"

"Yes," replied the other, almost in a whisper, "you are Marcello. But
what else? What is your family name? It is very important. Will you tell
me?"

The vague look came into Marcello's eyes, and then the look of pain, and
he shook his head rather feebly.

"I cannot remember," he answered at last. "It hurts me to remember."

"Is it Consalvi?" asked the officer, smiling encouragement.

"Consalvi?" Marcello's eyes wandered, as he tried to think. "I cannot
remember," he said again after an interval.

The Chief of Police was not discouraged yet.

"You were knocked down and robbed by thieves, just after you had been
talking with Aurora," he said, inventing what he believed to have
happened.

A faint light came into Marcello's eyes.

"Aurora?" He repeated the name almost eagerly.

"Yes. You had been talking to Signorina Aurora dell' Armi. You remember
that?"

The light faded suddenly.

"I thought I remembered something," answered Marcello. "Aurora? Aurora?
No, it is gone. I was dreaming again. I want to sleep now."

The Chief stood upright and looked at the Superintendent, who looked at
him, and both shook their heads. Then they asked what the visiting
doctor had said, and what directions he had given about Marcello's
treatment.

"I am sure it is he," said the Chief of Police when they were closeted
in the Superintendent's office, five minutes later. "I have studied his
photograph every day for nearly three months. Look at it."

He produced a good-sized photograph of Marcello which had been taken
about a year earlier, but was the most recent. The Superintendent
looked at it critically, and said it was not much like the patient. The
official objected that a man who was half dead of fever and had lain
starving for weeks, heaven only knew where, could hardly be quite
himself in appearance. The Superintendent pointed out that this was
precisely the difficulty; the photograph was not like the sick man. But
the Chief politely insisted that it was. They differed altogether on
this point, but quarrelled over it in the most urbane manner possible.

The Superintendent suggested that it would be easy to identify Marcello
Consalvi, by bringing people who knew him to his bedside, servants and
others. The official answered that he should prefer to be sure of
everything before calling in any one else. The patient had evidently
lost his memory by some accident, and if he could not recall his own
name it was not likely