aid and assistance under circumstances such as these, would
have been, as Frank felt, a meanness; to demand it as a right would have
been as insolent a pretension; and yet what was to be done? Ravitzky's
life was in peril; should he, from any scruple whatever, hazard the
chances of saving his poor comrade? "Come what may," thought he, "I'll
claim their succor--theirs be the shame if they refuse it!"

The approach was longer than he suspected, and, as he went along, Frank
had occasion to remark the tasteful elegance of the grounds, and the
costly character of all the embellishments. He saw that he was about
to present himself before one of the "magnates" of the land, and half
prepared himself for a haughty reception. Crossing a little bridge, he
found himself on a grassy plateau, on which a number of windows looked
out; and these now all lay open, while seated within were several
persons enjoying the Italian luxury of a "bel fresco," as the air of the
lake gently stirred the leaves, and carried some faint traces of Alpine
freshness into the plains beneath. A large lamp, covered with a deep
shade, threw a dubious light through the chamber, and gave to the group
all the effect and coloring of a picture.

On an ottoman, supported by pillows, and in an attitude of almost
theatrical elegance, lay a lady, dressed in white, a black veil fastened
in her hair behind, being half drawn across her face. At her feet sat
a young man, with an air of respectful attention; and a little further
off, in an easy-chair, reclined the massive proportions of a priest,
fanning himself with his skull-cap, and seemingly gasping for air.
Behind all, again, was another figure,--a tall man, who, with a cigar in
his mouth, slowly paced the chamber up and down, stopping occasionally
to hear the conversation, but rarely mingling in it.

There was that air of indolent enjoyment and lassitude, that mingled
aspect of splendor and neglect, so characteristically Italian in the
scene, that Frank forgot himself, as he stood still and gazed on the
group, and even listened to the words.

"After all," said the young man, in Italian, "it is better to let them
do the thing in their own way! Catting off a patrol here, shooting
a sentry there, stabbing a general to-day, poisoning a field-marshal
to-morrow, seems to our notions a very petty war, but it makes a country
very untenable in the end!"

"Fuori i barbari! over the Alps with them at any cost!" growled the