Part 10 (1/2)

That which at a distance had seehoulish look, was now nothing ed to be satisfied--a gaze like that of a bereaved mother who sees some one who reminds her of her lost boy, and looks at hi

So, now, it ith this poor old decrepit creature Perhaps in her past life some son had been torn from her, of whom Bob reminded her, and she had come now to feast herself with his face, which reminded her of her lost boy, to take a lock of his hair, to bon over him in speechless e each other trehs, while from her weak eyes there fell tears which dropped upon the face of the boy

Those tears had a wonderful effect

As Bob's half-opened eyes saw the old woained its ordinary pulsation; the tremendous pressure that had been upon his soul was reh his veins, and all his fraor By the force of this reaction he was roused froy, his paralysis of horror, and his presence of mind was restored Then there came those tears which fell upon his face This completed the recovery of his self-command It did more It assured him that he was an object, not of murderous fury, but of tender love, and that the one whom he had feared had cos of affection Why this should be he knew not; he was content to know that it was so; and in this knowledge all fear died out Bat even now he felt soiving way to her emotion because she believed hi witness of feelings which she supposed to be seen by none In this there see dishonorable, and he wished the scene to end He chose to do so therefore byhis eyes; that is, he changed his position several tins of waking Upon this the old woman silently took her lamp and shears, and left the apartment by the way she had come

So ended the adventure

The effect produced upon Bob was a varied one He still felt the consequences of that horror into which he had fallen, that spasm and convulsion of terror which had seemed to turn him to stone, yet the relief that had been found was inexpressibly sweet In spite of the pain which still lingered about his heart, there caradually died out, and its only result was a general languor So commonplace a termination to what seemed a terrible event made his whole situation and his other prospects seeht turn out to be as coain into a deep sleep, and did not wake till it was broad day On descending, the people all respectfully bade hi of black bread, stew, and so sun had not yet ascended high enough to shi+ne down into the valley, but the glowing heavens, and the shadows of the reen of the little space nearest, with the darker green of the forests that clothed the mountain-sides, all made the spectacle a memorable one

Bob's whole state of mind was more healthy, and cheerful, and hopeful than it had been Everything appeared bright and favorable

The old wo, did not seem to be at all repulsive Her face was shrivelled, it is true, and her eyes eak; but she looked gentle and reat favor and attention The slatternly woman did not seem worse than any other Italian peasant woman The children were dirty, no doubt; in fact, very dirty; but then they were brown, and healthy, and merry, not inclined to mischief, and quite respectful to hi his situation and its surroundings with ed these people altogether the night before

But other things were yet in store which were to redee outside the house after breakfast, when, to his surprise, he saw the second ”brigand”

approach He knew that he had not had tio to Salerno and return; so he saw that he could not have been to Salerno at all

He see there now, for he was mounted on a donkey, and led another by the bridle The one which he led was no other than the ass which had carried Bob to this place

Bob's only thought at seeing this was, that the ”brigand” was now setting forth for Salerno, and was about to take the donkey with hiet a reward But this idea was not left long in his and” came out, and the two men talked to one another, after which they turned to Bob, and the first brigand explained to him that he was to mount the donkey He pointed to the animal, smiled, waved his hand towards the road by which Bob had coave a wild leap; he could scarcely believe what he heard; but the faces of the two esticulate, and repeat the word ”Salerno” They looked like two benevolent far ood natured faces

Of course there was nothing to do now but to hurry away to his friends Yet Bob was not willing to take too abrupt a leave He reht with a softened heart about her emotion He went back into the house, and shook hands with her for good by He even knew enough Italian to say ”_Addio_” The old creature was ave her one of his cuff-buttons as a souvenir, for he had nothing else to give, and the cuff-button was an unco that the old woh it was of inesti them all, shook hands with all of them, from the slatternly woave each one of the--to the woman, a pencil case; to one child, his pocket knife; to another, a watch key; to a third, a shi+rt stud; to a fourth, a and” nu to accompany him, and it was now evident to Bob that the delay which had taken place in his restoration to his friends was probably owing to the fact that they had to wait to procure bridles, or another donkey It only reand” nureat earnestness, and cordiality, and fervor; presenting him at the same time with his neck-tie, a very brilliant piece of satin, which the Italian received with a great flourish, and profuse expressions of thankfulness Bob had several tie since his arrival in the country, but never had his regrets been more sincere than on this occasion Had he been able to speak Italian he would have made a speech then and there, and have invited them all, from the old woman down to the smallest child, to come and visit him and his friends either at Salerno, or at Naples, or in far-off Aue was tied, and so the invitation remained unuttered He did what he could, however, and utterly exhausted the whole language of signs in the atteood wishes for their happiness

The simple people seeesticulated in return ; and when at last Bob rode away, the huht

CHAPTER XI

_The Return--The tender Adieus--Back to Salerno--On to Castellamare--A pleasant Scene--An unpleasant Discovery--David a--Woes of Uncle Moses--Deliberations over the Situation--Various Theories--The Vengeance of the Enemy--Back to Sorrento in Search of the lost One_

Returning to the uide, Bob traversed the sa day

His progress noas very different It would not do to dash furiously down the narrow and steep o at a slow pace, until they reached the plain Bob's anier the fiery, wild ass of the day before, which had borne him helplessly away from his friends, but a tractable anins of subordination and obedience He obeyed the slightest touch of the bridle, andafter the rider in front of hientle of the donkey tribe

In two or three hours' tiht, rode towards Salerno Thus far Bob had not noticed erly upon the road ahead of hihtly supposed that they would have driven to Salerno on the preceding day, hoping to find him there, and that they would drive back in search of him at the earliest dawn of another day

Bob's conjecture turned out to be rights He had not ridden , which he soon recognized as belonging to his party In it were his friends, who had recognized hiht of hiain, and aht of his coe stopped, and the boys flung theged him, and hustled him, and danced about him in their joy

Uncle Moses was not so quick as the others, and held back Bat if his greeting was last, it was not least fervent, as Bob well knew by thelip, the trerasp of that venerable relative

Then and there, on the road, Bob had to satisfy the hungry curiosity of his friends, and give them some sort of an outline of his adventures The particulars he reserved until a future occasion Bob's account of his friends in the mountains at once roused the enthusiastic interest of the whole party in their favor, and they all proceeded to shake hands with the Italian

Nor did they content themselves with this, for on the spot Uncle Moses and the boys made up a handsome purse, which they presented to him, not because he deserved it, exactly, but partly because they were so rejoiced at finding the lost boy, and partly on account of Bob's urgent appeal to them For now Bob's sentiments about the huone the last phase which was necessary to coard theands,--far from it,--but rather as a family of peaceful, innocent, harood-natured, hospitable, and virtuous peasants

The Italian received the gifts with a series of gesticulations, by which he see of Heaven upon theratitude; and after the boys and Uncle Moses had one by one shaken hands and bidden hiesticulating; and as they drove away, they saw hi ht