just as the ship carrying garibaldi and his followers weighed anchor, frank rode out from palermo. the road was the best in the island, and he arrived late that evening at polizzi, a distance of some forty miles from palermo. on the following day he halted at traina; here he found a detachment of bixio’s brigade, which was commanded by rubini, who welcomed him most cordially.
“who would have thought of seeing you, percival! surely the general is not coming this way?”
“he started yesterday to join medici, and give battle to bosco, who has some seven thousand picked troops at milazzo. he has sent me here with an order for bixio.”
“it is enough to make one tear one’s hair,” rubini said, “to think that we are out of it.”
“well, we have done our share, rubini, and although i was disappointed at first, i admit that it is only fair that the men who have done 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 never fired a shot yet, nor have those of cosenz; we shall have our share again when we cross to calabria. now, what are you doing here?”
“we are scattered about in small detachments, giving a sharp lesson, whenever we get the chance, to the revolutionists.”
“but who are the revolutionists?”
“they are agents of the revolutionary committee—that is, of mazzini and his fanatics—and it seems that several parties of them were landed on the east coast to get up a row on their own account; and just as farina has been trying to induce the country to throw over garibaldi, and declare for victor emmanuel, of whom the people know nothing, and for whom they care less, these 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 for the brigands, of whom, at the best of times, there are always a number in the forests on the slopes of etna; and i have no doubt that money was freely distributed among them to inflame their zeal. several houses of well-to-do citizens and country proprietors had been looted, and something like a reign of terror had begun, before bixio’s brigade marched to restore order.
“you see there are a great many more of these bands in the forests than usual. after the rising in the winter was suppressed, very many of those who took part in it dared not return to their homes, and so fled to the hills; the better class of these men came in as soon as our capture of palermo made it safe for them to do so. a company of them has been formed, and is now with bixio, 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 attractions to these: in the first place they don’t have to work for a living, and in the next there is always the chance of carrying off some rich proprietor and getting a large ransom for him. these therefore go to swell the ranks of the men who have for years set the authorities of the island at defiance, and have terrorised all the people dwelling on the plains at the foot of etna.
“just at present all these men call themselves republicans, and had it not been for bixio’s arrival they would have established a perfect reign of terror. we here have shot a good many, and i believe bixio has also given them some sharp lessons; at any rate, our presence here has effectually stopped the game 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 feels in a position to turn her attention to putting down these bands which have for years past—i may almost say for centuries—been a disgrace to our land. we are here solely to put a stop to the revolutionary movement, just as garibaldi put a stop to the royal movement by sending farina out of the island.”
“and where is bixio?”
“he has been sweeping through the small towns and villages round the foot of the mountains, and will this afternoon, i believe, arrive at bronte, which has been the headquarters of this revolutionary business. i expect he will put his foot heavily on the men who have been foremost in stirring the people up there. bixio is just the man for this 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 petty authorities of these little towns come to regard themselves as important personages, and indulge themselves in prating on public affairs, instead of minding their own business, which, in this case, is to do their best to give protection to the people in their districts against the incursions of bands of brigands. i suppose you go on to-morrow?”
“yes; i shall start at daybreak; it is not many hours’ ride.”
“i have about a score of mounted men here, percival. i will send four of them with you.”
“surely there is no occasion for that,” frank said.
“well, i don’t know: i think there is. there are no large bands, so far as i know, down in the plain at present; but some of these gangs have broken up, especially those that came from the mainland, and have not as yet taken to the mountains. they go about perpetrating crimes at detached 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 have four men as an escort. they might as well be doing that as anything else, for just at present there is nothing going on about here, and it is as dull as it would be in a small garrison town in northern italy. how long do you suppose it will be before we join garibaldi at messina?”
“not for some little time, i think. if he and medici defeat bosco at milazzo, as i suppose they will, he will at once go on to messina; but his message to bixio was that it must take some time to make the preparations 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 authorities, and in placing the administration of the towns and villages in the hands of well-affected men, so that there can be no chance of mazzini’s party causing any serious disturbances again, after he has left.”
“i see you still wear your arm in a sling?”
“yes; mantoni told me that it would not be safe to take it out of the splints for another month, but he had every hope 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 nuisance, but i have every reason to be thankful, for i was afraid for a time that i was going to lose it altogether.”
“it was a grand thing, the defence of that house, percival.”
