New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-09


would probably be too much in case OF supposed
wealthy stranger staying with them nc night Inc
illustration he used was that of a partridge happen,
ing TO come down the chimney, which Would ne
sure to seize and put into the pot though 1t might
pass me twenty times uncarcd for on the open ROAD
Have YOU any arms! have none" n
Only small clasp bowie" replied " but
LET us first try the streams" -.
Leaving the surly go3therds, ana rldlnG Oh III
the rain. we soon found that Domrnico's statement
was fully borne out There were streams WnGIe
there had been no streams before; and after gong
with some difficulty about three miles, we were
brought to q dead stand bya foamingitoTeht, when
il was evident could not cross. At the ulne OF
which | write, fast yOnng ladies' were only Ill
process Of being de elOpcd among our fair country
women. though the French lioHne had set them me
example. Miss Osborne had a decided proclIylty
in that way, greatly to the horror Of her cNGcicht
mother; and the prospect of spending night III
mountain village, so lar from being unpleasant,
filled her with the greatest glee.
ave must" she said, gaily, get some peasant TO
take note to mamma, who would he nall dead Dy
morning if she did not hear from us ard then we
shall have such night of it before blazing wood
fire in some ruined old inn, with a brgAnd-looNng
landlord, who will tcTTfY MS by coming III WIN
n long knife Mt midnight to cut-Some ilitchcS OF
bacon We can't be far just now from that curious
tumble-dOwn old village we noticed IN the, Eailcy
below gathered on the top OF rock wltll VIII
houses green shutters, no tiles, and the most TO
mantle appearance in general" -
"Hoy Mother the BorgO di Mlaggio" exclaimed
DomenicO, whose mother waa an EngllShw9man,
and who understood sufficient OF what had necn
said to know what place was referred TO- II Is
the worst place we could choose, for it has such a
bad character that even the ncighborng peasants
avoid IT, II is also on the mule track to Modcna
through the hills, and the inn there is frcqucnted by
muetccrs, a set of Tutans, COntrabanderl, ana pan
ditti."
"Contrabanderi or not" 7 said to Benton aside,
" this is just the place for us; a reyolntionSt IN
LeghOm gave Inc n message TO friend OF ms VINO is
in hiding in MilaggiO, and also a signal and pass
word, which will be likely to set us all right with
So down we went to the Borgo. which was really
rs curious an old place as .One could vel! find IN
weeks ride among the Apcnnlnes. The nm, Whch
hate Itf,,l
extremely astOnshcd old woman, had evidently IN
former times been the house, palace, o" castle OF
characteristics of all three such buildings a
broken archway brought rs into courtyard, where
lection of beams and turf From side of this
courtyard there opened large hall or Kitchen, IN
which all the cooking and eating OF the Inn APP
peared to be done, and where there were, besides
The usual inmates about dozen mulcteerS, Wild
enough looking fellows drinking W inc and singing
songs The Kitchen had room above it, and one
on each side; but the other hahitable rooms OF the
house were some distance off, and had to be reached
ny passing through a long piece OF open ground hal
We did not ourselves enter at first, hut sent Dom
enicO i'm to rccOnmOitTc, and TO bring out the land
lady or landlord He came back with tmck-Sct,
siniStcroOking man, who gave MS an unsatisfactory
welcome, and n handsome country girl; wearing
wooden shoes, and Il thick veil thrown back oyer hcr
shoulders who expressed astOnislment ana pleasure
at finding lady in our party. 1t was only after
considerable dcmur that the host; rs we supposed
him TO he confessed that he had a large room, with
a smaller chamber, beyond the garden, both of
which we might have to ourselves. At first he
declared he had no place to receive in except the
Kitchen; but the girl mentioned the uHOccupicd
rooms, and with some difficulty, prevailed on INN
to take MS to thcm
"Put on my veil. sgnorina as We pass through
the court she said and stOop like an old woman,
that may tell these rough fellows inside you arc
my grand-aunt" ,-.,.,..
