"'I wear this cowl and robe and beg as a mendicant on the street yet have always wished to be a soldier fighting to free Tuscany from tyranny; the tyranny not only of the oppressing noble families, chief of whom at this time are the Albizzi, but of the church with whom they are allied. I have suffered too much in mind from disappointment to care for the physical discomforts of others; and had you not been a soldier of renown, fighting against those influences which I condemn, I would have looked upon your imprisonment as incidental and your suffering without sympathy. I know how little I can do and that little at great personal risk, which, if discovered, will be not only your death warrant but my own. I will not carry a written message to your wife, but will stand near your home, pretending to solicit alms, and if she should pass, will tell her your message, but not disclose your place of imprisonment. She will know you are alive and have a friend who at rare intervals will give her news of you and bring back messages from her which you must give me to destroy. That is all that can be done. As my reward, you shall teach me to use the sword so when the opportunity is presented I may do my part as a patriot to rid Tuscany of her oppressors.' "'You will at least hand this ring to my wife when you deliver my message and await her answer?' "'Yes, I will risk that much.' "That night I slept in peace and had rapturous dreams of freedom. "On the next day in the afternoon, when my wife left our home to go to her brother's seeking news of me, she was addressed by a mendicant friar, who had even to touch her arm before she took notice, as she walked as a woman asleep--mind lost in sorrow. "'Do not start; pretend to give me alms and take this ring which your husband sends. He is alive and well but a prisoner. I am his friend and will take a written message to him. Should his friends seek to find his place of confinement he will be murdered. On each Tuesday at this hour, if you pass, I will bring you news of him. I must not be followed on his account.' "'Oh! Where is he.' "'I have told you all I dare. Return home and write him a brief message for which I shall wait; fold it closely and hand me as though it were a small coin.' "Turning away the friar solicited alms of a passing merchant. "In a few minutes my wife returned and when he again asked alms she dropped in his hand two florins and between them a note for me. "That night at a late hour the friar called through the grating and when I answered told me of the meeting and dropped the two florins into my hand, stating he would read the note to me, which he did. "'You cannot know how much I have suffered believing you dead. I hope and live again since you sent the message and the ring. "'What shall we do to find or rescue you? If you are not permitted to write send me a piece of your clothing so I may know the messenger comes from you.