
in the dusk he had had a view of a
swarthy face that reused a persistent,
baf1ing memory. The unanticipated
reply to the message he had carried
had jarreG the puzzle from his mind.
It required again now, and with sud
den stab of recollection. His teeth shut
together with a snap.
He lay awake half that night. At
sunup he was on his way back to Leg
horn, with a piece of news for the COM
mander Of the Pylades.