The Winslow mail., 1900-03-15

if your excelency would but condescend to
taste of it"
"You say well, Jacopo; but also am an
old soldier, and my saddle-bags are full. A
fasting body makes but faint heart,
whether for man or beast-on the other
bank of the Resa then, we shall call halt
There is little light still, enough to in
behind the other, and following the wind
ben9 H. otBer ose snd spd fSS##Bg fBss xind xd
ings of a cattle track, for had purposely
avoided the road after receiving the in
formation l had extracted from the sen
try at the San Frediano gate. 1t was evi
dent that the party of men, followed by
Ceci's nephew, had left Florence to carry
out some desperate design. | had been
dogged all day by this man, and now he
had galloped off in disguise to join the men
who had left Florence before we had, and
amongst them was his uncle. Ceci's words
at our last interview, and the persistent
manner in which / was followed, left me
no room to doubt that | was the object
OF their attention, and that it would be
necessary to keep well on the alert. | did
not apprehend danger at once, but thought
that if an attack were made it would be
in the narrow valley between the low hills
to the north of Montespertoli, or at Ponte
a Elsa, each of which places was particu-
lGrly suited for an ambuscade although, OF
course, considering their numbers, the at
tempt might be made elsewhere, and open
ly, without very much danger. So with
another hurried. word of warning to Jacopo,
and holding my sword ready, | galloped
along, increasing the pace as much as pos
sible, whenever we went past clump OF
trees and both Of us keeping as sharp a
lookout as the light, or rather darkness,
permitted We avoided the regular ford
of the Resa on the Montespertoli road,
crossing higher up in the direction of Monte
lupo, and here got good Wettlng, for the
water was deeper than we anticipated. Had
Ceci and his friends only lain in wait for
us at this point, we should have had no
chance. AS it happened, however, we had
taken zig-zag route, which had either
thrown them off the track entirely, or we
should meet them further on, either at one
of the two spots mentioned by me, or in
some other equally convenient locality. At
any rate, we were safe for the present, and
that waa something to be thankful for, even
if we were in darkness. So my thoughts
ran on as we scrambled somehow to the
opposite DdnK OF Cllc Mesa, anu SIOpeu our
way up until we felt soft grass under our
feet, for we had dismounted on fording the
stream, and led our horses by their brides
up the steep left bank. Here we called
halt, determined to await the moon, and
Jacopo managed somehow to tether the
horses, fastening the halters to the stump
OF tree he discovered by stumbling against,
and on which he wasted some of those curses
he was SO anxious for me to reserve for my
enemies. After giving the horses their feed,
which they nosed out readily enough, de-
spite the darkness, he joined me where sat
on the grass trying to dry, and wrapping up
the lock of his arquebus in wooden cap.
which he produced, to keep it from damp,
he took his seat beside me at my invita-
tion.
1t was fall-to now, to our supper, and
adding my store to my faithful followers
supply sunk distinctions of rank, and
we enjoyed a meal, with hearty content
ment that had been a stranger to me for
many day. When the last drop Of wine
in the bottle was finished, and we had
picked our last bone, Jacopo arose with
sigh.
"Defore supper, excellency, l was ready
to eat and then fight my way through an
army; now, beshrew me, if a sound nap
of an hour or so is not much to my taste!"
| could not forbcar smiling, but did not
rise to the hint, and when cur'horses were
saddled again, and every buckle and strap
examined with the minutest care, we mount
ed and set off. AS although we both well
knew the direct road to Leghorn, but were
not acquainted with the district so as to
correctly pursue our way by moonlight, de
cided to run the gauntlet of the ambuscade,
if there was any, and take the risk of com
ing off with whole skin, to the certainty of
losing our track by CHANGING short CUTS
which might lead to, Heaven alone knew
where! Now that we were once more on
the road, we trotted along at fairish pace
through the silent night. The way led for
some distance over an uneven plain, GOV
cred with a multitude of white stones, that
shone in the moonlight like water. The
plain gradually narrowed to where it was
intersected by chain of low hills, and it
was in crossing these that we should have
to ride through narrow gut, and possibly
meet our danger AS we approached the
hills, the short, stunted foliage that tufted
the plain changed to half-grown forest,
in the midst of which the road wound, and
here we waited for second, whilst Jacopo
examined his piece to see that all was Alright,
and gingerly blew at the match thereon
to give the fire little strength. This be
ing done, we proceeded with the greatest
caution, riding one behind the other and
going slowly, as we feared a pitfall OF some
kind among the trees. Luckily there was
none, and at last we got out OF the i'm
mediate presence of the forest, and into the
gut, where the precipice rose high on each
side of u.s. All was rock and stone, but the
road was fairly even, trap could have
Eeen seen, and going slow MISTAKE here,
so we clapped spurs to the horses and sent
them along, and although momentarhy ex
pecting to see the fash of an arquebus, we
were agrceably disappointed, and got out
of the passage without mishap OF any kind
"Animo Signore, we are out of this, and
tonight will not be bread for the teeth OF
these brigands;" and Jacopo, whose horse
had carried him a little in advance, drew
rein to let me come up, and we rode out OF
the tail of the pass.
81 hope so, but we are not out OF the
wood yet," and pointed to where dip in
the ground showed there was a small
stream, and on the opposite bank the road
again led into forest land.
"And l was just going to beg your wor
ships leave to troll catch,' said Jacopo;
and as he uttered these words we FLASHED
into the shall stream before us. Almost
at this moment my horse neighed shrilly,
and an answering neigh from the wood be
fore us rang out into the night.
Crack Crack Two red tongues of fire
licked out from the darkness of the trees, we
heard the loud report Of firearms, and a
brace of balls sang past, unpleasantly close