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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lucia Rudini, by Martha Trent
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Lucia Rudini
+       Somewhere in Italy
+
+
+Author: Martha Trent
+
+
+
+Release Date: February 2, 2006  [eBook #17666]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCIA RUDINI***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Al Haines
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 17666-h.htm or 17666-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/6/6/17666/17666-h/17666-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/6/6/17666/17666-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+LUCIA RUDINI
+
+Somewhere in Italy
+
+by
+
+MARTHA TRENT
+
+Illustrated by Chas. L. Wrenn
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover art--Lucia Rudini.]
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: "My pet, see how you frightened
+the brave Austrian soldier"]
+
+
+
+
+New York
+Barse & Hopkins
+Publishers
+Copyright, 1918
+by
+Barse & Hopkins
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATED TO
+
+R. J. U.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+     I  CELLINO
+    II  MARIA
+   III  BEFORE DAYBREAK
+    IV  LOST
+     V  IN THE TOOL SHED
+    VI  GARIBALDI PERFORMS
+   VII  THE BEGGAR
+  VIII  THE SURPRISE ATTACK
+    IX  THE BRIDGE
+     X  GARIBALDI, STRETCHER-BEARER
+    XI  THE AMERICAN
+   XII  A REUNION
+  XIII  AN INTERRUPTED DREAM
+   XIV  THE FAIRY GODFATHER
+    XV  EXCITING NEWS
+   XVI  THE KING
+  XVII  GOOD-BY TO CELLINO
+ XVIII  IN THE GARDEN
+   XIX  BACK TO FIGHT
+    XX  AN INTERRUPTED SAIL
+   XXI  THE END OF THE STORY
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+"'My pet, see how you frightened the brave
+  Austrian soldier'" . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+"The Soldiers came and chattered and laughed"
+
+"Together they drove the goats before them"
+
+"Lucia and Garibaldi toiled up the hill, each one
+  using every bit of their strength"
+
+
+
+
+LUCIA RUDINI
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+CELLINO
+
+Lucia Rudini folded her arms across her gaily-colored bodice, tilted
+her dark head to one side and laughed.
+
+"I see you, little lazy bones," she said.  "Wake up!"
+
+A small body curled into a ball in the grass at her feet moved
+slightly, and a sleepy voice whimpered, "Oh, Lucia, go away.  I was
+having such a nice dream about our soldiers up there, and I was just
+killing a whole regiment of Austrians, and now you come and spoil it."
+
+A curly black head appeared above the tops of the flowers, and two
+reproachful brown eyes stared up at her.
+
+Lucia laughed again.  "Poor Beppino, some one is always disturbing your
+fine dreams, aren't they?  But come now, I have something far better
+than dreams for you," she coaxed.
+
+"What?"  Beppi was on his feet in an instant, and the sleepy look
+completely disappeared.
+
+"Ha, ha, now you are curious," Lucia teased, "aren't you?  Well, you
+shan't see what I have, until you promise to do what I ask."
+
+Beppi's round eyes narrowed, and a cunning expression appeared in their
+velvety depth.
+
+"I suppose I am not to tell Nana that you left the house before sunrise
+this morning," he said.
+
+Lucia looked at him for a brief moment in startled surprise, then she
+replied quickly, "No, that is not it at all.  What harm would it do if
+you told Nana?  I am often up before sunrise."
+
+"Yes, but you don't go to the mountains," Beppi interrupted.  "Oh, I
+saw you walking smack into the guns.  What were you doing?"  He dropped
+his threatening tone, so incongruous with his tiny body, and coaxed
+softly, "please tell me, sister mine."
+
+"Silly head!" Lucia was breathing freely again, "there is nothing to
+tell.  I heard the guns all night, and they made me restless, so I went
+for a walk.  Go and tell Nana if you like, I don't care."
+
+Beppi's small mind returned to the subject at hand.
+
+"Then if it isn't that, what is it you want me to do?" he inquired, and
+continued without giving his sister time to reply.  "It's to take care
+of them, I suppose," he grumbled, pointing a browned berry-stained
+little finger at a herd of goats that were grazing contentedly a little
+farther down the slope.
+
+"Yes, that's it, and good care of them too," Lucia replied.  "You are
+not to go to sleep again, remember, and be sure and watch Garibaldi, or
+she will stray away and get lost."
+
+"And a good riddance too," Beppi commented under his breath.
+
+He did not share in the general admiration for the "Illustrious and
+Gentile Seņora Garibaldi," the favorite goat of his sister's herd.
+Perhaps the vivid recollection of Garibaldi's hard head may have
+accounted for his aversion.  Lucia heard his remark and was quick to
+defend her pet.
+
+"Aren't you ashamed to speak so?" she exclaimed, "I've a good mind not
+to give you the candy after all."
+
+"Oh, Lucia, please, please!" Beppi begged.  "I will take such good care
+of them, I promise, and if you like, I will pick the tenderest grass
+for old crosspatch," he added grudgingly.
+
+Lucia smiled in triumph, and from the pocket of her dress she pulled
+out a small pink paper bag.
+
+"Here you are then," she said; "and I won't be away very long.  I am
+just going to see Maria for a few minutes."
+
+Beppi caught the bag as she tossed it, and lingered over the opening of
+it.  He wanted to prolong his pleasure as long as possible.  Candy in
+war times was a treat and one that the Rudinis seldom indulged in.
+
+As if to echo his thoughts, Lucia called back over her shoulder as she
+walked away, "Don't eat them fast, for they are the last you will get
+for a long time."
+
+Beppi did not bother to reply, but he acted on the advice, and selected
+a big lemon drop that looked hard and everlasting, and set about
+sucking it contentedly.
+
+Lucia walked quickly over the grass to a small white-washed cottage a
+little distance away.  She approached it from the side and peeked
+through one of the tiny windows.  Old Nana Rudini, her grandmother, was
+sitting in a low chair beside the table in the low-ceilinged room.  Her
+head nodded drowsily, and the white lace that she was making lay
+neglected in her lap.  Lucia smiled to herself in satisfaction and
+stole gently away from the window.
+
+The Rudinis lived about a mile beyond the north gate of Cellino, an old
+Italian town built on the summit of a hill.  Cellino was not
+sufficiently important to appear in the guide books, but it boasted of
+two possessions above its neighbors,--a beautiful old church opposite
+the market place, and a broad stone wall that dated back to the days of
+Roman supremacy.  It was still in perfect preservation, and completely
+surrounded the town giving it the appearance of a mediaeval fortress,
+rather than a twentieth century village.  Two roads led to it, one from
+the south through the Porto Romano, and one from the north, up-hill and
+from the valley below.  It was up the latter that Lucia walked.  She
+was in a hurry and she swung along with a firm, graceful step, her
+head, crowned by its heavy dark hair, held high and her shoulders
+straight.
+
+The soldier on guard at the gate watched her as she drew nearer.  She
+was a pleasing picture in her bright-colored gown against the glaring
+sun on the dusty white road.  Roderigo Vicello had only arrived that
+morning in Cellino, and Lucia was not the familiar little figure to him
+that she was to the other soldiers.  But she was none the less welcome
+for that, after the monotony of the day, and Roderigo as she came
+nearer straightened up self-consciously and tilted his black patent
+leather hat with its rakish cluster of cock feathers a little more to
+one side.
+
+"Good day, Seņorina," he said smiling, as Lucia paused in the grateful
+shadow of the wall to catch her breath.
+
+"Good day to you," she replied good-naturedly.
+
+"You're new, aren't you?  I never saw you before.  Where is Paolo?"
+
+"Paolo and his regiment go up to the front this afternoon," Roderigo
+replied.  "We have just come to relieve them for a short time, then we
+too will follow."
+
+Lucia nodded.  "You come from the south, don't you?" she inquired,
+looking at him with frank admiration; "from near Napoli I should guess
+by your speech."
+
+Roderigo laughed.  "You guess right, I do, and now it is my turn to ask
+questions.  Where do you come from?"
+
+"Down there about a mile," Lucia pointed, "in the white cottage by the
+road."
+
+Roderigo looked at the dark hair and eyes and the gaudily colored dress
+before him, and shook his head.
+
+"Now perhaps," he admitted, "but you were born in the south where the
+sun really shines and the sky is blue and not a dull gray, or else
+where did you come by those eyes and those straight shoulders?"
+
+Lucia looked up at the dazzling sky above her and laughed.
+
+"And I suppose that spot is Napoli," she teased.  "Well, you don't
+guess as well as I do, for I was born here and I have lived here all my
+life."
+
+"'All my life,'" Roderigo mimicked.  "How very long you make that
+sound, Seņorina, and yet you look no older than my little sister."
+
+Lucia drew herself up to her full height and did not deign a direct
+reply.
+
+"Fourteen years is a long time, Seņor," she said gravely, "when you
+have many worries."
+
+"But you are too young to have many worries," Roderigo protested; "or I
+beg your pardon, perhaps you have some one up there?" he pointed to the
+north, where the high peaks of the Alps were visible at no great
+distance.
+
+"No, not now," Lucia replied; "for my father was killed a year ago."
+
+Roderigo was silent for a little, then he raised one shoulder in a
+characteristic shrug.
+
+"War," he said slowly.  "We all have our turn."
+
+Lucia nodded and returned almost at once to her gay mood.
+
+"But you are still wondering how I got my black hair and eyes up here,"
+she laughed.
+
+"Well, I will tell you.  My mother came from your beautiful Napoli, and
+Nana, that is my grandmother, says I inherited my foolish love of gay
+clothes from her.  Nana does not like gay clothes, but my father always
+liked me to wear them."
+
+"Then your mother is dead too?" Roderigo asked respectfully.
+
+"When I was a little girl, and when Beppino was a tiny baby.  Beppi is
+my little brother," Lucia explained.
+
+Roderigo's eyes were shining with delight.  There was something in
+Lucia's soft tones that filled his homesick heart with joy.  She was so
+different from most of the girls from the north, with their strange
+high voices and unfriendly manners.  If she wasn't exactly from the
+south she was near it.  He wanted to sit down beside her and tell her
+all about his home and his family, for he was very young and very
+homesick, but Lucia decreed otherwise.
+
+"Now do see what you have done," she scolded suddenly.  "You have kept
+me talking here until the sun is well down, and I will have to hurry if
+I want to see Maria and return home before Nana misses me.  So much for
+gabbing on the high road with some one who should be watching for
+suspicious spies instead of asking questions," she finished with a
+provoking toss of her head.
+
+Which sentence, considering that she had asked the first questions
+herself, was unjust.  Roderigo, however, did not seem to resent the
+blame laid upon him.  He did not even offer to contradict, but watched
+Lucia until she disappeared around a corner a few streets beyond the
+gate, and then he turned resolutely about and scanned the road with
+searching determination, as if he really believed that the open,
+smiling country about him might be concealing a spy.
+
+When Lucia disappeared around the comer of the narrow street that led
+to the market place, she stopped long enough to laugh softly to herself.
+
+"The great silly!  He took all the blame himself instead of boxing my
+ears for being impertinent.  A fine soldier he'll make!  If I can scare
+him, what will the guns do?" she said aloud, and then with a roguish
+gleam of mischief in her eyes she hurried on.
+
+The narrow side streets through which she passed were almost deserted,
+but when she reached the market place it was thronged with people.
+Every one was out to look at the new troops, and in the little square
+the great white umbrellas over the market stalls were surrounded by
+soldiers.  Their picturesque uniforms added a gala note to the
+commonplace little scene.
+
+Lucia elbowed her way through the jostling, laughing men to a certain
+umbrella, a little to one side of the open space left clear before the
+church.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+MARIA
+
+A neatly-dressed, dumpy little woman in a black dress and shawl sat
+beneath it, and behind a row of stone crocks beside her was a young
+girl several years older than Lucia, who ladled out cupfuls of the milk
+that the crocks contained, and gave them, always accompanied by a shy
+little smile, to the soldiers in return for their pennies.  She was
+Maria Rudini, Lucia's cousin, a pretty, gentle-featured girl with shy,
+bewildered eyes.
+
+People often spoke of her quiet loveliness until they saw her younger
+cousin.  Then their attention was apt to be diverted, for Maria's
+delicate charms seemed pale beside Lucia's southern beauty, and in the
+same manner her courage grew less.  Although she was three years older,
+Maria never questioned Lucia's authority to lead.
+
+When Lucia's father had died, the kindly heart of Maria's mother had
+prompted her to offer her home to his children, but Lucia had declined
+the offer.  She said she would undertake the support of old Nana and
+Beppi and herself.  There was considerable disapproval over her
+decision, but as was generally the case, Lucia had her own way.  Her
+method of wage-earning was a simple one.  Her father had owned a herd
+of goats and a garden, and the two had provided ample support for the
+needs of the family.  At his death Lucia, with characteristic
+selection, had given up the garden and kept the goats.
+
+Every morning she milked them and carried the bright pails to town,
+where her aunt sold them at her little stall along with cheese and
+sausage.  The profits wore not great, but they wore enough.
+
+"Is that the milk I brought in this morning?" Lucia asked incredulously
+as she approached the stall.
+
+"No, no, my dear," her aunt replied, shaking her head.  "You brought
+scarcely two full pails, and they were gone before you had reached the
+gate.  We have had a great day, so many soldiers, it is a shame that
+you cannot bring in more, for we could sell it.  Just see, we had to
+send to old Paolo's for this, and it is not as rich as yours of course,
+for his poor beasts have only the weeds between the cobblestones to
+eat."
+
+"That is because he is a lazy old man and won't take the trouble to
+lead his herd out on the slopes to graze," Lucia replied.  She put her
+hands on her hips and swayed back and forth as she talked.  It was a
+little trait she had inherited from her mother, and one of her most
+characteristic poses.
+
+"How well you look to-day!" Maria said, smiling.  "I have been wishing
+you would come, we are so busy--see, here come a group of soldiers all
+together.  Will you help me?"  She held out a dipper with a long
+handle, which Lucia accepted critically.
+
+"I don't like charging full price for this milk which is more like
+water," she said.
+
+"Nonsense, child, it is business, the soldiers know no difference; it
+is only your silly pride," her aunt scolded.  She was a little in awe
+of her determined niece, and very often she was provoked at her.
+
+"If you can't bring us more milk, we must do the best we can," she said
+meaningly.  "You used to bring us twice this much."
+
+Lucia shrugged her shoulders and tossed her head.  "I can bring no more
+than I bring," she said, and turned her attention to the soldiers
+before her.
+
+But the explanation did not satisfy her thrifty aunt.  She was no
+authority on goats, but she had enough sense to know that the supply of
+milk does not dwindle to one-half the usual quantity over night.  Still
+she did not voice her suspicions.
+
+Lucia and Maria were busy for the rest of the afternoon.  Lucia's
+flowered dress and brilliantly-colored bandana that she wore tied over
+her head, were added attractions to Seņora Rudini's stall, and the
+soldiers from the south came and chattered and laughed.
+
+[Illustration: "The soldiers came and chattered and laughed."]
+
+"What a pity we have no more," Maria said as the last crock was
+emptied, and they set about preparing to return home.  "We could go on
+selling all night now that Lucia is here."
+
+"Well, it is high time to go home, I am tired," her mother replied
+crossly.  "Hurry with what you are doing."
+
+Lucia was busy closing the big umbrella.
+
+"It is late, I will have to hurry, or Beppi will have let all my goats
+run away--he and his dreams.  He is a lazy little one, but I can't bear
+to scold him," she said.  "He is too little to understand."
+
+Her aunt nodded.  "Let him dream, but if you are not careful, he will
+be badly spoiled."
+
+"No fear of that," Lucia replied, "while Nana has a word to say.  She
+is always for bringing him up properly, but little good it does.  Now
+we are ready, I will help you carry home your things, if you will let
+Maria walk with me to the gate," Lucia bargained.
+
+"Oh, she may I suppose, though she should be at home helping me prepare
+the dinner.  I suppose you have some secrets between you that an old
+grayhead can't hear," she grumbled good-naturedly.
+
+"Oh, yes a fine secret!" Lucia replied laughing, as she picked up the
+greatest share of the burden and led the way.
+
+Maria and her mother lived in an old stone house that had once been a
+palace.  It was hardly palatial now, but it was very picturesque.  It
+housed five families besides the Rudinis, and in spite of the many
+lines of wash that floated from its windows, it still retained enough
+of its old grandeur to be an interesting spot to the occasional tourist
+who visited Cellino.  Maria and her mother were very proud of this
+distinction.  It made up somewhat for the loss of their house, which
+they had been forced to leave, when six months before Maria's two
+brothers had gone off to fight.
+
+The new quarters were not far from the market place and they soon
+reached them.  Their rooms were on the ground floor, and Lucia and
+Maria made haste to drop what they were carrying and start off again at
+a much slower pace for the gate.  The sun was low in the west.  It was
+setting in a bank of golden clouds over the little river that ran
+parallel with the west wall of the town.  Lucia stopped to look at it.
+
+"Rain to-morrow, I suppose, by the look of those clouds," she said, a
+real pucker of concern between her eyes.
+
+"And no wonder," Maria agreed, "with all this banging of guns one would
+think it would rain all the time out of pity for so much suffering."
+
+"Now, Maria, don't begin to cry," Lucia protested not unkindly.  "It
+will do you no good, and it will only make things look worse than they
+really are."
+
+"How can they?" Maria demanded, with more show of resentment than was
+usual with her quiet acceptance of things.  "Only this morning I sold
+milk to such a sweet boy from the south.  He had great sad, brown eyes
+like yours, and he was very young and unhappy.  His father and brother
+were both killed, and now he is going."
+
+"But perhaps he won't be killed," Lucia said practically.  "Anyway, he
+will get a chance to do a little killing first, and surely that is
+enough to satisfy any one, or ought to be."
+
+"Oh, Lucia you are cruel sometimes," Maria protested.  "Who wants to
+kill?  Surely not these happy boys, and they don't want to be killed
+either.  It is all too terrible to think about, and you are an
+unnatural girl to talk as you do.  Why, I don't believe you have cried
+once since the war began, even when the poor wounded were brought here,
+and we saw their faces all shot away."
+
+Maria's anger rose as she talked, and Lucia listened curiously.  It was
+something new for Maria to take her to task.  Her mind flew back over
+the past year, and she saw herself with her face buried in the grass
+and her hands clenched, and remembered her furious anger and her vows
+of vengeance, but she had to admit that her cousin was right; she had
+shed no tears.
+
+"We are not made the same way, I guess," she replied ruefully to
+Maria's charges.  "I cannot cry, I can only hate."
+
+"But hate won't do any good," Maria protested feebly.
+
+"It will do more than tears," Lucia replied shortly.
+
+They continued their walk in silence, now and then nodding to an
+acquaintance or bowing respectfully to the Sisters of Charity who lived
+at the big Convent just outside the Porto Romano, and who came to town
+to take care of the sick and cheer the broken-hearted.  When they
+reached the north gate Lucia stopped.  Roderigo was still on duty, but
+this time he did not pause in his brisk walk up and down to chat.  He
+never even glanced in the girls' direction.
+
+Maria nodded towards him and whispered excitedly, "That is the boy I
+was just now speaking of.  Doesn't he look sad?"
+
+"No, he looks quite cross," Lucia replied in a voice loud enough to be
+overheard, and her eyes sparkled with mischief as she added, "I wonder
+if he will let me through the gate to get home."
+
+"May I pass, sir, please?  I live a little beyond the wall, but I am
+not a spy," she said with mock humility.
+
+Roderigo blushed.  A soldier does not like to be made fun of,
+particularly when some one else is present.
+
+"Pass," he said gruffly.
+
+Lucia laughed provokingly.
+
+"Good night, Maria," she said as she kissed her cousin.  "Sweet dreams.
+I may not be in very early in the morning, there is so much to do, you
+know, but I will bring as much milk as possible," she finished.  Then
+without even a glance at Roderigo she walked through the gate and down
+the wall.
+
+When she had walked for a little distance she looked back.  Maria and
+the soldier were in earnest conversation.  Maria in her timid way was
+apologizing for her cousin's rudeness, and Roderigo was beginning to
+have doubts of the superiority of Southern beauty over the Northern,
+particularly when a gentle spirit was added to the charm of the latter.
+Lucia did not know she was the subject of their talk.  She shrugged her
+shoulders and turned her thoughts to a more important question that was
+puzzling her.  It was, how to slip out of the house the next morning
+without disturbing the already suspicious Beppi.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+BEFORE DAYBREAK
+
+Lucia found Beppi asleep in the grass, curled up in the same position
+that he had been in earlier in the day.  One of his little hands had
+tight hold of the precious pink bag, and a sticky smile of blissful
+content turned up the corners of his full red lips.
+
+Lucia looked at him and shook her head.  There might have been
+twenty-seven instead of seven years between them, for there was
+something protective in her expression.
+
+"Little lazy bones, asleep again!" she said, shaking him gently.
+
+Beppi stirred, one eye opened, and then with a sudden rush of memory he
+sat up and began excitedly: "I just this minute fell asleep, just this
+very second, truly, Lucia!  I have watched the goats, oh, so carefully,
+and they have not stirred,--see there they are only a little farther
+away than when you left.  I only closed my eyes because I thought I
+might go on with that nice dream, but I didn't," he finished
+sorrowfully.
+
+Lucia laughed.
+
+"Look at the sun," she pointed.  "It is late, you should have driven
+the goats home long ago.  But I knew you would go to asleep after you
+ate up all the candy, such a naughty little brother that you are.  What
+kind of a soldier would you make, I'd like to know, dreaming every few
+minutes?  Come along, get up,--we must hurry back to Nana, or she will
+be worried."
+
+She took his hand and together they drove the goats before them to the
+cottage.
+
+[Illustration: "Together they drove the goats before them."]
+
+Nana Rudini was waiting for them at the door.  She was a little,
+wrinkled-up, old woman with bright blue eyes and thin gray hair.  She
+spoke very seldom and always in a high querulous voice.
+
+"So you're back at last, are you?" she greeted, when the children were
+within hearing.  "Supper's been on the stove for too long.  What kept
+you?"
+
+"Very busy day, Nana," Lucia spoke in much the same tone she had used
+towards Beppi.  "I had to help Aunt and Maria at market.  More troops
+have arrived and the streets are crowded."
+
+"Oh, sister, you never told me that!" Beppi said accusingly.  "Where
+are they from?"
+
+"The south mostly," Lucia replied, "fine soldiers they are too, if you
+can judge by their looks."
+
+"Which you can't," old Nana interrupted shortly.  "Stop your talking
+and come in to supper."
+
+"Right away," Lucia promised, and hurried off to shut up her goats in
+the small, half-tumbled-down shack at the back of the cottage.
+
+Supper at the Rudinis consisted of boiled spaghetti, black bread and
+cheese, with a cup full of milk apiece.  It was not a very tempting
+meal, but Lucia was hungry and ate with a hearty appetite.
+
+After the three bowls had been washed and put away in the cupboard, she
+helped her grandmother undress, and settled her comfortably in the
+green enameled bed with its brass trimmings, that occupied a good part
+of the small room.  Lucia's mother had brought it with her from Naples,
+and it was the most cherished and admired article of furniture that the
+Rudinis owned.
