His Movements Were Rapid And Uneasy; I Could
Scarce Keep Pace With Him.
At length, after three hours of what might
be termed a forced march, we mounted the extremity of the same woods,
the summit of which we had occupied during the day; and I learnt with
satisfaction, that we had reached our quarters for the night.
"You must be fatigued," said the chieftain; "but it was necessary to
survey the environs, so as not to be surprised during the night. Had we
met with the famous civic guard of Rocca Priori you would have seen
fine sport." Such was the indefatigable precaution and forethought of
this robber chief, who really gave continual evidences of military
talent.
The night was magnificent. The moon rising above the horizon in a
cloudless sky, faintly lit up the grand features of the mountains,
while lights twinkling here and there, like terrestrial stars, in the
wide, dusky expanse of the landscape, betrayed the lonely cabins of the
shepherds. Exhausted by fatigue, and by the many agitations I had
experienced, I prepared to sleep, soothed by the hope of approaching
deliverance. The captain ordered his companions to collect some dry
moss; he arranged with his own hands a kind of mattress and pillow of
it, and gave me his ample mantle as a covering. I could not but feel
both surprised and gratified by such unexpected attentions on the part
of this benevolent cut-throat: for there is nothing more striking than
to find the ordinary charities, which are matters of course in common
life, flourishing by the side of such stern and sterile crime.
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