stream and was ankle-deep amongst the perfumed yellow blossoms, when I caught sight of a figure in long white draperies seated in a chair that was set on the usual low gallery outside the house. As I drew near enough to distinguish the man's countenance, I was seized with a sudden spasm of intense astonishment, for the white-robed senator sitting there full in the golden light of the setting sun was no other than my old acquaintance on Earth--Arrigo d'Aragno! But if real surprise were manifested (as I have no doubt must have been the case) on my own visage, I am sure I never saw terror, genuine abject terror, ever depicted so plainly on any face before. Some hideous apparition or the sudden realisation of an impending doom could alone have produced that look on any countenance. D'Aragno's complexion turned ashy-grey, his thick lower lip fell, his eyes took on a glassy stare, as they surveyed my approaching form; yet so stupefied was the poor man from shock that he was obviously unable to arouse himself. Naturally, I was the quicker to recover from the effects of this unexpected meeting, and with a voice fairly well under control I merely remarked in English: "Have you no word of greeting, Signor d'Aragno, for your King, who stands in some slight need of your help?" My words seem to have brought the required force to break the spell of temporary paralysis, for the poor fellow, half-rising from his seat, began to blurt out some incoherent sentences. I drew still nearer, and my advance, whilst certainly increasing his horror, at least served to render d'Aragno more active in his movements, for hurriedly bestirring himself and casting a furtive look round the peaceful empty scene, he motioned to me to enter the house by an open doorway just behind his chair. When we were both inside the room, he hurriedly bolted the door, and then sank utterly exhausted on to a couch, whereon I feared for a moment he was about to indulge in a prolonged, or perhaps even a fatal, fainting fit. Presently however, to my relief, he exhibited signs of recovery, whilst I stood motionless at a little distance from him, patiently waiting for him to speak and feeling to my intense inward satisfaction that somehow or other I had in this unsought and unexpected interview the advantage over my late captor on Earth.