“it was a grand thing that that shell struck the stairs just when it did, for another minute would have seen the end of the defence and of our lives. as it was, that explosion 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 neapolitans were, they would assuredly have shown no more mercy there than they did in the other houses they entered. i have been well rewarded, for garibaldi has made me captain.”
sarto and maffio returned at this moment, and the three heartily congratulated frank on his promotion. they had been away with a small detachment to a village three miles distant, in search of a man who had been one of the most prominent in stirring up the peasantry, but he had left before they got there. 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 shot. all were strangers—either revolutionary agents or brigands. on inquiring for the general, he found that he had just gone to the town hall, where he had ordered the municipal authorities and the principal citizens to meet him. putting up his horse, he went there first. bixio had just begun to speak.
“if i had done my duty,” he said, “you as well as the men who have been stirring up riot and revolution would be lying dead outside the town. it is scandalous that you, men who have been elected by your fellows for the maintenance of order and good government in this town and district, should allow yourselves to be terrified into obedience by 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 private citizens are scarcely less to blame: when you saw that these men were allowing brigandage and robbery to go on unchecked and making speeches subversive of order instead of doing their duty, you should have taken the matter into your own hands, expelled them from the offices they disgraced, and appointed worthier men as your representatives.”
he spoke to an officer standing by him, who went out and returned with twenty soldiers who had been drawn up outside the hall. bixio remained silent during 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 themselves fortunate that i do not order them to be shot for conniving at sedition, and permitting these brigands to carry on their work of crime with impunity.”
the soldiers surrounded the men pointed out, and marched away with them.
“now, sirs,” bixio then went on to the private citizens, “you will at once placard the town with notices that the most worthy and loyal man in the town, whoever he may be, is nominated by me as syndic, and that twelve others, all of them loyal and true men, are appointed municipal councillors. i leave it to you to make the choice, 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 punish malefactors, and to carry out all orders they may receive from general garibaldi, dictator of the island of sicily. let me have the names of the men you have chosen in the course of an hour. i shall have inquiries made as to the character and reputation of each before confirming their appointment. i have nothing more to say.”
the men retired, looking greatly crestfallen; and bixio, turning round, saw for the first time frank, who had quietly taken up his place behind him. the young fellow had been a great favourite of his ever since he saw him on the occasion of his first visit to garibaldi.
“ah, percival, i am glad to see you, and that you should be here is a proof that your arm is getting stronger. i suppose you are here on duty?”
“yes, sir; knowing that rumours of various kinds might reach you, the general has sent me to tell you that he has started with a portion of cosenz’s men to reinforce medici, and to attack bosco at milazzo. he considers that he will have sufficient force for the purpose, but if not, he will, in a couple of days 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 down all disorder, and to organise and establish strong and loyal municipal and district councils in this part of the island, so that when he advances, he need have no cause for any anxiety whatever for the state of affairs here. he will send you ample notice when all is in readiness for the invasion of calabria.”
“i should like to be at milazzo,” bixio said, “but as that is now impossible i should prefer remaining here until garibaldi is ready to start, to hanging about messina for 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 the latest recruits, who arrived before we left palermo, will be fit to take part in a battle by the side of our veterans. are you to stay with me, or to go on to messina?”
“i had no explicit order, sir, but from what the general said, i gathered that he thought it better for me to stay, at any rate for the present, with you. the doctor 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 should wait a few days before i mount again. after that i shall be happy to carry out any orders, or perform any duty, with which you may think fit to intrust me.”
“quite right, percival. you will, of course, be attached to my staff while you are with me, and i will set you to easy work when i consider you fit to undertake it. now that i have put things in train here, i shall make it my headquarters for a time, but shall be sending parties to the hills. i know that the villages there are all terrorised 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 have to trust to luck. when you are able to ride again, i will send you off with one of these parties, for i am sure that the air of the slopes of etna will do an immense deal towards setting you up again, while the heat in the plains is very trying, especially to those who are not in robust health, and are unaccustomed to a climate like this.”
“it is hot,” frank said. “i started my journeys very early in the morning, and stopped for five or six hours in the middle of the day; but i think that, even in that way, the heat has taken a good deal more out of me than the fatigue of riding.”
“i have no doubt that is so; and i should recommend you, for the next week, to rise at daybreak, lie down, or at any rate keep within doors, between ten or eleven and five 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 far as possible during the heat of the day, at this time of year, and if they find it necessary, it is still more so for you. i suppose you came through traina last night?”
