Out with Garibaldi

e island, and he arrived late that evening at Polizzi, a distance of some forty miles from Palermo. On the following day he ha

ing you, Percival! Surely the

to Bosco, who has some seven thousand picked troops at

one's hair," Rubini said, "to

ne no fighting should have a turn. We have lost about a third of our number, and most of us have been wounded. Medici's corps have nev

ents, giving a sharp lesson, whenever we

e the revol

se agents have been trying to get them to declare for a republic, and they have certainly had more success than Farina had. There is nothing tangible in the idea of a king, while, when the poor fools are told that a republic means that the land and property of the rich are to be handed over to the poor, the programme has its attractions. At any rate, it has its attractions

xio, and I believe that others have enlisted with Medici; still there are a good many of the lower class who joined in the rising, still among the hills. In a rebellion like this the insurgents would be divided into two classes-the one true patriots, the other men who join in the hope of plunder, the discontented riffraff of the towns. A life in the mountains offers great attrac

me of the revolutionists in the towns and villages on the plain, but it will be a long time indeed before brigandage can be suppressed, and of course there is no intention of attempting such a business now; that will be a work that must be undertaken by government, when Italy has achieved her freedom, and

ere is

work. He knows that one sharp lesson impresses the minds of people like these Sicilians, and has far more effect than lenient measures or verbal reproofs. They have to be taught that it is not for them to meddle in affairs of state. All these matters must be left to their representatives in parliament and the government of the country. The pett

at daybreak; it is n

ted men here, Percival. I wil

no occasion for t

hed houses or on any traveller they meet. I need not say that at present their animosity to the red shirts is bitter, and that in revenge for their comrades who have been shot or hanged, they would certainly kill any of us on whom they could lay hands; so it would be better for you to

arations for crossing to the mainland, and that until he sends word to the general to join him, he is to continue his work of stamping out this movement in restoring order, in reorganising the municipal author

ll wear your a

ope that when I did so I should be able to use it, though I must not put too much strain on it. Of course it is a n

g, the defence of th

losion saved four of us, for the wounded men we carried off are all convalescent,-and also the lives of five women and eight children, for, exasperated as the Neapolitan

e. They spent a pleasant evening together, and in the morning Frank started with the four mounted men and rode to Bronte. Just as he approached the town he heard several volleys of musketry, and on inquiry found that thirty men who had been captured on the march or caught in hiding in the town had been

a handful of agitators, instead of calling out all the men capable of bearing arms and suppressing the sedition at once. You have failed miserably in your duty. The man who came as your deliverer is now, in the hour of battle, weakened by being compelled to send part of his army to suppress the disorder at which you have connived. You privat

his absence, and now said: "Captain Silvio, you will arrest the syndic and these municipal councillors, and march them off to prison. They may think thems

the men pointed out, and

, but mind that it be a good one. Of course I wish men of standing and influence to be appointed, but the one absolute qualification is that they shall be men who have shown themselves opposed to the conduct of those who will pass the next six months in prison; who can be trusted to maintain law and order with a strong hand, to p

time Frank, who had quietly taken up his place behind him. The young fellow had been a gre

ou should be here is a proof that your arm is g

s after he arrives there, be joined by the rest of Cosenz's command, who are proceeding by land. After beating Bosco, he will go on to Messina. It will take him a considerable time to make all the preparations needful for the expedition to the mainland, and he wishes you to continue your work here, to put dow

weeks: that sort of thing is very bad for young troops. Here they get plenty of marching, and a certain amount of drill every day, and in another month or six weeks even

or said that I must keep my arm in a sling for some time to come, and although I did not ride here at any great speed, I feel some sharp twinges in it, and think I

by the brigands, and although it is hopeless to try to stamp these fellows out, I may strike a few blows at them. The worst of it is, that half the peasantry are in alliance with them, and the other half know that it is as much as their lives are worth to give any information as to the brigands' movements, so that to a large extent I shall ha

opped for five or six hours in the middle of the day; but I think that, even in t

ive in the afternoon, and then take gentle exercise again, and enjoy yourself until eleven or twelve o'clock at night. Even the natives of the island keep indoors as fa

