in a dark blue cloak, who swang briskly down from the coupe and asked in
stilted Italian for "La sapienza del Signer Dottor' Lanfranchi." From
out of a cloud of steam--for the weather was wet and the speaker
violently hot--a husky voice replied, "Eccomi--eccomi, a servirla." The
young man took off his hat and bowed.

"Have I the honour to salute so much learning?" he asked courteously.
"Let me present myself to my preceptor as Mr. Francis Strelley of
Upcote."

"His servant," said the voice from the cloud, "and servant of his
illustrious father. Don Francis, be accommodated; let your mind be at
ease. Your baggage? These fellows are here for it. Your valise? I carry
it. Your hand? I take it. Follow me."

These words were accompanied by action of the most swift and singular
kind. Mr. Strelley saw two porters scramble after his portmanteaux, had
his valise reft from his hand, and that hand firmly grasped before he
could frame his reply. The vehemence of this large perspiring sage
caused the struggle between pride and civility to be short; such faint
protests as he had at command passed unheeded in the bustle and could
not be seen in the dark.

Vehement, indeed, in all that he did was Dr. Porfirio Lanfranchi,
Professor of Civil Law: it was astonishing that a bulk so large and
loosely packed could be propelled by the human will at so headlong a
speed. Yet, spurred by that impetus alone, he pounded and splashed
through the puddled, half-lit street of Padua at such a rate that Mr.
Strelley, though longer in the leg, fully of his height, and one quarter
his weight, found himself trotting beside his conductor like any