occupied by noble lords and ladies gay; hut where
the plaster was not broken, it was beginning to
crIlmlblc or was covered with mould the case
TO innocent
adorned the corners of the ceiling and timex dust,
as of q century at least, lay over the few broken
@Ciciop | heard Domcnico murmur. ." What
would the sgnora say TO this were she hcTeT,
Two or three Oil-lightS, however, checrlul Wool
fire. and flask of rudy wine, threw considerable
comfort into the situation; and our atlendanU
'Richctta. hustled about with friendly zeal, eX-
@Cuor mic! What happy chance brought the
beautiful bird to orr house A signorina and an
English one too! Who ever heard of such q thing |
bcfore2 Fear not Forcsicr: l will take care of
Won. They are rude people downstairs; ana that
Z0 mic is no good man; but my father Is honest |
She even brought us the better clothes Of her |
father and brother, to replace ON, wGt garments
and persuaded Florence to 20 into the inner cham
her, and emerge more charming cOntadlha IMAM
the old house had ever seen before;
After supper l thought w9ud drop INTO TN, me |
and my dress by this time was sufficiently monde |
script to sut any character likely to be known III
those parts. ! am not easily surprised, but what
hrhcld on entering did astonsh me for once. 1t !
was not n very frightful sight: the landlord was
not being held seated on the fire; and the lace OF
'Rchctta was smiling enough; but there, NlSlblY |
before me- raised on end with a great stout hlulc- |
tecr sitting upon it. was a solid leather portman-
tcau, with Gideon Dcilmacare Esq" printed on IL
in black letters. There could he no mistake. The |
other portmantcaus German leather were mere |
tanned my manuscripts and other yalu2blGs -
The first impulse felt was TO knock the ruIhah |
of it into the fire, and there and then lay percnp-
tory claim; but a second glance 1T hlm induced me |
TO adopt policy of reserve. Apparently Roman |
by his speech, and twothirIs drunk, ne was one OF
those italians who are the most difficult of all to |
deal with. Large. Tuddy, iOcular, coarse he was |
likely to combine something OF the unSClupMl0uS- |
ness of n Ncapoitan with the cunning OF B0lo@I |
interest III that portmancau; lie sgt upo IL as i |
child would upon dog pattrd II, spoke to IT. ana,
altogether. seemed to have nse Of property III IT,
heightened by convction th4t us posSesSloh WAS |
not altogether of a legitimate kind. . -
"Excclcnza " he would say, caPping II affection
atcly after being Softcncd by another gulp oil WINE,
ait is to LiyomO you want to go! Yes! to- |
Iivorno, Liv-iY-yOrnop And as the word showed |
IN nciinafion to dwell indefinitely i'm his throat, he
recovered his dignity by giving the pormInteau |
sudden kick, and growing, BrlSand. who saved |
thy life among the snow r.
raShly Incldlcd with, so dropped down beside one
of the quictcst of the muleccrs who was Sittlng |
little apart and proceeded t0 smoke Noticing my |
pipe, this man suddenly said, III strong local ac-
cent
Sin sic eli Dcutsche, mcin HERR"
&" Elm STUDENT ITcplicd, amh"uOusly, recognizing !
the patois of the Canton Grauhundcn, where bad |
German and worse italian are both spoken. ms |
was n great recommendation to the honest SWISS !
who did not seem much at home with his compan- |
ions and had vague reverence for students III gen
erals lie drank wine with me. told me much Oh ms
history. Which is not worth repeating, here. and !
finally as he warmed. informed me that his friends
were ostrnSibN mulctcrrS principally SmuEEicIS' |
and not much better than robbers Seeing us drink
ing together the sc0undrcl on the portmantcan !
Insisted that should treat the whole party win |
Wne hut the Swiss said to me in German, which |
none of the others seemed TO understand: Say |
that You have no mOncy-nO mere than VIII pay |
for Your bed and what you have got-or these tcl-
lows will he at you IN the night, and they are not
afraid OF the PoliZci.'
or course took his hint, and the Roman, AGRA