+
+"Are you comfortable, Nana?" Lucia inquired gently, as she smoothed the
+fat, hard pillows in an attempt to make a rest for the old gray head.
+
+"Yes, go to bed, child," Nana replied, and without more ado she closed
+her eyes and went to sleep.
+
+Lucia climbed up the ladder to the loft, and was soon cuddled down
+beside Beppi in a bed of fresh straw.  Though she persisted in her
+determination that her grandmother sleep in state in the best bed, she
+herself preferred a simple and softer resting place.
+
+"Tell me a story," Beppi demanded; "not about fairies and silly make
+believes, but about soldiers."
+
+"But there are no pretty stories about soldiers, Beppino mio," Lucia
+protested.
+
+"Who wants pretty stories!" Beppi replied scornfully.  "_I_ don't--tell
+me an exciting one about guns and war."
+
+"Very well I'll try, but be still," Lucia gave in, well knowing that
+she would not have to go very far.
+
+"Once upon a time," she began, "there was a soldier.  He had very big
+eyes, and he came from the south where the sun is very warm and the sky
+and the water are very, very blue."
+
+"Was he brave?" Beppi interrupted sleepily.
+
+"Oh, yes, he was very brave," Lucia replied hurriedly, "very brave, and
+he loved his country more than anything else in the world."
+
+She waited but Beppi's voice commanded.
+
+"Go on, don't stop."
+
+"Well, one day he was sent to guard a gate of a city, and he walked up
+and down before it with his gun on his shoulders, and no one could pass
+him unless it was a friend."
+
+She paused again.  Beppi was breathing regularly.
+
+"Old sleepy head!" Lucia whispered, and kissed him tenderly.
+
+The story was not continued and before many minutes she was fast asleep
+herself.
+
+It was an hour before sunrise when she awoke.  The air that found its
+way into the little attic was damp and chill.  Lucia crept out of bed,
+being very careful not to disturb Beppi, and slipped hurriedly into her
+clothes.  With her shoes in her hand, she climbed gingerly down the
+ladder past her sleeping grandmother and out to the shed.
+
+"Good morning, Garibaldi, how are you this morning?" she said as she
+patted the stocky little neck of her pet.
+
+Garibaldi submitted to her caress with a condescension worthy of the
+position her name gave her, and the other goats crowded to the open
+door, eager to leave their cramped quarters.
+
+"Not yet, my dears," Lucia said softly, "it isn't time.  Here, Esther,
+I will milk you first.  You must all be good to-day, and Garibaldi, I
+don't want you to go running away if I have to leave you with Beppi,"
+she continued.  "You're nothing but goats, of course, but you know
+perfectly well that we are at war, and that you are very important, and
+must do your part.  Stop it, Miss, none of your pranks, I'm in a
+hurry," she chided the refractory Esther for an attempt at playfulness.
+
+"There now, that's enough, I can't carry any more or I would.  Two
+pails only half full aren't much, but they help, I guess.  Now if it
+won't rain until I get there it will be all right, but I'll cover the
+pails to be on the safer side."  She found two covers and fitted them
+securely over the pails.  "Now children, good-by.  Be good till I come
+back, and don't go making any noise."
+
+She paused long enough to give Garibaldi a farewell pat and then left
+the shed closing the door behind her.  She looked up uneasily at the
+cottage, but everything seemed to be very still, so she picked up her
+pails and started off at as brisk a pace as possible.
+
+She followed the main road that looked unnaturally white and ghostly in
+the pale dawn of the early morning.  It was down hill for about a mile,
+and traveling was comparatively easy at first, but when the road
+reached the bottom of the valley it stopped and seemed to straggle off
+into numerous little foot-paths.  The broadest and most traveled
+looking path Lucia followed, picking her way carefully for fear of
+stumbling and thus losing some of the precious milk.
+
+The path led up the other side of the valley.  It was a steep climb,
+and Lucia was tired when she reached the top.  She sat down for a while
+to rest before going on the remainder of the way.  The next path that
+she took turned abruptly to the right, and led up an even steeper hill
+to a tiny plateau above.  From it one could look down on Cellino across
+the valley.  When Lucia reached it she put down her pails in the shade
+of a big rock and looked about cautiously.
+
+Nothing seemed to stir.  The guns were quiet and nothing in the
+peaceful, secluded little spot suggested the close proximity of battle.
+The only human touch in sight was a small scrap of paper, held down by
+a stone on the flat rock above the pails.
+
+Lucia was not surprised, for she had done the same thing every morning
+for a week now.  She unfolded it.  As she expected, she found four
+brightly polished copper pennies and the words, "Thanks to the little
+milk maid," written in heavy pencil.
+
+Lucia picked up the money and put it into her pocket, then with a
+pencil that she had brought especially for the purpose she wrote, "You
+are welcome, my friends; good luck!" below the message, and tucked the
+paper back under the stone.  Then with another curious look around,
+which discovered nothing, she started back, this time running as fleet
+and fast as any of her sure-footed little goats.
+
+She reached home before either Nana or Beppino were awake, and hurried
+to finish her milking.  When the scant breakfast was over, she was
+ready to start for town with her pails.
+
+When she entered the market-place, it was to find a very different
+scene from the one of the day before.  The place was thronged with
+soldiers, but they were not laughing and jesting; instead, little
+groups congregated around the stalls and talked excitedly.  Some of the
+old women had covered their faces with their black aprons, and were
+rocking back and forth on their chairs in an extremity of woe.
+
+There was an unnatural hush, and men and women alike lowered heir
+voices instinctively as they talked.
+
+Lucia had seen the same thing many times before.  She guessed, and
+rightly too, that a battle was going on, and that news of some disaster
+had reached the little town.  She did not go at once to her aunt's
+stall, but left her pails inside the big bronze door of the church, and
+slipped quietly inside.  The place was deserted, and the lofty dome was
+in dark shadow.  Long rays of pale yellow light from the morning sun
+came through the narrow windows and made queer patches on the marble
+floor.  In the dim recesses of the little chapels tiny candles
+flickered like stars in the dark.
+
+Lucia looked about her to make sure that she was alone, and then walked
+quickly to one of the chapels and dropped four shining copper pennies
+into the mite box that stood on a little shelf beside the altar.  She
+stayed only long enough to say a hasty little prayer, and then hurried
+out again into the sunshine.  The clouds of the night before and the
+mist of the early morning had disappeared, and the market-place was
+bathed in warm golden sunshine.
+
+Lucia picked up her pails and hurried to her aunt's stall.
+
+"Well, you are late," Maria said.  "We thought you had stubbed your toe
+and spilled all the milk."
+
+"And only two half-full pails again," Seņora Rudini grumbled.  "But no
+matter, we can get more from old Paolo.  Have you heard the news?" she
+asked abruptly.
+
+"No," Lucia replied indifferently.  "What is it?"
+
+"A big gain by the enemy.  They have taken thousands of our men, and
+they say we may be ordered to leave Cellino at any minute."
+
+"Think of it!  They are as near as that!" Maria said excitedly.  "Oh if
+we must move, where can we go to?  I am so frightened."
+
+"Nonsense," Lucia spoke shortly.  There was an angry gleam in her big
+eyes and her cheeks flushed a dark red.
+
+"Leave Cellino, indeed!  The very idea!  Since when must Italians make
+way for Austrians, I'd like to know?"
+
+"But if the enemy are advancing as they say," Maria protested
+nervously, "we will either have to leave, or be shelled to death by
+those dreadful guns."
+
+"Or be taken prisoners, and a nice thing that would be," her mother
+added.  "No, if the order to evacuate comes we must go at once.  There
+will be no time to spare.  Other towns have been captured, and there is
+only that between us."
+
+She pointed to the zigzag mountain peaks so short a distance beyond the
+north gate.  As if to give her words weight, a heavy thunder of guns
+rumbled ominously.
+
+Maria shuddered.  "There, that is ever so much nearer.  Oh, I am
+frightened,--something dreadful is happening over there just out of
+sight."
+
+"Silly! those are our own guns.  Ask any of our soldiers," Lucia said.
+
+"Here comes your guard, the handsome Roderigo Vicello, maybe he can
+tell us.  Good morning to you!" she called gayly and beckoned the
+soldier to come to them.
+
+"I hope you are well this morning," Roderigo said respectfully, bowing
+to Seņora Rudini.
+
+"Oh, we are well, but very frightened," Maria replied, trying hard to
+imitate her cousin's gaiety.
+
+"Maria thinks that the guns we heard just now are Austrian, and I have
+been trying to tell her that they are Italian.  Which of us is right?
+You are a soldier and ought to know."
+
+"Our guns, of course.  They have a different sound," Roderigo explained
+impressively.
+
+He had never been any nearer to the front than he was at this moment,
+but he spoke with the assurance of an old soldier, partly to quiet
+Maria's fears, but mostly to still his own nervous forebodings.  It
+would never do to let the little black-eyed Lucia see that he was even
+a little afraid.
+
+"There, what did I tell you!" Lucia was triumphant.  "I knew, but of
+course you would not believe me.  Now perhaps you will tell her that we
+will not have to run away at a minute's notice, too?"
+
+She turned to Roderigo, but eager as he was to display his importance
+he could not give the assurance she asked.  The little knowledge that
+he had, made him think that the evacuation was very likely to occur at
+any day.
+
+He covered his fears, however, by replying vaguely: "One can never be
+sure.  War is war, and perhaps it may be necessary, as well as safer,
+for you to leave for the time being."
+
+Lucia looked at him narrowly.
+
+"What makes you say that?" she demanded.  "Have you heard any of the
+officers talking?"
+
+"No, but this morning's news is very bad.  We have our orders to be
+ready to start at any moment."
+
+"Oh!"  Maria caught her breath sharply, and her eyes filled with tears
+as she looked at Roderigo shyly.
+
+He saw the tears in surprise, and a contented warmth settled around his
+heart.  He looked half expectantly at Lucia.  Surely, if this calm, shy
+girl of the north would shed a tear for him, she with the warm blood of
+the south in her veins would weep.  But Lucia's eyes were dry, and the
+only expression he could find in them was envy.  He turned away in
+disgust.  He did not admire too much courage in girls, for he was very
+young and very sentimental, and he enjoyed being cried over.
+
+A bugle sounded from the other end of the street, and in an instant
+everything was in confusion.  The soldiers hurried to answer, and the
+people crowded about to see what was going to happen.
+
+Lucia, eager and excited, snatched Maria's hand and pulled her into the
+very center of the crowd.  An officer, with the bugler beside him, read
+an order from the steps of the town hall, an old gray stone building
+that had stood in silent dignity at the end of the square for many
+centuries.
+
+The girls were not near enough to hear the order, but they soon found
+Roderigo in the excited mass of soldiers, and he explained it to them.
+
+"We are to leave for the front at once," he cried excitedly.  "We have
+not a moment to spare.  Tavola has been captured by the enemy, and our
+troops are retreating through the Pass."
+
+"The Saints preserve us!" Seņora Rudini covered her face with her apron
+and cried.  "My sons!  My sons!  Where are they, dead or prisoners?"
+
+"No, no, they are safe," Lucia protested.  "They are with the Army.
+Don't worry, when the reënforcements reach them they will go forward
+again."
+
+But her aunt refused to be comforted.  Everywhere in the street women
+were calling excitedly, and a number of them besieged the officers for
+information.
+
+The soldiers hurried to their billets and got together their kits.  The
+square buzzed and hummed with excitement and the guns kept up a steady
+bass accompaniment.
+
+The bugle sounded a different order every little while.  Some of the
+more prudent women went home and began packing their household
+treasures, but for the most part every one stayed in the market-place
+and argued shrilly.
+
+"Come!" Lucia exclaimed, catching Maria's hand.  "We can watch them
+march off from the top of the wall by the gate."
+
+They ran quickly through the side streets, and by taking many turns
+they at last reached the broad top of the wall, which they ran along
+until they were just above the north gate.
+
+"Here they come!" Maria exclaimed.  "I can hear them."
+
+The paved streets of the town rang with the heavy tramp, tramp of men
+marching, and before long they appeared before the gate.  The order to
+walk four abreast was given.  The men took their places, and then at a
+brisk pace they marched through the old gate, a sea of bobbing black
+hats and cock feathers.
+
+The townspeople followed to cheer them excitedly.  Lucia and Maria
+leaned dangerously over the edge of the wall in their attempt to
+recognize the familiar faces under the hats.
+
+The soldiers looked up and called out gayly at sight of Lucia.  She had
+taken off her flowered kerchief and was waving it excitedly.  The wind
+caught her dark hair and blew it across her face, and her bright skirts
+in the sunshine made a vivid spot of color against the stone wall.  The
+men turned often to look back at her as they marched along the wide
+road.
+
+Maria did not lift her eyes from the sea of hats beneath her.  She was
+waiting for one face to look up.  At last she had her wish.  Roderigo's
+place was towards the end of the column; when he walked under the gate
+he looked up and smiled.  It was a sad smile, full of regret.
+
+Without exactly meaning to, Maria dropped the flower she was wearing in
+her bodice.  Roderigo caught it and tucked it, Neapolitan fashion,
+behind his ear, then he blew a kiss to Maria and marched on.
+
+Lucia watched the little scene.  She was half amused and half
+contemptuous.  Her little heart under its gay bodice was filled with a
+fine hate that left no room for pretty romance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+LOST
+
+When the soldiers had climbed out of sight into the mountains, Maria
+walked slowly back to find her mother, and Lucia after a hurried
+good-by ran home to tell Nana and Beppino the news.
+
+She was far more worried over the possible order to evacuate than she
+would admit.  As their cottage was the farthest north on the road, it
+would be the nearest to the Austrian guns.  Personally Lucia scorned
+the very idea of the Austrian guns, but she could not help realizing
+the danger to Nana and Beppino and Garibaldi.  She was still undecided
+what to do when she reached the cottage.
+
+Nana Rudini was standing in the doorway, shading her eyes with her
+withered old hand, and staring intently in the direction that the
+soldiers had taken.
+
+"Did you see the troops, Nana?" Lucia asked cheerfully.  "They were a
+fine lot, eh?  I guess they will be able to stop the enemy from coming
+any nearer."
+
+"Nearer?" queried Nana, "what are you saying?"
+
+"We have had bad luck," Lucia explained.  "Tavola has been captured,
+and our soldiers are retreating.  In town they say we may have to
+evacuate before to-morrow."
+
+The old woman received the news without comment, but a look of despair
+came into her usually bright eyes, and for the moment made them tragic.
+Long years before, when Austria had crossed the mountains and entered
+Cellino, she had been a young girl.  Now in her old age they were to
+come again, and there was no reason to hope that this time they would
+be less brutal in their triumph than they had been formerly.  The
+memory of their brutality was still a vivid one.
+
+"We will leave at once," she said at last, and her decision was so
+unexpected, that Lucia gasped in surprise.
+
+"Leave?  But, Nana, where will we go?  What will become of our things?"
+she exclaimed.  "Surely we had better wait at least until we are
+ordered out."
+
+"No, we will leave at once," Nana replied firmly.  "The order may come
+too late, as it did before.  What do those boys who swagger about in
+men's places know about the enemy?  There is not one that can remember
+them.  But I, old Nana, have known them and their ways, and I say we
+must go at once."
+
+Lucia looked at the new light of determination in her grandmother's
+eyes, and realized with a shock of surprise that to protest would be
+useless.
+
+"Where is Beppi?" she asked.  "I will go and find him."
+
+"With the goats," Nana replied.  "Call him, I will go in and start
+packing."
+
+Lucia ran around the house and off to the sunny slope where she had
+left Beppi a few hours before.  She saw the flock of goats grazing, and
+called, "Beppino mio, where are you?"
+
+No one answered her.  She hurried on, believing him to have fallen
+asleep.
+
+"Beppi!" she shouted, "I have something exciting to tell you.  Stop
+hiding from me."
+
+She waited, but still no answer came.
+
+In a sudden frenzy of fear she began running aimlessly up and down the
+hillside, and looking down into the tall grasses, but there was no sign
+of Beppi.  There were no trees or houses in sight, no place that he
+could hide behind, nearer than the mountain path at the foot of the
+valley.
+
+Lucia looked about her despairingly, then she went over to the goats.
+Garibaldi was not there.
+
+"She has strayed away, and Beppi has gone after her," she said aloud in
+relief, and returned to the cottage.
+
+Nana nodded when she explained.  She was busy tying up the household
+treasures in sheets, and Lucia helped her.
+
+Every few minutes she would go to the door and call, but Beppi did not
+reply.  The afternoon wore on slowly and a bank of rain clouds hid the
+sun.  Lucia's confidence gave way to her first feeling of terror, and
+Nana was growing impatient.
+
+"Where can he be?" Lucia exclaimed.  "I am frightened, he has been gone
+so long."
+
+Nana shook her head.  "He was off after the soldiers, I suppose," she
+replied.  "He is always disobeying--no good will come to him and his
+naughty ways."
+
+Lucia's eyes flashed.
+
+"He is not naughty," she protested angrily, "and he may be lost this
+very minute.  Anyway I am going to find him and I am not coming home
+until I do.  If you are afraid to stay here go to Maria, she and aunt
+will look after you, and when I find Beppi I will meet you there."
+
+Nana Rudini protested excitedly, but Lucia did not wait to hear what
+she said.  She ran out of the house and down the road towards the
+footpath.  She had no idea of where she was going, but fear lead her
+on.  Beppi, her adored little brother, and Garibaldi were lost, and she
+was going to find them.
+
+At the end of the road she paused and looked ahead of her.  The sky was
+dark with rain-clouds and thunder rumbled in the west, an echo of the
+guns.  Lucia took the path that she had taken early that morning, and
+as she climbed up the steep ascent she called and shouted.  Her own
+voice came back to her from the flat rocks ahead, but there was no
+sound of Beppi.
+
+Instead of going on to the little plateau where she left her pails, she
+branched off to the left.  It was hard climbing, and after repeated
+shouts of "Beppi," she sat down and tried to think.
+
+Big drops of rain were beginning to fall, and with the sun out of sight
+the fall air was damp and cold.  She pulled her thin shawl around her
+shoulders and shivered.
+
+"If Garibaldi ran away she came up here; she always does," she argued
+to herself.  "She loves to climb, and she must have come this way in
+the hope of finding grass.  Up above, and a little over to the left,
+there is a sort of sheltered spot.  Perhaps--" she did not finish the
+thought, but jumped up and started to climb.
+
+She hunted until she discovered a way to find the spot.  It was not
+difficult, for she knew every foot of the mountains from long
+association.  But Beppi was not to be seen, nor was Garibaldi.  Lucia
+stopped, discouraged.  Fear and helplessness were getting the better of
+her, and she would most likely have given way to the tears she so
+despised had her eye not caught sight of a tuft of fur on the ground.
+She seized upon it eagerly.  It was without doubt part of Garibaldi's
+shaggy coat.
+
+With a cry of joy she started off up the tiny trail that led higher up
+into the rocks.
+
+"Beppi, Beppi!" she called, and stopped.  Still no answer, but she was
+not discouraged for the guns were making so much noise that she
+realized her voice could not carry any great distance.
+
+The rain was coming down in earnest now, and it was hard to keep from
+losing her footing on the slippery rocks.  She stumbled on regardless
+of the danger, hoping against hope that she had chosen the right path,
+and that each step was bringing her nearer to Beppi.  Between calling
+and climbing, she was tired, and she stopped for a moment to catch her
+breath.
+
+A sound, faint but unmistakable, reached her.
+
+"Naa, Naa!"
+
+Garibaldi was complaining about the weather, at no very great distance
+away from her.
+
+In her relief Lucia laughed excitedly.
+
+"Beppi, Beppi, where are you?" she shouted, and waited eagerly for a
+reply, but none came.  She looked puzzled and then Garibaldi answered
+her:
+
+"Naa!  Naa!"
+
+The sound came from directly over her head, and she climbed up the
+steep rock as fast as she could.  Garibaldi was standing at the opening
+of a cave.  Lucia ran to her.
+
+"Oh, my pet, I have found you at last.  Where is Beppi?" she cried.
+Garibaldi did not exactly reply, but she stepped a little to one side,
+and Lucia saw Beppino curled up on a bed of dry leaves sheltered and
+snug from the storm, and sleeping quite as contentedly as he did on the
+mattress in the attic at home.
+
+Lucia ran to him and shook him.  He opened his eyes, and a dazed look
+came into them, then he said:
+
+"Oh, yes, I remember, it began to rain and we were lost, your old
+crosspatch Garibaldi and I, so I found this nice little place, and I
+was going to pretend that I was a gypsy brigand, but I fell asleep."
+
+Lucia was far too happy to attempt the scolding that she knew Beppi
+deserved.  She picked him up in her arms, and hugged and kissed him,
+then she encircled Garibaldi's neck and kissed her too.
+
+"My darlings, I thought you were both lost.  What a terrible fright you
+have given me!  But we are safe now, and we will wait until sunrise
+to-morrow, and then we will go home," she said happily.
+
+"I saw the soldiers go away," Beppi said, pushing her face from him as
+she tried to kiss him again, "and they looked so fine with their shiny
+hats.  It was while I looked at them that old crosspatch ran away.  I
+did have a chase, I can tell you, she had such a big start."
+
+"Are you very hungry, little one?" Lucia asked gently.  "I should have
+brought bread with me, but I did not think."
+
+Beppi giggled, and from the pocket of his little tunic he produced the
+pink paper bag.
+
+"Two left," he announced as he opened it, "and both long ones.  Here's
+yours and here's mine.  Garibaldi's been eating grass all day, so she's
+not hungry."
+
+Lucia accepted the candy, and they both had a drink of milk.  Then
+Beppi snuggled down in his sister's arms and his eyelids grew heavy.
+
+"Go on with that story," he said, "the one about the soldier at the
+gate."
+
+Lucia smiled in the dark and hugged him tight.  The guns were silent,
+and only occasional peals of thunder broke the stillness.
+
+"Well, one day," she began, "a very cross girl came to the gate, and
+the soldier who was always on the lookout for the stolen princess
+stopped her and spoke to her.  But the cross girl was feeling very mean
+indeed, and she teased the soldier and made him very unhappy.  But
+later on in the afternoon she was ashamed, and so she found the nice
+girl who was really the stolen princess, and took her with her to the
+gate, and the soldier--"
+
+Lucia broke off and sat up suddenly to listen.  A queer "rat, tat,
+tat," detached itself from the other night noises.  Beppi was sound
+asleep, and she rolled him gently into the nest of leaves, then she
+listened again.  The sound came again.
+
+"Rat, tat, tat."  It was a sharp staccato hammering, muffled by the
+wall of rock behind her.
+
+She stood up and crept softly to the mouth of the cave.
+
+The wind and the rain made such a noise that she could hear nothing,
+and it was already too dark to distinguish anything but the vaguest
+outlines.  She crept back into the shelter, believing that she had just
+imagined what she had heard, but she had not taken her place beside
+Beppi before she heard it again--a persistent "rat, tat, tat," too
+metallic and too regular to be accounted for by a natural cause.
