to him yet to-day! And how much money
shall I take with me?"

"Well, I thought," timidly responded Ganganelli, "that five scudi would
not be too much!"

Lorenzo compassionately shrugged his shoulders. "You can never learn
the value of money," said he; "I am now to take _five_ scudi to these
_fourteen_ children."

"Is it not enough?" joyfully asked Ganganelli. "Well, I thank God that
you are so disposed! I only feared you would refuse me so much, because
my treasury, as you say, is already empty. But if we have something
left, give much, much more! At least a hundred scudi, Lorenzo!"

"That is always the way with you; from extreme to extreme!" grumbled
Lorenzo. "First too little, then too much! I shall take to them twenty
scudi, and that will be sufficient!"

"Give them thirty," begged Ganganelli, "do you hear, thirty, brother
Lorenzo. Thirty scudi is yet a very small sum!"

"Ah, what do you know about money?" answered Lorenzo, laughing; "these
geese here understand the matter better than you, brother Clement."

"Well, it is for that reason I have made you my cashier," laughed
Ganganelli. "A prince will always be well advised when he chooses
a sensible and well-instructed servant for that which he does not
understand himself. To acknowledge his ignorance on the proper occasion
does honor to a prince, and procures him more respect than if he sought
to give himself the appearance of knowing and understanding everything.
Come, Lorenzo, let us go into the garden; you see that these fowls care
nothing for us now; as they are satiated, they despise our provender.
Come, let us go farther!"

"Yes, into the garden!" exclaimed Lorenzo, with a mysterious smile.
"Come, brother Clement, I have prepared a little surprise for you there!
Come and see it!"

And the two old men turned their steps toward the garden.

"Follow me," said Lorenzo, preceding the pope, and leading him to a more
solitary and better screened part of the garden. "Now stoop a little and
creep through here, and then we are at the place."

The pope carefully followed the directions of his leader, and worked his
way through the obstruction of the myrtle-bushes until he arrived at
a small circular place, in the centre of which, shaded by tall
olive-trees, was a turf-seat surrounded by tendrils of ivy, and before
which was a small table of wood, yet retaining its natural covering of
bark.

"See, this is my surprise!" said Lorenzo.

Ganganelli stood sile