* *

I shall tell no more, but leave the singer and his young wife to their
happiness. If any one would know the end that followed years afterwards,
he will find it in chronicles that are in almost every great library. I
shall only say that while those two lived they loved, as few have, and
that Stradella's fame was greater when he breathed his last than it had
ever been before; and in Italy he is not forgotten yet.

But whether Trombin and Gambardella will ever stroll into the
story-teller's dreamland again, and act other parts, he himself cannot
surely tell, nor does he know whether they will be welcome if they come.
Their names are not in the chronicles, as Stradella's and Ortensia's
are, as well as Pignaver's. The Venetian nobleman 'sent certain
assassins,' and that is all we know; and as for the names and faces and
figures I have given to the Bravi, I found them beyond the borders of
truth in the delicious Gardens of Irresponsibility, where many strange
people dwell together, who might be real, and may be alive some day, but
who have not yet made up their minds to exchange the flowery paths of
fiction for the stony roads and dusty lanes of this working-day world.

Mr. F. MARION CRAWFORD'S NOVELS

THE SARACINESCA SERIES

_In the binding of the Uniform Edition, each, $1.50_

Saracinesca

"The work has two distinct merits, either of which would serve to
make it great,--that of telling a perfect story in a perfect way,
and of giving a graphic picture of Roman society in the last days
of the Pope's temporal power.... The story is exquisitely
told."--_Boston Traveler._

Sant' Ilario. A Sequel to "Saracinesca"

"A singularly powerful and beautiful story.... It fulfils every
requirement of artistic fiction. It brings out what is most
impressive in human action, without owing any of its effectiveness
to sensationalism or artifice. It is natural, fluent in evolution,
accordant with experience, graphic in description, penetrating in
analysis, and absorbing in interest."--_New York Tribune._

Don Orsino. A Sequel to "Sant' Ilario"

"Perhaps the cleverest novel of the year.... There is not a dull
paragraph in the book, and the reader may be assured that once
begun, the story of Don Orsino will fascinate him until its
close."--_The Critic._

Taquisara

"To Mr. Crawford's Roman novels belongs the supreme quality