+
+Lucia's mind was alert at once.  She put her ear up against the rock
+and listened again.  Muffled sounds too indistinct to recognize came to
+her.  Whatever they were, they were not far off, and right in a line
+with the back of the cave.
+
+Lucia thought of several explanations, but could accept none of them.
+She tried to argue against her fears by saying over and over again that
+if it was a sound made by men, those men were surely Italian soldiers,
+but her arguments could not still the frightened beating of her heart,
+as the voice became more distinct.  She was filled with terror.
+
+Rumors of underground tunnels and mines blowing off whole mountain
+tops, that she had heard from the soldiers, came back to her and left
+her cold with fear.
+
+Beppi had rolled over beside the goat for warmth, and was sleeping
+soundly.  Lucia looked at him and then went once more to the mouth of
+the cave.
+
+The cold rain in her face gave her back her courage, and she felt her
+way around the cliff and up between the crevices of the two rocks,
+until she was on the roof of the cave.  It was flat and the ground
+seemed to stretch out level for quite a distance before her.  She
+listened for a moment, but the rain beating down made it impossible for
+her to distinguish any other sound.
+
+She lay down flat on the wet ground, and crawled forward for a few
+feet, then listened again.  At first she heard only the rain and the
+wind, but after a little wait there was a muffled bang as if a bomb had
+exploded deep down in the earth, and the ground beneath her trembled.
+
+Lucia sprang to her feet and ran terrified back to the cave.  It was
+fortunate that she was as sure-footed as her goats, for the way was
+steep and slippery, and she did not pause to take care.
+
+Over in the cave, with her hand on Beppi's curly head, she sat down to
+think.  Her mind was not capable of arriving at any logical
+explanation.  Two thoughts stood out clearly and beyond doubt.  First,
+the enemy was doing something of which the Italians were unaware, and
+second, the Italians must be warned before it was too late.  That she
+must warn them she realized at once, but the way was not easy to
+determine.
+
+The mountains were tricky.  From one side they might look deserted, and
+yet a whole army could be in hiding just over the other side.  The
+giant peaks formed formidable and wellnigh impassable barriers between
+one range and the next.  Lucia had seen the troops disappear that
+morning, as if the great rocks had opened and devoured them, and she
+knew that at this moment they might be within a half a mile of her, but
+where to begin to find them she did not know.
+
+The close proximity of the Austrians frightened her, and she was afraid
+to go off at random, or even to call.  Throughout the night she tried
+to think and plan as she sat up with her back against the rock
+listening for the rat, tat, tat, which began again after she returned
+to the cave, and continued at regular intervals.
+
+Before dawn the rain stopped and the wind blew the clouds away.  At the
+first streak of light Lucia stole softly away from the sleeping Beppi
+and Garibaldi, and crept down the tiny path to the plateau below.  Once
+there she was on familiar ground and even in the pale light she could
+tell her way.
+
+During the night she had decided to go to the rock where she took her
+milk in the morning, surely the mysterious hand that left the pennies
+for her would be there, and she was determined, to wait for him.
+
+She reached the spot without encountering any difficulties, and sat
+down to wait.  The sun rose east of Cellino, and she watched it as it
+climbed over the hill and lighted the windows of the church with its
+yellow low rays.
+
+All the world looked as if it had just been bathed and freshly clothed
+to step out glistening and very clean to greet the day.  The air was
+chilly, but so fresh and sweet that Lucia took long grateful breaths of
+it.  She was just wondering how long she would have to wait, when a
+stone rolled down beside her and hit her foot.  She jumped and turned
+around.  A soldier with a broad smile that showed all his fine white
+teeth was climbing down towards her.
+
+Lucia put her fingers to her lip to caution silence, and his smile
+changed to a look of sudden anxiety.
+
+"What is it?" he demanded.
+
+"Don't make any noise," Lucia warned.  "Listen to me."
+
+She told him all that she had discovered during the night.
+
+"Are you sure of what you say?" the soldier questioned her seriously.
+
+"Oh, yes, sir, I tell you I crawled out and listened.  The sound was
+very near."
+
+"Can you show me the place?"
+
+"Yes, yes, I have just come from there, but it is a slippery climb."
+Lucia looked at him interrogatively.
+
+The man nodded.  "Never mind that, lead the way."
+
+Lucia did not hesitate, but hurried back along the rocks, choosing the
+safest footholds and sometimes leaving her companion far behind.
+
+When she reached the little grassy plateau, she stopped and pointed.
+"It is above here, sir."
+
+She started to ascend, and the soldier followed in silence.  When they
+reached the cave she pointed to the back wall and said: "Listen there."
+
+The soldier was so tall that he had to stoop down before he could
+enter, but he was very careful to be quiet and not disturb the still
+sleeping Beppi.
+
+He put his ear to the wall and Lucia watched him excitedly.  By the
+expression of his face she knew he was hearing the "rat, tat, tat."
+
+"Can you show me the place where you thought you heard the explosion?"
+he whispered.
+
+Lucia nodded and beckoned to him to follow.  In her eagerness she
+forgot that he could not climb as nimbly as she could, and she was on
+the roof of the cave before he had started to ascend.
+
+It was fortunate that she was, for not ten feet ahead of her, crawling
+along the ground, his helmet shining in the sun, was a soldier in the
+Austrian uniform.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+IN THE TOOL SHED
+
+At sight of her he jumped to his feet.
+
+"Halt!" he commanded, unnecessarily, for Lucia was far too frightened
+to move.
+
+She was thinking of the soldier whose head would appear at any moment
+over the ledge of rock behind, and her one wish was to stop him.
+
+"I won't move, sir!" she cried loudly, "I see you have a big gun and I
+am all alone."  She spoke in Italian, but the Austrian seemed to
+understand.
+
+"What are you doing prowling around here at this time of day?" he
+demanded angrily, speaking to her in her own language.
+
+"Oh, sir, I am lost," Lucia replied, not daring to look below her.  "My
+goat wandered away in the storm and I came out to find her, and now I
+am very, very far away from home."
+
+She walked towards the man as she spoke.  She was terrified for fear he
+would discover the cave below her.
+
+"Where did you sleep?" he demanded.
+
+"Oh, I have not slept, sir.  See my dress it is wet from the rain,
+there is no shelter anywhere, and the wind and the rain frightened me
+so I did not know where I was, and I was afraid to stay still."
+
+The Austrian eyed her suspiciously.
+
+"Why didn't you go to the soldiers and ask for shelter?" he inquired
+harshly.
+
+"The soldiers?"  Lucia's brown eyes opened wide in surprise.  "But
+there are no soldiers near here.  They are miles away with the guns.
+How could I reach them?  My home is over there," she pointed in the
+opposite direction from the cave, "and I think I will go back to it,
+now that it is day."
+
+"Oh, no, you won't," the Austrian replied.  "You'll come with me."
+
+"But why, what have I done?" Lucia inquired.
+
+"That's not the point," the soldier replied.  "You're an Italian, and
+if I let you go you'll run home and tell all the troops in the town
+that I was here.  Oh, no, my little lady, we can't allow that--you're
+coming along with me."
+
+His lordly tone and the sneer on his lips infuriated Lucia.  She
+thought all danger of his discovering the cave was over, so she replied
+angrily.  "And suppose I won't come?  Don't think you can frighten me,
+for you can't.  I tell you, I won't go a step with you."
+
+The Austrian was about to reply, when a sound that had been so welcome
+only a few hours ago struck terror to Lucia's ears.
+
+"Naa, Naa!"
+
+"What's that?" the soldier jumped nervously.  He was startled and
+frightened.  Lucia saw it and her own courage returned.
+
+"My goat," she said as Garibaldi appeared above the rock.
+
+Lucia ran to him.
+
+"My pet, here you are, I have found you at last.  Where have you been?
+you are a bad girl.  See how you frightened the brave Austrian soldier."
+
+The sarcasm and scorn in her voice were unmistakable.  The soldier was
+indignant.
+
+"Here, that is enough from you.  Come along, I will take you where they
+will teach you better manners."
+
+He caught her roughly by the shoulder, and Lucia went with him only too
+gladly.  If she could get him well away from the cave, it would be time
+enough to think of herself.  She, had no doubt that she would be able
+to run away from him later on.
+
+As they walked along the noise underground grew louder.  Every now and
+then the man would turn and look at her suspiciously.  He did not speak
+to her, however, and they walked for quite a distance in silence.  When
+Lucia considered that they had gone far enough she stopped.
+
+"Where are you taking me?" she demanded with spirit.
+
+"Never mind, you come along," the man replied impatiently.  "Time
+enough for you to know when we get there."
+
+"But I won't go any further."  Lucia was determined.  "Do you think
+that I will be taken prisoner by an Austrian?  Never!"
+
+Her eyes blazed indignantly.  She planned so many times just what she
+would do, if she was ever brought face to face with her hated enemy,
+that the feeling of helplessness that she felt under the big man's hand
+infuriated her.
+
+"Come along, I will not speak again," the Austrian commanded, and once
+more Lucia went on, unable to withstand the strength of his arm.
+
+The flat ground ended abruptly, and they had to climb down jagged
+rocks.  Lucia thought that her chance of escape had come, but the
+Austrian never lessened his hold on her arm.
+
+They had traveled this far without meeting any one.  The only signs of
+life had been the mysterious noise underground, and the click of
+Garibaldi's sharp hoofs as they hit the stone.
+
+When they reached a certain point the soldier stopped.  "If you make
+any noise," he said roughly, "I will have to shoot you."
+
+Lucia opened her mouth to scream, but before the sound came she changed
+her mind.  A new and splendid idea had just come to her.  She stopped
+holding back and walked obediently beside her guard.  They did not go
+very far, before he told her to lie down and crawl, and before she
+realized where she was going, she was in a deep trench that ran along
+the base of the rock and was completely hidden from sight.
+
+Garibaldi followed them, picking her way daintily, and stopping every
+now and then to let out a mournful "Naa!"  The Austrian did not seem to
+hear her.  If he did, he paid no attention, but led Lucia hurriedly
+along the dark passage.
+
+They had not gone far before a sentry stopped them.  Lucia's guard said
+something to him that she could not understand.  The sentry
+disappeared, to return in a few minutes with another man.  From the
+respectful salutes that he received, Lucia decided he must be a very
+high officer.  More talk followed which she could not understand, and
+then her guard turned to her.
+
+"Follow me," he directed, and led her out of the passage across a
+stretch of open ground, and over to a shed.  Another soldier opened the
+door, and before Lucia quite got her breath, she heard the key turn in
+a lock and the thud, thud of the men's boots as they marched away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+GARIBALDI PERFORMS
+
+The shed had been hastily put together, and served as a place for picks
+and shovels.  There were so many of them, in fact, that Lucia at first
+had difficulty in finding a place to stand, but by rearranging them she
+cleared a portion of the floor and sat down to think.
+
+The shed was by no means airtight, for the boards had been nailed up so
+far apart that not only did the air and light enter between the cracks,
+but it was also possible for Lucia to see everything that was going on
+about her.
+
+At first it looked as if the soldiers were just hurrying about
+aimlessly, but by watching them closely, especially the guard that had
+caught her, she saw that they were preparing to leave.
+
+A bugle sounded from a dugout at the end of the passage, and all the
+soldiers in sight fell into marching order and waited at attention.
+Then the officer who had ordered Lucia shut up in the tool-house, gave
+them some orders that she could not understand.
+
+One soldier came over to the shed and unlocked the door.  He beckoned
+Lucia to step outside, and as the men filed past the door he handed
+each one a pick and shovel.  When they had all received them, and Lucia
+expected to return, the Captain spoke to her.  His Italian was so very
+bad she pretended not to understand.
+
+"What is your name?" was his first question.
+
+Lucia shook her head.
+
+"Your name?" he persisted.  "Marie, Louise, Josephine?"
+
+"No, Seņor," Lucia replied bewildered.
+
+"Well then, what is it?"
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+"Your name?"
+
+"No, Seņor."
+
+"Your name?  Have you no sense--stupid!"  The Captain's patience was
+fast giving way.
+
+Now to call an Italian stupid is the worst possible insult, and Lucia's
+cheeks flushed hotly.  She was very angry, and she determined not to
+reply now at any cost.  She shook her head therefore, and a very
+stubborn and unpromising light came into her brown eyes.
+
+The Captain looked at her in disgust.
+
+"Well, I suppose your name does not matter anyway," he said gruffly.
+"Where do you live?"
+
+Another shake of the small black head, and an expressive shrug.
+
+"You live in Cellino, so why not say so?  Come, no more sulking.  If
+you won't answer me of your own free will, you must be made to answer."
+
+"No, Seņor," Lucia smiled provokingly.
+
+"No--what in thunder do you mean?"
+
+"No, Seņor," there was not a trace of impertinence in her face.
+
+The officer looked at her in despair.
+
+"Do you, or don't you understand what I am saying?" he demanded.
+
+"No, Seņor," Lucia reiterated.
+
+"Where is the soldier who found this girl?" the Captain shouted to an
+orderly.
+
+Lucia did not understand what he said, but she knew that her captor was
+well out of sight with his pick and shovel by now, and in all
+probability would not return and give her away, and she was beginning
+to enjoy the part of a "stupid."
+
+Just as the Captain turned to continue his questioning, Garibaldi, who
+had been grazing about unmolested at a little distance from the shed,
+saw Lucia and came bounding over to her.  In her delight at finding her
+young mistress she very nearly succeeded in butting over the officer.
+
+Lucia had difficulty in repressing a smile, but she put her arms around
+the goat's neck and patted her.
+
+"Does that animal belong to you?"  The Captain demanded, puffing a
+little in the effort to retain his balance.
+
+Lucia only smiled and nodded.  Garibaldi kicked up her heels in an
+ecstasy of joy and sent the soft mud flying.  The Captain's anger broke
+all bounds.
+
+"Take that animal and shoot her," he demanded, but before the soldier
+could obey, he withdrew the order.  "Tie her to the tree instead, we
+may be able to milk her," he said.
+
+The soldier nodded and advanced towards Garibaldi with ponderous
+assurance, but Garibaldi was not going to be tied, she preferred her
+freedom.  She was not, however, unwilling to play a friendly game of
+tag; it was her favorite sport and she was very proficient in it.  When
+the big soldier would come within reach of her, she would lower her
+head and duck under his arm, and before the astonished pursuer could
+collect his wits and look around, she would be browsing innocently
+close by.
+
+This game kept up for a long time.  The men who were in sight dropped
+what they were doing and made an admiring circle; even the Captain had
+to smile.  Lucia wanted to laugh outright, but she managed to keep her
+face set in grave lines.
+
+At last the soldier gave up the chase and retired among the jeers of
+his comrades to the side lines.  The Captain saw an opportunity to
+amuse his men, and perhaps end their grumbling for the time being.  He
+offered a reward to the man that could catch the goat.
+
+First one soldier and then another attempted it, but none of them
+succeeded.  After a while the fun of the chase wore off for Garibaldi,
+and she became angry.  She had a little trick of butting that had won
+her Beppi's dislike, and she used it to the discomfiture of the
+Austrian army.
+
+Lucia saw them one after another rub their shins and their knees, for
+although Garibaldi did not have horns, her head was very, very hard
+indeed, and she was afraid that some one of them might grow angry and
+hurt her pet.  She looked at the officer and pointed to the goat.
+
+"I can catch her," she said simply.
+
+"Well, do it then," the Captain replied.
+
+Lucia called softly and made a queer clicking noise.  Garibaldi stopped
+butting, and walked soberly over to her.  She smiled good-naturedly at
+the men, and tied the rope that one of them handed to her around the
+goat's neck.  One of the soldiers pointed to a tree behind the shed,
+and she tied the rope securely around it Garibaldi protested mildly,
+but she patted her and left her lying contentedly in the mud.
+
+She took time to look hastily about her before returning to the shed.
+The tree to which the goat was tied was on the edge of a steep hill
+that fell away abruptly from the little clearing.
+
+Lucia looked down it, and could hardly believe her eyes; for there, far
+below, was a silver stream glistening in the sunshine, and she realized
+with a sense of thankfulness that it could be no other than the little
+river that flowed below the west wall of Cellino, and right under the
+windows of the Convent.  If she could only get away, it would be an
+easier matter to go back that way, than over the dangerous route by
+which she had come.  But she was not very eager to return at once, for
+the idea that had come to her earlier in the day still tempted her to
+wait and listen.
+
+When she returned to the shed the Captain was nowhere in sight, and one
+of the soldiers pointed to the open door.  She nodded and walked in,
+the key grated in the lock, and she was once more a prisoner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE BEGGAR
+
+As the sun rose higher, a quiet settled over the clearing.  The men
+talked and smoked, and the Captain read a newspaper at the door of his
+dugout.
+
+No one bothered Lucia, and she kept very quiet.  She had had nothing to
+eat since the night before and she was very hungry, but she would not
+for the world ask her enemies for food.  She was not above accepting
+it, however, when a little before noon one of the soldiers brought her
+a hard and tasteless biscuit and a cup of water.  She ate greedily, and
+then tired out from so much excitement she fell asleep.
+
+She awoke an hour later to a scene of activity.  She could see through
+the peek-hole that the Captain was consulting his watch every little
+while, and the men were hurrying about excitedly.  They all looked up
+at a certain mountain above with suspicious eyes, and Lucia could tell
+by the tone of their voices that they were angry about something.
+
+A few minutes later the arrival of a very muddy and tired soldier from
+the opposite direction created a diversion.  He saluted the Captain and
+handed him a message.  Whatever the message was, it pleased the
+Captain, for he brought his fist down on his knee and laughed.  Then he
+gave some very long; and to Lucia, unintelligible orders, and the men
+lost some of their ugly rebellious look.
+
+He chose two soldiers from the group before him, and motioned them into
+his dugout.  Lucia tried to make something out of the strange words
+that the other men spoke, but she could not.  They were eagerly
+questioning the messenger and giving him food and water.  He was
+answering them, and from the expression of their faces his replies were
+not cheering.  At last he stood up, shrugged his shoulders and for the
+first time noticed Garibaldi.
+
+The other soldiers explained, and Lucia knew they were discussing her
+when they pointed to the shed.  The messenger evidently suggested
+milking the goat, for after a little laughing and jesting, one of the
+men took a pail and approached Garibaldi.
+
+Now, no one had ever milked Garibaldi in all her life but Lucia, and
+from the disastrous attempts on the part of the soldiers it was evident
+that no one was ever going to, if that very particular animal could
+prevent it, and she seemed quite able to, to judge from the results.
+
+Lucia watching through the cracks in the shed laughed softly to
+herself.  She was not surprised when, a few minutes later, one of the
+men opened the door and told her to come out.
+
+He could not speak Italian and he resorted to the sign language.  Lucia
+nodded in understanding.  She might have pretended blank stupidity, but
+she wanted some milk herself, and this was a good way to get it.
+Besides, she decided that she would do something to make it impossible
+for them to lock her up again on her return.
+
+Garibaldi stood quite still as she milked her, and submitted meekly to
+her affectionate pats.
+
+The messenger drank greedily from the pail, and when he had finished
+there seemed to be nothing else for Lucia to do but return to the shed.
+She walked back to the door as slowly as possible, and looked hard at
+the lock.  It was just an ordinary padlock and it hung open on the
+rusty catch.  She looked quickly at the men behind her.  They were busy
+talking, and did not appear to be paying any attention to her.
+
+Very quickly, without seeming to do it, she touched the padlock; it
+swung on the catch, and then fell into the mud.  Lucia put her foot
+over it and ground it in with her heel.
+
+When the soldier remembered her a few minutes later, and came over to
+shut the door, he grumbled at the loss of the lock, but he did not
+apparently connect her with its disappearance, nor did he bother much
+about looking for it.  He shut the door and walked back to join the
+group that still surrounded the messenger.
+
+Lucia sat down again and watched the door of the Captain's dugout.  She
+had wondered all day what the smiling Italian soldier and Beppi had
+done after she left.  She knew that Beppi could easily find his way
+back to the cottage, and in case Nana had already gone, and Lucia knew
+that in spite of her threats she would not go off alone, he would go
+into the town and some one would take care of him.
+
+As for the soldier, he would hear the rat, tat, tat, and know what it
+meant, and return to his comrades for help.  She listened, but there
+was no sound of guns near enough to mean a fight close at hand.
+
+The thought puzzled her, but she dismissed it as the Captain and the
+two soldiers came out of the dugout.  The men looked cross and sullen,
+but the Captain was still smiling.  He walked over to the messenger,
+handed him a folded paper, and the man disappeared as mysteriously as
+he came.
+
+Lucia did not pay any attention to him, however, for she was interested
+in the two soldiers.  They were very busy buckling on their kit bags in
+preparation for a departure.  When they were ready, they stood at
+attention before the Captain.  After more orders from him, they started
+off down the hill just back of the shed.
+
+Lucia guessed that they were going to the river, with a cold feeling
+around her heart, she realized that they could go straight to the wall
+of Cellino.  She did not stop to consider the many sentries who walked
+up and down the walls day and night, or the fact that two enemy
+soldiers would hardly walk up and attempt to enter a town in broad
+daylight.  She only knew that the river led to Cellino, and that all
+she loved most in the world was there.
+
+She was sick with fear.  She looked back at the Captain; he was again
+consulting his watch.  The soldiers looked at him and fell to grumbling
+again.  After a moment of indecision he called to them.
+
+They stood up and saluted.  He gave a very peremptory order, and in a
+few minutes almost all of them had their guns on their shoulders, and
+waited his next word.  The Captain himself buckled on his revolver, and
+the party started off at a brisk pace through the tunnel.
+
+Lucia watched them go.  In a hazy way she realized that they were going
+out in search of the men who had left earlier in the morning.  This was
+correct in part, but they were also going to look for another party of
+men, the ones who had been responsible for the rat, tat, tat, Lucia had
+heard.
+
+The diggers, led by her captor, had been sent out that morning to
+relieve their comrades already at work.  When none of them returned the
+Captain grew anxious, and was himself leading the searching party.
+
+If Lucia had known, she would have realized that her Italian soldier
+was in some way responsible for their absence, and she would have been
+delighted.  As it was, she dismissed the Captain with a shrug and
+turned her attention to the few soldiers who remained.  They were a
+little distance from her, and most of them had their backs to her.
+
+Lucia determined to try to slip out unnoticed.  She waited until they
+were all talking at once.  By their angry gestures they appeared to be
+discussing something of great importance; none of them even glanced
+towards the shed.
+
+Lucia pushed open the door very gently and waited.  No one noticed it,
+then she laid down flat and crawled out into the mud; it was slow work,
+but in the end it proved the best way, for she reached the tree and
+Garibaldi without being discovered.  The shed hid her from sight.  She
+hurriedly untied the rope and freed the goat.  It had never entered her
+mind to escape and leave her behind.
+
+Garibaldi, free once more, ran down the steep hill her hoofs making no
+more than a soft, pad, pad noise in the mud.  Lucia dropped to the
+ground again and crawled slowly after her.  Below her, almost at the
+river's edge, she could see the two soldiers slipping and stumbling
+along.
