Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-09-28

The officer drew back, terrified.
 Then came basket of figs, and the figs passed like the watermelons-by the aid of the dagger.
 The whole cortege went by in the same manner.
 At the first sign of violence the custom house officers had called on the company of lansquenets for aid and protection; but the facetious Germans were so amused at the scene passing before them, that they ex- tinguished their matches, shouldered their muskets and began clapping their hands, like the market women standing around, and laughed heartily at the disconcerted appear ance of the collector, at the fright of his sub alterns and at the imperturbability with which the insurgents followed the example of their leader For it was Masauiello who opened the procession
 Having stopped the peasants along the road and at the gates of the city, he had no difficulty in inducing them to refuse to pay the market dues.
 Maddened by the conduct of the lansQue- nets, the collector rushed through the narrow streets that surrounded the place, and soon reappeared with a squadron of reiters, 0 grotesque kind of horsemen whose disordered costume and reckless appearance made them look like so many beggars on horseback. and who can only be compared to the Cossacks of the present day.
 Masaniello saw them issue forth from the streets leading to the Vicaria-
 Lazaroni mariners, porters and peasants all had their eyes bent on Masaniello, and were ready to obey his nod and rush to death on single sign from him. Every fruit seller had orders to remain perfectly quiet, by the side of his baskets and his companion, whose dagger was again hidden beneath his rags
 Masaniello kept his eye constantly fixed on a dark ediflce, which might have been taken for fortress if a tapering spire had not tow cred above Its ramparts This was the con- vent of the reverend Franciscan fathers, fur nished with battlements and bastions, like that of the monks of St. Benedict. Twenty stalwart men had been sent through the back streets, and before the inmates of the con. vent could receive an alarm had forced an entrance, and taken possession of the belfry.
 Masantello saw red flag floating out of one of the tower windows.
 "My y men are there, said he.
 Three other bands, sent in different direc- tions, had also made themselves masters of the bells of Santo Fiippo di Neri, of Santo Domenico, and of the cathedral.
 At the first signal the tocsin was to be sounded everywhere.
 The peasants, followed by their armed acolytes, now drew up in line. If the lans- quenets had favored the disorder the reiters, who had come at full speed from the palace of the Vicaria did not seem at all inclined to follow their example; they drew up in battle array before the insurgents, and the collector, followed by his officers, again sum- moned the peasants to pay.
 ''ln the name of the viceroy," said he, II command you to pay the dues!'
 His words were booted
 Masaniello approached
 "Go, and tell your master" said he, ''that the people refusel Go, and tell him that they demand the charter of Charles the Fifth, and all their former rights! Say, also, that we are ready to die, and that if he does not comply with our demands fire and carnage will presently stalk through the streets of Naplesl"
 The collector and his men drew back before the awful expression of Masaniello's coun- tenance
 They sought refuge in the ranks of the German cavalry, and the reiters spurred on their horses to the charge.
 Our lberties" roared the crowd, ''or death to the viceroyi"
 In an instant every basket was overturned; 1; oranges, melons and figs strewed the ground A thousand hands picked them up and show cred them on the horsemen's heads
 It was in vain that the reiters spurred their horses-the latter, fris htened by the yells of the people, reared and threw their riders, or turned round and disappeared, with the ra- pidity of lightning, in the adjoining street.
 A minute afterward there was not a single enemy to be seen near the market place.
 Here Masaniello gave the signal, and the belfry of the convent of the Franciscans inn nediately filled the air with a lugubrious sound. The bells of Santo Filippo di Neri tolled in their turn, then followed those of Santo Domenico, and at last the great bell of the cathedral was heard above all the others
 As the gate of the Marina was not far dis tant from the market place, Salvator Rosa was now seen to issue forth at the head of his division, and the brigands of Vesuvius, wear ing helmets and armed with carbines, fol- lowed, and drew themselves up in line of battle along the market place. At this moment a formidable cry was raised by all these men-an immense clamor, which, for an instant, overcame the roar of the tocsin- Masaniello had just perceived the enemy; but, this time, it was a formida- ble enemy-Spanish infantry, Castilian ar Quebusiers and the cavalleria del re, con- posed of old soldiers barded with iron, tried by twenty combats, and mounted on fiery and impetuous chargers, which already seemed to scent carnage and death. This menacing cavalry came down at full speed on the insurgents But Masaniello had calculated everything; the measures he had taken were such that this second charge could not succeed better than the first. Round the market place were about a hun dred stalls, built of wood. By the time the cavalry arrived every one of these were de- molished, and their materials-beams, doors, benches, seats, etc.-rolled, at signal from Masaniello, beneath the horses feet, which fell, neighing with pain. At the same time fire was opened along the whole line. While Masaniello and his men were en. gagged with the cavalry, Salvador Rosa, who had just stood discharge from the Spanish infantry, rushed up to them with his men before they could reload their muskets, and obliged them to fall back in disorder on the | castle.
 At another point, Corcelh and his brigands were engaged with the Castilian arquebu siers. Balls whizzed about on every side the place already strewn with corpses and the ground dyed with blood. The in | creasing noise of the tocsin continued tt l summon forth from every mart the ra 00ec