s looking he saw that two figures
followed the mule at a little distance, but what they were he could not
ascertain.

It was very unlikely that any of the "Pasture's" followers would have
adopted a gear so striking and so easily seen as this bright trapping,
and so Gerald at once set the travellers down as some peasants returning
to their homes in the Maremma, or on a pilgrimage to some religious
shrine.

With no small exertion he so far gained upon them as to be able to
note their appearance, and discover that one was a friar in the dusky
olive-coloured frock of the Franciscan, and the other a woman, dressed
in some conventual costume which he did not recognise. He could also see
that the mule carried a somewhat cumbrous pack, and an amount of baggage
rarely the accompaniment of a travelling friar.

Who has not felt his curiosity stimulated by some mere trifling
circumstance when occurring in a remote spot, which had it happened on
the world's crowded highway would have passed unnoticed. It was this
strange attendant on these wayfarers that urged Gerald to press on to
overtake them. Forgetting the peasant costume which he wore and the part
it thus behoved him to pursue, he called out in a tone of half command
for them to stop till he came up.

'Halt,' cried he, 'and tell me if this be the way to the Capri Pass!'

The friar turned hastily, and stood until Gerald approached.

'You speak like one accustomed to give his orders on these mountains, my
son,' said he, in a tone of stern reproof; 'so that even a poor follower
of St. Francis is surprised to be thus accosted.'

By this time Gerald had so far recovered his self-possession as to see
how he had compromised his assumed character, and in a voice of deep
submission, and with a peasant accent he answered--

I ask pardon, worthy Fra, but travelling all alone in this wild region
has so overcome me that I scarcely know what I say, or understand what I
hear.'

'Whence do you come?' asked the friar rudely. 'From the Mill at
Orto-Molino.'

'And whither are you going?'

'To St. Stephano after I have delivered a letter that I have here.'

'To whom is your letter addressed, my son?' said the Fra, in a more
gentle voice.

With difficulty did Gerald repress the sharp reply that was on his lips,
and say--

'It is for one that neither you nor I know much of--Il Pastore.'

'I know him well,' said the friar boldly; 'and say it without fear of
contradiction, I am th