Volume I Part 13 (1/2)
[Illustration: IL CAPITANO (1668)
_Illustrating the Italian Coht came It was Septeirt our swords, stuck a brace of pistols in our belts, and took up our station in the principal street, which was long and straight, beneath the s of Massimo's Dulcinea Torri sent melody after uitar-strings for a good hour's space Suddenly a , belonging to thewith our duet, flew violently open A great black head appeared, from which there issued a hoarse voice like that of Charon in Dante's Inferno ”What insolence!” it uttered with a bad Italian accent We knew that the huge skull was consecrate, and belonged to a certain Canon, uncle of the girl But so bovine voice of an ecclesiastic to disturb our tranquillity Torri, however, being a civilian and no soldier, began to be aware that his melodious airs were out of place The prudence which is born of fear made him reflect upon the situation, and he asked leave to retire We persuaded hi out that the street was public, that our amusement was lawful and innocuous, and that it conferred an honour on our nation He resu; but from this moment the melodies had a certain quaver in them, which the composer had not calculated The first assault by the Canon was sustained and repulsed; for after roaring out ”What insolence!” three or four times, he shut thein our faces with a crash
The second attack upon our obstinacy was so very different and far more formidable than a priest's voice, however horrible It effectually shut the ht of thethe street with six lowered and glea muskets; the cowls of their cloaks concealed their faces, and they advanced at a slow pace toward us At this apparition ourtill he reached his lodging Massiround like Orlando and Rodo up, howled out some rustic ditties in a bold voice, which was however, I areeable than the Canon's His discords were enough to cast eternal sha lady heard theiving her the pleasure of a serenade
Observing our determination to stand firm, the six cowled men advanced to within twenty paces We heard the click of their six gunlocks, as they cocked theive fire At this point our intrepidity deserved no other name than madness; it called for the lancet, hellebore, strait-jackets, a good drubbing Without budging an inch, we raised our pistols at the ood twous at a little distance, but always keeping their eyes fixed with a haughty defiance on our faces We, on our part, hty glances Perhaps they wished to give us time for repentance, or for wholesome reflections, which should make us quit our post Anyhow, they moved onward till they reached the end of the street, when once again they turned and faced us
Little did those cowled and th and breadth of our stupidity! We recommenced our duet with a more hideous din than ever They retraced their steps, and advanced steadily toward us But when they found the pair of little fighting-cocks still standing with raised pistols on the watch, they judged it wiser to pursue their course and disappear The removal of the Court from Budua, which took place one day after thisshot down by an ahten us away Possibly our expected departure from the city, or else respect for our staff-uniforer Such considerations had certainly ht with those fierce natives than the insane bravado of two insects are in this danger as fool-hardiness rather than nanimity
I could relate an infinity of such adventures, in all of which we risked our lives on some puerile point of honour, or in pursuit of soht at Spalato our serenading party elcomed with a storm of heavy stones, which made us skip like kids, but could not drive us froirl of Ragusa, the mistress of one of the chief nobles of the city, and we maintained our station for the honour of Italy, with skulls unbroken, till the day rose
In the society of une ood principles implanted in him at home Unless he conforms to the tone and fashi+on of his comrades, he is sure to be derided and despised If he does conform, he is likely to lose substance, health and reputation at cards, o Besides this, he constantly risks life and limb in the so-called pastimes I have just described
I aeration that I never played for high stakes, that I never surrendered myself to debauchery, that I preserved the sound principles of my home education, and yet that I was popular with allto the clubbable and fraternal attitude which I assumed at some risk, it is true, yet alith the firood character behind me whenCadet of Cavalry is capable of executing a ers to which ht in justice to myself to show that I was able on occasion to reconcile our absurd code of honour with prudence and diplomacy With this object I will relate an incident, which is neither nificant than the other events of my life
The city of Zara is traversed by afroate called Porta Marina Several lanes and alleys, leading doards from the ramparts on the side toward the sea, debouch into this principal artery It so happened that so to traverse one of these lanes on their way to the promenade upon the ramparts, had been intercepted by a man muffled in a mantle, who levelled an eloquent enore their route This act of violence ought to have been reported to the Provveditore Generale, and he would have speedily restored order and freedoe Our military code of honour, however, forbade recourse to justice as an act of cowardice; albeit soe to recoil before a blunderbuss
