The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-03-05

wall | could find. which happened to be
immediately yhHhek the air-hoie, a fortu-
nate circumst4Dce MS the cfoseness was
often sitting: I had probably been dog
| ing for some ems in sitting position,
when felt something tickle the top Of
my head. The idea that it might be
large spider cansed me to start, when
stretching ufnE hand. it came in contact
with what SEEMED to be n rag, which
had not observed. Getting carefully up,
perceived faint light cleaning through
| the .aperture.l aRd then saw. that hand
was protrndel Through it, apparently wav-
the hand H ist seaeS ibe n aaa
tips. which was ali / could get hold Of
| and pressed them to my lips. They were
| quickly drawn away, and then the whisper
reached my ears -
Are you hungry!'r'E9E it' 81"
EYES," --., -ri -. s..r
'Thcn eat this" and she passed me a
tin pannikin full Of cold macaroni. which
| would just GO, through the opening.
Dear Valeria," ~ said. with my mouth
full chow good and thoughtful you are"'
Hush: he'll hear.'
"WhO?' ...... -5E
'.CIOpro." ,.,... ~
"ANhere is he?"
"Asleep in the bed just behind me-"
GLOW do you como to be in his bed
| room:"
Because I'm his WIFE"
'.Oh"'. A long pause, during which l
collapsed upon my straw seat, and swal-
| lowed macaroni thoughtfully. AS the re-
suit of my NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., carissi-
ma
"Hush. Yes
| Cant you get me out of this Internal
DEM"
! Perhaps If they all three sleep in the
| l-ifcbap. af ST,,,f npn awake Watch
for my signal. and if they all three sleep,
| I will manage to slip the bolt. Then you
must give me TING to get back into bed.
and when you hear me snOre You may
make the attehps. They are all three
| sleeping on the. floor. so be very careful
where you tread; 81 will also leave the
front door a little open. so that you can
| slip through without noise
dearest Valeria! =
sHush! Yes" IS ...
'Hand me that cane-it is my fishing
rod. you know--through this hole; you can
| leave the sketch-book and paint-box under
| the tree tiiat the donkey fell against
l will call for them some day soon. And.
| Valera, don't you think we could make
our lips meet through this beastiy hole!'
Impossible. There's my hand: heav-
| ems! -Croppo would murder me if he
knew. Now keep quiet till | give the sig
| nal. Oh do let go my hand!
Remember. Valera. bellissima, caris-
| sima, whatever happens. that l love you.
But / don't think she heard this. and I
went and sat on the onions because |
could see the hole better, and the smell
| of them kept me awake.
1t was Mt least two hours after this
| that the faint light appeared at the hole
in the wall, and a hand was pushed
| through. rushed at the finger-hps.
Here's your fshing.rod,' she said when
1 had released them, and she had passed
me my air-gun,d Now be very careful
how you tread. There is one asleep across
| the door. but yoH can open it about two
| feet. Then astef over him.; then make
for a CLEAN Ssf moonlight that comes
it very gently and slip out. Addio, caro-
Inglesc: 'mind1yca wait till you hear me
/, snoring" sds O.. sr 5-l.. iyt s44
Then she lisgered. and heard sigh;
covered her hand with kisses
~'fwish Grippe had blue eyes like you. y
This was murmured so. softly that l
may have been mistaken, but In nearly III
rs tnat s tso hnen
wards l heard her snoring. As the first
| sound issued from her lovely nostris, l
stea1thily apRroathed the door, gently
| pushed it open: Stealthily stepped over n
space which 1 trtsted cleared the recum-
| bent figure. that I could not see: cleared
| him; stole gently, on for the streak Of
moonlight; trod Square on something that
seemed like an outstretched hand. for it
gave under MY pressure and produced
la yell: felt that must now rush for my
life: dashed the door open, and down the
path with four yelling rufiians at my
heels. l was pretty good runner, but
the moon was behind a cloud. and the
way was rOcky,-mOreOver. there must
have been a shsrt cut l did not know, for
one of my pursuers gained upon me
with aunaccOuntable rapidity-he ap-
peared suddenly within 10 yards of my
heels. The others were at least 100
yards behind. l had nothing for 1t but
to turn round, let him almost run against
the muZzle of my air-gun. pull the trig-
ger, and see him fall in his tracks,, 1t
was the work of a second, but it checked
my pursuers. They had heard no noise,
but they found something that they did
not bargain for, and fingered moment,
then they took up the chase with re-
start; and where the path joined the
main road, instead of turning down to-
wards the town, as they expected
would. lodged round i'm the opposite
| direction, the uncertain light this time
| favoring me, and l heard their footsteps
| and their curses dying away on the
wrong track, Nevertheless l ran OH at
full speed. and it was not till the day
was dawning that / began to feel safe
and relax my efforts. The sun had been
up an hour when l reached a small town,
1 and the little lOcanda was just opening
for the day when l entered it, thankful
for hot cup of coffee. and n dirty little
room, with dirtier bed, where could
sleep off the fatigue and excitement of
the night. I was streliing down almost
the only street in the afternoon when
1 met a couple of carabineers riding
into it, and shortly after encountered the
whole troop, to my great delight. in com
mand of an intimate friend whom 1 had
left month before in Naples.
"Ah, caro- mic" he exclaimed, when he
saw me. "well met. What on earth are
you doing here!-looking for those bri.
gands you were SO anxious 20 find when
you left Naples? Considering that You
are in the heart of their country, you
should not have much difficulty in graft.
flying your curiosity"
1 Il have bad an adventure or two
I replied carelessiy. Indeed that is
partly the reason you find me here.
was just thinking how 1 could get safely
back to AscOli, when your welcome escort
appeared: for Insuppose you are going
there, and will hlet me take advantage
of it," ''''r' u 20
"Only too delighted: and You can tell
me your adventures. Let lis dine togeth
er tonight, and Il will find you a horse
to ride on wifi MS in the morning"
\ 49,. ~ - i