The men, their horses watered and hobbled, went off, shouting like boys, to bathe below the falls; and after a moment's hesitation Count Hannibal rose from the grass on which he had flung himself.
"Guard that for me, Madame," he said.

And he dropped a packet, bravely sealed and tied with a silk thread, into the Countess's lap.

"'Twill be safer than leaving it in my clothes.

Ohe!" And he turned to Madame St.
Lo.

"Would you fancy a life that was all gipsying, cousin ?" And if there was irony in his voice, there was desire in his eyes.
"There is only one happy man in the world," she answered, with conviction.
"By name ?" "The hermit of Compiegne." "And in a week you would be wild for a masque!" he said cynically.