lad to find Rubini and my

and Palermo, Frank had very pleasant society. Indeed, as the majority of the force were men of good family and education, there was, when off duty, little distinction of rank, and with the tie of good comradeship, and of dangers and fatigues borne in common, there was none of the stiffness and exclusiven

g a meal, he generally spent the evening sitting in the open air in front of the principal café, eating ices, drinking coffee, and chatting with the of

will also be occupied. The brigands have found that it is no longer safe to come down into the plains, and I am going to push them as far up the slopes as I can: possibly we may then be able to obtain some information from the peasants below that line as to the principal haunts of these fellows in the mountains. At present these villages that I am going to occupy are all used by the brigands,

h offered small prospect of success, merely to avenge the wrongs of the peasants; but now matters have changed. We are not only willing, but eager, to suppress these

hance the carabinieri, knowing the assassin had a standing feud with the victim, lay hands upon him, the organisation sets to work. The judge himself may be a member; if not, he speedily receives an intimation that his own life will be forfeited if the murderer is condemned. But it is seldom that this is necessary. The jailors are bribed or terrorised, and when the time comes for him to be brought to trial, it is found that he has mysteriously escaped; and, in the few cases where a man is br

" Frank said; "and I shall greatly enjoy the mountain ai

all request him when he is away to intrust the command of those left in the village to you, who are one of the thousand. You are a captain, as I heard with much pleasure in a letter from Garibaldi, and on the general's staff; and as you showed how stoutly you could defend a house against an overwhelming force, you could certainly hold a village with fifteen or twenty men against any number of brigands who might try to take advantage of the absence of a portion of the force to attack those t

any piled arms in the principal square in the town. "You said you were

owever, ten days' rest has set me all right again, and I am qui

orders to march

the slopes of Etna. Your company is to be divided into two. You with half of them are to go to Latinano, and the other h

e have a brush with the brigands. It will at any rate be a great deal cooler than Tr

and of the village when you were away brigand-hunting. He said that naturally you would take your best men for

ands than yours," Rubini said heartily. "

of a couple of halts for a few minutes, and they reached Latinano at eleven o'clock, having been nearly seven hours on the way. There was no demonstration of welcome when they arrived, nor did they expect it. Doubtless such of the villagers as felt glad to see them march in would be afraid to show it

ed; "but you can scarcely expect that on Mount Etna; at any rat

them in the future. Rubini, however, knowing how poor were the priests of these mountain villages, told him that,

itants of this village, who assuredly could hardly fill fifty additional mouths. We have brought with us flour, wine, and other necessaries, and

d everything, and paid for nothing: happily they only stayed for a week, or the village would have been ruined. After the tales that have bee

ed at Marsala have we taken a mouthful of food without paying for it, unless it

vely joy at your arrival. Moreover, they do not know how long you are going to stay here, and are well aware that any who show satisfaction at your coming, or who affor

ive false information to the carabinieri, and hinder the course of justice. People who act thus must not be surprised if they are regarded as allies of these bands, and they must put up with the inconvenience of having troops quartered upon them, and may think themselves fortunate that the consequences are no worse. At present we are not here to act against the brigands al

s are liable at any time to be seized and compelled to pay perhaps their all to save their lives. The harm is rather to their souls than to their bodies; as you say, their sympathies are wholly with the brigands, they come to regard them as heroes, and to think lightly of the terrible crimes they commit upon others; and not infrequently some young man more enterprising than the rest, or one who has perhaps stabbed a rival in love or has been drawn for service in the army, takes to the hills and joins the

to remove all these abuses that have flourished under the Bourbons. As for us, we are soldiers without pay, fighting for love of our country. When we have done our work and freed it from its oppressors, we shall return to our

e band half an hour later; and by this time they are probably twenty miles away up in the forests, but in which direction I have no idea, nor do I know what their plans are. It may be that so long as these villages are held they will move round to the other side of Etna. It may be that several of the bands will unite and attack one

e been arranged by which smoke from the hill-tops near Bronte will give us information that some of these bands have passed down the mountain, the direction in which they have gone, and that in which they are retiring; and I fancy they will hardly regain the mountains without being intercepted by one or other of our parties. It is true that we shall not remain here very long; but by the ti

but combine, and are actively supported by small bodies of troops in all the towns, it will deal a