xpectation of the summons. His face, which had
grown once more a little haggard and anxious, brightened when he
received it, and the count held him in private conversation for a
moment, with one hand on his shoulder. He spoke in a subdued tone, the
murmur of which alone reached me; but when he had finished what he
had to say, Bru-now answered with a loud alacrity: "Willingly, my
dear count, most willingly." At this the count beckoned me, and as I
approached Brunow held out his hand.

"I hope you'll take that, Fyffe," he said. "I beg your pardon, with all
my heart. I wasn't myself when I spoke, but I know that what I said was
the merest nonsense."

I took his proffered hand at once, without a shadow of suspicion or
reserve. There had never been very much in common between us, but we
were life-long acquaintances, and, after a fashion, we had been friends.
I was glad to patch up the quarrel, and willing to say and think no more
about it.

The council we held was a brief one, for the count had already made up
his mind to his own satisfaction; and when he had advised us of that,
the business was practically over.

"I arranged with Mr. Quorn," he said, "more than a week ago, that if it
were finally decided to purchase the arms he had for sale I would travel
with him to Italy on board of his own ship, and would myself undertake
the responsibility of effecting a landing. I have arranged also that
trustworthy information shall be conveyed to us from the shore, I am
not anxious to fall into Austrian hands again, and I shall take all
precaution to avoid surprise."

"On what part of the coast do you intend to effect a landing, sir?"
Brunow inquired.

"That will depend," the count answered, "on circumstances of which I
am at present ignorant. I must wait and see. I shall probably start
to-morrow. Mr. Quorn quite naturally and properly declines to part with
the goods until he is paid for them. The money cannot be drawn until the
12th of August, but it will then be despatched to me by a safe hand,
and I shall have ample time to signify the place to which it must be
carried. Quorn," he added, "is assured of our _bona fides_, and will be
ready to start at any hour I may indicate."

One or two of our number, I remember, endeavored to dissuade him from
his plan, on the ground that we had need of his leadership in England,
and that there were many things to be done there which could not be
intrusted to hands of less authority. Ruf