The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1844-07-19

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last his exploits reach the of King Ferdinand
himself, who was highly indignanta at such going.
on, and gave orders that the bandit should be i'm.
mediately hung But there are three things ne
cessary to hang mana rope, gallows, and the
man himself. In this instance, the first two were
easily found, but the third was unfortunately
wanting. Gendarnes and soldiers were sent after
Yardareli, but the latter was too cunning for them
all, and slipped through their fingers at every turn
Hissuccess in eluding pursuit increased his repu.
tation, and recruits flocked to his standard His
band soon doubledi its members, andits leader be-
came formidable and important person, which oi
course was an additional reason for the authorities
to wish to capture him. A price was set on his
head-large bodies ofroops sent in search of him;
but all in vain.
One day the Prince Of Leperano, Col Calce-
donna, Major Delponte, with dozen other Off
GERS, and score of attendants, were hunting in
forest few leagues from Bari, when the cry oil
"Vardarelli" was suddenly heard The party
took to flight with the utmost precipitation, and all
escaped except Major Delponte, who was one OF
the brayest but at the same time, one of the poor
est of the whole army When he was told that he
must pay thousand ducats for his ransom, he only
laughed, and asked where be was to get such a
sum. Vardarei then threatened to shoot him, lift
I was not forthcoming by certain day. The ma
or replied that it loosing time to wait; and that
If he had piece OF advice to give his captor, it
was to shoot him at once. The bandit at first felt
halfnclined to do SO; but he reflected that the less
Delponte cared about his life, the more Ferdinand
ought to value it. He was right in his calculation;
for sooner did the King learn that his brave ma
or was in the hands of the bandit. than he order
ed the ransom to be paid out of his prvy purse, and
the major recoveredhis liberty.
But Ferdinand had sworn the determination of
the banditti, with whom he was obliged to treat as
from one potentate to another. A certain colonel,
whose name forget, and who heard his vow,
pledged himself, lfa battalion were put under his
command to bring in Vardarelli, his two brothers
and the sixty men composing his troop, bound
hand and foot, and to place them in the dungeons
of the Vcaria. The offer was too good to be re-
fused; the minister of war put five hundred men at
the disposal Of the colonel who started with them
at once in pursuit of the outlaw. The latter was
soon informed by his spies oft this fresh expedition,
and he also made VOW, to the effect that he would
cure the pursuer once and for all, of any DISPOSE
ton to interfere with the Vardarelli.
He began by leading the poor colonel such a
dance over hill and dale, that the unfortunate Off
Ger and his men were worn out with fatigue-then
when he saw them 10 the state that he wished, he
caused some false intelligence to be carried to them
at two o'clock one morning
The colonel fell into the snare, and started i'm
mediately to surprise Vardarel, who he was assur-
ed was in little village at the further Extremity of
anarrow pass, through which only four men could
pass abreast. He made such haste that he marched
four leagues in two hours, and at day-break found
himself at the entrance of the pass which, howev-
er, seemed SO peculiarly well adapted for an am
buscade, that he halted his battalion and sent on
twenty men to reconnoitre. In quarter of an
hour the twenty men returned They had not
met single living thing. The colonel hesitated
no longer, and entered the defle, but on reaching
spot about half way through it, where the road
widened out into sort of platform, surrounded by
high rocks and steep precipices, shout was sud-
denly heard, proceeding apparently from the clouds
and the poor Colonel looking up, saw the SUBMITS
of the rocks covered with brgands, who levelled
their rifles at him and his soldiers. Nevertheless,
he began forming up his men, as well as the ma
ture of the ground would permit, when Vardarelli
appeared upon aprojecting crag-"Down with
your arms or you are dead men.' he shouted in
voice of thunder The bandits repeated his
summons, and the echoes repeated their voices, so
that the troops who had not made the same VOW as
their colonel, who thought themselves surrounded
by greatly superior numbers cried out for quarter,
in spite of the entreaties and menances of their
fortunate commander. Then Vardarelli, without
leaving his position, ordered them TO pile their
arms, and TO march to two different places which
he pointed out to them. They obeyed, and Varda-
relli leaving twenty OF his men in their ambush,
came down with the remainder, who Immediately
proceeded to render the Neapoitan muskets useless
(for the moment at least,) by the same process
which CULVER employed to extinguish the con-
fagation of the palace at Lllliput
The news ofthe affair put the King in very bad
humor for the first twenty -four hours, after which
time, however, the love of a joke overcoming his
anger, he laughed heartily, and told the story to ev-
cry one he saw; and there are always lots of lis
teners when King narrates, three years elapsed
before the colonel ventured to show his face at
Naples and encounter the ridicule Of the court.
The general commanding in Calabria takes the
matter rather more seriously, and vows the destruc
ton Of the bandittir By offers Of large pay and
privileges, they are induced to enter the Neapoli-
tan service, and prove highly efficient troop Of
gsndarmes. But the general cannot forget his old
grudge against them; although. for lack of oppor-
tunity, and on account Of the desperate character
Of the men, he Is obliged to defer his revenge for
some time. At last he succeeds in having their
leaders assassinated and by pretending great indg-
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