+
+She wriggled on in the mud until she was well below the crest of the
+hill, then she got up and began to run.  She jumped from one rock to
+the next, always keeping the two men in sight, but keeping under cover
+herself.  The men kept to the bank of the river and moved forward
+cautiously.  Lucia kept abreast of them, but stayed high up above their
+heads.
+
+It was a long walk, for the river twisted and turned many times before
+it reached the walls of Cellino.  But it did not tire Lucia, as it did
+the two men.  They walked slower and slower as the afternoon wore on,
+stopping every few minutes to rest and talk excitedly.
+
+At a little before sunset the guns grew louder and seemed to be much
+nearer.  All day there had been a dull rumble, but now they burst out
+into a terrific roar.  Lucia saw the men below her stop and look up.
+They stood still for a long time, and then hurried on.  Until now the
+road had been deserted, but ahead at the end of a footbridge, just
+around a sharp turn, Lucia, from her vantage point, could see another
+figure.  The soldiers could not have seen him, but when they reached
+the turn of the road they both left the open and took cover in the
+rocks above.
+
+Lucia watched narrowly.  They did not stop as she half expected them to
+do, but crept on until they were abreast of the man.  He was a beggar
+to judge by his shabby clothes, and he was apparently whiling away his
+afternoon by staring into the river.
+
+Lucia's first thought was that the Austrians would shoot him.  She
+caught her breath sharply when a queer thing happened.  One of the
+soldiers picked up a stone and threw it down into the stream.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE SURPRISE ATTACK
+
+Without turning his head, the beggar picked up a stone and tossed it
+into the river.  He repeated this twice.
+
+Lucia watched, fascinated.  The soldiers left their hiding-place and
+came down to the road.  The beggar took something out of the pocket of
+his coat, handed it to one of the soldiers, and shuffled off in the
+opposite direction.
+
+Lucia waited to see what the soldiers would do.  She expected them to
+return, but instead they waited until the beggar was out of sight, and
+then hurried across the foot-bridge and plunged hurriedly into the
+mountains opposite.
+
+Lucia caught sight of their shining helmets every now and then as they
+climbed higher and higher, and finally disappeared.  She was undecided
+what to do, but after a little hesitation she determined to follow the
+beggar.  Now that the Austrians were out of sight there was no need for
+her to avoid the open path, and she hurried to it and ran quickly in
+the direction that the man had taken.  She did not know where she was,
+or how far she would have to go before she reached Cellino.  She had
+seen nothing of the town from the mountains, and she guessed that it
+was much farther away than she had at first supposed.
+
+She walked on as fast as she could, keeping a sharp lookout for the
+beggar, but he had apparently disappeared, for she could not find him
+or any trace of him.
+
+It was late in the afternoon when she reached a part of the river that
+was familiar to her, and with a start she realized that she was still a
+good three miles from Cellino.  She was very tired and very hungry, but
+she sat down to consider the best plan to follow.  She knew nothing of
+what had passed between the men at the bridge, but she had sense enough
+to realize that whatever it was, it was not for the good of the Italian
+forces.
+
+Some one must be warned, and soon, for the speed of the Austrian
+soldiers made her feel that the danger was imminent.
+
+"I will go on to town and warn them," she said aloud to Garibaldi,
+"that is the best plan, and then I can find something to eat."
+
+She jumped up and started off with renewed energy.  At a little path
+that turned to the right she left the river and came out on the broad
+road at the foot of a valley.  It was not long after that, when she saw
+the little white cottage ahead.  The sight of it gave her courage.
+There, at any rate, would be a human being to talk to, and bread to
+eat.  She ran the rest of the way, and did not pause until she was in
+the little room.
+
+The sight that met her eyes sent a sudden damper over her spirits.
+Everything was upside down.  The green bed was stripped of its sheets,
+and all the familiar ornaments had gone.  Lucia stood dumbfounded
+trying to realize that Nana had really gone.  A feeling of loneliness
+and despair made the tears come to her eyes.
+
+She clenched her fists and tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but
+without success, the tears came in spite of her and in her
+disappointment she threw herself down on the bed and sobbed.  Fear got
+the better of her, and in an agony of mind she imagined every possible
+harm to Beppi.
+
+But she was not allowed to stay long in that state of mind, for
+suddenly the guns broke into a terrible roar.  The air was black with
+smoke and the house trembled and rocked under her.
+
+She jumped up and ran to the window.  Great volumes of smoke arose to
+the east, and higher geysers of dirt and rock flew up into the air.
+
+"The Austrians!"  Lucia did not stop to think in her fear.  She dashed
+out of the house and down the road in the opposite direction from the
+town.  Without realizing the personal danger to herself, she ran as
+fast as she could.  Fear and the noise of the exploding shells sent her
+plunging ahead regardless of direction.
+
+Instinctively she took the path to the right at the foot of the village
+and climbed up to the little plateau.  She was directly under the fire
+of her own guns, but the noise from both sides was so great that she
+did not know it, and she forged ahead, shouting.  In all the tumult she
+could not even hear her own voice, but to shout relieved her nerves of
+the terrible strain.
+
+When she reached the plateau she climbed on up, choosing the spot
+where, earlier in the day, the Italian soldiers had come from, and
+slipping and sliding, but always goaded on by fear, and the knowledge
+that she must tell some one about the beggar, she kept on her way.
+
+She did not know how long she ran, or when it was that she stumbled,
+but suddenly everything was black before her eyes, and the noise of the
+guns was blotted out by the awful ringing in her ears.  Then came
+oblivion.
+
+When she next realized anything, she was conscious of some one bending
+over her and holding a water bottle to her lips.  She drank gratefully
+and opened her eyes.  The Italian soldier was beside her, and another
+man was lying on the ground near her.
+
+"Give me something to eat," she said, trying to sit up, "or I will go
+away again."  Going away was the only way she knew of, to express the
+sensation of fainting.
+
+The Italian took something out of his knapsack and gave it to her.
+Lucia ate ravenously, and the queer feeling at the pit of her stomach
+disappeared.
+
+"How did you escape?" he asked.
+
+The question brought back a sudden wave of memory, and Lucia jumped up
+excitedly.
+
+"By the river road--two Austrians and a beggar--they met by the
+foot-bridge, over there where the noise comes from; I saw them."  She
+recalled the facts jerkily.
+
+"Go on!" the Italian's eyes flashed.
+
+"The beggar gave the Austrians a paper, and they left with it and
+climbed up into the mountains across the river.  I could not follow
+without being seen, and when I tried to find the beggar he had
+disappeared.  The river runs right under the wall."
+
+"Oh, look!"  She stopped abruptly and put her hand over her eyes.
+
+A great cloud of fire followed a terrific report, and from the distance
+of the hill it looked as if the whole town of Cellino was in flames.
+
+The Italian snatched a field glass that lay on the ground beside the
+wounded man, and put it to his eyes.  Then without a word he dashed
+off.  Lucia followed him.  A giant tree grew between two huge rocks a
+little further up the mountain, and the Italian climbed up it.
+
+Lucia watched him, and for the first time she noticed that several
+wires were strung along and ended high up in its branches.  She heard
+the Italian calling some directions, and knew that a telephone must be
+hidden somewhere in the tree.  She could make nothing of the orders;
+they were mostly numbers, and she waited impatiently until he returned
+to her.
+
+"Stay here," he said quickly, "and lie down flat--don't move.  The
+Austrians are advancing on the other side of the river, and Cellino
+will fall if the bridge is not blown up."
+
+"But who can get to it?" Lucia demanded.
+
+"I can; it is mined.  If I can reach it we may drive them back."
+
+He did not wait to say more.
+
+Lucia watched him impatiently as he stumbled and slid clumsily down the
+rough trail below her.  The shells were coming nearer and nearer, and
+the air was filled with brilliant fire.
+
+She watched the man every second, afraid to lose track of him.  At the
+base of the rock he fell.  She caught her breath and shouted aloud when
+he picked himself up and stumbled on.  He reached the road and was just
+starting across the little path that led to the river, when a shell
+exploded so near him that the smoke hid him completely from view.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE BRIDGE
+
+It was several minutes before Lucia saw him again; he was lying flat, a
+little to one side of the road, and he was very still.  She waited,
+hoping against hope to see him move, and fighting against the horrible
+thought that filled her mind.
+
+"He is dead," she exclaimed, terrified, "and they are moving; and the
+bridge!"
+
+Without another thought she got up and very carefully started down the
+descent, her mind concentrated on the bridge.  She did not attempt to
+go to the road, but kept to the shelter of the rocks, and a little to
+one side of the fire.  The shells were bursting all around her, but she
+was above the range of the guns, and comparatively safe.
+
+She hurried as fast as she could, but it was hard to keep the
+direction, in all the noise and blinding flames.  She did not dare to
+look towards Cellino, or think what that hideous column of smoke might
+mean.
+
+At last she reached the river, and the bridge was in sight a little
+distance ahead.  It was an old stone bridge, and wide enough for men to
+walk four abreast.  At that point the river was very wide and the
+bridge was made in three arches.  It looked very substantial, and Lucia
+stopped, suddenly terrified by the thought that she did not have the
+slightest idea how or where to blow it up.
+
+She looked about her as if for inspiration.  She found it in the moving
+line of men just visible far above in the mountains.
+
+The Austrians!  They were advancing, and the sudden realization of it
+brought out all her courage and daring, and intensified the hatred in
+her heart.
+
+"They shall not cross our bridge," she shouted defiantly, and raced
+ahead regardless of the rain of shot and shell.
+
+But when she reached the bridge she stopped again, helpless and
+completely baffled.  The wall rose above her high and impregnable.  A
+little farther along, the window of the convent seemed to be ablaze
+with light.  The church had been struck, and Lucia could feel the heat
+of the flames from where she stood.
+
+The North Gate seemed miles away, and she turned to the convent.  She
+knew there was a door that gave on to the river bank, and she ran
+forward.  She found it and pushed frantically against it.  It was
+locked, the only other opening being a window higher up.
+
+Lucia looked at it in despair.  It was her only chance.  The glass had
+been smashed by the impact of the bursting shells and lay in broken
+bits under her feet.  She could just reach the ledge with her hands,
+and the stone felt warm.  The wall was rough and uneven, and after a
+struggle she managed to find a foothold and pulled herself up.  The
+jagged glass still in the casement cut her hands, but she did not stop
+to think about it.  Once inside she ran along the dark corridor and up
+the few steps that led to the first floor.  The big iron doors were
+open, and she caught her first sight of the town.
+
+The convent was just outside, and on the road that led south a great
+stream of people carrying every size of bundles, was hurrying along.
+Lucia recognized some of them, but the faces she most longed to see
+were not there.
+
+She turned away, for the sight seemed to drain all her courage, and she
+longed to run after them, but the memory of that moving mass of
+soldiers made her true to her trust, and she hurried through the
+convent, calling for aid.
+
+At the farthest door she discovered several of the sisters hurrying
+about and trying to clear the big ward filled with wounded soldiers.
+They had been brought in that morning, and some of them were very ill
+indeed.  The sisters were carrying them out on improvised stretchers.
+Those who were able to stand up staggered along as best they could by
+themselves.  Lucia saw one boy leaning heavily against the door, and
+ran to him.
+
+"Roderigo Vicello!" she exclaimed, when she looked up at him.
+
+Roderigo swayed and would have fallen if she had not supported him.
+
+"I can not go," he said weakly.  "I am too tired, and I want to go.  I
+have watched her out of sight, but I am too tired to follow."
+
+Lucia looked at him intently.  It seemed to her impossible that a man,
+and a soldier, could bother to think of a girl at such a time.  She
+took his arm firmly and shook him.
+
+"Do you know how to blow up a bridge that is mined?" she demanded
+excitedly.
+
+"Yes, pull out the pin," Roderigo replied, "if it is a time fuse," he
+spoke slowly and painstakingly.
+
+"Pin?" Lucia exclaimed impatiently, "I don't understand, you will have
+to come.  Listen, the Austrians are just a little way off across the
+river, they must not cross the bridge."
+
+Roderigo was alert at once.  The light came back into his eyes and his
+body stiffened.
+
+"What are you saying?" he demanded.  "Do you mean, they are coming from
+that side?"
+
+"Yes," Lucia exclaimed, "there is no time to spare; hurry, I will help
+you."
+
+She put her strong, young arm about his waist, and by leaning most of
+his weight on her shoulder he managed to crawl along.  Lucia was half
+crazy with impatience, but she suited her step to his, and helped him
+all she could.
+
+At last they reached the lower door.  She opened it hurriedly and the
+bridge was in sight, but so were the Austrians.  They were so near that
+what had seemed one solid mass now resolved itself into individual
+shapes.  To Lucia it seemed as if a great sea of men were rushing down
+upon them.
+
+The exertion from the walk made Roderigo sway, and just before they
+reached the bridge he fell forward.  Lucia crouched down beside him,
+and begged and pulled until he was on the bridge.
+
+"Now where is it?  Tell me what to do," she begged, "see they are
+almost here."
+
+With a tremendous effort Roderigo pulled himself to the edge of the
+bridge and located the mine.  In a voice that was so weak that Lucia
+could hardly hear it he gave the directions.  Lucia obeyed.
+
+"When will it go off?" she demanded.  "Will we have time to get away?"
+
+Roderigo shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You will," he said.  "Run as fast as you can, I don't know how long it
+will take."
+
+Lucia did not wait to argue.  She caught him under his arms and dragged
+him back to the convent as fast as she could.
+
+Roderigo had given up all hope, but as they drew nearer to the door of
+the convent, the wish to live asserted itself, and he got to his feet
+and ran with Lucia.  They did not stop until they were safe on the road
+beyond.  The last inhabitant of Cellino was out of sight, and it seemed
+as if they were alone.
+
+They waited, Lucia supporting Roderigo's head in her arms.
+
+The explosion came, there was a crash, and then a great shaking of the
+earth.  Lucia listened, her eyes flashing.
+
+"Wait here," she said to Roderigo, "I will return at once." She ran
+hurriedly back to the convent and down again to the door.
+
+The old bridge was ruined.  Great pieces of it were torn out and had
+fallen high on the banks.  The center span was entirely gone, and the
+river, broad and impassable, ran smoothly between the jagged ends.
+
+Lucia did not stand long in contemplation of the scene before her.  She
+hurried back to the road.  A sister was beside Roderigo, and Lucia went
+to her.
+
+"It is not safe back in there," she said, pointing to the convent.  "A
+shell may hit it."
+
+The sister nodded.
+
+"It hardly matters," she replied quietly.  "No place is safe.  We will
+take him there; he is too ill to be carried far."
+
+Lucia agreed, and between them they carried the unconscious Roderigo
+back to the ward and laid him gently on one of the beds.
+
+Sister Francesca turned back the cuffs of her robe and began doing what
+she could.  As she worked she talked.
+
+"We were all ordered to leave," she said; "but when we were well along
+the road I turned back.  It seemed so cowardly to go when we were most
+needed.  The rest thought that by night the Austrians would be in
+possession, but I could not believe it."
+
+She was a little woman with a soft voice and big blue eyes, and she
+spoke with such gentle assurance that Lucia felt comforted.
+
+"They will not come to-night," she said, "for the bridge is down, and
+our troops will surely be able to force them back."
+
+Sister Francesca nodded.
+
+"I hope so.  At any rate, there will be wounded and my place is here."
+
+At the word "wounded," the vivid picture of the smoke-choked valley,
+the shell explosion, and the still form of the Italian soldier flashed
+before Lucia's mind.
+
+"What am I doing here?" she said impatiently.  "There are wounded now
+and perhaps we can save them."
+
+She did not offer any further explanation, but slipped out of the big
+room and hurried back to the road once more.
+
+The sun had set and twilight gleamed patchy through the clouds of
+smoke.  It was still light enough to see, and Lucia hurried to the
+gate.  The first sight that she had of Cellino made her stop and
+shudder.  The church was in ruins, and every pane of glass was broken
+in the entire village.  In their haste the refugees had thrown their
+belongings out of their windows to the street below, and then had gone
+off and left them.  Great piles of furniture and broken china littered
+the way, and stalls had been tipped over in the market place.
+
+No one stopped Lucia; the town was deserted.  She ran hurriedly across
+to the North Gate, afraid of the ghostly shadows and unnatural sights.
+At the gate a splendid sight met her eyes.
+
+From the convent she had only seen the Austrians, the wall had cut off
+her view of the west.  But now she commanded a view of the whole field,
+and to her joy the Italians were advancing as steadily from the west as
+the Austrians from the east.  They would meet at the river, and at the
+memory of the bridge Lucia threw back her head and laughed.  It was not
+a merry laugh, but a grim triumphant one, and it held all the relief
+that she felt.
+
+But, splendid as the sight before her was, she did not stay long to
+look at it.  Below, somewhere in the valley, the Italian soldier of the
+shining white teeth and the pennies was lying wounded, or dead, and
+nothing could make Lucia stop until she found him.
+
+The heavy artillery fire had let up a little, and the shells were not
+quite so many.
+
+Lucia started to run.  She had made up her mind earlier in the day that
+if she moved fast enough she would escape being hurt.  She
+unconsciously blamed the slowness of the Italian soldier for his
+injury.  She passed her cottage half-way down the hill.  It was still
+standing, but a shell had dropped on the little goat-shed and blown it
+to pieces.  One of the uprights and the door, which was made of stout
+branches lashed together with cord, still stood.  The door flapped
+drearily and added to the desolation of the scene.
+
+Lucia did not stop to investigate the damage, but hurried ahead.  She
+was afraid the light would fade before she reached the wounded soldier.
+
+At the end of the road in the bottom of the valley she was just between
+both sides, the shells dropped all about her and she stood still,
+bewildered and frightened.
+
+The high mountains on either side made sounding boards for the noise,
+and the roar of the guns seemed to double in volume.
+
+"Lie down!"
+
+A voice almost under her foot made her jump, and she saw the Italian
+soldier.  She did as he commanded, and he pulled her towards him.
+
+He was very weak, and when he moved one leg dragged behind him.  He
+tried to crawl with Lucia into the shell hole close by.  She saw what
+he was doing and did her best to help.  When they finally rolled down
+into the shell hole, the man groaned.
+
+Lucia could feel that his forehead was wet with great drops of
+perspiration.  She found his water bottle and gave him a drink.
+
+"What's happened?" he asked, speaking close to her ear.
+
+Lucia told him as much as she knew.
+
+"Then the bridge has gone?"  There was hope in his voice.
+
+"Gone for good.  They can never cross it, and our men are just over
+there."
+
+"How can I get you back?" she asked.  "The convent is so far away."
+
+The soldier shook his head.  "You can't.  We are caught here between
+the two fires, it would be certain death to move.  What made you come
+back?"
+
+"To find you," Lucia replied.  "I could not come sooner, there was so
+much to do.  I even forgot you, but when I remembered, I ran all the
+way and now I am helpless."
+
+"Don't give up," the Italian replied.  "You must have courage for both
+of us, for I am useless.  My leg has been badly injured by a piece of
+shell, and I cannot even crawl."
+
+"Then there is nothing to do but wait for the light," Lucia was
+trembling all over.  "Oh, what a long day it has been!"
+
+"But the dawn will come soon," the soldier tried to cheer her, "and
+then perhaps the stretcher-bearers will find us.  If they do not--"
+
+"If they do not, I will find a way to take you to the convent," Lucia
+replied with sudden spirit, and with the same determination that had
+resulted in her blowing up the bridge, she added to herself:
+
+"He shall not die!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+GARIBALDI, STRETCHER-BEARER
+
+The long night set in, and the soldier, wearied from his long wait,
+dropped to sleep in spite of the noise.  Lucia's tired little body
+rested, but her eyes never relaxed their watch in the darkness.
+
+The fire kept up steadily, and at irregular intervals a star-shell
+would illuminate the high mountains.  Towards midnight there was an
+extra loud explosion, and once more the terrifying flames seemed to
+encircle Cellino.
+
+Lucia wondered dully what had been struck.  The church was gone, and
+she supposed this was the town hall.  It looked too near, as far as she
+could judge, for the convent.
+
+Her ears were becoming accustomed to the sound, and she thought the
+fire from both sides was being concentrated towards the south.  The
+shells near them lessened, and at last stopped.  Before dawn the
+Italian stirred, and called out in his sleep.
+
+Lucia spoke to him, but he did not answer; he was so exhausted that he
+was soon unconscious again.
+
+Lucia watched the east, and tried to imagine Beppi safe and sound in a
+town far away from this terrible din, but she could be sure of nothing.
+She remembered Roderigo's words, 'She is safe,' and knew that he must
+have meant Maria.  Surely Beppi and Nana were with her and Aunt Rudini;
+it could not be otherwise.
+
+With a guilty start she remembered Garibaldi.  Where was she, and what
+had become of her in all the terrors of yesterday?  Lucia could not
+remember having noticed her after she left the footbridge.  Was she
+safe in the mountains, or lying dead in a shell hole?
+
+"My Garibaldi, poor little one, she would not understand, and she will
+think I neglected her."
+
+Tears of pity and weariness stung Lucia's cheeks.  The thought of her
+little goat, suffering and neglected, seemed to be more than she could
+bear.  She buried her head in her arm and cried softly.  The tears were
+a relief to her, and long after she had stopped sobbing they trickled
+down her cheeks.
+
+She fell into a light doze now that her watch was so nearly ended, and
+did not waken until the east was streaked with gray.  She might not
+have awakened then, had it not been for a cold, wet nose burrowing in
+her neck, and a plaintive, "Naa, Naa!"
+
+She sat up suddenly to discover Garibaldi, covered with mud from her
+ears to her tail, looking very woe-begone, standing beside her.
+Regardless of the mud Lucia threw her arms around her pet, and for once
+in her life the little goat seemed to return her caress.
+
+When Lucia lifted her head there was a smile on her lips, and the old
+light of determination shone in her eyes.  She got to her knees slowly
+and looked about her.  The guns were booming back and forth, but their
+position seemed to be changed.  The Austrian guns still sounded from
+across the river, but their range was much farther south.
+
+Lucia looked towards the west.  None of the guns that were there the
+night before could be heard.  With a throb of joy she realized that the
+booming now came from the town.
+
+"Had the Italians crept up and into Cellino during the night?"  The
+very idea was so exciting that she could not rest until she made sure.
+
+She stood up and walked over to the road.  The gate had an odd
+appearance in the half light.  She walked up the hill a little way,
+rubbing her eyes as she went.  Something behind the wall seemed to
+appear suddenly, emit a puff of smoke, and then disappear.
+
+Lucia had never seen a big gun in her life, and she did not know that
+one was hidden securely in the cover of the wall near the ruins of the
+church, for so quietly had the great monster arrived, and so stealthily
+had the soldiers worked, that its sudden appearance seemed almost a
+miracle.
+
+Lucia put it down as one, and offered her prayer of thankfulness from
+the middle of the muddy road.  Then the work at hand took the place of
+her surprise, and she ran back to her wounded soldier and roused him
+gently.  He opened his eyes; they were bright with fever, and he tossed
+restlessly.
