"Am I in time, Reverend Father?" exclaimed the youth, eagerly. "I
acted on your orders. No expense was spared. I chartered the best
vessel I could find, and had set sail within an hour of galloping into
the port. We made a good passage, and being fortunate in securing
relays of horses along the route, I was in Rome twenty-four hours
sooner than we had reckoned. I rode in at sunset; and, your name and
seal passing me on everywhere, your letter, my lord, was in the Holy
Father's hands ere the glow had faded from the distant hills.
"I was right royally entertained by Cardinal Ferrari; and, truth to
tell, a soft couch and silken quilts were welcome, after many nights of
rough lodging, in the wayside inns of Normandy and Italy. Moreover,
having galloped ahead of time, I felt free to take a long night's
repose.
"But next morning, soon after the pigeons began to coo and circle, I
was called and bid to hasten. Then, while I broke my fast with many
strange and tasty dishes, seated in a marble court, with fountains
playing and vines o'erhanging, the Cardinal returned, he having been
summoned already to the bedchamber of the Pope, where the reply of His
Holiness lay, ready sealed.
"Whereupon, my lord, I lost no time in setting forth, picking up on my
return journey each mount there where I had left it, until I galloped
into the port where our vessel waited.
"Then, alas, came delay, and glad indeed was I, that I had not been
tempted to linger in Rome; for the winds were contrary; some days
passed before we could set sail; and when at last I prevailed upon the
mariners to venture, a great storm caught us in mid-channel,
threatening to rend the sails to ribbons and, lifting us high, hurl us
all to perdition.
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