Part 56 (1/2)

And Nisida, who overheard every syllable, curled her lips, while her eyes flashed fire at the dark h it were by the avowal of theit into execution

”No, it must not be,” repeated Ibrahim ”And yet, she is so wondrously beautiful that I would risk a great deal to win her love But proceed, Demetrius-- come to that portion of the narrative which so nearly concerns ive your highness success!” exclai taken leave of your excellent aunt, who invited ain, as I had casually observed that business would detainpromised the strictest secrecy relative to all she had toldto devote the next day to writing the details of all those particulars which I have just related, and which I purposed to send by sohness But it then struck me that I should only attract undue attention toat a public tavern a correspondence having so ily rose very early in theto sally forth to seek after a secluded but respectable lodging, I eventually obtained suitable apartaretha, and there I i written et them expedited to Constantinople, for I ell aware that your highness would be rejoiced to hear that your beloved sister was indeed in the land of the living, that she was in good health, and that a brilliant ly spoke to Da a trusty er ould undertake a journey to Constantinople The old woman assured me that her son Antonio, as a valet in the service of the Count of Arestino, would be able to procure er as I desired, and in the course of the day that individual was fetched by hisrepeated my wishes to him, he askeddisposition, and a curiosity as impertinent as it was inconvenient In fact, I did not like his ht arise fronorance, and from no sinister motive, I still felt inclined to availthat he could not sift th said that he had no doubt a friend of his, whom he named Venturo, would undertake my commission, and he pro He then left me, and true to his promise, he came back shortly after dusk, accoain was soon struck between us, and he proht for Ri for Constantinople I gave him a handsome suhness' private secretary, but containing an inclosure, also well sealed, directed to your highness, for I did not choose to excite the curiosity of these Italians by allowing therand vizier of the Otto to acquit himself faithfully of his rand vizier, ”and no huht could have anticipated other than successful results Proceed, for although you have hastily sketched all these particulars to me before, yet I am anxious to consider the thus disposed of that i Greek, ”I went out to saunter through the streets of Florence, and while away an hour or two in viewing the splendid appearance of that charhted up with the innuth I entered a dark and obscure street, which I knew must lead toward the river I had not proceeded far down the street when I heard the sound of , as if of a patrol

I stepped aside under a deep archway, but as chance would have it, they stopped short within a few paces of the spot where I was shrouded in the utter obscurity of the arch I should have immediately passed ona voice which I recognized to be that of Venturo, whom I believed to be already some miles away from Florence

I was perfectly astounded at this discovery, and if I had entertained any doubts as to the identity of that voice, they were speedily cleared up by the conversation between the men 'We had better separate here,'

said Venturo, 'and break into at least two parties, as at the bottohts of the casinos on the Arno's bank' 'Well spoken,' returned a voice which, to nized to be that of Antonio, ether, and our friends can go on first We will follow therove nearest to Dae What say you, Lomellino?' 'Just as you think fit, Antonio,' returned a third person, whom I naturally concluded to be the individual addressed as Lomellino

'You, or rather your master, the Count of Arestino, pays for this business, and so I am bound to obey you' 'Listen, then,' resu Count of Riverola, who, will no doubt be co away about the time we shall allto do but to carry him off to the cave' 'Why is the Count of Arestino so hostile to young Riverola?' demanded the man who had answered to the na Riverola, either one way or the other,'

replied Antonio, 'but I have persuaded his lordshi+p that if Francisob left at large, he will only use his influence to ainst the Countess Giulia, who is the friend of Flora Francatelli: and so the Count of Arestino has consented to follow my advice and have Francisco locked up until the inquisition has dealt with the countess, her lover, the Marquis of Orsini, and the Francatellis, aunt and niece' 'Then you have a spite against this man,' said Lomellino 'Truly have I,' responded Antonio 'You reot into the Riverola Palace soo? Well, I don't knoho discovered the plot, but I was locked inFrancisco dismissed me in a way that eance For this purpose I have urged on the count to cause Flora Francatelli, whom Francisco loves and wishes to s taken by the inquisition at his lordshi+p's instigation against the Countess Giulia and the Marquis d'Orsini; and the old auntsacrilegious persons' 'And so young Francisco is to lose his mistress, Flora, and be kept a prisoner in the cavern till he has been conde with the others?' said Loine, and I only wish I had the Lady Nisida also in ated her brother to turn me off suddenly like a common thief, because from all you have since toldof our intentions to plunder the Riverola Palace; though how she could have done so, being deaf and durowled Lo of the past: let us only think of the present Coreed' Three or four ar close by the place where I was concealed, but fortunately without discovering my presence”