“yes, sir; and was very glad to find rubini and my other two friends there.”
the next week passed pleasantly. bixio himself was often away, making flying visits to the towns and villages where he had left detachments; but as there were several of the officers of the force at bronte, who had crossed in the same ship with him from genoa, and by whose side he had fought at calatafimi 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 exclusiveness that necessarily prevail in regular armies. all of the original thousand knew frank well, had heard how largely the expedition was indebted for its success to the aid his mother had sent, and how he had distinguished himself in the fighting, and they welcomed him everywhere with the utmost cordiality.
early in the morning he always went for a walk, and was usually accompanied by one or two of his acquaintances who happened to be off duty. after taking 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 officers who gathered there. at the end of a week he no longer felt even passing pains in his arm, and reported to bixio that he was ready for work again.
“not hard work,” the general said; “but i can give you employment that will suit you. i am calling in rubini’s detachment from traina, where things are settling down, and shall send fifty men under his command to the village of latinano. it is some three thousand feet above the sea, and you will find it much more cool and pleasant there than it is here. other villages, on about the same line, 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, whom the people regard as good customers; and though they ill-treat and murder without mercy any they suspect of being hostile to them, it is of course to their interest to keep well with the majority, and to pay for what they want. terror will do a good deal towards keeping men’s mouths shut; but anything like the general ill-treatment of the population would soon drive somebody to betray them.
“of course, hitherto the brigands have had little fear of treachery. the commanders of the bourbon troops had no disposition to enter upon toilsome expeditions, which 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 bands; and, seeing that we are in earnest, some of the peasantry may pluck up heart enough to endeavour to get rid of those who at present hold them at their mercy.
“however, i own i have no very great hopes that it will be so. there exists, and has existed for many years, an association called the mafia, which extends over the whole island. it comprises men of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, and exercises a terrible power. no one, save the leaders, know who are its members, and therefore each distrusts his neighbour. a murder is committed. every one may be perfectly well aware who is its author, and yet no one dare say a word. if by some chance 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 brought into court, no witnesses dare appear against him, and he is certain to be acquitted. it is a scandalous state of things, and one which, we may hope, will be changed when italy is free, and able to attend to its domestic affairs. but at present the organisation is all-powerful, so that you see it is not only the vengeance of the brigands, but the power of the mafia, which seals men’s mouths, and enables criminals to carry on their proceedings with but little fear of the arm of the law.”
“i am much obliged to you for sending me up with rubini,” frank said; “and i shall greatly enjoy the mountain air, but i hardly see that i can be of much service there.”
“not much, perhaps; but it will fit you to do duty when we land in calabria. rubini’s corps is, like the rest, composed partly of men who have seen service before, with a few of the thousand; but with them are a large proportion of fresh arrivals, as brave, no doubt, as the others, but without their experience. he will at times make excursions if he can obtain news of a party of brigands being in the neighbourhood, in which case he will naturally take the men he can most rely upon; and i shall 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 that remained there. however, it is not likely that anything of the sort will take place: the brigands are not fond of fighting unless there is ample booty to be obtained, though they might endeavour to avenge the losses they have sustained by a sudden attack, if they thought they could take you wholly unawares. rubini will arrive here with his corps to-morrow afternoon, and will start the next day with half his detachment; the other half will go to malfi, a village ten miles from latinano.”
“you are looking better,” rubini said, as frank met him, when the company piled arms in the principal square in the town. “you said you were all right when i saw you the other day, but you were not looking so.”
“no; i was feeling the ride, and my arm was hurting me a bit. however, ten days’ rest has set me all right again, and i am quite equal to moderate work. do you know what you are going to do?”
“no, i have only orders to march in here to-day.”
“well, i can tell you. several detachments, of fifty men each, are going up to the villages some three thousand feet up 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 half to malfi, a place ten miles from it. your lieutenant, pasco, will take the other wing to malfi. i am going with you.”
“well, in that case i shall not mind it, though it will not be lively there unless we have a brush with the brigands. it will at any rate be a great deal cooler than traina, which was an oven for six hours every day. are you going as second in command?”
“to a certain extent, yes. bixio said that, as i should be no good for fighting at present, i was to take command of the village when you were away brigand-hunting. he said that naturally you would take your best men for that work, and leave some of those who have had as yet no experience in fighting to take care of the village.”
“well, they could not be left in better hands than yours,” rubini said heartily. “i shall be very glad to have you with me.”
at daybreak the next morning rubini’s little column got into motion. frank was the only mounted officer, and he took his place by the side of bixio, who marched at the head of the column. the rise was steady, and though occasionally they came to steeper places, there was no pause, with the exception 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 openly, as they would assuredly suffer, were they to do so, when the troop marched away again. rubini at once quartered his men in twos and threes among the houses. he himself, with frank as his lieutenant, accepted the invitation of the priest, whose house was the best in the village, to stay there.
