Part 15 (2/2)
”You uise?”
”Yes--feet sonize us all the sauise--stay below--I sall sit in de carriage; de horses are all ready now Ef de people do break in, dey will all rush up stair to here You sall be down stair in de stable De ates opened
You sall spring in--an den I whip up, an make a fly for life
You ond'stan?”
The driver spoke hurriedly Frank understood hiet the landlord to procure female dresses That worthy hurried away, and soon returned with about twenty gowns, bonnets, and petticoats These he threw upon the floor, and implored theetting a beam to batter in the door He had implored them not to, but they scorned his prayers
Upon this the boys began to put on the dresses, disguising themselves as well as they could It was very clumsy work, and they were very uncertain about the proper way of fastening them; but the driver and the landlord assisted them The dresses were those of Italian peasant women, and required no very elaborate adjustment Some coarse bonnets, of an antique type, were stuck on their heads, and served to conceal their short hair and faces
With Uncle Moses they had very much trouble At first he refused positively, and only consented when he was assured that the safety of the boys depended upon his disguise So he yielded reluctantly, and allowed the driver to officiate as lady's maid
No sooner was this task concluded, than the landlord and driver hurried thee-way into the barn
Outside, in the court-yard, was the carriage, with the horses ready
The hostler was sent to the gate to fling it open at the driver's signal, and the landlord, stie reward hi case of his rescue, returned to the hotel, to operate upon the crowd from that quarter
CHAPTER XV
_In the Robber's Hold--The Brigand's Bride--Sudden, a, overpowering, and crushi+ng Discovery--The Situation--Everybody confounded--The Crowd at Sorrento--The Landlord's Prayers--The Virago calls for Vengeance_
The brigand put his gun down upon the sofa, and motioned to David to take a seat He then left the roo,--
”Laura! Laura!”
A light footstep sounded in the next rooand returned, followed by a woman
This woman's appearance astonished David She was a lady She was young, beautiful, bright as a vision, dressed siether She had a very sweet face, and a bewitching smile, and as she entered she looked at David in so, bluff, bearded, broad-shouldered, beetle-browed, brusque bully of a brigand; this fierce, ferocious, bloodthirsty, relentless, ruthless ruffian; this hard-hearted, ieful, vindictive, griping, grasping, scowling fiend; this demoniac miscreant, without pity, and without remorse, opened his month
And this is what he said, in first-rate ENGLIsh!+--”See here, Laura; I've picked up a poor wretch of a Bohee, and had to explain by signs Well, you know I'estures; so I worked his story out of him It seems he came to Naples with his father, mother, and two sisters, and they all went on horseback up Vesuvius Well, soands, and were carried off; but the father, who, I believe, is athe food of the scoundrels, and carried off his faot to the shore, found a boat, and set out for Naples After sailing a little distance, a squall struck the boat, and it upset All were drowned except this poor lad, whoto the boat, and drifted, or was blown, ashore here on the cove, just down there, last night He was senseless all night, and only cao, and I picked hi He says he is alone in the world, and has appealed to me to help him Poor lad! ot a penny of money, and implores me to help him Of course I've tried to comfort him; for I've told hiive hiet hi this astounding speech the lady had stolen over to David, and sitting by his side, she placed a soft hand tenderly on his head As the story was being told, her eyes filled with tears, and leaning forward, she kissed the poor boy's pale brow When it ended she lish, that was even better than that of the ”brigand,”--”Poor boy! poor boy! O, Walter, dearest, how I do wish I could speak Bohemian, so as to tell him how sorry I feel!”
And what of David?
What did David think--feel--say?
Nothing Not a word!
David was paralyzed He was stunned He gasped for breath
And so this was his brigand--the brutal, the beetle-browed, the cruel, the bloody-minded, the inexorable, the deasped for breath, as I think I have already reand went on with his narrative, David listened in a dazed way, and began to understand that the language of gestures has its little uncertainties But when the lady kissed him, and when her sweet voice spoke those tender words of pity, he could stand it no longer His voice came to him He burst forth,--