”Oh! those miscreants would have assuredly rand vizier

”Of that,Greek; ”and Ito the discourse of the cold-blooded monsters But Venturo and Antonio still remained behind for a few ave'Well, Venturo,' said Antonio, after a short pause, 'have you examined the packet which was intrusted to you?' 'I have, and the contents are written in Greek or Arabic, or soue, for I could not read a word of theht the best plan was to destroy them' 'You acted wisely,' observed Antonio; 'by the saints! it was a good thought of er as a trustworthy old, and were laughing at him for his credulity, he would not be over well pleased His purse appears to be pretty well lined, and e have got all our present business off our hands ill devote our attention to the lodger The Arno is deep and a foreigner the less in the city will not be noticed' 'Not at all,'

answered Venturo; 'but let us now hasten to join our companions At what tie?' 'They are no doubt already in the neighborhood,' replied Antonio, 'and will pounce upon their victi Francisco leaves the place

Another set of officers are after the Marquis of Orsini' The twotheir conversation in a low tone as they went along the street, but I overheard no rand vizier, in an excited voice ”But vengeance will light upon theo unpunished!” said Deine the consternation hich I had listened to the developress; but I nevertheless experienced a material solace in the fact that accident had thus revealed to er whichto deliberate, I resolved, at all risks, to proceed at once to the cottage, and, if not too late, warn your aunt and lovely sister of the terrible danger which menaced them

Nay, more--I deterht--without an unnecessarythe streets, as if my speed involvedthe two villains, Venturo and Antonio, before they had entered the sphere of the brilliant illuminations of the casinos in the vale of Arno; and I beard one say to the other, 'There's some cowardly knave who has just done a deed of which he is no doubt afraid'

Convinced by this remark that they suspected not who the person that passed the speed, and likeith augmented hope to be enabled to save not only your lordshi+p's aunt and sister fro Count of Riverola from the power of his miscreant enemies Alas! my anticipations were not to be fulfilled! I lost ardens connected with the villas bordering on the Arno; and much valuable time at such a crisis asted in the circuits which I had to make to extricate myself froth I dreithin sight of the cottage; butrapidly about the house 'It is too late,' I thought: and yet I rushed on toward the place But suddenly the door opened, and by a glare of light within, I saw three females closely muffled in veils, led forth by several armed men It instantly struck me that the third must be the Countess Giulia of Arestino to whom I heard the miscreants allude I stopped short--for I knew that any violent demonstration or interference on my part would be useless, and that measures of another kind must be adopted on behalf of the victie, I concealedwhether Count Francisco had been already arrested or whether he hadof the officers of the inquisition with their three fe, passed by the spot where I lay concealed; and the deep sobs which cah they evidently were, filled uish As soon as they had disappeared I struck further into the grove, knowing by its situation that the outlet on the other side would conduct me to the nearest road to that quarter of the city in which I lodged But scarcely had I reached the outskirts of the little wood in the direction which I have na on in front of ht It struck ht consist of Antonio, Venturo, and other worthies, and I determined to ascertain whether Count Francisco had fallen into their hands I accordingly followed therove in such a manner that I was concealed by its deep shade, whereas those who proceeded further away from the trees Thus the party in advance and myself continued our respective paths for nearly a quarter of an hour, during which I ascertained beyond all doubt that thewere really the villains of the Antonio gang, and that they had a prisoner with them who could be no other than the Count of Riverola

”At length the grove tererous, when it struckin a cowardly and unworthy manner not to endeavor to ascertain the locality of the cave of which I had heard the miscreants speak, and to which they werehily I rove of evergreens But as they advanced without caring how they broke through the crackling thickets, the noise of their movements absorbed the far fainter sounds which acco that I was soon within twenty paces of them But it was profoundly dark, and I was unable to observe their movements I computed the distance they were from me, and calculated so as to for; for, by an observation which one of the villains let drop, I learnt that they had reached the entrance of their cavern It also struckas if in the depths of the earth, and I concluded that this was a signal to obtain ad these matters in my mind, Lomellino suddenly exclaimed, 'Let the prisoner be taken down first; and have a care, Venturo, that the bandage is well fastened'

'All right, captain,' was the reply; and thus I ascertained that Loht, of robbers; for I re by Antonio to a certain predatory visit some months previously to the Riverola mansion 'God help Francisco,' I said within myself, as I reflected upon the desperate character of the men who had him in their power; and then I was consoled by the remembrance that he was merely to be detained as a prisoner for a period, and not harmed”

