ould have
concluded that these were four travelers, probably pilgrims of the better
class, who had made acquaintance at the table d'hote.

"I have come a long way," said the little man at once, speaking in the
rather rounded French of the Italian born, "and have left Rome at a time
when the Church requires the help of even the humblest of her servants--I
hope our good Mon has something important and really effective this time
to communicate."

Mon smiled at the implied reproach.

"And I, too, have come from far--from Warsaw," said the stout man,
breathing hard, as if to illustrate the length of his journey. "Let us
hope that there is something tangible this time."

He spoke with the gaiety and lightness of a Frenchman; for this was that
Frenchman of the North, a Pole.

Mon lighted a cigarette, with a gay jerk of the match towards the last
speaker, indicative of his recognition of a jest.

"Something," continued the Pole, "more than great promises--something
more stable than a castle--in Spain. Ha, ha! You have not taken Pampeluna
yet, my friend. One does not hear that Bilboa has fallen into the hands
of the Carlists. Every time we meet you ask for money. You must arrange
to give us something--for our money, my friend."

"I will arrange," answered Mon in his quiet, neat enunciation, "to give
you a kingdom."

And he inclined his head forward to look at the Pole through the upper
half of his gold-rimmed glasses.

"And not a vague republic in the region of the North Pole," said the
stout man with a laugh. "Well, who lives shall see."

"You want more money--is that it?" inquired the little wizened man, who
seemed to be the leader though he spoke the least--a not unusual
characteristic.

"Yes," replied the Spaniard.

"Your country has cost us much this year," said the little man, blinking
his colourless eyes and staring at the ground as if making a mental
calculation. "You have forced Germany and France into war. You have made
France withdraw her troops from Rome, and you gave Victor Emmanuel the
chance he awaited. You have given all Europe--the nerves."

"And now is the moment to play on those nerves," said Mon.

"With your clumsy Don Carlos?"

"It is not the man--it is the Cause. Remember that we are an ignorant
nation. It is the ignorant and the half educated who sacrifice all for a
cause."

"It is a pity you cannot buy a new Don Carlos with our money," put in the
Pole.

"This one will serve," was th