My readers ought to be inforirl of the people, called Tonina, one of the loveliest women whom eyes of man have ever seen, lived in this lane She hadtricks she used to wheedle and entice a pack of simpletons, made her no better than any other cheap and venal beauty Yet she contrived to sell her favours by the sequin A gentleman, whom I shall e Wishi+ng to keep the treasure to hi his devotion, and stood sentinel in her alley On two consecutive evenings the passage was barred; we talked of nothing else in the ante-chamber of the General, and laid plans how to reassert our honour A nureed to face the blunderbuss; I received an invitation to join the band; and acting on ood-fellowshi+p, I readily consented
Our discussion took place in the ante-chamber; silence was enjoined; we settled that each of the conspirators should wear a white ribband on his hat, and that three hours after nightfall we should asse-place This was a billiard-saloon, whence ere to sally forth to the assault of Budua
An Illyrian noblenor Sie, and a resolute teh he held noin a corner of the ante-chamber, half-asleep, and apparently inattentive to our project I knew hienial, and he had often professed sentiments of sincere friendshi+p for myself After our scheme had been concerted, I passed into the reception-room of the palace He followed, and opened a conversation on indifferent topics, in the course of which he drew an to speak as follows:--
”The moment has arrived for me to testify the cordial friendshi+p which I entertain for you I regret that you have pro On your honour and secrecy I know that I can count I am sure that you will not reveal what I aher powers, e are bound to regard, ht be suspected in those whose courage is indisputable
This preae what I think of you, and to measure the extent of ht there will be four blunderbusses in the alley I shall lose my life; but several will lose theirs before the lane is forced I aet out of your engagement Let the rest come, and enjoy their fill of pastime at the cost of life or limb”
This blunderbuss of an oration took ue, and answered to the following effect:--
”I a friendshi+p and preaching caution You do not seem to understand the first ele of the other I a only, your belief that I a what you have just told me Upon this point alone your discernment is not at fault I would rather die than expose you Yet you want me, under threats, to break my word, and to render myself contemptible in the eyes of all my comrades This you call a proof of friendshi+p It is as clear as day, too, that you have yielded to a hussy's i your own life and the lives of your friends upon a silly point of honour in a shameful quarrel This is the proof of your prudence If you withdraw froement, no harm will be done, and cowardice will only be imputed to a nameless mask But if I breakproved ade and a dastard I shall become an object of scorn and abhorrence to the whole army If I act as you desire, my oath of secrecy to you will violate the laws of friendshi+p, prudence, everything which ain puts my honour in peril How can you be sure that one of your accomplices will not privily inform his Excellency of your name and your mad enterprise? Where shall I then be? No: it is clearly your duty to obey the counsels dictated by my loyal friendshi+p and my sound prudence Leave the alley open; and then you will in truth obligemore to the purpose than a blunderbuss Her physical shape excuses your weakness for her; herto preach sermons on objects worthy or unworthy of love; I feel conor Siun of consenting In his fierce Dalmatian way he burst into bare protestations, swore that he would never quit the field, and wound up with a vow to sell his life as dearly as ed it needful to ad at him for some seconds with eyes which spoke voluedian, and exclaimed: ”Well then, I pro, and, without attacking you, I shall offerto you that you are in no real sense of the word my friend” Then I turnedcare, however, to retire at a slow pace Except for the ferocity instilled by education, he was at botto edthe tragic tone, I persuaded hi his exclusive right to the Tonina For my part, I undertook never to reveal our secret This promise I have kept for thirty-five years Lapse of time and the probability of his decease--for he wasit
On three following nights I joined the allied forces at the billiard-roo from my hat-band I was always the first to brave the blunderbusses, being sure that no resistance would be offered Indeed, the victory, on which we piqued ourselves, had been won beforehand in irl of the people, who had exposed so er, remained fixed in my mind I shall relate the sequel to this incident, which took a coh to add that Signer Simeone C----'s infatuation for this corsair of Venus rapidly declined, as is the wont of passions begotten by masculine appetite and feminine avarice
Tonina, however, did not lack lovers, and the badness of her nature continued to spread discord and foment disorder in our circle