”Unfortunately such demons as those Florentine banditti are capable of every atrocity,” observed the grand vizier

”True, my lord,” observed Dehness is interested, will yet be saved I shall, however, continue my narrative Three or four minutes had elapsed since the robbers had cost the into soly waited with the utmost anxiety until I was convinced that they had all disappeared with their prisoner; and then I crept cautiously along to the place at which I had already reckoned them to have paused I stooped down, and carefully felt upon the ground, until I was enabled to ascertain the precise point at which the marks of their footsteps had ceased At this moment the moon shone forth with such extree; and I now observed with horror that I had advanced to the very verge of a steep precipice, on the brink of which the grove suddenly ceased Had not the moon thus providentially appeared at that instant, I should have continued to grope about in the utter darkness, and have assuredly fallen into the abyss I breathed a fervent prayer for this signal deliverance But not a trace of any secret entrance to a cavern could I find--no steps, no trap-door! Well aware that it would be dangerous for e suddenly from their cave, I was reluctantly compelled to depart But before I quitted the place, I studied it so well that I should have no difficulty in recognizing it again In fact, just at the precise spot where the footsteps of the banditti ceased, an enormous chestnut tree, which for more than a century must have continued to draw from the earth its nourishht of this tree, as you face the abyss, is a knot of olives, and on the left an ueous lime These features of the spot I committed to memory, with the idea that such a clew to the robbers' retreat ht not eventually prove useless

”I will extirpate that nest of vipers--that horde of remorseless banditti!” exclai excitehness has the power,” responded Demetrius; ”but the Florentine authorities must be completely impotent in respect to such a formidable horde of lawless men The remainder ofGreek ”I returned to s in safety, but deterer than necessary

For apart from the resolve which I had formed already, in consequence of the various and unforeseen incidents which had occurred, to return to Constantinople, the ns of Antonio and Venturo in respect to myself, would have hastened ht sleep never visited rieved was I at the calahness Very early in theI arose fros of the Marquis of Orsini 'For,' thought I, 'if this nobleman has escaped arrest by the officers of the inquisition, hethe fe that he had been arrested the previous evening on a charge of sacrilege, perpetrated with others, in respect to the Carmelite Convent Frustrated in this quarter, I repaired to the principal clerk of the criminal tribunal, and inquired the name and address of a lawyer of eminence and repute The clerk coelo Duras, the brother of a celebrated Florentine physician”

”Both of whorand vizier; ”and Angelo Duras is a hts me much to know you employed him”

”I found him, too,” continued Demetrius, ”a kind-hearted and benevolent man He received me with affability; and I narrated to him as much as necessary of the particulars which I have detailed to your highness

Without stating by whom I was employed, I merely represented to him that I was deeply interested in the Francatelli family, and that it was of the utmost importance to obtain a delay for two or three ainst those innocent females, as, in the meantime, I should undertake a journey to a place at some considerable distance, but the result of which would prove materially beneficial to the cause of the accused He observed that the interest of the Count of Arestino, ould doubtless endeavor to hasten the proceedings in order to wreak speedy vengeance upon his wife and the Marquis of Orsini, was very powerful to contend against; but that gold could accomplish much I assured him that there would be no lack of funds to sustain even the most expensive process; and I thren a heavy purse as an earnest of my ability to bear the cost of the suit He coht it prudent to reveal to him, and after some consideration, said, 'I now seeof this case, at least so far as it regards the Francatellis, shall be postponed for three months You may rely upon the fulfillment of this promise, let the Count of Arestino do his worst' Thus assured, I quitted the worthy pleader, and proceeded to visit Father Marco, who, as I had happened to learn when in conversation with your highness' aunt, was the family confessor

I found that excellent rief at the calamities which had occurred; and to him I confided, under a solerand vizier of the Ottoman Empire really was, and how I had been e over the safety of your relatives I however explained to Father Marco that his vow of secrecy was to cease to be binding at any moment when the lives of the Francatellis should be ht possibly arise in spite of all the precautions that I had adopted to postpone the final hearing of their case; and that should imminent peril menace those lives, he was immediately to reveal to the Duke of Florence the fact of the relationshi+p of the Francatellis with one who has power to punish any injury that ,to beard Ottoht, I considered this precaution to be at all events a prudent one; and Father Marco promised to obey my injunctions in all respects”