Monte-Cristo's Daughter
"You are my prisoners!" said he, in a tone of authority.
"Who are you, and by what right do you detain us?" demanded Esperance,
haughtily.
"Who I am," replied the brigand, in a stern voice, "does not concern
you. The right by which I detain you is the right of the strongest!"
"We cannot oppose your will, however unreasonable and unjust," returned
Esperance; "my friend is wounded and my pistol is discharged. We can
only throw ourselves upon your mercy; but we are gentlemen in spite of
our dress, and demand to be treated as such!"
"How came your friend to be wounded and your pistol discharged?" asked
the bandit, suspiciously.
"My friend was attacked and I went to his assistance," answered
Esperance.
"You were in a fight, then," resumed the leader. Turning suddenly to his
men, he asked: "Where is Ludovico?"
"He went up the road half an hour since, and has not yet returned,"
answered a short, thick-set young fellow, who seemed to be the leader's
lieutenant.
"Just like him," said the leader. "Always rash, always seeking
adventures alone. I heard a pistol-shot some time back," he continued,
looking menacingly at Esperance. "Perhaps Ludovico has been
assassinated! If so, it shall go hard with his murderers! Let him be
searched for."
The short, thick-set lieutenant, accompanied by several of the band,
immediately departed to obey the order.
Esperance glanced anxiously at Giovanni. A new danger threatened them.
The gigantic brigand who had been slain was, without doubt, this
Ludovico. His body would be found and summary vengeance taken upon them.
Giovanni also realized the additional peril; but neither of the young
men gave the slightest evidence of fear; inwardly they resolved to face
death stoically, to meet it without the quiver of a muscle.
In a brief space the lieutenant and his companions returned; two of the
men bore the corpse of the huge robber; they placed it on the grass by
the roadside where the full moonlight streamed upon it, showing the
wound in the breast and the garments saturated with blood. A frown
contracted the leader's visage; he glanced at Esperance and the Viscount
with a look of hate and rage; then, turning to the lieutenant, he said:
"Well?"
"We found Ludovico lying in the road a little distance from here,"
replied the short, thick-set man, with a trace of emotion in his rough
voice. "He was shot in the heart and had been dead for some time."
The brigands had gathered about the prostrate form of their comrade;
they seemed to be much affected by his fate; Ludovico was evidently a
favorite.
As soon as the leader had received his subordinate's report, he turned
to the prisoners, asking, sternly:
"Which of you murdered this man?"
"No murder was committed," returned Esperance, indignantly. "The huge
ruffian shot my friend, shattering his arm, as you see; he was killed as
a measure of defence."
"Your pistol is discharged," continued the leader, harshly; "that you
have admitted; you killed Ludovico!"
"I defended my friend, whom he had basely attacked," said Esperance,
sullenly.
"You killed this man? Yes or no!"
"I killed him!"
"Enough!" cried the leader, grinding his teeth. "You shall pay the
penalty of your crime! Both of you shall die!"
He motioned to his lieutenant and in an instant Esperance and Giovanni
were securely bound. The young men read desperate resolution and fierce
vengeance upon all the rough countenances around them. There was not the
faintest glimmer of hope; death would be dealt out to them at once and
in the most summary fashion. Indeed, nooses were already dangling from a
couple of trees by the roadside, waiting to do their fell work. The
sight of these dread preparations roused Giovanni. With flashing eyes,
he faced the leader of the band.
"Beware!" he cried. "If you murder us, you will have all Rome to deal
with! We have told you we are gentlemen and not peasants. I am the
Viscount Giovanni Massetti and my companion is the son of the famous
Count of Monte-Cristo!"
As the young Italian uttered these words, a new comer suddenly appeared
upon the scene for whom all the rest made way. He was an intellectual
looking man, unostentatiously attired in a peasant's garb.
"Who spoke the name of the Count of Monte-Cristo?" demanded he.
The leader silently pointed to Massetti, who instantly replied:
"I spoke the name of the Count of Monte-Cristo, and he will surely take
bitter vengeance upon you all for the murder of his son!"
"His son?"
"Yes, his son, who stands here at my side, ignobly bound and menaced
with a shameful death!"
The stranger turned to Esperance and examined him closely.
"Are you the son of Monte-Cristo?" he asked, visibly agitated.
"I am," answered Esperance, coldly.
"Give me some token."
"'Wait and hope!'"
"His maxim!"
"Ah! you recognize it. Do you also recognize this?"
As he spoke the young man held up his left hand, and a magnificent
diamond ring he wore flashed in the moonlight. The new comer took his
hand and glanced at the jewel, one that the Count of Monte-Cristo had
worn for years and which he had but a few days before presented to his
son.
"I am convinced," said the stranger. Then, turning to the leader, he
said, in a tone of command: "Release these men!"
"But they have slain Ludovico!"
"Release them!" thundered the stranger. "Ludovico should have known
better then to have interfered with _my_ friends!"
He was instantly obeyed, and the two young men, greatly astonished,
stood relieved of their bonds.
"You are at liberty," continued the stranger, "and can resume your
route. Say to the Count of Monte-Cristo that Luigi Vampa remembers his
compact and is faithful to it!"
