Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1899-03-29

IL
animals a rest
Excepting once, when Jacopo rode off to
make his duty to the Fountain of Trevi,
had not exchanged word with St Ar
mande indeed was in no mind to talk; but
he broke the silence with question.
do we ride all night, cavaliere?"
I'VE have many leagues to go, St. Ar
mande."
"Ciel! he muttered under his breath, and
l heard the able as he leaned forward whis-
per: Courage! would you give way now?
Courage!"
Clearly there was mystery here to which
l had no clew, and it troubled me. I
glanced at st. Armande, and through the
moonlight saw the white of his cheek, show
ing all the paler for the black patch he wore
transversely across it; but looking at him
did not explain matters.
What the devil does this mean?" 1 said
half aloud to myself.
did you speak?"
Merely something to myself, chevalier.
Diavolo! But this is dull ride"
"Do you think SOP" and his tone softened
mddenly.
| made no reply, but stirred up Castor,
and we logged along. I left the mystery to
take care of itself, and mapped out a line of
action. would take only two men with me
into Perugia, and send the rest with Ar
mande to the convent of ST. Jerome to await
the result of my attempt to free Angola.
1t sounded like foolishness to give st. Ar
mande the control of the stronger party,
especially if he meant treachery; but this
was persuaded he did not On the other
hand, a following of six troopers was trife
too many to pay peaceful visit to Baglioni,
and might arouse suspicion, while they were
too few tc attempt open force. In short, if
i could not do what wanted with two men,
l would not be able to effect it with six OF
dozen, and made up my mind to split our
party, either after crossing the Paglia, or
beyond at San Fortunate.
| In this manner, sometimes galloping, some
| times trotting, and at other times walking
our horses to give them rest, we reached
Castel Nuovo, but did not enter the town,
skirting it by our right, although one of the
troopers suggested our going westwards by
Campagnano, useless detour as it seemed
to me. We passed the little town exactly
| at midnight, and the chime of bells striking
the hour fell pleasantly on our ears. A
short way beyond we found the road so cut
into ruts and assures that it was not possible
to go at any other than a snail's pace, so that
within the next two hours we barely COW
/ SISu luduy ltdSucs. lie luOOu WAS uOW
on the wane, the road became worse, and
one or two of the horses showed signs of
fatigue. Jacopo rode up beside me.
| by your leave, excellency! We have the
road by Soratte to cross soon, and in the
coming darkness may possibly lose our way.
would suggest, therefore, that we halt here
until dawn. 1t will rest the horses, and
with the light we could press on"
Very well. Hank! Is not that the sound
of water?"
yes, your Worship"
''Then we will stop there"
A few yards beyond we came to ruined
temple, near which a fountain was bubbling.
Here l gave the order to halt, and in less
time than / take to write this the troopers
had sprung to earth, the saddle-girths were
loosened and all the preparations for two
hours halt begun.
shared little wine with st. Armande
and the able, and the former, rolling him
self up in his cloak, leaned his back against
fallen pillar, and seemed to drop off at
once into sleep.
The able followed his example, but my
mind was too impatient for rest, and ]
walked up and down, watching the ending
of the moon, until it finally sank out of
/ sight, and darkness fell upon us.
in still greater darkness, for was unable
to think of any plan by which could gain
access to Angola, after reaching Perugia
Time, too, was short; but that did not mat
| ter, for 1 was prepared to let the affair of
| the ducats slide, rather than lose any chance
+ of rescuing her.
A straw yet remained. Luck might be on
my side, and with luck and strong heart
one might do anything. There was moth
ing for it,but to content myself for the pres
ent with this. Until reached Perugia
could develop no plan. So paced up and
down with an unsettled mind, and finally,
seating myself ON stone, awaited the morn
ing, alternately nodding and awakening
with a start.
At last The east began to whiten, and,
getting up stiffly, I touched Jacopo with the
end of my sword. He jumped with an ex-
clamation, and, recognizing me, began to
| apologize. This cut short, and babe him
| arouse the men.
This instant, your worship. Cospetto!
To think 1 should have oversight myself!
| Ho, sluggards! Butfaloes! Awake Think
you that you are going to snore here all
night?" and he began to stir the men up.
They rose willingly enough, with tremen-
dous yawnings and stretching of arms, and
|
the increasing daylight.
The coming day seemed to warm the hearts
of the men, and one of them broke into
song, the chorus being taken up by the 9TH
ers, as we logged along When this had
lasted some little time, gave Castor's reins
a shake, and off we went at smart gallop.
Shortly after passing San Oreste the road
led along the side of Soratte, and, the morn
ing being young, besides very bright and
clear, we had glorious view. To the left
lay Civita Castellana, the walls of the new
citadel standing high above the town, which
lay in the middle of network of deep
ravines; to the right and behind us the Sa-
bine Hills extended in long, airy lines, and
the wooded heights of Pellachio and San
Gennaro, where, close to Palembara, was
an old castle of our house, rose to the south
east. Above us was the monastery of st.
Silvestre, and Soratte itself reached towards
where Borghetto stood, on bend OF the Ii
Der. in a series of descending peaks. Cool
puffs of air caught us, and freshened the
horses as well as our hearts, and it was a
CHEEKY party that finally reached the Ponte
Felice, and entered the town. Here our
safe-conduct again stood us in good stead.
Indeed, we had difficulty in getting away,
for the Captain Lippi, who held Borghetto
. III ehV Doi SAid1 WiouSu W press LIB uObpl.
tally on us for few days; but on my
eventually taking him aside, and whispering
to him that was bound on a confidential
mission, he gave in, but with some little re.
luctance. He, however, invited us to share
his table at dinner. 1 accepted, but Sir Ar
mande, who was looking very wearied, de-
clined, and dined quietly with the able at
the Silver Eel" where quartered my
men.
Lippi was an old soldier risen from the
ranks, with head more full of drill than
suspicion; but in order to remove any such
weed that might be growing there I af-
fected to be so delighted with his converse.
ton at dinner that begged the favor of his
accompanying me for league or so on my
way, after we had dined. To this he agreed
with alacrity, and was subsequently sorry
for my pains, for the old bore did not quit
me until we had all but reached the Nera.