o pecks, as some one tapped at the
entrance.

'I have seen him, sirs,' Tommaso said, after shutting the door behind
him. 'It is a thousand gold florins in cash, on the Eve of Saint John. I
am to meet him behind the Baptistery of the Lateran at the first hour of
the night and take him to the house.'

'Well done!' said Gambardella.

Trombin nodded his approval, for he was still at work on his orange, and
was well aware that if the contact were broken for purposes of speech
before the fruit was dry, the perfection of the satisfaction would be
seriously compromised.

'Tommaso,' Gambardella continued, 'I think you know Rome well. Are you
aware that in the Via di Santa Sabina there is a small house which is
almost always uninhabited, except in the month of October, when the
owner goes there himself to see his wine made? Do you happen to remember
that house?'

'No, sir,' answered the ex-highwayman, whose admiration for his
employers' wide knowledge increased daily. 'But I can easily find it,
for I know the road. It is a lonely place.'

'A very lonely place,' said Trombin, at last detaching himself from the
shrivelled yellow shell which was all that was left of the orange. 'It
is so lonely that I may say there is never any one there, and there is
rarely any one within hearing after dark. No thief goes near that road
at night, Tommaso, because there is never any one to rob. Most people
are fools, Tommaso, and suppose that robbers lurk in lonely and
unfrequented spots, where they could not possibly find a purse to cut.
Therefore, as we are no fools, Tommaso, but very intelligent persons, we
feel quite secure in such places. Do you fully understand my meaning,
Tommaso?'

'I have practised a part of what you preach, sir,' answered Tommaso with
a grin.

'No doubt. Very good, Tommaso. When you have found the house, go on some
distance farther, say a hundred steps or so, and you will see a door in
the wall, which evidently gives access to the vineyard. The door was
painted red when I last saw it. Perhaps you will find it ajar, but if
not, knock two or three times with the head of your stick, not roughly
or noisily, but in a sober fashion; and then wait awhile, and if nobody
comes, knock again. If you cannot get in to-day, go back to-morrow and
the next day. The best time is a little before noon, when the man is not
yet at dinner.'

'Or asleep,' suggested Tommaso.

'Precisely. When he lets you in, you will know him becaus