The Delawarean., 1900-05-26

was written, and he was perfectly sat
isiied that 1t would fetch the cash in
reply. 1t was sent off by a messenger,
who would be gone at least ten days.
ard thcn WE went into "retirement."
1t is the rulc With Ill hrigands @.o
have "A prisoner on han.l to lie low aui
take no chances. thought it we'll 10
prepare this gang for disappointment.
and when the messenger had departed
| told them that he would only hi 7e
the journey for nothing.
1T cannot he for nothing" grimly re-
piled Bo3etto as hc brought out a knife
and felt of its edges. "If no money
comes. then your ears go TO Athens! If
they fail to bring it. then we will send
on your heads"
Sentinels were posted on the hills
around to prevent a surprise, and we
had nothing to do but loaf about. Bo-
betto thought he knew the game of
poker. and it was for us to undeceive
him. In three days Gillian and | had
won every cent he had. We offered to
put up 5000 against our ears, but the
brigand assured us with great dignity
that it wasn't regular About once a
day | thought it my duty to inform
Bobetto that we We're moneyless Amer
leans and that there was nothing i'm it
for him, and he always replied to me
with Il lift Of the eyebrows and shrug
of the shoulders and the words;
'"Time will tell, my lord; time will
tell. 1t has happened that l have had
\ AL.
fore"
For the first five days of our captivi-
ty we were closely guarded. and there
could be no thought of escape. Then,
as we appeared to make ourselves at
home. the vigilance of the brigands
was relaxed. While only four had been
concerned in our capture, there were
really six in the band. One of them
had broken leg, and the other was
acting as nurse. Two sentinels were
always stationed at points half a mile
away. and occasionally brigand fell
asleep during the day. think it was
on the eighth day and at about 3
o'clock in the afternoon when the bri-
gand nurse was sent for provisions.
a third was lying helpless this left
only two men to deal with One of
these was Bobetto, and he sat with his
back to a rock doing with the heat
of the day. Gillian was lying on his
back, while | was looking carelessly at
a Greek newspaper All of n sudden
the artist sat up and whispered to me:
Lets end this right here and now!
You tackle the leader, and I'll go for
the other fellow"
The "other fellow" was at the fire
heaping the brands together. We rose
up in unison and made the attack.
gave old Bobetto a kick on the jaw
which Knocked him over and caused
doleful howls, and Gillian hit his man
such a blow on the neck as to render
him unconscious for half an hour
There We're two guns in camp. and we
seized them and made for the high
way, only mile distant. Before de-
parting | gave the leader a tap on the
head to quiet his yells, and so far as
know we We're not followed n rod We
reached the highway Just in time to
get lift in passing cart and in cou-
pie of hours We're in Marathon. AS to
the letter, it was delivered at the CON
sulate. but was looked upon as joke
and the messenger sent off empty
handed. We might have lost our ears
on his return. but We're not there to
have them sliced off. Bobetto died
two years later, as l read in the pa
pers, and it is said that he was badly
disfgured by broken jaw-the one
my lord' gave him with ain American
calfskin shoe. NJ. QUAD.