As he spoke the notorious bandit chief gathered his men together, and
the whole band vanished among the trees like so many spirits of the
night.
CHAPTER VII.
IN THE PEASANT'S HUT.
For a moment the two young men stood silent and astounded. So sudden had
been the change from imminent peril to safety that they could hardly
comprehend it. Luigi Vampa had come and gone like a flash, and both
bandits and danger had been dispelled by the wonderful magic of
Monte-Cristo's name. The brigand chief had styled Giovanni and Esperance
his friends, and as such they knew the entire country in the vicinity of
Rome was free to them; they could travel it by day or by night without
fear of molestation. Esperance cared little for this, but Giovanni was
elated by it, for it would enable him to seek out Annunziata Solara
without risk of interruption or impediment. But what was the Count of
Monte-Cristo's mysterious power? That was a question difficult, indeed,
to answer. At any rate, even the fierce Luigi Vampa bowed to it, and it
was as undisputed as it was strange.
The Viscount Massetti was the first to realize the necessity of a rapid
push for Rome. He was faint from loss of blood and excitement; besides,
his shattered arm throbbed violently and gave him twinges of
excruciating pain. He felt himself sinking and urged his friend to
hasten. Esperance acquiesced, and, supporting the young Italian as best
he could, they resumed the homeward journey. Scarcely a mile had been
traversed, however, when Giovanni threw himself upon the sward at the
foot of a great tree, declaring that it was altogether impossible for
him to advance another step. The throbbing in his arm had become
unbearable, taking his breath away and filling him with a sickening
sensation.
They were yet far from Rome, and not a sign of a habitation could be
discerned in any direction. Waiting for daylight to come was not to be
thought of; it would be some hours before dawn, and even when the sun
had arisen it was by no means certain that assistance would be
procurable. Meanwhile Giovanni would suffer torments, to say nothing of
the danger of being exposed in his condition to the influence of the
malaria from the surrounding marshes.
Esperance, though unwilling to leave his friend's side for an instant,
decided at last that it was imperative for him to go in search of
succor. Meanwhile a raging fever had set in and Giovanni was rapidly
growing worse. As the son of Monte-Cristo was about to start on his tour
of investigation, he heard a man's voice singing at some distance away,
but gradually coming nearer. The sound was cheery and reassuring, for
certainly the man who could sing so sweetly and joyously must have a
good, kind heart. As the man approached Esperance recognized his
song--it was that beautiful and expressive serenade, "Cara Nina," a
melody dear to all youthful Italian lovers whether humble or of high
degree.
The man at length came in sight; he was walking leisurely, but with a
long, swinging gait. His voice was a clear, full tenor robusto, and the
notes of his delicious love song trilled from his throat with wonderful
effect in the still, balmy air of the tranquil, glorious night. He was
not over twenty, was a stalwart peasant, and the moonlight showed that
he possessed a manly, open countenance. So engrossed was he by his
serenade that he failed to notice Giovanni lying at the foot of the huge
tree and Esperance standing beside him. He was passing on when the
latter hailed him. He paused, somewhat alarmed, and his hand
instinctively grasped a weapon concealed in his bosom. Esperance
hastened to reassure him.
"Have no fear," he said. "We are merely travelers, and one of us is
grievously wounded. In Heaven's name, render what assistance you can!"
The young peasant turned and came cautiously towards them.
"This is a dangerous neighborhood," said he; "it is infested by bandits
of the most reckless and daring description."
"We have abundant reason to know it," answered Esperance, "for we have
just had a very narrow escape from a horrible death at the hands of some
of Luigi Vampa's men."
"Luigi Vampa's men!" echoed the peasant, in astonishment.
"Yes."
"And they released you of their own accord? I never heard of such a
thing! It is not their custom to free their prey, at least without a
heavy ransom. Did they rob you, or did you pay them for your liberty?"
"Neither," replied Esperance.
The peasant's amazement was redoubled. He glanced inquiringly at the
prostrate Viscount.
"How came your comrade to be wounded?" he asked.
"His arm was shattered by the pistol of a gigantic bandit."
"Ludovico?" demanded the peasant, glancing around him, as if he expected
to see the huge assailant.
"I believe that was his name," returned Esperance. "But he will do no
more injury!"
"You do not mean to say that you killed him?"
"I do."
"And yet you were allowed to go free! I cannot understand it!"
"Perhaps not, but you can understand that my friend is badly hurt and
needs immediate aid and shelter. Is there not some hospitable cabin in
the vicinity to which he can be conveyed, where he can be attended to
until assistance arrives from Rome?"
The peasant hesitated for an instant; then he said:
"My father lives at a short distance from here; he could shelter you if
he would, but he is in such terror of the bandits that, under the
circumstances, he would probably close his door against you."
"He need have no fear of the brigands in this case, for Luigi Vampa has
just given us a signal proof of his protection. Besides, he assured us
that he was our friend."
"This is singular, indeed," said the peasant, again hesitating. "Luigi
Vampa is a friend to but very few, and they are those with whom he is in
league. You certainly are not in league with him, or you would not have
killed Ludovico!"
"This is no time for parley," replied Esperance. "My friend is
suffering, and humanity alone should cause your father to receive him. I
will engage to appease Luigi Vampa's anger, should it be aroused; at the