oney
home. We won it at Monte Carlo; take it, it is yours. Polite enough,"
mused Hillard, turning and smiling; "but hanged if it sounds proper."

"To the deuce with propriety!" cried Merrihew buoyantly. "We'll start,
then, at nine to-morrow?"

"At nine promptly."

"I'm off to bed, then." As Merrihew reached the door he paused. "I
forgot to tell you. Do you recollect that Italian you ran into at the
club that night? Saw him at the hotel to-night. He bowed to Sandford,
and Sandford cut him dead. It set me thinking."

"The Sandfords entertained him somewhere, once upon a time, and he
behaved like a cad. I don't know what about, and I don't care."

"Humph! I hope Giovanni gets off safely."

"I think he will."

When Merrihew had gone Hillard opened the shutters to clear the room of
the tobacco smoke, and stood beside the sill, absorbing the keen night
air and admiring the serene beauty of the picture which lay spread
before him. The moon stood high and clear now, the tiled roofs shone
mistily, and from some near-by garden came the perfume of boxwood and
roses. All was silence; noisy Naples slept. He would see her face this
time; he would tear aside the mystery. She had made a great mistake?
That was of small consequence to him. He could laugh at Mrs. Sandford's
warning. He was no green and untried youth; he was a man. Then he
laughed aloud. It was so droll. Here was Merrihew in love with the
soubrette, and he himself.... _Was_ he in love, or was only his fancy
trapped? A fine comedy! The soubrette and the prima donna! He closed the
shutters, for the Neapolitan is naturally a thief, and an open window is
as large as a door to him. He packed his cases, and this done, went to
bed. For a time he could hear Merrihew in the adjoining room; but even
this noise ceased. Hillard fell asleep and dreamed that he and Giovanni
were being pursued by _carabinieri_ in petticoats and half-masks, that
Merrihew had won tons of napoleons at Monte Carlo, and that Kitty
Killigrew was a princess in disguise. Such is the vagary of dreams.

CHAPTER XI

THE CITY IN THE SEA

From her window Kitty looked down on the Campo which lay patched with
black shadows and moonshine. A magic luster, effective as hoar-frost,
enveloped the ancient church, and the lines of the eaves and the turns
of the corners were silver-bright. How still at night was this fairy
city in the sea! Save for the occasional booming of bells--and in Italy
they are fo