'I was standing still in the road, looking at the moonlight on the bay, when I heard a terrible cry. Before I could move, a man came racing down the road as if he were flying for his life. He ran against me, and we fell together. I fainted, and never fully recovered consciousness until I found myself here.' 'Who do you suppose the man to be? No clue to him, I suppose, in your own mind? What do the authorities say to this?' 'I have offered no defence, and made no statement.' 'God bless my soul, what folly! When you might have been out of custody the next day! How very absurd!' 'I was stunned, remember. There were good reasons for silence. The trial takes place in a fortnight.' 'A fortnight! But you can't stop here a fortnight!' 'I must!' I answered, smiling even then at his impetuosity. 'I am remanded for trial.' 'You bear it well, Calvotti,' he said, taking me by both shoulders, and looking kindly at me. 'I do not feel my own share much,' I told him truly. 'I am most aggrieved for the others. It is a terrible business.' 'Give me young Clyde's address. I must bring him to comfort Cecilia when she learns the truth. She was fond of that poor scapegrace, with all his faults and follies. He paid bitterly for em'--poor ne'er-do-weel!--very bitterly.' 'Bitterly, indeed,' I answered absently, looking for a way to escape from a renewed mention of Clyde's name, and finding none. 'I shall come to see you as often as they'll let me, and stay as long as I can. But now I must go for the present. Let me see--Clyde's living at your place, isn't he?' 'Yes,' I answered, 'he was living at the address from which I always dated.' 'Has he been here to-day?' Oh! It was all too bitter, and I could endure no longer. I turned my face away. My old patron laid a gentle hand upon my shoulder, and strove to turn me round. I cast myself upon the bed, and broke into tears. Gran Dio! I am not ashamed. But that outbreak cost me bodily agony, and I wept and sobbed whilst I cursed myself for weeping. Sacred Heaven! how I wrestled with this devil of weakness, which held me so strongly. When I had fought him down, he leapt upon me afresh, and subdued me by sheer torture until I let nature take her way, and cried like a woman! Then, when it was all over, I stood up and spoke with a new resolve. 'Sir, you are a just man and a wise man, and you shall know the whole truth. But first you shall swear to me that what I tell you is for ever buried in your own heart!' He looked at me with stern inquiry. 'I am not an informer,' he said, 'and you may speak safely.' I stepped towards him, but he waved me back, and himself took a backward step. 'There is a reason for my silence, but with you that reason dies. I have your promise, and I trust it. The man who overthrew me in the lane, whose hands and face were red with Grammont's blood, was----' 'Go on,' he said, standing there still in rough-hewn dignity, though his lips trembled and his face was pale.