ittle quivers of excitement went down his back, and
the crucifix swam in a misty cloud before his eyes. It was only after a
long litany, mechanically repeated, that he succeeded in recalling his
wandering imagination to the mystery of the Atonement. At last sheer
physical weariness conquered the feverish agitation of his nerves, and
he lay down to sleep in a calm and peaceful mood, free from all unquiet
or disturbing thoughts.

He was fast asleep when a sharp, impatient knock came at his door. "Ah,
Teresa!" he thought, turning over lazily. The knock was repeated, and he
awoke with a violent start.

"Signorino! signorino!" cried a man's voice in Italian; "get up for the
love of God!"

Arthur jumped out of bed.

"What is the matter? Who is it?"

"It's I, Gian Battista. Get up, quick, for Our Lady's sake!"

Arthur hurriedly dressed and opened the door. As he stared in perplexity
at the coachman's pale, terrified face, the sound of tramping feet and
clanking metal came along the corridor, and he suddenly realized the
truth.

"For me?" he asked coolly.

"For you! Oh, signorino, make haste! What have you to hide? See, I can
put----"

"I have nothing to hide. Do my brothers know?"

The first uniform appeared at the turn of the passage.

"The signor has been called; all the house is awake. Alas! what a
misfortune--what a terrible misfortune! And on Good Friday! Holy Saints,
have pity!"

Gian Battista burst into tears. Arthur moved a few steps forward and
waited for the gendarmes, who came clattering along, followed by a
shivering crowd of servants in various impromptu costumes. As the
soldiers surrounded Arthur, the master and mistress of the house
brought up the rear of this strange procession; he in dressing gown and
slippers, she in a long peignoir, with her hair in curlpapers.

"There is, sure, another flood toward, and these couples are coming to
the ark! Here comes a pair of very strange beasts!"

The quotation flashed across Arthur's mind as he looked at the
grotesque figures. He checked a laugh with a sense of its jarring
incongruity--this was a time for worthier thoughts. "Ave Maria, Regina
Coeli!" he whispered, and turned his eyes away, that the bobbing of
Julia's curlpapers might not again tempt him to levity.

"Kindly explain to me," said Mr. Burton, approaching the officer of
gendarmerie, "what is the meaning of this violent intrusion into a
private house? I warn you that, unless you are prepare