y syllable you pronounced," vowed he, "was of palpitating
interest, and you broke off at the most palpitating moment. You were
on the point of telling me how, from an Island of the Blessed, Sampaolo
came to be an Island of the Distressed--when we were interrupted by a
skylark."

"That would be a terribly long story," Susanna premonished him, shaking
her head.

"I adore terribly long stories," he declared. "And have we not before
us the whole of future time?"

"Sampaolo came to be an Island of the Distressed," said she, "because,
some half-century ago, the Sampaolesi got infected with an idea that
was then a kind of epidemic--the idea of Italian unity. So they had a
revolution, overthrew their legitimate sovereign, gave up their
Independence, and united themselves to the 'unholy and unhappy State'
which has since assumed the name of the Kingdom of Italy."

"That is not a terribly long story," Anthony complained. "I 'm afraid
you are suppressing some of the details."

"Yes," she at once acknowledged, "I daresay I 'm suppressing a good
many of the details."

"That's not ingenuous," said he, "nor--nor kind."

"It was not unkindly meant," said she.

"But Sampaolo," he questioned, "had, then, been independent? Go on.
Be communicative, be copious; tell me all about it."

"For more than seven hundred years," answered Susanna, "Sampaolo had
been independent. The Counts of Sampaolo were counts regnant, holding
the island by feudal tenure from the Pope, who was their suzerain, and
to whom they paid a tribute. They were counts regnant and lords
paramount, _tiranni_, as they were called in mediaeval Italy; they had
their own coinage, their own flag, their own little army; and though
some of the noble Sampaolese families bore the title of prince or duke
at Rome, they ranked only as barons at Sampaolo, and were subjects of
the Count."

A certain enthusiasm rang in her voice. They walked on for some paces
in silence.

"In the Palazzo Rosso at Vallanza, to this day," she continued, "you
will be shown the throne-room, with the great scarlet throne, and the
gilded coronet topping the canopy above it. But the Counts of Sampaolo
were good men and wise rulers; and, under them, for more than seven
hundred years, the island was free, prosperous, and happy. And though
many times the Turks tried to take it, and many times the Venetians,
and though sometimes the Pope tried to take it back, when the Pope
happened to be a d