but going
into his bedroom late at night, he stopped on the threshold with a
sudden shock of fear. What if he should see it in a dream? He recovered
himself immediately and knelt down before the crucifix to pray.

But he lay awake the whole night through.

CHAPTER IV.

MONTANELLI'S anger did not make him neglectful of his promise. He
protested so emphatically against the manner in which the Gadfly had
been chained that the unfortunate Governor, who by now was at his wit's
end, knocked off all the fetters in the recklessness of despair. "How am
I to know," he grumbled to the adjutant, "what His Eminence will object
to next? If he calls a simple pair of handcuffs 'cruelty,' he'll be
exclaiming against the window-bars presently, or wanting me to feed
Rivarez on oysters and truffles. In my young days malefactors were
malefactors and were treated accordingly, and nobody thought a traitor
any better than a thief. But it's the fashion to be seditious nowadays;
and His Eminence seems inclined to encourage all the scoundrels in the
country."

"I don't see what business he has got to interfere at all," the adjutant
remarked. "He is not a Legate and has no authority in civil and military
affairs. By law------"

"What is the use of talking about law? You can't expect anyone to
respect laws after the Holy Father has opened the prisons and turned the
whole crew of Liberal scamps loose on us! It's a positive infatuation!
Of course Monsignor Montanelli will give himself airs; he was quiet
enough under His Holiness the late Pope, but he's cock of the walk now.
He has jumped into favour all at once and can do as he pleases. How am
I to oppose him? He may have secret authorization from the Vatican, for
all I know. Everything's topsy-turvy now; you can't tell from day to day
what may happen next. In the good old times one knew what to be at, but
nowadays------"

The Governor shook his head ruefully. A world in which Cardinals
troubled themselves over trifles of prison discipline and talked about
the "rights" of political offenders was a world that was growing too
complex for him.

The Gadfly, for his part, had returned to the fortress in a state of
nervous excitement bordering on hysteria. The meeting with Montanelli
had strained his endurance almost to breaking-point; and his final
brutality about the variety show had been uttered in sheer desperation,
merely to cut short an interview which, in another five minutes, would
h