+
+Lucia tried to move him, but could not.  He was very big, and she could
+not pull him as she had the slender Roderigo.
+
+As she stopped to consider, the walls of Cellino suddenly seemed to let
+loose a fury of smoke and flame.  Nothing that had happened during the
+day before equalled it.  The big guns boomed and the smaller ones sent
+out sharp, cracking noises that were even more terrifying.
+
+Poor Lucia dropped to her face again, and Garibaldi cowered beside her.
+
+Nothing seemed to happen.  The shells did not fall near them as she had
+expected, and after her first fright had passed, she got to her feet
+again.
+
+Tugging at the soldier was useless, and an idea was forming in her
+mind.  She ran as fast as she could up the hill to the cottage, calling
+Garibaldi to follow.
+
+At the shed she stopped and looked at the door.  It was light, and she
+soon tore it away from its support.  Then she went into the cottage and
+came back with a rope.  She made a loop and put it over the goat's
+head.  Then with two long pieces she contrived a harness and hitched
+the door to it.  One end dragged on the ground, and the other was about
+a foot above it.  The rope was crossed on the goat's back and tied
+firmly to the long ends of the door that did duty as shafts.  Garibaldi
+was too disheartened to protest, and Lucia had little trouble in
+leading her down the hill.
+
+The soldier was delirious when she reached him, but he was so weak that
+it was an easy matter to roll him on to the improvised stretcher.
+
+Lucia took hold of one shaft, and with Garibaldi pulling too, they
+started off.
+
+It was a long and weary climb, but at last they reached the cottage.
+
+The terrible jolting had been agony for the soldier.  He regained
+consciousness on the way, and from time to time a groan escaped him.
+But when he was in the house he did his best to smile, and crawled onto
+the mattress that Lucia had pulled to the floor.
+
+She made haste to take off his knapsack, and under his direction she
+dressed the ugly wound in his thigh.  Her fingers, only used to rough
+work, moved clumsily, but she managed to make him a little more
+comfortable.  He smiled up at her bravely.
+
+"Poor little one, you are tired.  Go and eat," he whispered.  And
+Lucia, after she saw his head sink back on the pillow, found a stale
+loaf of black bread and began to munch it slowly.
+
+The soldier pointed to his knapsack and told her to eat whatever she
+found in it.
+
+"There should be some of my emergency rations left," he said faintly.
+
+Lucia found some dried beef and offered it to him, but he shook his
+head and asked for a drink of water.  She gave it to him, but his eyes
+closed and his head fell back as he drank.  She ate all the beef and a
+cake of chocolate that she found; and then went to the door to look out.
+
+Cellino was enveloped in smoke and she could not see the gate.  The
+guns were barking, and little spurts of white smoke seemed to punctuate
+each separate fire.  Away to the east the enemy's guns were still
+booming.
+
+Lucia realized that a hard battle was under way, and that it would be
+useless to try to get help until there was a lull.  She returned to the
+room and looked down at the soldier.  He was moaning softly, and his
+eyes looked up at her beseechingly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE AMERICAN
+
+"Are you suffering very much?" she asked softly.
+
+The man nodded, his eyes closed, and a queer pallor came over his face.
+Lucia was suddenly terrified.  She felt very helpless in this battle
+with death, but her determination never left her.
+
+She ran to the door.  Poor Garibaldi was still standing hitched to the
+stretcher.  Lucia went to her and led her back to the door of the
+cottage.  She looked half-fearfully, half-angrily at the town above her.
+
+"He shall not die!" she said between her teeth, and went back into the
+house.
+
+The transfer from the bed to the stretcher was very difficult to
+manage, for the poor soldier was beyond helping himself.  But Lucia
+succeeded without hurting him too much, and once more the strange trio
+started out on their climb.
+
+They were in no great danger, for only an occasional shell burst near
+them.  The fighting was going on below the east wall.  Lucia and
+Garibaldi toiled up the hill, each one using every bit of their
+strength.
+
+[Illustration: "Lucia and Garibaldi toiled up the hill, each one using
+every bit of their strength."]
+
+The soldier was limp and lifeless, his head rolled with every bump.  He
+looked like one dead, but Lucia refused even to consider such a
+possibility.  She urged Garibaldi on and tugged with determined
+persistence.
+
+They were just below the wall when Lucia stopped to rest.  The little
+goat was staggering from the exertion, and she was out of breath.  She
+looked at the gate, it was only a little way off, but it seemed miles,
+and she wondered if she could go on.
+
+She looked up at the wall.  A man dressed in a uniform unlike the
+Italian soldiers was looking down at her.  Lucia called to him just as
+he jumped to the ground.  She held her breath expecting to see him
+hurt, but he landed on his feet and ran to her.
+
+"For the love of Pete, what have you got there?" he asked in a language
+that Lucia did not understand.
+
+She looked up at him bewildered.
+
+"I do not understand what you say, but the soldier is very sick.
+Please help me carry him to the convent," she said hurriedly.
+
+"Hum, well you may be right," the big man laughed, "but I guess what
+you want is help."
+
+He leaned over the wounded Italian.
+
+"Pretty far gone, but there's hope.  Steady now, I've got you."  He
+lifted the man gently in his arms and carried him on his back.
+
+Lucia watched him with admiration shining in her eyes.  She followed
+with the goat through the gate.
+
+Once in the town she could hardly believe her eyes.  Soldiers seemed to
+be everywhere, shouting and calling from one to the other.  She saw the
+little guns that were making all the sharp, clicking noises, and she
+knew that just below, and on the other side of the river, the Austrians
+were fighting desperately.
+
+They passed many wounded as they hurried along, and to each one the big
+man would call out cheerily.  Lucia wished she could understand what he
+said, or even what language he spoke.  It was not German, of course,
+and she did not think it was French.
+
+"Perhaps he was a tourist?" she asked him shyly, but he shook his head.
+
+"I don't get you, I'm sorry.  I'm an American, you see."
+
+"Oh, Americano!"  Lucia clapped her hands delightedly.  "I am glad, I
+thought so, American is the name of the tourists, just as I guessed,"
+she replied.  "I have heard of Americans and I have seen some in the
+summer, but they were not like you."
+
+She looked up in his face and smiled.
+
+The American did not understand a word of her Italian, but he saw the
+smile, and answered it with a good-natured grin.
+
+"You're a funny kid," he said.  "I wish I could find out what you are
+talking about, and where you got ahold of that queer rig and the goat."
+
+They had reached the other gate by now, and they hurried through it and
+to the convent.
+
+Several of the sisters had returned, and there were doctors and nurses
+all busy in the long room where, the night before, Lucia had left
+Roderigo and Sister Francesca.
+
+The American laid the soldier down on one of the beds, and hurried to
+one of the doctors.
+
+"Saw this youngster dragging this man on a sort of stretcher hitched to
+a goat," he said.  "He's pretty bad.  Better look at him."
+
+The doctor nodded.  Lucia stood beside her soldier and waited.  She was
+almost afraid of what the doctor would say.  He leaned over him and
+began taking off his muddy uniform, while the American helped.  When he
+had examined the wound, he hurried over to a table and came back with a
+queer looking instrument.  To Lucia it looked like a small bottle
+attached to a very long needle.
+
+"Don't, don't, you are cruel!" she protested, as he pushed it slowly
+into the soldier.  She put out her hand angrily, but the American
+pulled her back.
+
+"It's all right," he said soothingly.  "It's to make him well."
+
+Lucia shook her head, and the doctor turned to her.  He spoke excellent
+Italian.
+
+"It is to save his life, child, and it doesn't hurt him, I promise you.
+Now tell me, where did you find him?"
+
+Lucia explained hurriedly.  The story, as it came from her excited
+lips, sounded like some wild, distorted dream.  The doctor called to
+Sister Francesca.
+
+"Is this child telling me the truth?" he asked wonderingly.
+
+"As far as I know," she said; "and that boy in the third cot blew up
+the bridge.  I know she went out to find the wounded."
+
+The doctor did not reply at once.  He was hunting for the soldier's
+identification tag.  When he found it, he read it and whistled.
+
+"Captain Riccardi!" he exclaimed.  "By Jove, we can't let him die."
+
+It could not be said that the doctor redoubled his efforts, for he was
+working his best then, but he added perhaps a little more interest to
+his work.
+
+The American helped him, and Lucia, at a word from Sister Francesca,
+hurried to her and helped her with what she was doing.  It was not
+until many hours later that she stopped working, for more wounded were
+being brought in every few minutes by the other stretcher-bearers, and
+there was much to do.  But at last there was a lull, and Lucia ran
+through the long corridor and down to the door.
+
+She opened it a crack and looked out.  Before her, stretched along the
+banks of the river, were countless Austrian soldiers, staggering and
+fighting in a wild attempt to run away from the guns in the wall that
+mowed them down pitilessly.  The officers tried to drive them on, but
+the men were too terrified, they could not advance under such steady
+fire.  A little farther on, there was the beginning of a rude bridge.
+The enemy had evidently tried to build it during the night, but had
+been forced to abandon it after the Italians reached their new position.
+
+As Lucia watched, the men seemed to form in some sort of order, and
+retreat back into the hills.  Their guns stopped suddenly, and only the
+Italian fire continued.
+
+It was a horrible scene, and in spite of the splendid knowledge that an
+undisputed victory was theirs, Lucia turned away and closed the door
+behind her.  She ran up to the big door and out on the road.
+
+There were signs of the battle all about her in the big shell holes in
+the road, and in the ruins still smoking inside the walls, but there
+was no such sight as she had just witnessed, and she took a deep breath
+of the warm fresh air.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A REUNION
+
+She shaded her eyes and looked down the road.
+
+Garibaldi, freed from her harness, was lying down in the sunshine, and
+as Lucia watched her she saw a familiar figure running towards her.
+She saw it stop and pat the goat.  With a cry of joy she recognized
+Maria, bedraggled and muddy, but without doubt Maria.  She ran forward
+to meet her.
+
+"Maria, where have you come from?" she called as the older girl threw
+herself into her out-stretched arms and began to cry.
+
+"Oh, from miles and miles away!  I have been running since late last
+night," she sobbed.
+
+"But what has happened?  Beppi, Nana, are they safe?" Lucia demanded.
+
+"Yes, yes, they are all safe with mother," Maria replied.
+
+"Then why did you come back?" Lucia persisted.
+
+"Oh, I could not bear it!"  Maria tried to stifle her sobs.  "All
+yesterday, as we ran away from the guns, I kept thinking--back there,
+there is work and I am running away.  I knew that you were here, and I
+thought you were killed.  Nana was half crazy with fear and we could
+get nothing out of her."
+
+"But Beppi, he is safe, and aunt is taking care of him?" Lucia insisted.
+
+"Oh, he is safe, of course, and so excited over his adventure, but he
+was crying for you last night, and we had hard work to comfort him."
+
+Maria paused, and Lucia looked into her eyes.  There was a question
+there and she knew that her cousin did not give voice to it.  She put
+her arm around her and led her back towards the convent.
+
+"Come," she said, smiling with something of her old mischievousness.
+"There is much to be done, and I will take you to Sister Francesca.
+She will tell you where to begin."
+
+Maria followed her.
+
+Lucia went back to the ward and did not stop until she stood beside
+Roderigo's bed.  He was asleep, but his brows were drawn together in a
+worried frown.  Lucia put her finger on her lip and turned to her
+cousin and pointed.  Maria looked; a glad light came into her eyes, and
+without a sound she fell on her knees beside the bed.
+
+Lucia left her and went over to Sister Francesca.  She was awfully
+tired, and her arms were numb, but she did not dare stop for fear she
+would not be able to begin again.
+
+"What can I do?" she asked.
+
+Sister Francesca pointed to two empty buckets.  "Go out to the well and
+fill those.  We need more water badly," she said, without looking up.
+
+Lucia picked up the pails and walked to the end of the room, through a
+little side door and into a cloister.  In the center of it was an old
+well that she worked by turning an iron wheel.
+
+Lucia drew the water and poured it into her pails, and started back
+with them.  It had been all her tired arm could do to lift the empty
+ones, but now each step made sharp pains go up to her shoulders.  She
+staggered along with them, fighting hard against the dizziness in her
+head, but when she was half-way down the ward everything began to swim
+before her.  She swayed, lost her balance, and would have fallen had
+not a strong arm caught her.  The pails fell to the floor, the water
+splashing over the tops.
+
+Through the singing in her ears she heard an angry voice.
+
+"Poor youngster, whoever sent her out for water?  Seems to me she's
+earned a rest.  Here, sister, help me, will you?"
+
+Then Maria's soft voice came to her.
+
+"Lucia dear, don't look like that!" she cried excitedly.  "Here, senor,
+put her on the bed, so."
+
+She felt herself being lifted ever so gently, and then the soothing
+comfort of a mattress and a pillow stole over her and she fell sound
+asleep.
+
+She did not wake up until late in the afternoon.  The sun was setting
+and the long ward was in deep shadow.  She opened her eyes for a minute
+and then closed them again.  She was too blissfully comfortable to make
+any effort.
+
+She was conscious first of all of a strange quiet.  The guns seemed to
+have very nearly stopped, there was only a faint rumble in the
+distance, and an occasional sputter from the guns near by.
+
+The enemy had retreated beyond, far into the hills, and for the time
+being Cellino was safe.  Lucia guessed as much and smiled to herself.
+
+People tiptoed about the room near her, and she could hear their voices
+indistinctly.  She did not try to hear what they said, she was too
+tired to think.  She snuggled closer in the soft pillows and sighed
+contentedly, but before long a voice near her separated itself from the
+rest, and she heard:
+
+"We will go to my beautiful Napoli, you and I, and I will show you the
+water, blue as the sky, and we will be very happy, and by and by you
+will forget this terrible war, as a baby forgets a bad dream."
+
+Lucia opened one eye and moved her head so that she could see the
+speaker.  He was Roderigo, of course, and he was holding Maria's hand
+and talking very earnestly.
+
+Lucia eavesdropped shamelessly.  She was curious to hear what her
+cousin would say.
+
+"But surely you will not fight again!" Maria's voice was pleading.
+"You are so sick, they will not send you back again."
+
+"But I must go back, my wound is not a bad one and I will be well in no
+time, and I must go back.  Think how foolish it would be, if I was to
+say, 'Oh, yes, I fought for two days in the great war.'  You would be
+ashamed of me, and that little cousin of yours, Lucia, she would think
+me a fine soldier."
+
+Lucia laughed aloud and the voices stopped.
+
+Maria's cheeks flushed and she jumped up.
+
+"Are you awake, dear?" she asked hurriedly, "then I will go and tell
+Sister Francesca and the Doctor."
+
+She hurried off.  Lucia sat up and looked at Roderigo.  She was a sorry
+sight in her muddy clothes, and her hair fell about her shoulders.
+
+"You are a fine soldier, Roderigo Vicello," she said impulsively, "and
+I would say so if you had only fought for one day, for I know how brave
+you are.  But you are right to want to go back."
+
+"Yes, I am right," Roderigo replied.  He stretched out his hand and
+Lucia slipped hers into it.
+
+"We have been comrades, you and I," he said, "and we understand why."
+
+Lucia nodded gravely.  She felt suddenly very proud.
+
+The Doctor came back a minute later with Maria.
+
+"Well, are you rested enough to be moved?" he asked, smiling.
+
+"Oh, yes I am quite all right," Lucia assured him.
+
+"Well, I wouldn't brag too much," the Doctor laughed.  "You'll find you
+are pretty shaky.  Sister Francesca has a little room fixed for you and
+some clean clothes; how does that sound?"
+
+Lucia smiled in reply, and the American came over at the Doctor's call.
+
+"Think you can manage to carry the little lady, Lathrop?" he asked.
+
+"Guess so."
+
+Lucia felt the strong arms lift her, as if she weighed no more than a
+feather.  He carried her down the ward and up a flight of stairs.
+Sister Francesca was waiting for them at the door of the little room.
+It had been one of the sister's cells.  With her help Lucia was soon in
+a coarse white nightgown and tucked in between clean sheets.
+
+The Doctor came in to see her a little later.
+
+"How is my soldier of the pennies?" she asked, and then as she realized
+he would not understand she added, "the one I brought up the hill."
+
+"Oh, Captain Riccardi, he's still very ill, but he is going to pull
+through all right."
+
+Lucia smiled.
+
+"Oh, I am glad," she said.  "I was so afraid, he looked so queer."
+
+"Well, don't worry any more," the Doctor replied, "and now what do you
+want?"
+
+Lucia sighed contentedly.
+
+"Something to eat, if you please," she said shyly, "I am very hungry."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+AN INTERRUPTED DREAM
+
+A week passed, a week of lazy luxury between cool linen sheets for
+Lucia, and she enjoyed her rest to its fullest extent.  Every one in
+the convent, which was now a hospital, and running smoothly with
+capable American nurses, made a great fuss over her, and she had so
+much care that sometimes she was just the least bit bored.  When the
+week was over, and she was feeling herself again, she grew restless and
+clamored to get up.  Even the sheets, and the delicious things she had
+to eat, could not keep her contented.  At last the Doctor said she
+might go out for a few hours into the sunshine, and the whole hospital
+hummed with the news.
+
+Maria, in a white apron and cap, helped her dress, and went with her
+down the stone steps and out into the convent garden.
+
+The first thing that met her eye was Garibaldi, clean and lazy, lying
+contentedly in the sun.  She came over and seemed delighted to see her
+mistress once more.
+
+"But you are so clean, my pet!" Lucia exclaimed.  "And your coat looks
+as if it had been brushed," she added, wonderingly.
+
+Maria laughed.
+
+"It was.  The big American, Seņor Lathrop, makes so much fuss over her,
+you would think she was a fine horse."
+
+"What about Seņor Lathrop?" a laughing voice demanded.  "Oh, drat this
+language, I keep forgetting."  He stopped and then said very slowly in
+Italian: "Good morning, how are you this morning?"
+
+"Oh, I am very well, and you," Lucia replied, "you have been very good
+to take such care of Garibaldi."
+
+"Garibaldi?  I don't understand," Lathrop replied.
+
+Lucia pointed to the goat and said slowly.  "That is her name."
+
+"Name!  The goat's name Garibaldi!" Lathrop exclaimed, and added in
+English, "Well I'll be darned!"
+
+"Not just Garibaldi," Lucia corrected him.  "Her name is 'The
+Illustrious and Gentile Seņora Guiseppe Garibaldi,' but we call her
+Garibaldi for short."
+
+Lathrop understood enough of her reply to catch the name.  He threw
+back his head and laughed uproariously.
+
+"All that for a goat!  No wonder she was a good sport with a name like
+that to live up to!"
+
+He stood for a long time looking at the poor, shaggy animal before him,
+then he laughed again and went into the convent.
+
+"He is a funny man," Lucia said wonderingly.  "Why should he laugh
+because of Garibaldi's name?"
+
+"Oh, he meant no disrespect," Maria reasoned.  "Americans all laugh at
+everything.  The nurses are the same, they are always laughing.  If
+anything goes wrong and I want to stamp my foot, they laugh."
+
+Lucia was somewhat mollified.  "What is the news?" she demanded, "I
+have been up there in my little room for so long, no one would tell me
+anything.  Sister Francesca would smile and say, 'Everything is for the
+best, dear child,' when I asked for news of the front, and I was
+ashamed to ask again, but you tell me."
+
+"Oh, there is nothing but good news," Maria replied.  "We are gaining
+everywhere.  The night after the battle, some of our soldiers built a
+bridge over the river and crossed, and when the Austrians rallied for a
+counter-charge they were ready for them and took them by surprise."
+
+Maria paused, and her eyes filled with tears.  "And only think, Lucia,
+if you had not destroyed the bridge and warned the Captain of the
+beggar man, we might have been taken by surprise, and Cellino would be
+an Austrian village.  Oh, I tell you the ward rings with your praise.
+The men talk of nothing else."
+
+"Nonsense, I did not do it alone.  How about your Roderigo?  He is the
+one who deserves the praise.  But tell me, how is my soldier of the
+pennies?  I am never sure that the Doctor tells me truly how he is."
+
+"Why do you call him 'your soldier of the pennies'?" Maria asked.  "His
+name is Captain Riccardi, and he is very brave.  Every one knows about
+him, and some of the boys say he is the bravest man in the Italian
+army."
+
+"Perhaps he is," Lucia laughed, "but he is my soldier of the pennies,
+just the same, that's the name I love him by."
+
+"But I don't understand," Maria protested, "did you know him before?"
+
+"Yes and no," Lucia teased.  "I did not know his name, or what he
+looked like, but I knew there was a soldier of the pennies somewhere."
+
+"But tell me," Maria begged.  "I am so curious."
+
+Lucia laughed.  "Very well, it is a queer thing.  Listen.  Do you
+remember how for a few days about a week before this battle, I only
+brought two pails of milk to your stall in the morning?"
+
+Maria nodded.
+
+"Well, the rest of the milk went to Captain Riccardi, but I did not
+know it.  You see, one day Garibaldi ran away and went far up into the
+hills.  I think the guns frightened her, and of course I went after
+her.  I found her on a little plateau quite far up, and because I was
+tired I sat down to rest, keeping tight hold of her, you may be sure.
+I was dreaming and thinking, and oh, a long way off, when suddenly I
+heard a voice above me.  I looked up; my, but I was frightened, I can
+tell you, but I could see no one.  The voice said: 'Little goat herder,
+will you give me a drink of milk?'"
+
+Lucia stopped.
+
+"Go on!" Maria exclaimed.  "What did you do?"
+
+"I am ashamed to say," Lucia replied, "I was so frightened that I ran
+back down the mountain as if the evil spirit were after me, and I did
+not stop until I was safe at home.  Then I began to think.  Of course,
+at first I had thought only of an Austrian, but when I stopped to
+think, I knew that Austrians don't speak such Italian--low and very
+soft this was, as my mother used to speak, and your Roderigo.  Well,
+then of course, I wanted to die of shame; I had run away from one of
+the soldiers.  I thought about it all night, and I could not sleep.
+Just before dawn I got up very softly and went down to the shed.  I
+filled two pails half-full and carried them up to the same place.
+
+"I could not see or hear any one, but I left them, and that afternoon I
+went back to see if it had been taken away.  There were the empty
+pails, and beside them a strip of paper with four pennies wrapped up
+inside.
+
+"After that, I took the milk up every day to the plateau, but I never
+saw or heard the soldier again.  Sometimes he would write me a little
+note and say 'thank you,' to me, but always there was the money.  So
+that is why I called him my soldier of the pennies; do you see?"
+
+"Oh, yes, how splendid!" Maria was delighted.  "And to think it was
+Captain Riccardi all the time.  No wonder now that he talks sometimes
+in his sleep of the little goat-herder and her flowered dress.  He was
+an observer, Roderigo told me.  That is a very important thing to be,
+and he was hidden high up in a tree.  That is why you did not see him."
+
+Lucia thought of the telephone.
