head of the descendant of the corporals, and this was no difficult matter, since, far from being in a hurry to get back to his village, Orso seemed very happy at Ajaccio, although he knew nobody there.  Furthermore, Miss Lydia had a lofty purpose in her mind; it was nothing less than to civilize this mountain bear, and induce him to relinquish the sinister design which had recalled him to his island.  Since she had taken the trouble to study the young man, she had told herself it would be a pity to let him rush upon his ruin, and that it would be a glorious thing to convert a Corsican.

Our travellers spent the day in the following manner:  Every morning the colonel and Orso went out shooting.  Miss Lydia sketched or wrote letters to her friends, chiefly for the sake of dating them from Ajaccio.  Toward six o’clock the gentlemen came in, laden with game.  Then followed dinner.  Miss Lydia sang, the colonel went to sleep, and the young people sat talking till very late.

Some formality or other, connected with his passports, had made it necessary for Colonel Nevil to call on the prefect.  This gentleman, who, like most of his colleagues, found his life very dull, had been delighted to hear of the arrival of an Englishman who was rich, a man of the world, and the father of a pretty daughter.  He had, therefore, given him the most friendly reception, and overwhelmed him with offers of service; further, within a very few days, he came to return his visit.  The colonel, who had just dined, was comfortably stretched out upon his sofa, and very nearly asleep.  His daughter was singing at a broken-down piano; Orso was turning over the leaves of her music, and gazing at the fair singer’s shoulders and golden hair.  The prefect was announced, the piano stopped, the colonel got up, rubbed his eyes, and introduced the prefect to his daughter.

“I do not introduce M. della Rebbia to you,” said he, “for no doubt you know him already.”

“Is this gentleman Colonel della Rebbia’s son?” said the prefect, looking a trifle embarrassed.

“Yes, monsieur,” replied Orso.

“I had the honour of knowing your father.”

The ordinary commonplaces of conversation were soon exhausted.  The colonel, in spite of himself, yawned pretty frequently.  Orso, as a liberal, did not care to converse with a satellite of the Government.  The burden of the conversation fell on Miss Lydia.  The prefect, on his side, did not let it drop, and it was clear that he found the greatest pleasure in talking of Paris, and of the great world, to a woman who was acquainted with all the foremost people in European society.  As he talked, he now and then glanced at Orso, with an expression of singular curiosity.

“Was it on the Continent that you made M. della Rebbia’s acquaintance?” he inquired.

Somewhat embarrassed, Miss Lydia replied that she had made his acquaintance on the ship which had carried them to Corsica.