The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1900-06-02

isled that It would fetch the cash In
reply. 1t was sent of by messenger,
who would be gone at least ten days.
and then We went into retirement"
1t Is the rule with all brigands who
have prisoner on hand to lie low and
take no chances. I thought It well to
prepare this gang for disappointment,
and when the messenger had departed
told them that he would only have
the journey for nothing.
1T cannot be for nothing" grimly re-
piled Bobetto as he brought out knife
and felt of its edges. III no money
comes, then your ears go to Athens! If
they fail to bring 1t, then we will send
on your headsw
Sentinels we've posted on the hills
around to prevent surprise. and we
had nothing to do but loaf about. b.
betto thought he knew the game Of
poker, and 1t was for us to undecelve
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 1t wasn't regular. About once
day l thought 1t my duty to inform
Bobetto that we were moneyless Amer
leans and that there was nothing In 1t
for him, and he always replied to ME
with lift Of the eyebrows and shrug
Of the shoulders and the words:
thine will tell, my lord; time will
tell. 1t has happened that have had
to send ears and head to Athens be-
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 sentlnels were
always stationed at points half mile
away, and occasionally brigand fell
asleep during the day. l think 1t was
on the eighth day and at about 8
o'clock in the afternoon when the bril-
gand nurse was sent for provisions.
As two were acting as sentinels and
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 rock doing with the heat
Of the day. Gillian was lying on his
back, while was looking carelessly at
Greek newspaper All of a sudden
the artist sat up and whispered to me:
Lets end this right here and now!
You tackle the leader, and I'll 60 for
the other fellow"
The "other fellow" was at the fire |
beapipg the brands together. We rose
up In unison and made the attack. I
gave old Bobetto a kick on the jaw
which knocked him over and caused
doleful bowls, and Gillian hit his man
such blow on the neck as to render
him unconscious for half an hour.
There were two guns in camp and we
seized them and made for the high
way, only mile distant. Before de-
parting gave the leader tap on the
head to quiet his yells, and SO far as
know we were not followed rod. We
reached the highway just in time to
get lift in passing cart and in cou-
pie Of hours were In Marathon. As to
the letter, 1t 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
IN his return, but were not there to
have them sliced off. Bobetto died
.wO years later, as l read In the pa
oers, and 1t Is said that he was badly
lisfgured by broken jaw--the one
my lord" gave him with an American
,alfskin shoe. M. QUAD.