+
+"I know now, of course, for I saw him climb up it and talk over the
+wire to the soldiers miles away," she exclaimed.  "But how could I
+think to look in a tree for a soldier?" she laughed.
+
+A bell tinkled, and Maria sprang up.
+
+"I must go, it is my time to be on duty," she said, smoothing her apron
+and settling her cap importantly, "I will come back when I can."
+
+Lucia looked envious.  "Do not be long," she called after her.
+
+She settled back with a sigh, and the little goat came over to have her
+neck patted.  Lucia stroked it lovingly.
+
+"Garibaldi," she said aloud, "we are in a dream, you and I, and soon we
+will both wake up and find ourselves back in the white cottage with
+Nana scolding because we are late for supper.  And we'll be sorry too,
+won't we?  For that will mean that the beautiful sheets and the soft
+pillow will vanish the way they do in the fairy tales, and this lovely
+garden will go too."
+
+"But what if there were another one to take its place?" a voice
+inquired from the doorway.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE FAIRY GODFATHER
+
+Lucia turned and looked up quickly.  She was startled and not a little
+embarrassed at having her confidence overheard.
+
+Through the door that led from the ward the American was pushing a bed
+on wheels.  Lucia had seen that same bed many times before.  It had
+belonged to the old Mother Superior of the convent, and many a bright
+morning she had seen it out in the garden as she sat at her desk in the
+schoolroom above.
+
+She looked at the white pillow half expecting to see the old wrinkled
+face of Mother Cecelia, but instead Captain Riccardi looked up at her
+and smiled.
+
+"See, I've found you at last," he said, as Lathrop pushed the bed
+beside Lucia's chair.  "I was beginning to think that you were just a
+dream child, and that I had imagined about the milk."
+
+Lucia laughed gayly.
+
+"No, Captain, that was not a dream, or I hope it wasn't, for if the
+milk was not real then I dreamed about the pennies, and the sick
+soldiers never got them."
+
+"Sick soldiers!  Did you give away the money?"
+
+"Oh yes, sir, how could I keep it?  I did not know you were a Captain,
+I thought--"
+
+"You thought I was just a poor soldier, eh?"
+
+"Well, yes, if you will excuse me for saying so, I did, but anyway I
+would not have kept the money."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"How can you ask?  Why because, to accept pay for something--and such a
+little thing as a pail of milk--"
+
+"Two pails."
+
+"No, just one, they were only half-full, but no matter.  I wanted to
+give away the milk, not sell it, and so I put the pennies in the box at
+church."
+
+"And all the time I thought you were perhaps buying pretty ribbons with
+it."
+
+Captain Riccardi shook his head.  "But I might have known better."
+
+"Ribbons!"  Lucia scorned the idea.  "What do I need with such
+foolishness, with a war going on just under my nose!  I had other
+things to think about, I can tell you, and other ways to spend my
+pennies."
+
+The Captain looked at her gravely.  Then he took her hand and patted it
+gently.
+
+"You are a brave and true little Italian," he said, "and I can never
+hope to pay you for what you have done.  You will have to look for your
+reward in your own heart.  It ought to be a very happy and contented
+heart, I should think."
+
+Lucia's cheeks flushed with pride.
+
+"Oh, it is, Captain Riccardi," she said, "it is indeed, and I am quite
+content.  If you heard what I said just now about the dream, you must
+not think that I don't want to go back to the cottage--I do, and I want
+so much to see my Beppino and Nana again--only--"
+
+"Tell me about that 'only' Lucia," the Captain said gently.  "That is
+what I want to hear, and then perhaps I will have something to tell
+you."
+
+"Oh, it is nothing but silliness," Lucia protested, "how can it matter?"
+
+"Never mind, tell me," the Captain insisted.
+
+"But you will laugh.  What do big men know of fairy stories!"
+
+"Lots, sometimes--I believe in fairies."
+
+Lucia looked into the smiling eyes incredulously, "You, a soldier!"
+
+"Of course, haven't I told you that I thought you were a fairy when I
+first saw you, and by the Saints, I did too.  Do you know, I first
+discovered you way down in the valley.  You were with your goats.  I
+looked at you through my glass, and your pretty flowered dress, and the
+kerchief you wore over your hair, made me think of the little girls at
+home."
+
+"Ah, then you come from the south, too?" Lucia laughed.  "I knew it."
+
+"How do you?" the Captain demanded.
+
+Lucia shook her head sadly.
+
+"No, my mother came from Napoli.  When I was a little girl she used to
+tell me all about the sunshine and the flowers, and the blue water in
+the bay, and old grandfather Vesuvius always frowning and puffing in
+the distance.  Oh, I tell you I feel sometimes as if I had been there,
+but, of course, that is silly," she broke off, laughing, "for I have
+never been away from Cellino."
+
+"Would you like to go away to the south and live there?" Captain
+Riccardi asked slowly.
+
+"Oh, yes, of course.  I dream sometimes that I am a princess and that a
+wicked fairy has turned me into a goat-herder and forced me to live
+here where it is so very cold sometimes, and then I wish hard for a
+good fairy to come and set me free, and take me on a magic carpet away
+to a garden full of flowers.  There," she smiled shyly, "that is what I
+was thinking of out loud when you came a minute ago."
+
+The Captain did not laugh, except with his eyes.  His voice was very
+grave as he asked.
+
+"Wouldn't a prince or a fairy godfather do just as well?"
+
+"Oh, yes, even better," Lucia replied seriously.
+
+"Well then, what would you say if I told you that I am a fairy
+godfather, and that I can spirit you to a garden even nicer than this,
+where it is always summer?"
+
+"I would surely say you were telling me fairy tales," Lucia replied
+frankly.
+
+The Captain laughed delightedly.
+
+"But I'm not, Lucia," he said seriously.  "I'm telling you the truth.
+Down in the south I have a big house set in the very heart of a
+beautiful garden, and I live there all by myself."
+
+"Oh!"  Lucia's big eyes were full of genuine sympathy.
+
+"A long time ago, I used to have a little sister like you, but she
+died, and since then I have been ever and ever so lonely.  How would
+you like to come and be my sister?  I'd take awfully good care of you,
+and Garibaldi."
+
+For an instant Lucia's eyes danced with happiness, but it was only for
+an instant, then her face fell.
+
+"Oh, I would like that Captain, so very much," she said, "but I could
+not leave Beppino and Nana."
+
+Captain Riccardi looked at her in silence for a moment, then he said
+slowly, "Of course, you couldn't.  I forgot them for the moment.  But
+of course I meant to include them in the invitation.  I am very fond of
+Beppino already.  We had quite a chat that day in the cave."
+
+"Oh, but you don't mean it!" Lucia jumped up excitedly.  "To live with
+you and Nana and Beppi and Garibaldi in a garden,--oh! but of course,
+it is not so, and I shall presently wake up."
+
+"Wake up in the little white cottage and milk the goats and trudge to
+town with the heavy pails?" the Captain said.
+
+Lucia nodded soberly.
+
+"Not it I can help it, you won't," he added with decision.  "You'll
+never do another stroke of hard work again."
+
+"But are there no goats in your garden to milk, and no work to do?"
+Lucia looked bewildered.
+
+"Yes, but there's a lot of people to do it,--so many in fact, that all
+you will have to do is to pick flowers and tell Beppi and me fairy
+stories.  Will you come?"
+
+"Oh!"  Lucia stamped her foot.  "If this is only a dream!" she
+exclaimed half angrily, "I shall surely die of misery when I wake up."
+
+"It's no dream, little sister, it's true, and it won't be long before
+you realize it.  This leg is going to take a long time in healing, but
+as soon as it is better we will go home, then when I am well enough to
+go back to fight, you will stay in the garden and keep it looking
+beautiful for me until I return."
+
+For a full moment Lucia stared into the Captain's eyes, while the
+wonderful truth dawned on her, then her emotion being far beyond words,
+she threw her arms around him and kissed him heartily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+EXCITING NEWS
+
+"Lucia, Lucia, such exciting news, come here at once!"  Maria ran up
+the stairs excitedly.
+
+Lucia, who was busy helping Sister Francesca put away the clean sheets,
+dropped what she was doing and ran down the corridor.
+
+"What is it!" she demanded.  "Have the Austrians surrendered?"
+
+"No," Maria stopped, breathless from her haste, "that is, not yet,
+though Roderigo says--"
+
+"Oh, oh, oh!" Lucia protested.  "Don't start on what Roderigo says, or
+we will never learn the news."
+
+Maria pouted.  "For that I have a good mind not to tell you," she
+threatened.
+
+"Then I shall go downstairs myself and find out," Lucia replied, not
+one whit disturbed.
+
+"Then I may as well tell you," Maria laughed, "for the ward hums with
+it.  The King is coming--think of it--he is coming to Cellino
+to-morrow, and he is to go through the hospital and see all the
+wounded.  Only fancy, our King!"
+
+"Who told you?"  Lucia's eyes flashed excitedly.  Her loyal little
+Italian heart beat with eager anticipation.
+
+"Do you suppose I can see him?" she demanded, "but of course, I must,
+even if I have to hide under the Captain's bed.  He is sure to stop and
+speak to my Captain," she added with pride.
+
+"Oh, Roderigo says that he always stops and speaks to all the wounded
+and shakes their hands, and is very kind and so sorry always when they
+are badly hurt.  Roderigo says he has talked to soldiers who have won
+decorations, and the King himself pins them on--just think of it!"
+
+Lucia gave a profound sigh.
+
+"If he ever spoke to me," she said solemnly, "I would die of joy."
+
+It was several days after Lucia and the Captain had talked in the
+garden, and Lucia was beginning to grow accustomed to the wonderful
+idea.  Her dreams were coming true at last, and she had to admit to
+herself that she always believed that they would.  Captain Riccardi was
+truly a fairy godfather in her eyes, and she proved her gratitude for
+his kindness in a hundred little ways a day.  It never seemed to enter
+her mind that all he was offering, wonderful as it was, could not pay
+her for her courage in saving his life.
+
+She insisted upon laying all the credit on his shoulders, and with a
+smile and a shrug the Captain accepted the double share, and determined
+in his big heart to be worthy of it.
+
+When Lucia and Maria went down to the ward a little later, the patients
+were indeed humming with the news.  Every face wore a smile of keen
+joy, and the nurses hurried about to be sure everything was in perfect
+order.
+
+Lucia was well enough now to go wherever she pleased, and after she had
+talked for a few minutes with Captain Riccardi, and made sure that
+Maria had not exaggerated, she went out of the convent with the
+intention of going into town.  Some of the refugees had returned, but
+so far there had been no news of Seņora Rudini, Nana, or Beppi, and she
+was growing anxious.
+
+As she walked down the broad steps, she saw Lathrop coming towards her.
+Lucia was particularly fond of the big American, and she smiled as she
+saw him.
+
+"Hello!" he greeted.
+
+Lucia returned the salutation.
+
+"Do you know that the King is coming?" she demanded.
+
+Lathrop understood the word King, and as the town was talking of
+nothing else he guessed what she meant.
+
+"Yes," he replied in Italian, "nice--glad--you."
+
+Lucia laughed.
+
+"Oh, but you are so funny.  How I wish you could speak so that I could
+understand you!" she said.
+
+Lathrop shook his head.  "There she goes again, I didn't get even one
+word this time."
+
+He put his hand in his pocket and drew out a letter.
+
+"See," he said, pointing to it.
+
+Lucia nodded.  Lathrop scratched his head.
+
+"You--in--letter," he said painstakingly, "Girl, American."
+
+"Oh, you have put me in your letter?  How nice!" Lucia said.  "What did
+you say?"
+
+"I get you, but I'm blest if I can tell you, and it's a shame, too.
+You're such a little winner, you and your Mrs. Garibaldi, that I'd like
+to be able to tell you so.  But I guess it's hopeless."
+
+All of which Lucia listened to politely, but without the first idea of
+its meaning.
+
+She nodded towards the gate and they walked towards it together.
+Lathrop mailed his letter, and they stopped to look at the ruins.
+Lucia questioned some soldiers who were clearing the streets as best
+they could.
+
+The town hall, at the end of the market-place, was still standing, and
+to-day it was draped in Italian flags.  It looked older and more
+dignified than ever, amid the ruins, and the flag floated bravely in
+the crisp fall breeze.  Lucia and Lathrop stopped to look at it.
+Lucia's eyes sparkled and she threw an impulsive kiss towards it.
+Lathrop saluted respectfully.
+
+As they turned to go back they noticed a crowd of soldiers and some of
+the townspeople gathered about the gate.
+
+"What can the matter be?" Lucia exclaimed, hurrying forward.  "Perhaps
+it is the King."
+
+They ran to the gate and questioned some of the soldiers.
+
+"More refugees returning," one of them explained.  "See there's a whole
+line of them, it is a good sight, and a good time that they have
+chosen.  Now we will not look so like a deserted place when the King
+comes."
+
+"Oh, perhaps some of them can give me news of Beppino," Lucia
+exclaimed, forcing her way through the crowd.
+
+Almost the first person she saw as she ran down the road was Maria's
+mother.  She was walking along beside several other women, and with a
+start Lucia realized that she looked thin and wan.
+
+"Aunt Rudini!" she called excitedly, "you are back at last.  Oh, Maria
+will be so glad!"
+
+Seņora Rudini looked up, fear and hope in her eyes.
+
+"Maria!" she exclaimed, "where is she?"
+
+"At the convent.  She is helping to nurse the soldiers," Lucia replied.
+
+"Oh, and I thought she was dead or a prisoner.  She lay down beside me
+one night, and the next morning she was gone; I have been terrified."
+The old woman was wringing her hands.
+
+"But she is safe, go and see," Lucia protested, "I have just left her."
+
+Maria's mother needed no urging, she ran as fast as her stiff joints
+would allow towards the hospital.  But she had not gone very far when
+she returned.
+
+"I am a selfish old woman," she said, "thinking first of myself, when
+of course you want news of Nana.  Well, look yonder in that farm wagon."
+
+Lucia did not wait to hear more.  She darted off and met the wagon
+before it reached the turn in the road.
+
+"Beppi!  Nana!" she called.
+
+The man who was driving stopped, and Nana slid down from the straw,
+right into Lucia's waiting arms.  She was so glad to see her, that she
+could only babble foolishly.  All during her long journey, and her stay
+in strange villages, she had thought of nothing but Lucia in the hands
+of the enemy, and she was nearly crazy with relief and joy to find her
+safe again.
+
+At last Lucia quieted her.  "Where is Beppino?" she asked, "surely he
+is with you?"
+
+Something in the straw of the wagon moved, and the old driver pointed
+his whip at a mop of black hair, and laughed.
+
+Beppi was asleep of course.  Lucia's strong young arms lifted his
+little body out, and hugged and kissed him.  Beppi woke up, and at
+sight of her he shouted with joy.
+
+It was a happy and excited family that walked through the town and down
+to the little white cottage.
+
+Lucia had so much to say, and Nana would not listen nor believe all the
+wonderful things she tried to tell her, but at last, from lack of
+breath, she stopped exclaiming and crying, and Lucia pushed her gently
+onto the green bed, took Beppi on her lap, and began the recital of her
+wonderful news in earnest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE KING
+
+"The King!  The King!"
+
+"Viva!  Viva!"  A great cry rose within the walls of Cellino, and
+swelled to a mighty cheer, as a gray automobile drove slowly through
+the Porto Romano, and stopped in the market-place opposite the town
+hall.
+
+The soldiers who had so bravely defended the town were lined up ready
+for inspection, and as the King lifted his hand to salute the colors, a
+silence, as profound and as moving as the cheer had been, fell over the
+crowd.
+
+Lucia, with Beppi held tightly by the hand, was on the edge of the
+crowd.  She trembled with excitement as she looked at the greatest, and
+best-loved man in all Italy.
+
+"See!" she whispered excitedly to Beppi, "that is the King--our King!
+Look at him well, for we may never be lucky enough to see him again in
+our whole lives."
+
+Beppi's big eyes were round with wonder.  He looked.  His gaze fastened
+on the shining sword.  Then the memory that he might some day be a
+General returned to him, and he drew himself up very straight.  As the
+King passed on his inspection, his little hand went up in a smart
+salute.
+
+His Majesty stopped, smiled, and returned the salute gravely.
+
+Beppi waited until he had walked on, then he buried his face in Lucia's
+skirts, and wept from sheer joy.
+
+Lucia's pride knew no bounds.  Her heart was beating wildly, but she
+stood very still until the King went into the town hall, then she
+picked Beppi up in her arms and ran excitedly across the town and out
+to the convent.
+
+"We can see him again, darling, so stand very still," she said.  "He is
+coming to see the soldiers."
+
+They watched the gate eagerly, and before long the gray car came
+through it very slowly.  A crowd of people surrounded it, cheering and
+throwing flowers.  The King smiled and bowed to them all.  Lucia's eyes
+never left his face.  Suddenly she saw him lean forward excitedly as
+the big car stopped.  Beppi tugged at her skirts.
+
+"Look at Garibaldi, she is blocking the way."
+
+Lucia looked, and to her horror she saw her pet standing in the middle
+of the road, her four hoofs planted firmly in the mud, and her head
+lowered.
+
+"Oh, the wretch," Lucia exclaimed, darting forward.  "Come here at
+once!" she called.
+
+Garibaldi looked around and obediently trotted off.  The car started,
+and the King waved especially to Lucia as he passed, but even so great
+an honor could not compensate her.  She was mortified to tears that her
+goat should have been guilty of _lese majeste_.
+
+No entreaties on Beppi's part could make her stay to wait for the
+King's return.  She left him with a soldier, and went around the corner
+of the convent, followed by the disgraced Garibaldi.
+
+She sat down on a bench and sighed.
+
+"Of course you're only a goat," she said scornfully, "but I did think
+you had more sense than to do anything as terrible as that.  Do you
+know who that was that you made to stop?  That was the King, do you
+hear?"
+
+Garibaldi walked away indifferently.
+
+"Oh, I am disgusted with you forever," Lucia exclaimed with a shrug of
+disdain.  "You will stay here until he goes away again, and then I
+shall take you home and tie you up."
+
+Garibaldi paid no attention to the threat.  Perhaps she knew how empty
+it would prove to be.
+
+"Lucia, Lucia, my child, where are you?"  Sister Francesca's voice
+trembled as she called.
+
+"Here I am, sister," Lucia jumped up.  "Do you want me?"
+
+"Oh, my dear, I have looked everywhere for you.  Come with me at once."
+
+Lucia followed, wondering at the expression in the nun's usually placid
+face.  But Sister Francesca did not stop to give any explanations.  She
+led the way hurriedly back to the front door, of the convent, and up
+the steps through the ward of smiling men, and only stopped when she
+reached the door of Captain Riccardi's private room.
+
+"Go in, my dear," she said, giving Lucia a little push.  "The Captain
+wants to speak to you."
+
+Lucia opened the door and found herself face to face with the King.
+
+She was too astonished, and far too thrilled to speak.  She must have
+shown some of her feeling in her eyes, for the Captain, who was in bed,
+laughed.
+
+"Here she is, Your Majesty," he said.
+
+The King stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder.
+
+"So you are the brave little girl whom I must thank for saving Captain
+Riccardi's life, and for blowing up the bridge?"
+
+Lucia was still tongue-tied.  She swallowed hard and tried to stop her
+heart from beating so fast.
+
+"Yes, yes, sir--Your Majesty," she said at last.  "I and Garibaldi."
+
+"Garibaldi?"  The King could not restrain a smile.
+
+"The goat, sir," the Captain explained.
+
+"Oh, I see, and what did you say his name was?"
+
+"Garibaldi's a her, Your Majesty, and so she had to be Seņora
+Garibaldi."
+
+Lucia was fast forgetting her embarrassment.
+
+"'The Illustrious and Gentile Seņora Guiseppi Garibaldi,' that's her
+real name, but of course, it's too long for every day."
+
+"Yes, I should suppose so, particularly if you were in a hurry," the
+King laughed softly.
+
+"Was that Seņora Garibaldi that we came nearly running over?" he asked.
+
+"Oh yes, it was, but please, Your Majesty, don't be angry with her.
+You see, she really didn't know you were the King."
+
+"Angry, why I should say not.  Before I leave, yon must introduce me to
+her, I couldn't leave without seeing such a really important person."
+
+Lucia clapped her hands delightedly.
+
+"Oh, she will be so proud!" she exclaimed.
+
+The King turned to the officer who stood beside him and nodded, then he
+shook Captain Riccardi's hand.  "I congratulate you on the addition to
+your household," he said, smiling.  "Come with me, Lucia," he
+continued, "I have something for you, and I want to give it to you
+where all the soldiers can see."
+
+Lucia followed in a dream.  She stood very still at the end of the
+ward, and watched the men salute as the King stood before them.
+
+She did not hear what he said to them, for her head was swimming, but
+she saw him turn to her, and her heart missed a beat as he pinned a
+medal on her faded bodice.
+
+"In appreciation of your courage and loyalty," the King said, and
+Lucia's eyes looked into his for a brief, but never-to-be-forgotten
+moment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+GOOD-BY TO CELLINO
+
+It was over a month before Captain Riccardi was well enough to be
+moved, but at last the beautiful day for the departure for the south
+came.
+
+"Do you really mean we are going?" Beppi demanded.
+
+"Of course we are, darling," Lucia replied, laughing.  She was so
+excited that she could hardly wait to dress Beppi and Nana with the
+patience that such an undertaking required.  Nana had a new dress, Aunt
+Rudini made it with Maria's help, and though it was too somber for
+Lucia's color loving eyes, it was a new dress and she fastened it on
+Nana's bent shoulders with a glow of pride.
+
+"There now!" she exclaimed when it was on and Nana's stringy gray hair
+had been reduced to some sort of order.
+
+"Turn around and let me see you."
+
+Nana turned.  She was in a flutter of excitement, although she would
+not have admitted it for the world.
+
+"Don't waste any more time over an old woman," she said, sharply.  "I
+am tidy and that is enough."
+
+"You are more than tidy, Nana, you look beautiful," Lucia exclaimed.
+"Now do sit still and don't do anything."
+
+"There's nothing to be done that has not already been done," Nana
+replied as she sat on the edge of the green bed and folded her hands on
+her lap.  Lucia nodded in satisfaction and turned her attention to
+Beppi.
+
+He had a new suit too, and the broad sailor collar on it was
+embroidered with emblems and stars.
+
+Beppi was delighted, and Lucia helped him on with it as he danced and
+hopped, first on one foot and then to the other.
+
+"I'm a sailor," he announced, "a real sailor!  See the bands on my arm."
+
+"Fickle one," Lucia protested as she tied the flaring red tie, with
+loving fingers, "I thought you were going to be a soldier like our
+Captain."
+
+Beppi thrust his small hands in his trouser pockets.
+
+"I am when I grow up," he replied seriously, "but I can be a sailor in
+the meantime, can't I?"
+
+"Yes, of course," Lucia agreed, "and now put on your shoes, dear, it
+must be late, and it would never do to keep the Captain waiting."
+
+"Go and dress yourself then," Nana said, "and don't make yourself look
+too gay, it is not seemly."
