y esteem, and must not pay me for them."

"Signor!" cried Montardo, in an imploring tone, "remain at my hotel as
long as you please, and when I bring you your bill lay some of these
coins upon it, and I shall be richly paid."

The stranger promised: then having received, with visible annoyance, the
money for the fans, left the store with Montardo to pay his visit to the
Convent Giovanni e Paolo.

CHAPTER III. THE CLOISTER BROTHERS OF SAN GIOVANNI E PAOLO.

The Prior of San Giovanni e Paolo had just returned from the second mass
celebrated in the beautiful church of his cloister, the burial-place
of the great Titiano Vicelli. With his arms folded across his back, he
walked slowly and thoughtfully backward and forward, then stood before a
large table at which a monk was occupied in unfolding letters and maps.

"This, your worship," said the monk, opening a new paper, "is an exact
plan of the region around Mayen; we have just received it, and the
positions of the two armies are plainly marked down. If agreeable to
your worship, I will read the bulletins aloud, and you can follow the
movements of the troops upon the map."

The prior shook his head softly. "No, Brother Anselmo, do not read again
the triumphant bulletins of the Austrians and Russians; they pain my
ears and my heart. Let us rather look at the map to see if the present
position of the army offers any ground of hope."

"I have marked it all out with pins," said Father Anselmo; "the black
pins signify the army of the allies, the white pins the army of the King
of Prussia."

The prior bowed over the map, and his eye followed thoughtfully the
lines which Father Anselmo marked out. "Your pins are a sad omen," he
said, shaking his head. "The black ones surround like a churchyard wall
the white ones, which stand like crosses upon the solitary graves in the
midst of their black enclosures."

"But the white pins will break through the enclosure," said Father
Anselmo, confidently. "The great king--"Father Anselmo stopped
speaking; suddenly the door opened, and the father guardian asked if he
might enter.

The prior blushed slightly, and stepped back from the table as the sharp
eyes of the father guardian wandered around the room and fell at last
with a sarcastic expression upon the table covered with maps and plans.

"Welcome, Brother Theodore," said the prior, with a slight nod of the
head.

"I fear that I disturb your worship in your favorite occu