him to return to his charge, who presently vanished in some fresh
shifting of the crowd.

"Your friend," said de Crucis, "has been summoned before the Holy Office
to answer a charge of heresy preferred by the authorities. He has lately
been appointed to the chair of physical sciences in the University here,
and has doubtless allowed himself to publish openly views that were
better expounded in the closet. His offence, however, appears to be a
mild one, and I make no doubt he will be set free in a few days."

This, however, did not satisfy Odo; and he asked de Crucis if there were
no way of speaking with the doctor at once.

His companion hesitated. "It can easily be arranged," said he;
"but--pardon me, cavaliere--are you well-advised in mixing yourself in
such matters?"

"I am well-advised in seeking to serve a friend!" Odo somewhat hotly
returned; and de Crucis, with a faint smile of approval, replied
quietly: "In that case I will obtain permission for you to visit your
friend in the morning."

He was true to his word; and the next forenoon Odo, accompanied by an
officer of police, was taken to the prison of the Inquisition. Here he
found his old acquaintance seated in a clean commodious room and reading
Aristotle's "History of Animals," the only volume of his library that he
had been permitted to carry with him. He welcomed Odo heartily, and on
the latter's enquiring what had brought him to this plight, replied with
some dignity that he had been led there in the fulfilment of his duty.