lso that one of them was very sick, that they were
real pleasant and extraordinarily refined, and that the sight of a
compatriot, literally draped, as it were, in the national banner,
would cheer them up more than most anything, and give them a sense of
protection. They had talked to the consul about Benyon's ship, which
they could see from their windows, in the distance, at its anchorage.
They were the only American ladies then at Naples,--the only residents,
at least,--and the captain would n't be doing the polite thing unless he
went to pay them his respects. Benyon felt afresh how little it was in
his line to call upon strange women; he was not in the habit of hunting
up female acquaintance, or of looking out for the soft emotions which
the sex only can inspire. He had his reasons for this abstention, and
he seldom relaxed it; but the consul appealed to him on rather strong
grounds; and he suffered himself to be persuaded. He was far from
regretting, during the first weeks at least, an act which was distinctly
inconsistent with his great rule,--that of never exposing himself to the
chance of seriously caring for an unmarried woman. He had been obliged
to make this rule, and had adhered to it with some success. He was
fond of women, but he was forced to restrict himself to superficial
sentiments. There was no use tumbling into situations from which the
only possible issue was a retreat The step he had taken with regard to
poor Miss Theory and her delightful little sister was an exception on
which at first he could only congratulate himself. That had been a happy
idea of the ruminating old consul; it made Captain Benyon forgive
him his hat, his boots, his shirtfront,--a costume which might be
considered representative, and the effect of which was to make the
observer turn with rapture to a half-naked lazzarone. On either side the
acquaintance had helped the time to pass, and the hours he spent at
the little _pension_ at Posilippo left a sweet--and by no means
innutritive--taste behind.

As the weeks went by his exception had grown to look a good deal like
a rule; but he was able to remind himself that the path of retreat was
always open to him. Moreover, if he should fall in love with the younger
girl there would be no great harm, for Kate Theory was in love only with
her sister, and it would matter very little to her whether he advanced
or retreated. She was very attractive, or rather very attracting.
Small, pale, at