these people, Signore,--how devilish they can be
and how stupid."

"That was why he threw the ring in her face?"

"No and yes. Yesterday was Sunday, and some
people came to see her from San Giuseppe, and they
began to talk. I was not there; I did not get there
until it was all over, but my wife heard it. They
were all in the garden, and one word led to another,
and he taunted her with seeing Francesco, and she
laughed, and that made him furious; and then he
said he had heard her mother was a nobody; and then
some one spoke up and said that was true--fools all.
And then Loretta, she drew herself up straight and
asked who it was had said so, and a woman's voice
came--'Francesco,--he told me--' and then Vittorio
cried--'And you meet him here. Don't deny
it! And you love him, too!--' and then the fool
sprang at her and caught her hand and tore the
ring from her finger and spat on it and threw it on
the ground. He is now at his father's house."

"And she said nothing, Luigi?" The story
seemed like some horrible dream.

"No, nor shed a tear. All she did was to keep
repeating--'Francesco! Francesco! Francesco!' I
got there at daylight this morning and have been there
ever since. I told her I was coming for you. She