said, without changing his tone.
"You see, here is the book. The seal is unbroken. It is exactly as I
left it when Zorzi and I buried it together. You suspected him of having
opened it, and I confess that you made me suspect him, too. For the sake
of justice, convince yourself."

Giovanni's face was drawn with lines of vexation and anxiety.

"It was hidden in the jar of broken glass," Beroviero explained. "You
did not think of looking there."

"No--nor you, sir."

"I mean that you did not look there when you searched for it alone,
immediately after Zorzi was arrested."

Giovanni was pale now, but he raised both hands and turned up his eyes
as if calling upon heaven to witness his innocence.

"I swear to you," he began, "on the body of the blessed Saint Donatus--"

Beroviero interrupted him.

"I did not ask you to swear by anything," he said. "I know the truth.
The less you say of what has happened, the better it will be for you in
the end."

"I suppose my sister has been poisoning your mind against me as usual.
Can she explain how her mantle came here?"

"It does not concern you to know how it came here," answered Beroviero.
"By your wholly unjustifiable haste, to say nothing worse, you have
caused an innocent man to be arrested, and his rescue and disappearance
have made matters much worse. I do not care to ask what your object has
been. Keep it to yourself, pray, and do not remind me of this affair
when we meet, for after all, you are my son. You came to take your
leave, I think. Go home, then, by all means."

Without a word, Giovanni went out, biting his thin lip and reflecting
mournfully upon the change in his position since he had talked with his
father in the morning. While they had been speaking Marietta had gone to
a little distance, affecting to unfold the mantle and fold it again
according to feminine rules. As she heard the door shut again she
glanced at her father's face, and saw that he was looking at her.

"I told you that I was learning patience to-day," he said. "I longed to
lay my hands on him."

"You frightened him much more by what you said," answered Marietta.

"Perhaps. Never mind! He is gone. The question is how to find Zorzi.
That is the first thing, and then we must undo the mischief Giovanni has
done."

"I think Pasquale must have some clue by which we may find Zorzi,"
suggested Marietta.

Pasquale was called at once. He stood with his legs bowed, holding his
old cap in bot