er skeleton, and had had it gilded, he was so
very fond of her. Jaqui had a good deal of trouble with these people,
who had never dared to trouble old Dr. Torquino with their idle
curiosity, for he was a man with a high temper and would stand no
meddling.

"But when the neighbors had ceased to talk, at least to him, there came
a third class of troublers, worse than either of the others. These were
some scientific people who long ago had heard of the experiment
Dr. Paltravi had been making with his wife. Several of these wrote to
Jaqui, and two of them came to see him. These insisted on looking at the
lady in the box, and Jaqui was obliged to show her. The two scientists
were very much interested--extremely so; but they did not in the least
believe the lady was alive. They considered the beautiful figure the
most admirable specimen of the preservation of the human body after
death that they had ever seen, and that Paltravi was entitled to the
greatest credit for the success of his experiment. They were anxious to
be informed of the methods by which this wonderful result had been
obtained. But this, Jaqui firmly informed them, was now his secret and
his property, and he would not divulge it. The scientists acknowledged
the justice of this position, and did not urge their point; but each of
them, when he went away, resolved that in the course of a few years he
would come back, and if the body of the lady was still in good
preservation, he would buy it if he could. Jaqui might be poor by that
time, or dead.

"Jaqui now thought his troubles were over; but he was mistaken. A new
persecutor appeared, who belonged to a fourth class, fortunately not a
very large one. This person was a young man who was not only a fool but
a poet."

"Unfortunate creature!" exclaimed the Mistress of the House.

"I don't know, madam," said John Gayther. "He was very happy. It was the
people with whom he associated in this world who were unfortunate. This
young man, whose name was Florino, lived in Milan, and it would have
been much better for Jaqui if he had lived in Patagonia. By great bad
luck he had overheard one of the scientists who had visited Jaqui
talking about what he had seen at his house, and the poet instantly
became greatly interested in the story. He plied the learned man with
all manner of questions, and very soon made up his mind that he would go
to Florence to see the lady in the box. He believed she would make a
most admirabl