prentice showed my
letters to the girl?"

"I infer as much; though why he should do so--"

"Simpleton! Did you not say that he was in love with her (as you term
it), and that he got no encouragement?"

"Yes; I said that--and I know it to be true."

"Well! Was it not his interest, being unable to make any impression on
the girl's fancy, to establish some claim to her gratitude; and try if
he could not win her that way? By showing her my letters, he would make
her indebted to him for knowing that she was watched in your house. But
this is not the matter in question now. You say you infer that she had
seen my letters. On what grounds?"

"On the strength of this bit of paper," answered the little man,
ruefully producing a note from his pocket. "She must have had your
letters shown to her soon after putting her own letter into the post.
For, on the evening of the same day, when I went up into her room, I
found that she and her sister and the disagreeable dog had all gone, and
observed this note laid on the table."

Father Rocco took the note, and read these lines:

"I have just discovered that I have been watched and suspected ever
since my stay under your roof. It is impossible that I can remain
another night in the house of a spy. I go with my sister. We owe you
nothing, and we are free to live honestly where we please. If you see
Father Rocco, tell him that I can forgive his distrust of me, but that I
can never forget it. I, who had full faith in him, had a right to expect
that he should have full faith in me. It was always an encouragement
to me to think of him as a father and a friend. I have lost that
encouragement forever--and it was the last I had left to me!

"NANINA."

The priest rose from his seat as he handed the note back, and the
visitor immediately followed his example.

"We must remedy this misfortune as we best may," he said, with a sigh.
"Are you ready to go back to Florence to-morrow?"

The little man bowed again.

"Find out where she is, and ascertain if she wants for anything, and if
she is living in a safe place. Say nothing about me, and make no attempt
to induce her to return to your house. Simply let me know what you
discover. The poor child has a spirit that no ordinary people would
suspect in her. She must be soothed and treated tenderly, and we shall
manage her yet. No mistakes, mind, this time! Do just what I tell you,
and do no more. Have you anything else to say to me?"

Th