Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-03-20


to make a discovery that viii surprise
the government and thus gain immu-
nifty from having broken the law"
II sympathize with you. signor. but
as a good citizen 1t Is my duty to in
form upon you"
"What sum would induce you to re-
frain?'
your looks. your dress and the accent
with which you speak Italian. Ameri-
cans are all very rich"
II nave but 10000 francs a year."
THAT implies a capital of 100000
francs. Surely you can divide with
one who has been unfortunate"
You mean, | suppose, that am in
your power. and you demand a ransom
of 100000 francs?"
"You have stated the case correctly"
l stood thinking for a few minutes
what l could do. | had no funds in
Italy. The interest on my money in
vested in America was sen me quar-
terly. | had spent nearly all of my
funds of the present quarter. and 1t
would be two months before | received
another remittance. | explained this
to the bandit, but 1t did not appear to
make much impression upon him.
~ have never seer an Italian ban
dit" l said. but you don't fulfill my
idea of one. You look like a gentle
man."
I thought l could see him vince.
"You are a gentleman" l continued.
who has met with misfortune"
"You are right. signor."
May l ask the cause OF your being
what you are?"
to follow a line something like that
you are engaged in. but l not only lost
my patrimony; / lost money for others.
l became an o~utcast."
There was a tinge of sadness in his
tone as he spoke this which induced
me to proceed:
How would you like to return for a
brief season to your original or your
intended occupation? / believe that
am on the track of a buried villa that
formerly contained valuable works of
art. | would be happy TO have you
join me-"
His eye lighted up. The Italian.
whatever he is, Is artistic in his tastes.
and in this man was added the fervor
of an ~archaeologist- / saw that he
would love to take a breathing spell
from robbery in a work he loved.
"Whose villa are you hunting forY'
he asked.
"Manlius Quintus Piso's."
what data have your"
l gave him the two authors who had
written descriptions of the villa.
"Tbere is another reference" he
said. II came upon 1t when l was be-
ginning the study of archaeology"
He remembered the description given
by an author with whom ! was not ia
miliar and repeated 1t to me verbatim
in the Latin ~yernacular. | saw at once
that with the two | had 1t would bring
me much nearer the exact spot for
which | was looking.
Come" l said. turning my back to
him. take these weapons from my belt
and do what you like with them. Then
join me We are very neal the loca-
ton of the Piso villa. but not quite.
We must go southwark about 300
yards"
He astounded me by telling me to
keep my weapons and, unlocking his
rifle, slung 1t on his back. Then we
started out to pace the 300 yards.
ing at an angle with each other of
about twenty FIVE degrees. After pac-
ing the distance each began to dig.
We found nothing but dirt where we
began. but we made together some
fifty holes In an area of about a thou
sand feet in circumference. About sun
set I heard my companion call to m e.
I went to him and found that he had
come upon a pavement He had been
digging in a depression and had gone
down about four feet from the surface.
Fortunately the moon rose before the
sun set, and. anxious to go as far as
possible with our work before attract
ing attention, we began to throw up
dirt in earnest 1t was soon evident
from the marble pavement we uncov-
cred that we had struck something fine
and had not gone far before we came
to what proved to be the ~impluvium
(basin), which was in the center of all
antique Roman houses. But at the
time we exhumed only a small portion
of 1t. BY midnight we had come upon
several statues, but they were broken
in small bits. We worked on. and by
dawn l struck a pair of marble feet
Carefully removing the earth from
about a statue lying fat on the ground.
/ came upon a culver and a bow. The
drapery was feminine. ! hurried on.
hoping that l had struck the Diana OF
which / had read. My hopes were con-
firmed on reaching the head. where
above the forehead we found the star
which always accompanied representa-
tons of this divinity.