+
+Lucia tossed her head and laughed.
+
+"Ah, but I will, my new bodice is so beautiful; all bright flowers, and
+my skirt is blue--I know the Captain will like it--and we are going to
+the South where all the girls wear bright colors--I expect my dress
+will look very somber."
+
+Nana did not reply, she grumbled a little to herself, and Lucia pulled
+out the drawer of the dresser and very carefully took out her new
+possessions.  She put them on slowly as if to prolong the pleasure.
+
+"When she was ready she looked at as much of herself as she could see
+in the small mirror, and smiled happily.
+
+"I look very nice, I think," she said frankly.
+
+"Then we are ready," Nana exclaimed, getting up, "we had better start
+up the hill."
+
+"Yes, do let's go," Beppi insisted, "I know we are going to be late."
+
+"Oh, but we have plenty of time," Lucia replied.  "Go along both of
+you, I will follow with Garibaldi."
+
+"Such foolishness," Nana grumbled, "to take a goat in a train; there
+are many goats in the South.  Why don't you wait until you get there
+and leave Garibaldi to Maria with the rest?"
+
+Lucia looked at her grandmother in consternation, but she did not stop
+to argue with her.  She left the house and went to the shed; repaired
+now enough to make a shelter to keep out the rain.
+
+Garibaldi was firmly tied to one of the posts.
+
+"Come, my pet," Lucia whispered, "we are going away and I have a ribbon
+for your neck, see?"
+
+"Now come," she coaxed, "we must go up to the convent, that nice
+American Mr. Lathrop is going to put you in a box.  You won't like it,
+poor dear, but it's the only way they let goats travel."
+
+Garibaldi seemed to understand something of the importance of the
+occasion, for she walked along beside her little mistress with lowered
+head.
+
+Lucia waited until Nana and Beppi had disappeared through the gate
+before she started.  She knew there was plenty of time and she wanted
+to be alone.
+
+She stood in the doorway of the cottage and looked at the poor, tumbled
+little room.  She felt suddenly very forlorn and lonely.
+
+"Good-by, little room," she said softly, "I will never, never forget
+you.  It isn't as if you were going very far away from me for we have
+given you to Maria, she and Roderigo will take good care of you, and
+some day perhaps I will come back for a tiny visit," she said.
+
+A plaintive "Naa" from Garibaldi made her turn.  As she left the room
+her eyes lingered on the green bed.
+
+Captain Riccardi was sitting up, fully dressed, and waiting for them in
+the garden of the convent.
+
+At sight of Lucia his eyes danced with fun.
+
+"Well, little sister of mine, how are you?" he greeted.
+
+"Oh, I am so excited, Seņor," Lucia replied.  "Is it nearly time to go?"
+
+"No, not for a couple of hours," the Captain laughed.
+
+"Are we really going in an automobile?" Beppi demanded, "like the one
+the King came in?"
+
+"Yes, just like that, and then we go in a train for a long time," the
+Captain explained.
+
+"Do we _sleep_ in the train?"  Beppi's eyes were as round as saucers.
+
+"No," the Captain shook his head, "we sleep in a lovely house that
+belongs to a friend of mine in Rome."
+
+Beppi tried to be polite but Captain Riccardi saw the disappointment in
+his eyes, and patted his small head.
+
+"Are you sorry?" he laughed.
+
+"Oh, no, he is not," Lucia contradicted hastily, "he will like sleeping
+in Rome, won't you, my pet?"
+
+Beppi hung his head.  "I will like it," he admitted, "but it will not
+be as exciting as sleeping on a train."
+
+"No, of course it won't, but it will be lots more comfortable, and you
+see I have to think of that," the Captain explained, "but I promise you
+some day we will sleep in a train, and on a boat, or any old place you
+like, how's that?"
+
+"I will tell you afterwards," Beppi replied noncommittally.
+
+"I must go and find Maria," Lucia said, "I have not told her half the
+things I want to.  She won't take proper care of my goats, I know, but
+no matter, I will do my best to tell her what to do."
+
+She went into the convent.  Maria was busy in the ward, but at Lucia's
+beckon she left what she was doing and went to her.
+
+"Come over by Roderigo's bed," Lucia said, "we have only a little time
+to talk before we leave."
+
+"Oh, but you must be excited!" Maria exclaimed.
+
+"Look at her eyes," Roderigo laughed, "of course she is."
+
+"Well, and why not," Lucia demanded, "wouldn't you be?"  Roderigo
+shivered.
+
+"If I were going this day, back to Napoli, I would die from joy," he
+said.
+
+"Nonsense, that's what Lucia said about the King's speaking to her,"
+Maria reminded, "but she's still alive, and the King not only spoke to
+her but kissed her too."
+
+"Do you know," Lucia said quietly, "sometimes I think perhaps I am dead
+and this is Heaven."
+
+"Heaven!" Roderigo laughed, "never, it is much too cold, see the sick
+yellow sun up there."  He pointed to the window, "in Heaven the sun is
+hot and the sky is blue, just as you will find it to-morrow.  Oh, but I
+envy you.  What wouldn't I give--"  He hesitated and looked at Maria,
+"No, I would not go if I could; I am happy here."
+
+Maria's smile rewarded him.
+
+"But surely after the war," Lucia said, "you will both come to Napoli
+to live."
+
+"Perhaps," Roderigo assented, "after the war."
+
+They were silent for a moment, aware for the first time of what the
+coming separation would mean.  Then Roderigo exclaimed gayly,
+
+"But how solemn we are!  We must laugh.  I tell you, Lucia, when you
+see my old grandfather Vesuvius you must give him my best respects, for
+mind if you are not respectful to him he may do you some harm."
+
+"Oh, I will be very careful," Lucia laughed, "but I will never call
+that cross old, smoking mountain my grandfather, I can promise you
+that."
+
+"Haven't you some friends that Lucia could see?" Maria inquired, "or
+could she perhaps take a message to your family."
+
+"No."  Roderigo shook his head, "she will not be near them, but
+perhaps--"  He turned to Lucia, "if you are ever walking along the
+shore below Captain Riccardi's place, you may meet a soldier, an old
+man with a scar on his face; if you do, he is my uncle Enrico."
+
+"But what does he do on the beach?" Maria inquired.
+
+"Oh, he watches to see that no one rows out to the boats in the bay
+without a passport, there are plenty of men who would like to leave
+without permission," Roderigo explained, "My uncle is there to keep
+them safe in Italy."
+
+"Are they Austrians?" Lucia inquired.
+
+Roderigo winked.
+
+"They are Italian citizens on the face of things," he replied, "but in
+their hearts--"  An expressive gesture finished the sentence.
+
+Just as Maria was about to ask another question Beppi ran into the ward.
+
+"Lucia, Lucia, come quickly, the American is packing Garibaldi up in a
+box, and you are missing all the fun."
+
+Lucia jumped up.
+
+"Oh I must go and help," she exclaimed, "I will see you again for
+good-by."
+
+She followed Beppi to the garden and found Lathrop nailing on the top
+to a big wooden crate.  From between the slats Garibaldi looked out
+reproachfully.
+
+Lucia petted and consoled her until it was time to go.
+
+Garibaldi left first in a wagon; she was going all the way by train.
+Lucia had many misgivings but she watched the wagon out of sight with a
+smile.
+
+Her thoughts were soon diverted by the arrival of a big automobile.
+Captain Riccardi was helped in by the doctor and Lathrop, and after
+repeated good-bys Lucia took her place beside him.
+
+The car started off slowly, they were going to take the train at a
+point several miles south.
+
+Lucia watched the walls of Cellino grow dim against their background of
+bare mountains.  It was her first departure, and it marked a new period
+in her life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+IN THE GARDEN
+
+"How does my little sister like her new home?"
+
+Captain Riccardi was sitting in a comfortable chair in the warmth and
+sunshine of his garden.  He looked very much stronger than on his
+departure from Cellino.  A month under the southern sky had done much
+to make him well again, and as he sat looking at Lucia he was turning
+over in his mind the possibility of returning to the front.  Lucia was
+picking flowers near him, she had a basket over her arm and a big pair
+of scissors.
+
+Her cheeks, that had been so pale, were flushed and round, and an
+expression of happy contentment took the place of the excited sparkle
+in her eyes.
+
+She dropped down on the ground beside the Captain as he spoke, and
+looked up at him.
+
+"That is the very first time you have asked me that," she said, "and we
+have been here for a long time.  You know I think it is very, very
+wonderful, what could be more beautiful than this garden, but I am
+getting lazy, the sun is so warm and there is so little to do."  She
+looked puzzled.
+
+"That's quite as it should be," the Captain replied, "you are too young
+to work."
+
+"Oh, that is what you always say," Lucia protested, "I am too young and
+Nana is too old, and Beppi--"
+
+"Beppi is too lazy," the Captain laughed, "he is always asleep under
+the flower bushes, but tell me," he continued gravely, "are you ever
+homesick?"
+
+"Homesick."  Lucia considered for a moment, "For Maria, yes, but for
+Cellino, no.  I like to think of it, but I want always to live here."
+
+"Good," the Captain smiled, "then you won't mind my going away?"
+
+"Back to fight?" Lucia inquired.
+
+The Captain nodded.  "My wound is healed and I am well enough; they
+need all the men they can get up there, you know."
+
+"I know," Lucia looked very unhappy, "what terrible times there have
+been since we came here; everything has gone wrong.  Why I wonder, our
+soldiers are as brave as ever.  What has made us lose so much lately?"
+
+A baffled look stole over the Captain's face and he shook his head
+sorrowfully.
+
+"No one knows, my dear," he said, "we have suffered terrible losses,
+every plan that we make is known to the enemy."
+
+"Do you remember the beggar you saw on the road the day you followed
+the two Austrian soldiers?"
+
+Lucia nodded.
+
+"Well, there are many men like that in Italy, some are disguised as
+beggars and some as just working men, but they are everywhere, and
+through them our plans are given to the enemy."
+
+"But surely the police could arrest them," Lucia protested, "they must
+all be Austrians or Germans."
+
+"They are, of course, but they have lived here among us for so long
+that it is hard to tell them from ourselves; they speak, act and look
+as we do."
+
+"But they think as our enemies," Lucia added, "I understand.  What very
+bad men they must be, just to think that but for them we might have won
+this horrible war by now."
+
+"Perhaps," the Captain agreed, "but if they are here and we can't find
+them out then we must win the war in spite of them, and that is why I
+am going back."
+
+"When?" Lucia asked.  She was suddenly very unhappy for the memory of
+the attack was still vivid, and she dreaded to think of her newly found
+godfather's returning to the dangers and hardships of the front, but
+she was too brave and too wise to say so.  She kept a stiff upper lip
+and her eyes were dry as they discussed the plans.
+
+"I think I will leave in a day or two now that my mind is made up," the
+Captain said, "it will take me quite awhile to return to my Company,
+and I may have to wait in Rome for orders, so the sooner I am off the
+better."
+
+"Yes, I suppose so," Lucia replied slowly.  "Oh, but how we will miss
+you, I cannot bear to think," she added impulsively.
+
+"Then you must write to me often," the Captain laughed, "I get so few
+letters and I will treasure them.  I will want to know just how you and
+Beppi and Nana spend each day, and what tricks Garibaldi is up to."
+
+"I shall tell you everything," Lucia promised, eagerly, "every tiny
+little thing, and you will write back?"
+
+"Yes, as often as I can," the Captain promised.  He got up from his
+chair and started to walk toward the house.  When he was halfway up the
+path Beppi dashed through the garden gate and ran to him.
+
+"Oh, but I have had a fine morning," he declared, "you will never guess
+where I have been."
+
+"You do look excited," the Captain smiled, "it must have been a very
+nice place, tell us about it."
+
+"Then come back and sit down," Beppi insisted, taking his hand.  The
+Captain returned to his chair and Beppi perched on the arm of it.
+
+"Now begin," Lucia said, "we are listening."
+
+"Well," Beppi took a long breath.  "This afternoon I was tired of
+playing in the garden and I went out into the road.  Nana was sound
+asleep and did not hear me, and when I had walked a little ways I met
+two boys; one of them was bigger than me and the other one was littler.
+We said hello, and one of them asked me my name, and I told him, and
+then the big one said he guessed I couldn't fight--"  Beppi stopped and
+turned two accusing eyes at Lucia, "that was because I had on these old
+stockings.  I told you, sister, that I'd be laughed at unless I went
+barefoot, same as always."
+
+"Never mind about that," the Captain interposed, laughing, "tell us the
+rest."
+
+"Well, I told him I could, and we did, of course, and I won," he
+continued proudly, "and after that we were friends, and they asked me
+if I'd ever been to the shore, and I said; not right to it, so they
+took me.  We went down a hill and pretty soon we were right by the
+ocean, and the waves were coming in all frothy white on the blue water,
+and I took off my shoes and stockings--"
+
+"Oh, Beppi," Lucia protested.
+
+"Yes, I did," Beppi repeated, "I certainly did and we had a fine time,
+I can tell you, and here comes the exciting part.  While we were on the
+beach a soldier came along; he was walking on the wall and he had a big
+gun.  The two boys ran to him and I went with them.  He asked me my
+name and where I lived, and I told him, and he said he had a nephew in
+the war, and one of the boys asked him how Roderigo Vicello was, and
+when I heard that name I just shouted, 'Why I know him,' and then I
+told them all about the bridge and the King giving Roderigo a medal,
+and everything.  They were all glad, I can tell you, and I guess these
+boys won't say I can't fight again in a hurry," he added triumphantly.
+
+"Oh, that is exciting news!" Lucia exclaimed, "Roderigo told me he had
+an uncle here.  Did he have a big scar on his face, Beppino?"
+
+"Yes," Beppi replied eagerly, "he got it in the Tripoli war.  He is a
+very brave man, I think, but he says he'd rather fight than guard the
+shore, but of course he has to do as he's told, because he's a soldier."
+
+"And I suppose that means you don't have to do what you're told until
+you're one," the Captain laughed, "what will Nana say when she hears
+you ran away?"
+
+"Who's going to tell her?" Beppi inquired, "Lucia won't, and I don't
+think you will," he added with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
+
+"No, I suppose I won't after that," the Captain replied, laughing,
+"that is if you will promise to be very good and mind Lucia while I am
+away."
+
+"Away?" Beppi queried, "where are you going?"
+
+"Back to fight," the Captain replied, "and perhaps I shall be gone for
+a long, long time, and of course, while I am gone I shall expect you to
+take care of your sister."
+
+"Oh, Lucia can take care of herself," Beppi laughed, "she always has,
+and of Nana and me, too, but I'll be good if you say so, only can't I
+go down to the shore once in a while?"
+
+"Of course, darling," Lucia answered for the Captain, "but you must
+tell Nana where you are going."
+
+"No, I will tell you I think," Beppi said gravely.
+
+The Captain got up and he walked beside him to the house.  There was a
+chance that the bright sword might be taken from its chamois case, and
+Beppi never missed a chance of seeing it if he could help it.
+
+Lucia, left alone in the garden, looked out over the low wall to the
+west.  The bay of Naples stretched out blue and glistening in the last
+rays of the sun, and the gray of the old house took on a soft pink tint.
+
+"It is a fairy palace, I believe."  Lucia buried her face in her basket
+and whispered to the flowers.
+
+"I wonder if it will disappear when my fairy godfather goes away, or if
+it will stay and be ours to keep for him until he comes back, for he
+must come back, he must, he must, he must," she finished almost angrily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BACK TO FIGHT
+
+A big gray car, very like the one that had come to Cellino, drove up
+before the door of the Riccardi villa two days later.
+
+The Captain, once his mind was made up, did not waste any time in
+carrying out his plans.  He was eager to rejoin his comrades in the
+north, but when the time came to leave he was very sorry to say good-by
+to Lucia.  She had found a warm and secure spot in his big heart, and
+he knew he would miss her gay chatter and the laughing expression of
+her eyes.
+
+All the household were on the steps to say good-by, even Nana had been
+prevailed upon to leave her seat in the garden by the well, and her
+lace bobbins, long enough to see him off.
+
+Beppi danced about excitedly.  "Oh, please hurry up and end the old
+war," he cried impatiently, "and come back, we will be so lonely
+without you.  I promise to be very, very good."
+
+"That's right, and when I come home I shall bring you all the souvenirs
+I promised; an Austrian helmet and a piece of shell," the Captain
+replied.
+
+"And your sword, don't forget that," Beppi reminded him.
+
+"Oh no, of course I won't forget that," the Captain swung Beppi high in
+the air above his head and kissed him, then he turned to Lucia.
+
+"I will be good too," she promised, laughing.
+
+"Of course you will, but you must be happy too, that is the most
+important of all," the Captain said seriously.  "Be sure and pick all
+the flowers in the garden and stay out in the sunshine all day."
+
+"And may I take the flowers to the hospital?" Lucia asked, "we have so
+many in the house, and the sick soldiers would love them so."
+
+"Yes, do what you like with them," the Captain replied, "but be
+careful, don't do anything dangerous, you are such a spunky little
+fire-brand, that I can't help worrying."
+
+"Oh, but you mustn't, I will be so very careful.  Besides there is
+nothing to do down here, it is not like Cellino."
+
+"Well, you can't always be sure," the Captain said, his eyes twinkling,
+"if there was any danger you'd be sure to be in the heart of it."
+
+"No, I will close my eyes tight," Lucia promised, "and walk in the
+other direction, that is, unless it was something very, very important."
+
+"I thought so.  Well, I guess you'll be safe here, safer than you've
+ever been before, anyway," the Captain said, "and now good-by."
+
+He kissed her low, broad forehead, very gently.
+
+"Good-by, fairy godfather, come back soon."  Lucia tried not to let her
+voice tremble.
+
+The Captain got into the car hurriedly.  He waved to the group on the
+steps until he was out of sight.
+
+Lucia went back into the house, but the spacious rooms and high
+ceilings only added to her unhappiness.  She almost longed for the
+comfort of the tiny old cottage and the familiar sight of the green bed.
+
+She wandered about listlessly; she was quite alone.  Nana had gone back
+to her lace making, and Beppi was in the garden.  The old man and his
+wife--the Captain's faithful servants--were in the kitchen.
+
+In the library Lucia stopped before the rows of books and tried to read
+their titles.  But she gave it up and looked at the pictures, that
+amused her for a little while, for she thought they were beautiful, but
+she did not understand them.  She could not give anything her undivided
+attention for her thoughts were on the way with the Captain, and she
+was fighting against the unhappiness that threatened to overpower her.
+
+"Surely he will come back," she said, to a copy of Andrea del Sarto's
+St. John that hung above the mantel.  "This cruel war has taken my real
+father; it cannot take my godfather too."  She gave herself a little
+shake, "It is that I am lonely that I think such sad thoughts, I will
+go out to the garden and pick flowers for the soldiers."
+
+Accordingly she found her basket and scissors and spent the rest of the
+afternoon in the garden.  When her basket was piled high she put on her
+hat very carefully, regarding it from every angle of the Florentin
+mirror.  It was the first hat she had ever owned and she was very proud
+of it.
+
+When it was tilted to her satisfaction she took up the basket and went
+out by the garden gate.
+
+The hospital was a little over a mile away.  Lucia had visited it with
+Captain Riccardi.  It had formerly been a private villa and its
+terraced gardens went down to the water's edge.
+
+Lucia knew the way and she loitered along, enjoying the newness of the
+scenes about her.  Everything and everybody were so different, the
+fishermen with their bright sashes and Roman striped stocking caps, the
+old women and the young girls in their bright dresses, with great gold
+loops hanging from their ears.  Even the sound of their voices was
+different as they called out greetings to one another.
+
+Lucia decided that the very first thing she would do when the Captain
+came home would be to ask him for a pair of gold earrings.
+
+So occupied was she with her thoughts that she reached the gate to the
+hospital before she realized it.  She lifted the heavy knocker; an old
+man opened the door.
+
+"This is not visiting day, little one," he said, as he looked down at
+Lucia.
+
+"Oh, I am not visiting," she replied, "I brought these few flowers for
+the sick soldiers; will you take them?"
+
+"Indeed I will."  The old man held out his hand.  "Do you want the
+basket back again?"
+
+"Oh, no, there's no hurry for that, I will get it the next time I
+come," Lucia replied.  "I mean to bring flowers every day or two for
+the soldiers."
+
+"That is very kind of you," the old man smiled, "I'll take these right
+up."
+
+Lucia nodded and turned to go back along the road.  The sun was setting
+over the water, and below the bay beckoned invitingly.  She looked and
+decided to go home that way.
+
+She took a path that led to the water's edge.  It was steep, for that
+part of the coast rose high above the water.  She was tired when she
+reached the bottom and sat down to rest on the low stone wall.
+
+The soft lapping of the water made her drowsy, and she slipped to the
+sand, leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.
+
+There was not a sound but the soothing voice of nature, the ripple of
+the water, the sighing of the wind and the occasional cry of a sea bird.
+
+All the sounds together seemed to rock Lucia in a sort of lullaby, and
+it was not many minutes before she was asleep.
+
+When she awoke it was quite dark and she was conscious of a difference
+in the voice of the water.  A heavy regular splash, splash, grew nearer
+and nearer as she listened.  If she had been accustomed to living near
+the water she would have recognized it as the rhythmic stroke of oars,
+but she did not, and it was not until a shape loomed up in the dusk a
+little farther down the beach that she realized it was a boat.
+
+She got up and walked towards it.  If it was a fisherman's boat she
+wanted to see it, even if it meant being late to supper.
+
+But it was not a fisherman's boat, it was a light, high-sided row boat
+and the man in it stood up and pushed forward on his stout oars.
+
+He made a landing on the sand before Lucia reached him, and he jumped
+out hurriedly.
+
+Whatever his business was it occupied all his thoughts, for he did not
+look to right or left but ran straight to the wall.  Another figure
+came out of the shadows to meet him.  They spoke in whispers, but Lucia
+was near enough to hear what they said.
+
+She listened out of curiosity for it struck her as being rather strange
+that a man dressed in beautiful dark clothes, with a hat such as she
+had seen the men in Rome wear, should be out on the beach whispering in
+the shadow of the wall to a boatman.
+
+When she had listened she was even more surprised.
+
+"It's all right, I've fixed it, you can get aboard her at midnight."
+The boatman's voice was husky and very mysterious.
+
+"Be sure and be here on time," the man replied, "this spot is safe,
+wait until the guard has passed and then land.  If there is any danger,
+whistle."
+
+The boatman nodded.  "It's a risky business," he objected.
+
+"You will be well paid for it," the man answered sharply.  "Now go."
+
+Lucia watched him disappear into the dusk and waited until the boatman
+had rowed out of sight.  Then she straightened her hat and started for
+home, thinking very hard as she hurried along.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+AN INTERRUPTED SAIL
+
+When Lucia reached the road above she ran as fast as she could.  She
+had been so startled at what she had heard that her thoughts were
+confused.  But as she hurried along her mind cleared.
+
+"Perhaps they are all right, and the man is just going for a row," she
+said to herself.  But the memory of the boatman's words returned to her.
+
+"It's a risky business."
