She opened her mouth to speak, and no sound came from
it. Philip waited patiently. She tried to be audacious,
and failed pitiably.

"No position at all. He is kicking his heels, as my
father would say. You see, he has only just finished his
military service."

"As a private?"

"I suppose so. There is general conscription. He was
in the Bersaglieri, I think. Isn't that the crack regiment?"

"The men in it must be short and broad. They must also
be able to walk six miles an hour."

She looked at him wildly, not understanding all that he
said, but feeling that he was very clever. Then she
continued her defence of Signor Carella.

"And now, like most young men, he is looking out for
something to do."

"Meanwhile?"

"Meanwhile, like most young men, he lives with his
people--father, mother, two sisters, and a tiny tot of a brother."

There was a grating sprightliness about her that drove