e there is yet time!"

With tears in her imploring eyes, Zuleika pushed her lover gently
towards the wall. He gazed at her for an instant and then at the
approaching men and nuns, who were now very near.

The girl clasped her hands supplicatingly, then mutely pointed to the
wall.

"It is your wish?" asked Massetti, hurriedly.

Zuleika nodded her head affirmatively, and still more imperatively
pointed to the wall.

"I will obey you," whispered the young Italian, "and I will 'wait and
hope!'"

She had gained the victory. A joyous love-light came into her eyes, for
the moment eclipsing her terror. Giovanni could not resist the
temptation to embrace her, even in the face of the danger that
threatened him. He wound his arms about her yielding form, drew her to
him with a crushing strain, showering burning kisses upon her upturned
lips.

"Farewell," he murmured, reluctantly releasing her, "farewell, my own!"

He turned from her and ran to the wall, scaled it with the agility of a
cat and vanished.

When the gardener and his assistants reached the elm, they found Zuleika
standing there alone. Had they seen Massetti scale the wall? Had they
recognized him? These thoughts shot through the girl's agitated mind.
She gave no attention to her own peril.

The men came to a halt and stood silently by, waiting for the nuns to
arrive. Horror was pictured on their aged countenances, and they stared
at Monte-Cristo's daughter as if she had committed some heinous,
unpardonable crime.

The group of nuns speedily arrived, headed by Sister Agatha, who held an
open letter in her hand. Zuleika gazed at this letter in silent dismay.
It was hers, the one Giovanni had written her! How had it got into
Sister Agatha's possession? She mechanically felt in her bosom where she
had secreted it, as she thought, safely. Her hand touched only the empty
envelope. The note must have fallen upon the floor of the school-room
and been found by some malicious pupil, who, after reading it and
discovering its compromising contents, had surrendered it to the nun,
thus divulging the weighty secret.

Zuleika stood abashed and terror-stricken. No chance of escape now. No
chance for deception had she wished to essay it. The letter told the
whole story, and the proof of its truth was furnished, for was she not
at the appointed rendezvous, and was it not probable that the men and
the nuns had seen Giovanni quit her and scale the garden wall?

The nuns l