The citizen., 1906-04-06

his, but that was not part of the Dlan.
They had found out about our meet
lngs in the cave; nothing simpler than
to have me kept hard at it overhead
and to carry off Faustina by brute
force in the boat. 1t was their only
chance. for she had said more TO Ste
fano than she had admitted to me and
more than l am going to repeat about
myself. No persuasion would have in
duced her to listen to him again. SO
they tried force. and she drew Cor.
buccis revolver on them, but they had
taken her by surprise, and Stefano
stabbed her before she could fire.
But how do you know all that?' |
asked Rallies, for his tale was going to
pieces i'll the telling, and the tragic end
of poor Faustina was no ending for me.
"Oh." said he. Il had it from Corbucci
at his own revolver's point. He was
waiting ut his window, and | could
have p0tted him at my ease where he
stood against the light listening hard
enough. but not seeing Il thing. SO he
asked whether it was Stcfano. and |
whispered, Isl. signore.' and then
whether he had finished Arturo. and |
brought the same shot off again. He
had let me in before he knew who was
finished and who was not"
And did you finish him?'
mo. That was too good for Corbuc-
ci, but | bound and gagged him about
as tight as Il man was ever gagged or
bound, and / left him in his room, with
the shutters shut ana the house locked
up. The shutters of that Old place We're
six inches thick and the walls nearly
six feet. That was on the Saturday
night, and the count wasn't expected
ut the vineyard before the following
Saturday. Meanwhile he was suppos-
ed to be in Rome, but the dead would
doubtless be discovered next day. and
] am afraid ihiS would lead to his own
discovery. with the life still in him.
believe he figured on that himself, for
ne sat threatening me gamely till the
last. You never saw such n sight as he
was, with his head split i'll two by
ruler tied at the back of it, and his
great mustGche pushed up into his
bulging eyes. but | locked him up in
the dark without Il qualm, and wish
ed and still wish him every torment of
the damned.
"And thenT
"The night was still young, and with
in ten miles there was the best of ports
IN storm and hundreds of holds for
the humble stowaway to choose from.
but | didn't want 10 20 farther than
Genoa, for by this time my italian
would wash, so | chose the old Nord-
deutscher Lloyd and had an excellent
voyage in one of the boats slung in
board over the bridge. That's better
that any hold, Bunny, and | did splen-
didly on oranges brought from the
vineyard"
''And at Genoa?"
"At Genoa l took to my wits once
more and have been living on nothing
else ever since, but there | had to be-
gin all over again and at the very bot
tom of the ladder. l slept in the
streets. | begged. l did all manner of
terrible things, rather hoping for a bad
end, but meyer coming to one. Then
one day saw white headed old chap
looking at me through a shop window
"a window | had designs upon-and
when | stared at him he stared at me,
and we wore the same rags! SO l had
come to that. But one reflection
makes many. | had not recognized
myself. Who on earth would recognize
me? London called me, and here l am.
Italy had broken my heart and there it
stays
Flippant as a schoolbOy one moment,
playful even in the bitterness of the
next, and now no longer giving way to
the feeling which had spoiled the eli
max of his tale, Raffles needed know
ing as | alone knew him for right ap-
probation of those last words. That
they were no mere words l know full
we'll That but for the tragedy of his
Italian life that life would have suf-
feed him for years, if not forever, did
and do still believe. But l alone see
him as | saw him then, the lines upon
his face and the pain behind the lines.
How they came to disappear and what
removed them you will never guess. 1t
was the one thing you would have eX
pected to have the opposite effect, the
thing, indeed that had forced his conf
dence, the organ and the voice once
more beneath our very windows:
Margarta de Parete.
era a sarta d e. signore;
sc pugneva sempe ddete
pc penzare Salvatore!
Mar-ga-ri
perzo Salvatore
Mar-ga-ri,
Ma L ommo e cacciatore!
Mar-ga-ri,
Nun ce ale corpa tu!
Chello CHI fatto, fatto, un ne parlammo
echieu!
l simply stared at Rafiles. Instead of
deepening, his lines had vanished. He
looked years younger, mischievous and
merry and alert as | remembered him
of old in the breathless crisis of some
madcap escapade. He was holding up
his finger; he was stealing to the win
dow; he was peeping through the blind
as though our side street were Scotland
Yard itself; he was stealing back again,
all revelry, excitement and suspense.
Il half thought they were after me
before" said he. THAT was why l
made you look. daren't take proper