Part 34 (1/2)

”Dat is right,” said the guide ”Dat is so Bot so--or soo wild, and wander, an if dey happen to come near a villa, dey are terrible”

”But how could this one have come here?”

”Italia is full of dem--dey wander about like dis”

”But they live so far off”

”O, no; dis one come from de mountain--not far--dat old house in de valley, just de place for his den”

After this Frank could doubt no longer, although he had been so obstinate in his disbelief The affair of the previous night had produced a powerful effect on his ain to be beguiled into a belief in any danger that was not real Had the guide not believed this so firly, he would have felt certain that the ani--anything, rather than a wild boar However, as it was, he had nothing left but to believe as said

As for Uncle Moses, he was now quite hiain The boys were safe, at any rate True, they were confined in the loft of an old house, with a ferocious wild beast barring the way to liberty; but then he reflected that this ferocious wild beast could not get near them Had it been a bear, the affair would have been most serious; but a wild boar, as he knew, could not clience which David and Clive hadfact that the boar could not get at them, as the loft was only reached by a ladder The return to Albano was in every way satisfactory to his feelings, for he saw that this was the only way of delivering the boys, who could not be rescued without soth

In a short time they were back in Albano, and soon the news flew about the town In accordance with the invariable rule, the story was considerably enlarged as it passed from mouth to mouth, so that by the time it reached the last person that heard it,--a poor old bed-ridden priest, by the way,--it had grown to the following highly respectable dione into the Alban tunnel in search of adventures While down there they had discovered the lair of a wild boar, and had killed the young, the old ones being away They had then htered victims with them The wild boar had returned with the wild sow, and both, scenting their young pigs' blood in the air, had given chase to the murderers These last had fled in frantic haste, and had just succeeded in finding a refuge in the old wind into the upper loft as the infuriated anis of theup into the hole, one of the beasts had leaped madly upward, and had bitten off a portion of the calf of the leg of one of theeance, the two fierce animals took up their station there, one in the chauard their prey, and effect their destruction They had already been there a week One of the prisoners had died from the effects of his terrible wound, and the other was now dying of starvation Fortunately, Brother Antonio (the guide) had been told about this in a vision the night before, had visited the surviving milor, had talked with him from a safe distance, had seen the terrible ani the unhappy survivor

From the above it may readily be conjectured that the call for help was not s of the imprisoned captive excited universal sympathy, and the presence of the wild boars in so close proximity, filled all men with a desire to capture theenerally believed was one whicha position so fiction and the truth Such as it was, it had the effect of drawing forth the population of Albano as it bad never been drawn forth before; and as they went forth they presented a scene such as those of which the ends tell us, where the whole population of soon, went forth en masse to do battle with the monster

So they now marched forth,-- Men with scythes

do ” hoes

do ” rakes

do ” shovels

do ” tongs

do ” broo-knives

do ” umbrellas

do ” stones

do ” earthen pans

do ” bricks

do ” charcoal

do ” chairs

do ” spits

do ” bed-posts

do ” crowbars

do ” augers

do ” spades

do ” stakes

do ” clubs

Men with staves, do ” opera-glasses

do ” sickles