t what? Heaven on earth, what? Haven't I tried to figure it out till
my brain aches? I haven't gone forward a single inch. On the steps of
the Formosa I told her that I loved her. There, you have it! I was in
doubt till I looked at her face, and then I knew that I had met the one
woman, and that there was a barrier between us that was not
self-imposed. Not even friendship, Dan; not even an ordinary thing like
that. I have spoken to this woman on only two occasions, and only once
have I seen her face. I am not a disciple of the theory of love at first
sight. I never shall be. An educated, rational man must have something
besides physical beauty; there must be wit, intellect, accomplishments.
Usually we recognize the beauty first, and then the other attributes,
one by one, as the acquaintance ripens. With me the things have been
switched round. The accomplishments came first; I became fascinated by a
voice and a mind. But when I saw her face.... Oh, well! Mrs. Sandford
warned me against her; the woman herself has warned me; the primal
instinct of self-preservation has warned me; yet, here I am! I had not
intended to bother you, Dan."

"It doesn't bother me, it worries me. If I have hurt you with any of my
careless jests, forgive me." Merrihew now realized that his friend was
in a bad way. Still, there was a hidden gladness in his heart that
Hillard, always railing at his (Merrihew's) affairs, was in the same
boat now, and rudderless at that.

"You haven't hurt me, Dan. As a matter of fact, your gibes have been a
tonic. They have made me face the fact that I was on the highroad to
imbecility."

"What shall you do?"

"Nothing. When we have seen Florence we'll drop down to Perugia and
Rome, then up to the Italian lakes; after that, home, if you say. The
bass season will be on then, and we've had some good sport on Lake
Ontario."

"Bass!" Merrihew went through the pleasant foolery of casting a line, of
drawing the bait, of lifting the hook, and of reeling in. "Four pounds,
Jack. He fit hard, as old Joe used to say. Remember?"

And so naturally they fell to recounting the splendid catches of the
gamiest fish in water. When the interest in this waned, Hillard looked
at his watch.

"Only nine," he said. "Let's go over to Gambrinus' and hear the music."

"And drink a boot of beer. Better than moping here."

The Hotel Italie was but a few blocks from the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele.
They found the _Halle_ crowded, noisy an