Among the Brigands

olyphemus.-The Cathedral.-The mysterious Image.-What is it?-David Relic-hunting.-A Catastrophe

sion, the driver of which went with them, and was to pay all their expenses for a certain given sum. They expected to be gone several days, and to visit many places of surpassing interest; for Naples is a city whose charms, g

gh to be pleasant, and not in any way oppressive. For many miles the way seemed nothing else than a street. Houses arose on each side; crowds of people, and multitudes of wagons, and droves of cattle constantly met t

re, a town on the shore of the bay. Passing beyond this, they found a change in the scenery. The road wound along cliffs which overhung the sea, and was ornamented by trees. The road itself was a magnificent one, as smooth as a floor, and by its circuitous course afforded a perpetual variety. The far white houses of Naples, the towers that dotted the shore on every side, the islands that rose from oat the waters, the glorious bay, the gloomy form of Vesuvius, with

d blasts of winter and the hot winds of summer. Sorrento has a perfect climate, All the seasons are blended together here, and in the orange groves, that s

which was so wild and abrupt, so deep and gloomy, that it looked like the work of a recent earthquake. Not far from this were some ancient reservoirs, the work of the times of imperial Rome. The arches were yet p

David volunteered to give it in full to Uncle Moses. So David told how Ulysses ventured to this place with his companions; how the one-eyed Cyclops caught them; how he imprisoned them in the cabin, shutting up its mouth by means of a huge rock, which David thought might have been

was born. They were not able to enter it, and a

haying nothing else to do, wandered away towards the common centre of attraction. They soon lost one another in the crowd, and one by one they worked their way into the interior of the place. The or

nside the chapel. He saw a structure, in the centre of the chapel, covered with drapery, upon which was a cushion. Lying on this cushion was the image of a child, clothed in rich attire, and spangled with jewels, and adorned with gold and silver. Whether it was made of wood or wax he could not tell, but thought it was the former. The sight of it only temp

long time; but at length he had the satisfaction of seeing a movement among the people, which showed that they were on the point of dispersing. After thi

d, preventing too close an approach; but standing here, outside of the rail, David saw that the image was very rudely carved out of wood, and was intended to represent a child. Why such an

ess, or its surroundings, to serve as a relic. His relic-hunting propensities had never been stronger than they wer

. They were on their knees, and appeared to be absorbed in their devotions. It seemed to David that it would be quite easy to possess himself of some small and unimportant portion of the drapery. He was quite unobserved, for the two women who were nearest

nave, and those who had been near the door had departed. The women seemed as intent as ever upon thei

nd then, stretching forward his h

utting it in his pocket, he drew

oked aroun

vering one by one the filaments that composed it, but doing this so slowly that he began to grow impatient. The women were not looking. There was no danger. To work with one hand was useless, and so he reached forth both hands, and began sawing away more vigorously than ever. But his impatience, and his vehement pulls and tugs, produced a

owards him, and, to his horror, the wooden image came

en their wild eyes caught sight of David, whose frightened face would have revealed him as the guilty caus

scream, one of the wo

aped back, and eluded

d her aroun

man fo

d behind an

's knowledge of the Italian language was but slight, yet it sufficed to show h

ood as if petrified-motionless and mute, staring at the fallen sanctuary, and overwhelmed with horror. So the flight went on, until at length, reaching the door, David made a rush for it, dashed through, and ran as fast as his l

e party there, at dinner. He said nothing of his

nt to the windows, and looked out. A sudden exclamation of surprise brought Clive and Uncle Moses to their side. David fol

ooke

he very old woman who bad discovered his sacrilege, and had chased him through the cathedral. Now he had hoped that the old woman had forgotten him; but her appearance now was tenfold more terrible than ever. Here she was-a virago-with a great following, who

uddenly presented, they were accosted by the landlord and the driver, wh

landlord. "De people declare you haf insult d

ed Frank; "

Bamb

mbi

image, de pride of Sorrento; an dis is de day sacred to him. What is dis meesfo

k. "We haven't insulted anyt

. The boys listened in astonishment The landlord shook

ng conversation

e succeeded, had it not been for David's old woman, who shook her fists in his face, stamped, appealed to Heave

e driver, and speaking a few words, he hurried up to our

hlessly. "I haf order de carriage. I sall tell de people dat you s

otel was being searched now for the offender against the Bambino, and when he was found he would at once be h

l got in at once, unseen by the crowd in the street; and then, cracking his whip, the driver urged the horses off at full speed through the gates. The crowd fell back on either side, so

rriage. The crowd followed. But the carriage had already got a good start; it had burst through the people, and those who stood in the way were only too glad to get out of it, and thus, with t

r; but if there was any satisfaction to be got out of it, it was in the fact that the tassel whi