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mountain-climbing?"
    "But yes, signorina! Sicuramente . Zay are ver' strong, ver' good. Zat donk', signorina, he go all day and never one little stumble."
    His English, she noted with amused appreciation, was an exact copy of Gustavo's; he had learned his lesson well. But she allowed not the slightest recognition of the fact to appear in her face.
    "And what are their names?" she inquired.
    "Dis is Fidilini, signorina, and zat one wif ze white nose is Macaroni, and zat ovver is Cristoforo Colombo."
    Elizabetta appeared in the doorway with two rush-covered flasks, and Tony hurried forward to receive them. There was a complaisant set to his shoulders as he strode off, Constance noted delightedly; he was felicitating himself upon the ease with which he had fooled her. Well! She would give him cause before the day was over for other than felicitations. She stifled a laugh of prophetic triumph and sauntered over to Beppo.
    "When Tony is engaged as a guide do you always go with him?"
    "Not always, signorina, but Carlo has wished me to go to-day to look after the donkeys."
    "And who is Carlo?"
    "He is the guide who owns them."
    Beppo looked momentarily guilty; the answer had slipped out before he thought.
    "Oh, indeed! But if Tony is a guide why doesn't he have donkeys of his own?"
    "He used to, but one unfortunately fell into the lake and got drowned and the other died of a sickness."
    He put forth this preposterous statement with a glance as grave and innocent as that of a little cherub.
    "Is Tony a good guide?"
    "But yes, of the best!"
    There was growing anxiety in Beppo's tone. He divined suspicion behind these persistent inquiries, and he knew that in case Tony were dismissed, his own munificent pay would stop.
    "Do you understand any English?" she suddenly asked.
    He modestly repudiated any great knowledge. "A word here, a word there; I learn it in school."
    "I see!" She paused for a moment and then inquired casually, "Have you known Tony long?"
    " Si , signorina."
    "How long?"
    Beppo considered. Someone, clearly, must vouch for the man's respectability. This was not in the lesson that had been taught him, but he determined to branch out for himself.
    "He is my father, signorina."
    "Really! He looks young to be your father--have you any brothers and sisters, Beppo?"
    "I have four brothers, signorina, and five sisters." He fell back upon the truth with relief.
    " Davvero !"
    The signorina smiled upon him, a smile of such heavenly sweetness that he instantly joined the already crowded ranks of her admirers. She drew from her pocket a handful of coppers and dropped them into his grimy little palm.
    "Here, Beppo, are some soldi for the brothers and sisters. I hope that you will be good and obedient and always tell me the truth."
    CHAPTER V
    After some delay--owing to Tony's inability to balance the chafing-dish on Cristoforo Colombo's back--they filed from the gateway, an imposing cavalcade. The ladies were on foot, loftily oblivious to the fact that three empty saddles awaited their pleasure. Constance, a gesticulating officer at either hand, was vivaciously talking Italian, while Tony, trudging behind, listened with a somber light in his eye. She now and then cast a casual glance over her shoulder, and as she caught sight of his gloomy face the animation of her Italian redoubled. The situation held for her mischief-loving soul undreamed-of possibilities; and though she ostensibly occupied herself with the officers, she by no means neglected the donkey-man.
    During the first few miles of the journey he earned his four francs. Twice he reshifted the pack because Constance thought it insecure (it was a disgracefully unprofessional pack; most guides would have blushed at the making of it); once he retraced their path some two hundred yards in search of a veil she thought she had dropped--it turned out that she had had it in her pocket all of the time. He chased Fidilini over half the mountainside while the others were resting, and he