Evening star., 1921-10-02

or can feel a storm Of water brewing.
SO can l feel. gathering far of. a
storm of arrows. DO you notice that
| the crews hereabouts have never been
face peeping out of the woods. about
the time that Foresto goes down to
pick berries
'You chatter like an old woman at a
vest with his palms. II shall be quite
happy soon-yes. even before the Lom-
! bard league takes the field
Baldo answered In disgust:
God pity you. Cercamorte! Your
| Arabian has given you a charm that
Lapo stamped away angrily. yet he
was soon smiling again.
And now his coarse locks were not
unkempt. but cut square across brow
his finger nails: every day or so, with
flush and hangdog look. he drench-
ed himself with perfume. Even while
wearing that garment-at thought Of
which Madonna Gemma, isolate in her
chamber, still shivered and moaned-
pares himself for a wedding. or gall
,, liant rendezvous, that may take place
any moment.
Sometimes. reeking with civet oil, he
dered the quality of her sighs. stood
hesitant then stealthily withdrew, grind
ing his teeth and wheeling:
mot vet. Sweet saints in heaven,
what a time it. takes.'
One morning a horseman in green
and yellow scallops appeared before
the castle. 1t was Count Nicolotto
Mutt. elder brother Of the troubadour
Raffaele.
Lapo. having arranged his features,
came down to meet the count. They
kissed and entered the keep with their
arms round each others shoulders.
Foresto brought in the guest cup.
Nicolotto Mutt was a thin. calm poll
tician, elegant in his manners and
speech. By the fireplace. after chat
ting of this and that. he remarked,
with his hand affectionately on Ger
camorte's knee:
II am trying to find trace of my lit
tie Raffaele, who has vanished like a
mist. It is said that he was last seen
anything?"
Lapo, his face expressionless, took
thought, then. carefully answered:
Mutt, because We are friends as
we'll as allies 1 will answer you hon.
estly. Returning from my visit with
you, found him in this hall, plucking
a harp and singing love songs to my
wife. 1 say frankly that IL he had not
been your brother I should have cut
off his hands and his tongue. Instead,
escorted him to the forest and set
him on the home road. I admit that
before I parted from him l preached
him a sermon on the duties Of boys
toward the friends of their families.
Nay, fearing that he might not relate
his adventure to you, in that discourse
1 somewhat pounded the pulpit. I
confess that I gave him little spank
ing"
Count Nicolotto, without losing his
fixed smile, declared:
Dear comrade, it was young man,
not a child, whom you chastised in
that way. In another instance, as, of
course you know. such an action
would have been a grievous insult
to all his relatives. Besides, 1 am
sure that he meant no more than
homage to your lady. However, l
can understand the feelings of one
who has been too much in the field to
Indeed. presume that l should thank
you for what you believed to be a
generous forbearance. But all this
does not find me my brother"
And Count Nicolotto closed his
frosty. eyes.
Cercamorte. despite all this cooling.
received an impression Of enmity. AS
always when danger threatened. he
became still and wary, much more
resourceful than ordinarily. as IL
complete. Smoothing his vest with his
fingers that were f1attened from so
much swordwork, Lapo said:
II feel now that l may have been
wrong to put such shame upon him.
On account of it, no doubt, he has
sought retirement. Or maybe he has
journeyed abroad, say to Provence,
land free from such out-of-date bun
glerS as L."
Nicolotto Mutt made deprecatory
gesture, then rose with rustic OF
his green and yellow scallops, from
which was shaken fragrance of
altar.
"My good friend. let US hope So"
It was Foresto who. in the court
yard. held Nuts stirrup and secretly
pressed into the visitors hand a pei
let Of parchment. For Foresto could
write excellent Latin.
No sooner had Count Nicolotto re-
gained his strong town than q shock
ing rumor spread round-Lapo Cerca-
morte had made Ranaele Nuts skin
into vest, with which to drive his
wife mad.
The noblemen cried out in fury;