The Honour of Savelli: A Romance
of any kind.
"_Animo!_ Signore, we are out of this, and to-night will not be bread
for the teeth of these brigands;" and Jacopo, whose horse had carried
him a little in advance,' drew rein to let me come up, as we rode out
of the tail of the pass.
"I hope so, but we are not out of the wood yet," and I pointed to
where a dip in the ground showed there was a small stream, and on the
opposite bank the road again led into forest land.
"And I was just going to beg your worship's leave to troll a catch,"
said Jacopo; and as he uttered these words we plashed into the shallow
stream before us. Almost at this moment my horse neighed shrilly, and
an answering neigh from the wood before us rang out into the night.
_Crack_! _Crack!_ Two red tongues of fire licked out from the darkness
of the trees, we heard the loud report of firearms, and a brace of
balls sang past, unpleasantly close to my head.
"Quick, Jacopo--follow me," and driving my spurs home, the good horse
plunged forwards, topping the bank almost on the instant that the
ambuscaders, who rushed out with a shout, reached it. The man to my
left, who was riding a white horse, pulled up in an unaccountable
manner, and making a point at the one on my sword side, I ran him
through the throat, my blade twisting him clean round in the saddle as
I dashed on. The attacking party, coming at a great pace, were carried
by their horses down the slope into the stream, and before they could
turn I had gained a fair start, and to my joy heard Jacopo swearing as
he galloped behind me.
"_Maldetto!_ I could not fire, signore--you were right in front of
me--but here goes." He turned back in his saddle, and would have let
off his piece had I not shouted out:--
"Hold! hold! till I tell you," and fortunately he heard my words, or
the chances were there would have been a miss with no opportunity of
reloading.
We gained a full hundred yards before the others recovered themselves,
coming after us with yells of anger, and I distinctly heard Ceci's
voice--
"Two hundred crowns for them, dead or alive!"
Now commenced a race for life. We had the start and meant to keep it;
but their horses were the fresher, and it became a mere question of
who could last longest. We made the pace as hot as we could, in the
hope that if we came to close quarters again some of our pursuers
would have tailed behind. For a little time things went well, and I
was beginning to think we should be able to show our friends a clean
pair of heels, when I suddenly felt my horse puffing, stretching his
neck forward and holding on to the bit, in a manner which left no
doubt to my mind that he was done. Jacopo, too, called out--
"We had better fight it out, excellency; my horse is blown."
Before giving a final answer, I slung round in the saddle to see how
the enemy were getting on. The only two who were at our heels was the
man mounted on the white horse, who had pulled aside in so strange a
manner when charging me, and another, whom I could not make out. The
rest were well behind, but riding hard. We could probably account for
these two, and turning back I shouted to Jacopo--
"All right; fight it out."
As I said this my horse stumbled and rolled clean over, killing
himself on the spot, but fortunately throwing me clear of him and
without doing any damage to me. I had just time to scramble to my
feet, when the two foremost of our pursuers were upon us.
Jacopo had been carried some yards on by the speed of his mount, but
as the men came up he turned sharp round in his saddle and fired. The
report was followed by a yell of pain, and the leading horseman fell;
the other, who bestrode the white horse, again sheering off from me.
Here he met with Jacopo, who was coming back at a gallop, and, it
seemed to me, fairly flung himself from his horse, doing this in so
clumsy a manner as to be immediately ridden over by my knave.
"Mount--mount, excellency--mount behind me!" and Jacopo steadied his
horse. But there was no time, and three of the remaining horsemen
dashed up. Two of the horses shied past the body of my animal, but the
third came boldly up, and the rider immediately engaged Jacopo. I
could not give my brave fellow any aid, for my time was fully occupied
in dealing with my own adversaries. Their horses were too fresh, or
not well in hand, by great good luck, and so they could not manage to
come at me together. Seeing this, I made a dash across the road into
the wood--it was but a few feet--and both my adversaries followed,
with the result that the horse of one of them put his foot in a rut,
and stumbling forwards unseated his rider, and the other, in aiming a
cut at me, got his sword entangled for a second in an overhanging
bough. This second was, however, enough for me to give him six inches
of cold steel, and he pulled round and rode off, dropping his sword,
and swinging from side to side in his saddle like a drunken man. The
man who had fallen from his horse was nowhere to be seen. Indeed I did
not look for him, but rushed back to the assistance of Jacopo, and
this time, having opportunity for observing, if only for a twinkling,
saw his opponent was my friend, the sham monk. He, however, had as
quick an eye, and taking in the situation, made a sudden charge at
Jacopo, and as suddenly wheeling his horse to the left, shot past him
and fled on ahead, leaving us masters of the situation.
"Are you hurt, excellency?" called out Jacopo.
"Not in the least. How are you?"
"Nothing but a scratch, excellency, which I received from his
reverence, who, for all his monkish cowl, wields a good weapon."
"Well, jump down and let us see who our friends are, but first let me
look to your wound."