“it is not like the palazzo at palermo, percival,” rubini laughed; “but you can scarcely expect that on mount etna; at any rate, it is a vast improvement on our camping ground on the plains.”
the priest set before them what provisions he had in the house, and assured them that he would provide better for them in the future. rubini, however, knowing how poor were the priests of these mountain villages, told him that, although they thankfully accepted his hospitality on that occasion, they would in the future cater for themselves.
“we have,” he said, “two waggons following us; they will be up by the evening. we have no idea of imposing ourselves, or our men, upon the inhabitants of this village, who assuredly could hardly fill fifty additional mouths. we have brought with us flour, wine, and other necessaries, and no doubt we shall be able to purchase sheep and goats from your people, who, by the way, did not appear to be very much pleased at our arrival.”
“you must not blame them, signor. in the first place, they are poor; and once, when a detachment of bourbon troops came up here, they devoured everything, and paid for nothing: happily they only stayed for a week, or the village would have been ruined. after the tales that have been spread of the lawlessness of garibaldi’s troops, they must have feared that even worse than what before happened was about to befall them.”
“they do nothing but tell lies of us,” rubini said angrily. “never since we landed at marsala have we taken a mouthful of food without paying for it, unless it has been spontaneously offered to us, as it was when we were fighting at palermo.”
“i have no doubt that what you say is true, signor; but the poor people have been taught to believe otherwise, so they are hardly to blame if they did not evince any lively 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 afford you any aid or hospitality beyond that which they dare not refuse, will be reported to the brigands, who will take a terrible revenge after you have left the village.”
“i can understand that their position is not a comfortable one,” rubini said; “but the people of these districts have largely brought it upon themselves. i do not say that they are in a position to resist large parties of brigands, but their sympathy seems to be everywhere with these scoundrels; they afford them every information in their power, screen them in every way, give 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 alone, as that work must be postponed until other matters are settled, and the government has time to turn its attention to rooting out a state of things that is disgraceful to the country. we are here now as the agents of general garibaldi, dictator of sicily, to suppress—not crime—but the stirring-up of insurrection and revolt against the existing government of the island.”
“i heartily wish that it could be rooted out,” the priest said. “i can assure you that we, whose work lies in these mountain villages, feel the evil consequences to the full as much as those who work in the towns and villages lying round the foot of the mountains. it is not that our people suffer so greatly in pocket—for the most part they are too poor to be robbed; the few that are better off pay a yearly contribution, and as long as they do so are left in peace, while the better class down in the plains 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 them, and for so doing he incurs no reprobation whatever. it is a sad state of things, and i trust that when your general has settled all other matters in the island he will employ his whole force in a campaign against the brigands. it is not a work to be taken up by small parties; the evil has grown to such dimensions that nothing short of an army would root it out, and indeed it could only then be accomplished by months of patient work, so extensive are the forests, so great the facility for concealment.”
“it will fall to other hands than garibaldi’s, father. his mission is to deliver sicily and the mainland from the bourbon rule, and then to hand them over to victor emmanuel, who, a free king over a free nation, will be able 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 homes, and leave it to the king, his parliament, and the regular army to put down such abuses as this brigandage. i suppose, father, it would hardly be fair to ask you if there are many of these fellows in the neighbourhood?”
the priest smiled. “i do not mind telling you that there was a band of some fifty of them within five miles of this place yesterday. this morning it was known that several detachments of troops would march from bronte at daybreak, and that their destination was the mountains. i have no doubt whatever that the news was carried to the 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 or other of your parties, not for what they think they would get, but as a lesson that it would be better to leave them alone. i should say that, except by pure accident, you are not likely to catch sight of a brigand—unless, indeed, one comes down here as a shepherd from the hills, to make some small purchases, and to gather news.”
“i think that is likely to be the result of our journey,” rubini laughed; “but, nevertheless, our being here will have served its purpose. so long as we and the other detachments are up here, the brigands will not care to venture into the plain; nor will the agents of the revolution who are with them. if they do, they are not likely to get safely back again. i may tell you that signals have 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 time we go, there will be a very different system established throughout the island; and they will find in future that they can no longer get friends and abettors among the local authorities, but will have to meet an active resistance, that plunder cannot be obtained without fighting, and that even when obtained it will not be carried off to the hills without a hot pursuit being maintained.”
“i shall be glad indeed if it is so,” the priest said. “if the people of the towns and villages will but combine, and are actively supported by small bodies of troops in all the towns, it will deal a far heavier blow to brigandage than can be effected by sending flying expeditions into the mountains.”
