The Iola register., 1891-05-01
CHAPTER x.-CoNTINUED.

rather than feel your accurSed touch
Find her,-she lies dead and smiling VI
there in the mountains,-and her las
kiss was for me-for me,-you under
standi Now go! and may the devil curs
you'll"
Again the gendarmes clashed thei
swords suggestively,-and the brigant
resumed his sullen attitude of suppressed
wrath, and feigned Indifference. But th'
man to whom he had spoken staggered
and seemed about to fall,-his pale face
grew paler,-he moved away through thu
curious open-eyed bystanders with the
mechanical air OF one who knows not
whether he be alive or dead. He had
evidently received an unexpected shock,
"a wound that pierced deeply, and
would be a long time healing.
/ approached the nearest gendarme
and slipped fve-franc piece into his
hand.
MAY one speak?'' / asked carelessly.
The man hesjtated. 'FOr one instant,
Signor. But be brief,
1 addressed the brigand in low clear
tone:
"Have you any message for oneAndrea
Luziani? am a friend of HIS
He looked at me and a dark smile
crossed his features.
Andrea is a good soul. Tell him if you
will that Teresa is dead. / am worse
than dead. He will know that l did
not kill Teresa. ! could not! She had
the knife in her breast before / could
prevent her. 1t is better so.''
''She did that rather than become the
property of another man?" / Queried.
~ IL Al -,
Either my sight deceives me, or else this
abandoned villain had tears glittering
in the depths of his wicked eyes,
The gendarme made me a sign, and
withdrew. Almost at the same moment
the officer In command of the little de-
tachment appeared, his spurs clinking
with measured metallic music on the
hard stones of the pavement, he
spfang on his horse and gave the word,
the crowd dispersed to the right and left,
the horses were put to quick trOt, and
in a few moments the whole party with
the bulky frowning form of the brigaud
in their midst had disappeared. The
people broke up into little groups talk
ing eXcitedly of what had occurred, and
scattered here and there, returning to
their homes and occupations, and more
swiftly than one could have imagined
possible, the great square was left al
most empty. / paced up and
down for a while thinking deeply:
i had before my minds eye
the picture of the slight fair Teresa as
decribed by the Sicilian captain. lying
dead in the solitudes of Montemaggiore
with that self-inflicted wound in her
breast which had jet her free of all mems
love and persecution. There were some
women then who prefer death to inf
deity? Strange!-very strange! COM
mon women of course they must be-
such as this brigrand's mistress; your
dantily-fed silk-robed duchess would
find daggar somewhat a vulgar con-
soler,-she would rather choose lover,
or better still score of lovers. II is
only brute ignorance that selects a
grave instead of dishOnor;-modern edu-
cation instructs US more wisely, and
teaches us not to be over-sQueamish
about such trifie as breaking q given
word or promise. Blessed age
vancement when the apple of
vice is so cunningly disguised
and so prettily painted, that we can
actually set it on porcelain dish and
hand it about among our friends as 8
valuable and choice fruit of virtue
and no one finds out the fraud we are
practising, nay, we scarcely perceive it
ourselves, it is such an excellent coun-
terfeit.
As walked to and fro, / found my
self continually passing the head Office
of the Carabinie.:. and, acting on sud-
den impulse of curiosity, | at last en-.
tered the building determined to ask
for few particulars concerning the
brigaRd's capture. was received by a
handsome and intelligent looking man,
who glanced at the card with which |
presented myself, and Saluted me with
courteous afability.
''0h yeS!'' he said in answer to my in
quirieS, ''Neri has given us a great deal
of trouble. But we had our suspicious
that he had left Gaeta where he was for
a time in hiding. A few stray bits of in
formation CLEANED here and there put US
on the right track"
"Was he caught easily, or did he show
fght?''
"He gave himself up like lamb, Sig
nor! 1t happened in this way. One of
our men followed the woman who lived
with Neri, one Teresa, and traced her
up to a certain point the corner of
narrow mountain pasS.-where she dis
appeared. He reported this, and there
upon we sent out an armed party.
These crept at midnight two by
two, till they were Termed in a
close ring round the place where
Neri was judged to be. With the first
beam Of morning they rushed in upon
him and took him prisoner. 1t appeared
that he showed no surprise,-he merely
said, i expected your He was found
sitting by the dead body OF his mistress,
she was stabbed and newly bleeding.
No doubt he kiIled,her. though he swears
the contrary-lies are as easy TO him as
breathing"
''But where were his comrades?
thought he commanded large band?'
so he did, Signor; and we caught
three of the principals only a fortnight
ago, but of the others no trace can be
found. Isuppose Carmelo himself dis
missed them and sent them far and wide
through the country. At any rate they
are disbanded, and with these sort Of
fellows, where there is no union there is
no danger"
And Nerf's sentence?'' 1 asked.
''0h, the galleys for life, Of course;
there is no possible alternative"
thanked my informant, and left the
Office. l was glad to have learned these
few particulars, for the treasure / had
discovered in my own family vault was
now more mine than eyer. There was
not the remotest chance of any one Of
the Neri band veHturing so close TO
Naples in search OF it, and thought
with grim smile that had the brigand
chief himself known the story of my
wrongs, be would most probably have
reioiced to think that his buried wealth |