"It is really nothing as I said, signore," and Jacopo sprang lightly
to earth. I did not, however, listen to him, and taking from him his
flint and steel, lighted a piece of dry wood, which I converted into a
torch. With the aid of this and the moonlight, I examined Jacopo's
wound, which after all was but slight, and had just bandaged it up
with my kerchief, when I became aware that the man whom Jacopo had
ridden over, had arisen on his hands and knees, and was crawling off
into the brushwood.
"Steady, friend," I said, and running up to him, gave him a prick with
my sword as a hint to stop. He made a little outcry, but had the good
sense to take the hint, and casting the light of the torch on his
face, I recognised my old acquaintance the ancient Brico.
"So, signore," I said, "I have again to be thankful to you."
Jacopo too came up and recognised the man at a glance.
"_Cappita!_" he burst out, "but it is the ancient Brico! Shall I beat
his brains out, excellency?"
"Mercy, most noble cavalier," exclaimed Brico, "I yield me to ransom."
"Ransom forsooth!" called out Jacopo, "such ransom as a noose will
give you. Prepare to die."
"Be quiet, Jacopo," I said, "the ancient has yielded to ransom, we
will leave him to discuss the terms with the moon. Fetch me the bridle
from my poor horse yonder, and bind this knave firmly."
Jacopo needed no second bidding, and in five minutes the ancient,
securely bound, was sitting like a trussed fowl in the middle of the
road, alternately cursing and weeping.
"Perhaps, excellency, we had better look at the other," and Jacopo
pointed to the man whom he had shot, who lay on his face. "Perchance,"
he added, "he too might turn out an old acquaintance."
We did so, and as we bent over him I saw it was Bernabo Ceci gone to
his last account. He was shot through the heart, and lay quite dead,
with a frown on his forehead, and his teeth clenched in the death
agony. I looked at him in a sad silence which Jacopo broke.
"I never knew a cross-marked bullet to fail, excellency. He is stone
dead."
"May he rest in peace," I answered; "he was a brave man, although my
enemy."
"He is still enough now, your worship--and see! There is his horse
grazing quietly. It will do excellently to replace the lost one."
He ran forward and secured the animal, whilst I had a final look at my
dead beast. His neck was broken, and there was an end of him. Whilst
Jacopo at my request was changing the saddles, I stirred up the
ancient, who had lapsed into silence, and begged the favour of his
informing me to whom I was indebted for the excitement of the night.
Brico at first would not answer, but an inch of steel removed his
sulkiness, and he told me all that I believe he knew, which was to the
effect that he and some others had been hired by a great Florentine
called Strozzi, to stop me at all hazards on my journey to Rome, and
that the party was commanded by Ceci, who was to pay them two hundred
crowns for their trouble. More he evidently did not know, and
disregarding all his entreaties to loosen him, we rode off, wishing
him a good night. Nevertheless I am afraid he suffered considerable
discomfort.
"That rascal monk," said Jacopo as we jogged along, "has gone on ahead
of us, and to-morrow, perhaps, will rouse the country in advance of
us."
"Never fear, Jacopo," I answered, "he is no monk, as I well know, and
his only chance was to escape as he did. He will hark back soon enough
to Florence. Such hawks as he do not fly far from their eyries."
And in this I proved to be right, and the library scribe was never
seen by me again.
So we kept to our way, deciding to rest by day on the banks of the
Evola, to which we came in the early morning. Here we concealed our
horses in the forest which fringed the banks, and the tireless Jacopo,
leaving me to watch the cattle, proceeded on foot to a small hamlet he
knew of, returning in about an hour with the materials for a
substantial meal, and a small skin of wine. In order not to be taken
by surprise by the neighing of our horses, which would assuredly
discover us if other riders passed, we hobbled them in a secure place,
and sought a safe retreat for ourselves, almost half way up the low
hill which bounded the river at the point where we halted. Here we
spent a restful day, the only incident being the passing of a fine
body of men-at-arms across the Evola. From the double-headed lion on
their standard I perceived they were part of the _condotta_ of
Colleoni, a devoted adherent of the Borgia, and it was fortunate that
we did not meet them or it would have gone hard with us, for I was
known personally to Colleoni and most of his officers, the free-lance
having changed sides after Fornovo, ostensibly because he said it was
against his conscience to war with the Pope; but in reality being
bribed by an immediate present of a fief in the Campagna, and the
promise of the lordship of Bergamo, which, although his son obtained
it, he himself never enjoyed. So much for the two-headed lion which
crossed our path as we lay hidden in the shade of the trees. Our
horses also being actively employed in cropping the rich turf in the
hollow where they were tethered, behaved themselves excellently, with
the result that the long line of men-at-arms passed on and out of
sight, without doing us any harm.
In this manner we continued our journey, halting by day and travelling
by night, and finally reached Leghorn in safety. Here we took passage
in a ship bound for Rome; but were compelled to wait two days in
Leghorn, as the master was not ready to sail at once. At last, all
things being arranged, we got our horses and ourselves aboard, and put
out to sea with a fair wind. The master of the ship had sailed with
Messer Columbus to the New World, and lost no time in giving us the
history of his adventures, which were in truth marvellous beyond
imagination. I listened with a smooth face, and the good man no doubt
thought that I believed his stories. In this, however, he was
mistaken, nevertheless they were diverting in the extreme. Jacopo was