ee his hand seemed to be one of dismissal.

"Signor di Marito, you will take us to the automobile, will you
not?" she said. "Perhaps we can drop you somewhere? Good-bye,
Andrea, and thank you very much for your charming luncheon. If the
message comes, you will telephone, I know?"

Arnold lingered behind while Sabatini showed his guests to the door.
When he, too, would have left, however, his host motioned him to
resume his chair.

"Sit down for a few minutes," he begged. "You have probably seen
enough of me for to-day, but I may be called away from England at
any moment and there is a question I want to ask you before I go."

Arnold nodded.

"You are really in earnest, then, about leaving?" he asked.

"Assuredly," Sabatini replied. "I cannot tell you exactly how things
may go in my country, but if there is a rising against the reigning
house, a Sabatini will certainly be there. I have had some
experience in soldiering, and I have a following. It is true that I
am an exile, but I feel that my place is somewhere near the
frontier."

Arnold glanced enviously at the man who lounged in the chair
opposite him. He seemed to carry even about his person a flavor from
the far-off land of adventures.

"What I want to ask you is this," Sabatini said. "A few minutes ago
you declared that you were anxious to discover the whereabouts of
your little friend's uncle. Tell me why?"

"I will tell you, with pleasure," Arnold answered. "You see, she is
left absolutely alone in the world. I do not grumble at the charge
of her, for when I was nearly starving she was kind to me, and we
passed our darkest days together. On the other hand, I know that she
feels it keenly, and I think it is only right to try and find out if
she has no relatives or friends who could possibly look after her."

"It is perfectly reasonable," Sabatini confessed. "I can tell you
where to find Isaac Lalonde, if you wish."

Arnold's little exclamation was one almost of dismay.

"You know?" he cried.

"Naturally," Sabatini admitted. "You have a tender conscience, my
young friend, and a very limited knowledge of the great necessities
of the world. You think that a man like Isaac Lalonde has no real
place in a wholesome state of society. You have some reason in what
you think, but you are not altogether right. In any case, this is
the truth. However much it may horrify you to know it, and
notwithstanding our recent differences of opinion, communications
hav