back towards the left bank of the Tiber, invading the streets, the squares, the houses, stripping the coverings from the papal escutcheons, carrying in triumph busts of Pius IX., portraits and banners.  Thousands assembled with frantic cheers before the palaces of the Roman nobles who are known for their devotion to the Holy See.  In answer to the cheers, the owners of the houses appeared on their balconies and unfurled the Italian flag.

“Wait a minute, I’m out of breath"...

As soon as he had recovered his breath he was assailed with fresh questions.

“Well, and what then?  And the Vatican—?  The Pope—?”

“I don’t know.—­But Rome that night... how can I ever tell you how beautiful, how great, how marvellous it was!  The night was perfectly clear, and I don’t believe such an illumination was ever seen since the world began.  The Corso was on fire; the churches were jammed with people, and there was preaching in every one of them.  The streets were full of music, dancing, and singing; people harangued the crowds in the cafes and the theatres.

“I wanted to see St. Peter’s again.  There had been a rumor that His Holiness needed rest, and Borgo Pio was as still as it is on the stillest night.  The piazza was full of moonlight.  A silent throng was gathered about the two fountains and on the steps of the church.  Many were sitting down, many stretched at full length on the ground; the greater number had fallen asleep, worn out by the fatigue and excitement of the day; women, soldiers, children, lay huddled together in a confused heap.  Hundreds of others were on their knees, and sentinels of all the different corps moved about here and there, with little flags and crosses fastened to the barrels of their guns.  The ground was strewn with flags, foliage, flowers, and hats lost in the crush; the windows of the Vatican were lit up; there was not a sound to be heard, the crowd seemed to be holding its breath.

“I turned away, beside myself with the thought of all that I had seen, of the effect that it would produce in Italy, and all over the world; of what you would all say to it, and you most of all, father!  I found myself at the station without knowing how I had got there.  It was full of noise and confusion.  I jumped on to the train, we started, and here I am.  The news reached Florence last night; they say the excitement was indescribable; the King has left for Rome; the news is all over the world by this time!”

He sank into a chair and sat silent, as though his breath had failed him.  Then he sprang up and rushed out to intercept the papers, which usually reached the villa at eleven o’clock in the morning.

In this way he succeeded in maintaining the blissful delusion until evening.  The dinner was full of gayety, the lad continued to pour out detail after detail, and his listeners to heap benediction upon benediction.

Suddenly a hurried step was heard on the stairs, and the bell rang violently.  The door opened, and a tall, pale priest, with a drawn mouth, appeared on the threshold.  He was a recent acquaintance of the family, who felt no great sympathy for him, but who received him courteously more out of respect for his cloth than out of regard for his merits.