+
+She did her best to attach no importance to it, but back in her brain
+was the firm conviction that the man with the hat was one of the
+Austrians that Roderigo had spoken of.  "An Italian citizen on the face
+of things, but in their hearts--" Lucia instinctively mimicked
+Roderigo's gesture.  She knew too, that argue though she might, she
+would interfere.
+
+When she reached the garden she heard Beppi crying and saw a light in
+his window above.  Beppi did not cry very often and by the sound she
+thought he was in pain.
+
+She hurried into the house and ran upstairs.  Nana met her at the door
+of Beppi's room; she was wringing her hands.
+
+"So you are back," she cried, "well, praise the Saints for that, I
+thought I should lose you both on the same day."
+
+"'Lose us,' what are you talking about?" Lucia demanded, pushing past
+her to the bed.
+
+"Beppino mio, what has happened?" she asked, though there was little
+need to question for a deep cut in Beppi's cheek, from which the blood
+spurted freely, was answer enough.
+
+"My face, Lucia, it hurts me so, make it stop bleeding," Beppi pleaded,
+"I fell on a big rock in the garden."
+
+"Caro mio, how long ago?" Lucia asked excitedly, "here quick, Nana, get
+me some hot water, I will wash it as I saw Sister Veronica wash the
+soldiers.  There, there, darling, it will soon be better."
+
+With trembling fingers Nana and the old servant, Amelie, brought a
+basin and a towel, and Lucia bathed the wound.  It was a deep cut and
+poor Beppi winced as the water touched it.
+
+After a little the blood stopped and Lucia bound up his head in soft
+white cloths.
+
+"Stay by me," Beppi begged, "don't go way downstairs, I am afraid."
+
+"Poor angel," Amelie cried, "he won't be left alone; old Amelie will
+bring up the little sister's dinner and she can eat by his bedside,"
+and she hurried off, crooning to herself as she went to the kitchen
+below.
+
+Nana, now that she knew that Beppi was not going to die, started
+scolding him for not looking where he was going, but Lucia sent her
+downstairs.
+
+"He is too tired to listen to-night, Nana, and anyway he will be
+careful.  Do go away and rest a little, you must be tired."
+
+When Nana had left, Lucia returned to the bed and sat down.  She did
+not have any idea what time it was, and she knew that it would be
+impossible to leave Beppi until he was quiet.  She hardly touched the
+tempting tray that Amelie brought her, and her voice trembled as she
+asked what time it was.
+
+"Ten minutes after seven," Amelie told her after she had carefully
+consulted the big hall clock.
+
+"Oh!"  Lucia was surprised and relieved.  She thought she must have
+slept for hours, but now she realized that in reality she had only
+dozed for a few minutes.
+
+She took Beppi's hand and set about putting him to sleep.  It was a
+difficult task.  She told him story after story, but at the end of each
+his eyes were bright and his demand for another one as insistent as
+ever.
+
+Lucia kept time by the chimes of the clock, and at ten she turned out
+the light.
+
+"I am coming to bed beside you," she explained as Beppi protested, "I
+think the light will hurt your head."  She took off her dress and
+slipped on her nightgown.  Beppi snuggled contentedly into her arm, and
+she went on with her stories.
+
+"Sing to me," he asked at last, sleepily, "your song," and Lucia began
+very softly to sing.
+
+  "O'er sea the silver star brightly is glowing,
+  Rocked now the billows are.
+  Soft winds are blowing,
+  Come to my bark with me.
+  Come sail across the sea.
+  Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia."
+
+
+Beppi's even breathing rewarded her efforts.  She slipped her arm from
+under his head and stole softly out of the room just as the clock
+chimed eleven.  She put on her dress hurriedly.
+
+The house was very still as she crept downstairs and out into the
+garden.  The stars were out and it was an easy matter to find her way.
+She ran until she reached the path that led to the shore, then she
+moved very cautiously.  She hoped to reach the guard, tell him what she
+had heard, and then go home, but when she reached the beach she
+realized that she was too late.
+
+There was no guard in sight, but her ears detected the splash of oars,
+and she knew that the boatman was coming.  She crouched down beside the
+wall and waited.  She watched him pull his boat up on shore and then
+walk swiftly off in the opposite direction from her.
+
+She did not know what to do, and she was frightened--badly frightened.
+The broad shining water on one side and the hill on the other seemed to
+hem her in, and she felt lost.  It was not like the mountains of
+Cellino, where she knew every path.
+
+She crouched down by the wall and waited.  Another figure joined the
+boatman, and they stood still, a little farther up the beach.  Lucia
+knew it was the man she had seen that afternoon, and she knew too that
+in a very few seconds they would turn around and come back to the boat.
+
+With a courage born of fear she jumped up and before she quite realized
+what she was doing she was tugging at the boat.
+
+It was not very high up on the beach for the boatman had left it so
+that it would be easily shoved off.  Fortunately the tide was going
+out.  Lucia's arms were strong and she pushed with a will.  The boat
+found the water and drifted silently away.
+
+Her feet were wet, but she did not realize it.  She crept back to the
+beach and flattened herself against the wall.  The men returned.  They
+too kept in the shadow of the wall.  It was not until they were almost
+brushing against Lucia that the boatman noticed that his boat was gone.
+
+"The Saints preserve us!" he exclaimed.  "It has been spirited away.  I
+knew I should be punished for doing such a black deed."
+
+"Spirits, nonsense!" the man spoke angrily.  "It is your own stupid
+carelessness, you did not pull it up on shore far enough.  You
+rattlebrain idiot, I've a good mind to kill you for this.  See, there
+is your boat out there--empty--go and get it.  Do you hear?"
+
+"But how?" the boatman wrung his hands desperately.  "I do not know how
+to swim.  I will die.  Santa Lucia, Saint of sailormen, spare me," he
+screamed as the man lifted his heavy cane to strike him.
+
+"Don't you dare strike that man!" Lucia exclaimed, "he did pull his
+boat up on shore, but I pushed it off.  I heard you this afternoon, and
+I knew you wanted to go away to that big ship out there, and perhaps
+sail to Austria.  I know what you are, you two-faced man.  You speak,
+you laugh, you scold in Italian, and all the time your black heart is
+Austrian."
+
+"You shall not go away from here.  I, Lucia Rudini, tell you, you shall
+not!"
+
+"Santa Lucia!  A miracle!"  The boatman trembled with fear, but the man
+was not so superstitious.  He caught Lucia's arm and shook her roughly.
+
+"You did it, you little fiend, well, you shall get what you deserve for
+your meddling."  He motioned to the frightened boatman.  "Get me a
+rope, I'll make a gag of my handkerchief; hurry man, if you are found
+you will be shot."
+
+"But I dare not, I dare not, she is the spirit of Santa Lucia.  She
+came when I called.  The Saints have mercy!"
+
+With a growl of disgust the man turned from him and caught both of
+Lucia's wrists in his firm clasp.  Then he lifted his cane.
+
+"She must not tell until we are well away," he said, and brought the
+cane down heavily.  It was his intention to stun Lucia, but he had
+miscalculated when he expected her to stand still and receive the blow.
+
+She dodged to the right and began kicking and struggling.  The boatman
+wrung his hands and screamed for help.
+
+It was not many minutes before the guard, attracted by the noise, came
+running towards them.  The man's back was towards him, but Lucia saw
+him and stopped struggling.
+
+The man raised his cane again but this time he stopped, because the
+muzzle of a gun was pressing him between the shoulder blades.
+
+Lucia turned to the guard and explained hurriedly.  In the starlight
+she could see that he had a long scar across his face, and she felt
+very secure.
+
+"I know your nephew, Roderigo," she ended, "he helped me blow up the
+bridge in Cellino."
+
+The soldier nodded.
+
+"I know about that, Seņorina," he said respectfully, "and the rest of
+your fine deeds.  You were born for the work it seems.  Move an inch
+and off comes your head," he turned furiously on the man who had tried
+to edge away.  Then he continued in the soft, courteous tones he had
+been using.  "I hope some day you will do me the honor of telling me of
+the attack yourself," he said.  "It is sometimes very lonely here while
+I am on guard."
+
+His gentle tone, and above all the flattering respect he showed, gave
+Lucia back her courage.
+
+"Of course I will come," she said, "just as soon as my little brother
+is better.  He fell and cut his head, and, and--well, I guess I'd
+better be going back, he may awaken and be frightened.  Good night."
+
+"Good night, Seņorina," the soldier replied, "I am proud to have seen
+you."
+
+"Now then,--" his voice became harsh again as he turned to his
+prisoners, "go along, one wink of your eyelid in the wrong direction
+and I will shoot."
+
+He marched them off quickly, and Lucia, because the affair seemed
+finished, started for home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE END OF THE STORY
+
+"Tell me a story," Beppi demanded when she was lying beside him once
+more, "I'm all awake again and my face hurts."
+
+"What shall it be about?" Lucia asked, stroking his hair.  She was
+still trembling from the reaction of her adventure, and Beppi's warm
+little body snuggled close in her arms was comforting.
+
+"Go on with the story about the soldier and the bad girl that teased
+him, and the good girl that was the fairy princess."
+
+"Very well, but shut your eyes.  Let me see," Lucia began, "the soldier
+went off to the war, and when he came back he was wounded and the good
+girl took care of him, and they decided to be married and live happily
+ever after.  And the bad girl when she saw the poor soldier wounded was
+sorry she had teased him, and she never did it again.  And because she
+was good all kinds of nice things happened to her.  She found her fairy
+godfather, and he had a magic carpet, and first thing you know she was
+in the middle of a beautiful garden with her little--"
+
+"Oh, bother, I knew that wasn't a real story," Beppi protested.  "It's
+just about Roderigo and Maria and the Captain and you.  And oh, Lucia,
+how silly you are, you called yourself the bad girl when really you're
+the goodest in the whole world."
+
+"Am I, Beppino mio?" Lucia laughed.  "I don't think so."
+
+"Well, I say you are," Beppi replied, drowsily, "and the Captain thinks
+so too, so--"  He dropped off to sleep.
+
+"I wonder if he would say so if he had seen me to-night," Lucia mused,
+"I had to do it, it was the only way, but oh, dear, I do hope I don't
+ever hear any more wicked men again."  She yawned and looked towards
+the window.  The first gray light of dawn streaked the sky.
+
+"I guess I'll stay in the garden with Beppi and Nana and Garibaldi, and
+wait for my fairy god-father's return," she said as she closed her eyes.
+
+As if to echo her words a faint "naa," came up from the stable yard
+below.  Garibaldi was agreeing with her mistress.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCIA RUDINI***
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+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lucia Rudini, by Martha Trent</title>
+<style type="text/css">
+BODY { color: Black;
+       background: White;
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+</head>
+<body>
+<h1 align="center">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lucia Rudini, by Martha Trent</h1>
+<pre>
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p>Title: Lucia Rudini</p>
+<p>       Somewhere in Italy</p>
+<p>Author: Martha Trent</p>
+<p>Release Date: February 2, 2006  [eBook #17666]</p>
+<p>Language: English</p>
+<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCIA RUDINI***</p>
+<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br>
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<A NAME="img-cover"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-cover.jpg" ALT="Cover art--Lucia Rudini" BORDER="2" WIDTH="242" HEIGHT="506">
+<H4>
+[Illustration: Cover art&mdash;Lucia Rudini.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="img-front"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="&quot;My pet, see how you frightened the brave Austrian soldier&quot;" BORDER="2" WIDTH="422" HEIGHT="612">
+<H4>
+[Frontispiece: "My pet, see how you frightened the brave Austrian soldier"]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+LUCIA RUDINI
+</H1>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+SOMEWHERE IN ITALY
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+BY
+</H4>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MARTHA TRENT
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+ILLUSTRATED BY
+</H5>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+CHAS. L. WRENN
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+NEW YORK
+<BR><BR>
+BARSE &amp; HOPKINS
+<BR><BR>
+PUBLISHERS
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+Copyright, 1918
+<BR><BR>
+by
+<BR><BR>
+Barse &amp; Hopkins
+</H5>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+DEDICATED TO
+<BR><BR>
+R. J. U.
+</H4>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CONTENTS
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<CENTER>
+
+<TABLE WIDTH="80%">
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAPTER</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">&nbsp;</TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap01">CELLINO</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap02">MARIA</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap03">BEFORE DAYBREAK</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap04">LOST</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap05">IN THE TOOL SHED</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap06">GARIBALDI PERFORMS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap07">THE BEGGAR</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap08">THE SURPRISE ATTACK</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap09">THE BRIDGE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap10">GARIBALDI, STRETCHER-BEARER</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap11">THE AMERICAN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap12">A REUNION</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap13">AN INTERRUPTED DREAM</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap14">THE FAIRY GODFATHER</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap15">EXCITING NEWS</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap16">THE KING</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap17">GOOD-BY TO CELLINO</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XVIII&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap18">IN THE GARDEN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap19">BACK TO FIGHT</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XX&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap20">AN INTERRUPTED SAIL</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XXI&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap21">THE END OF THE STORY</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+</TABLE>
+
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+</H2>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-cover">
+Cover art - Lucia Rudini.
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-front">
+"'My pet, see how you frightened the brave<BR>
+Austrian soldier'"&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. <I>Frontispiece</I>
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-025">
+"The Soldiers came and chattered and laughed"
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-035">
+"Together they drove the goats before them"
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-127">
+"Lucia and Garibaldi toiled up the hill, each one<BR>
+using every bit of their strength"
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap01"></A>
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+LUCIA RUDINI
+</H1>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER I
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CELLINO
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Lucia Rudini folded her arms across her gaily-colored bodice, tilted
+her dark head to one side and laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I see you, little lazy bones," she said.  "Wake up!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A small body curled into a ball in the grass at her feet moved
+slightly, and a sleepy voice whimpered, "Oh, Lucia, go away.  I was
+having such a nice dream about our soldiers up there, and I was just
+killing a whole regiment of Austrians, and now you come and spoil it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A curly black head appeared above the tops of the flowers, and two
+reproachful brown eyes stared up at her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia laughed again.  "Poor Beppino, some one is always disturbing your
+fine dreams, aren't they?  But come now, I have something far better
+than dreams for you," she coaxed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What?"  Beppi was on his feet in an instant, and the sleepy look
+completely disappeared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ha, ha, now you are curious," Lucia teased, "aren't you?  Well, you
+shan't see what I have, until you promise to do what I ask."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi's round eyes narrowed, and a cunning expression appeared in their
+velvety depth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose I am not to tell Nana that you left the house before sunrise
+this morning," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked at him for a brief moment in startled surprise, then she
+replied quickly, "No, that is not it at all.  What harm would it do if
+you told Nana?  I am often up before sunrise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, but you don't go to the mountains," Beppi interrupted.  "Oh, I
+saw you walking smack into the guns.  What were you doing?"  He dropped
+his threatening tone, so incongruous with his tiny body, and coaxed
+softly, "please tell me, sister mine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Silly head!" Lucia was breathing freely again, "there is nothing to
+tell.  I heard the guns all night, and they made me restless, so I went
+for a walk.  Go and tell Nana if you like, I don't care."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi's small mind returned to the subject at hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then if it isn't that, what is it you want me to do?" he inquired, and
+continued without giving his sister time to reply.  "It's to take care
+of them, I suppose," he grumbled, pointing a browned berry-stained
+little finger at a herd of goats that were grazing contentedly a little
+farther down the slope.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, that's it, and good care of them too," Lucia replied.  "You are
+not to go to sleep again, remember, and be sure and watch Garibaldi, or
+she will stray away and get lost."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And a good riddance too," Beppi commented under his breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He did not share in the general admiration for the "Illustrious and
+Gentile Seņora Garibaldi," the favorite goat of his sister's herd.
+Perhaps the vivid recollection of Garibaldi's hard head may have
+accounted for his aversion.  Lucia heard his remark and was quick to
+defend her pet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Aren't you ashamed to speak so?" she exclaimed, "I've a good mind not
+to give you the candy after all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Lucia, please, please!" Beppi begged.  "I will take such good care
+of them, I promise, and if you like, I will pick the tenderest grass
+for old crosspatch," he added grudgingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia smiled in triumph, and from the pocket of her dress she pulled
+out a small pink paper bag.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here you are then," she said; "and I won't be away very long.  I am
+just going to see Maria for a few minutes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi caught the bag as she tossed it, and lingered over the opening of
+it.  He wanted to prolong his pleasure as long as possible.  Candy in
+war times was a treat and one that the Rudinis seldom indulged in.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As if to echo his thoughts, Lucia called back over her shoulder as she
+walked away, "Don't eat them fast, for they are the last you will get
+for a long time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi did not bother to reply, but he acted on the advice, and selected
+a big lemon drop that looked hard and everlasting, and set about
+sucking it contentedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia walked quickly over the grass to a small white-washed cottage a
+little distance away.  She approached it from the side and peeked
+through one of the tiny windows.  Old Nana Rudini, her grandmother, was
+sitting in a low chair beside the table in the low-ceilinged room.  Her
+head nodded drowsily, and the white lace that she was making lay
+neglected in her lap.  Lucia smiled to herself in satisfaction and
+stole gently away from the window.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Rudinis lived about a mile beyond the north gate of Cellino, an old
+Italian town built on the summit of a hill.  Cellino was not
+sufficiently important to appear in the guide books, but it boasted of
+two possessions above its neighbors,&mdash;a beautiful old church opposite
+the market place, and a broad stone wall that dated back to the days of
+Roman supremacy.  It was still in perfect preservation, and completely
+surrounded the town giving it the appearance of a mediaeval fortress,
+rather than a twentieth century village.  Two roads led to it, one from
+the south through the Porto Romano, and one from the north, up-hill and
+from the valley below.  It was up the latter that Lucia walked.  She
+was in a hurry and she swung along with a firm, graceful step, her
+head, crowned by its heavy dark hair, held high and her shoulders
+straight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldier on guard at the gate watched her as she drew nearer.  She
+was a pleasing picture in her bright-colored gown against the glaring
+sun on the dusty white road.  Roderigo Vicello had only arrived that
+morning in Cellino, and Lucia was not the familiar little figure to him
+that she was to the other soldiers.  But she was none the less welcome
+for that, after the monotony of the day, and Roderigo as she came
+nearer straightened up self-consciously and tilted his black patent
+leather hat with its rakish cluster of cock feathers a little more to
+one side.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good day, Seņorina," he said smiling, as Lucia paused in the grateful
+shadow of the wall to catch her breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good day to you," she replied good-naturedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're new, aren't you?  I never saw you before.  Where is Paolo?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Paolo and his regiment go up to the front this afternoon," Roderigo
+replied.  "We have just come to relieve them for a short time, then we
+too will follow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia nodded.  "You come from the south, don't you?" she inquired,
+looking at him with frank admiration; "from near Napoli I should guess
+by your speech."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo laughed.  "You guess right, I do, and now it is my turn to ask
+questions.  Where do you come from?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Down there about a mile," Lucia pointed, "in the white cottage by the
+road."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo looked at the dark hair and eyes and the gaudily colored dress
+before him, and shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now perhaps," he admitted, "but you were born in the south where the
+sun really shines and the sky is blue and not a dull gray, or else
+where did you come by those eyes and those straight shoulders?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked up at the dazzling sky above her and laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And I suppose that spot is Napoli," she teased.  "Well, you don't
+guess as well as I do, for I was born here and I have lived here all my
+life."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'All my life,'" Roderigo mimicked.  "How very long you make that
+sound, Seņorina, and yet you look no older than my little sister."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia drew herself up to her full height and did not deign a direct
+reply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fourteen years is a long time, Seņor," she said gravely, "when you
+have many worries."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you are too young to have many worries," Roderigo protested; "or I
+beg your pardon, perhaps you have some one up there?" he pointed to the
+north, where the high peaks of the Alps were visible at no great
+distance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, not now," Lucia replied; "for my father was killed a year ago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo was silent for a little, then he raised one shoulder in a
+characteristic shrug.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"War," he said slowly.  "We all have our turn."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia nodded and returned almost at once to her gay mood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you are still wondering how I got my black hair and eyes up here,"
+she laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I will tell you.  My mother came from your beautiful Napoli, and
+Nana, that is my grandmother, says I inherited my foolish love of gay
+clothes from her.  Nana does not like gay clothes, but my father always
+liked me to wear them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then your mother is dead too?" Roderigo asked respectfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When I was a little girl, and when Beppino was a tiny baby.  Beppi is
+my little brother," Lucia explained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo's eyes were shining with delight.  There was something in
+Lucia's soft tones that filled his homesick heart with joy.  She was so
+different from most of the girls from the north, with their strange
+high voices and unfriendly manners.  If she wasn't exactly from the
+south she was near it.  He wanted to sit down beside her and tell her
+all about his home and his family, for he was very young and very
+homesick, but Lucia decreed otherwise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now do see what you have done," she scolded suddenly.  "You have kept
+me talking here until the sun is well down, and I will have to hurry if
+I want to see Maria and return home before Nana misses me.  So much for
+gabbing on the high road with some one who should be watching for
+suspicious spies instead of asking questions," she finished with a
+provoking toss of her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Which sentence, considering that she had asked the first questions
+herself, was unjust.  Roderigo, however, did not seem to resent the
+blame laid upon him.  He did not even offer to contradict, but watched
+Lucia until she disappeared around a corner a few streets beyond the
+gate, and then he turned resolutely about and scanned the road with
+searching determination, as if he really believed that the open,
+smiling country about him might be concealing a spy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Lucia disappeared around the comer of the narrow street that led
+to the market place, she stopped long enough to laugh softly to herself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The great silly!  He took all the blame himself instead of boxing my
+ears for being impertinent.  A fine soldier he'll make!  If I can scare
+him, what will the guns do?" she said aloud, and then with a roguish
+gleam of mischief in her eyes she hurried on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The narrow side streets through which she passed were almost deserted,
+but when she reached the market place it was thronged with people.
+Every one was out to look at the new troops, and in the little square
+the great white umbrellas over the market stalls were surrounded by
+soldiers.  Their picturesque uniforms added a gala note to the
+commonplace little scene.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia elbowed her way through the jostling, laughing men to a certain
+umbrella, a little to one side of the open space left clear before the
+church.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap02"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER II
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MARIA
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+A neatly-dressed, dumpy little woman in a black dress and shawl sat
+beneath it, and behind a row of stone crocks beside her was a young
+girl several years older than Lucia, who ladled out cupfuls of the milk
+that the crocks contained, and gave them, always accompanied by a shy
+little smile, to the soldiers in return for their pennies.  She was
+Maria Rudini, Lucia's cousin, a pretty, gentle-featured girl with shy,
+bewildered eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+People often spoke of her quiet loveliness until they saw her younger
+cousin.  Then their attention was apt to be diverted, for Maria's
+delicate charms seemed pale beside Lucia's southern beauty, and in the
+same manner her courage grew less.  Although she was three years older,
+Maria never questioned Lucia's authority to lead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Lucia's father had died, the kindly heart of Maria's mother had
+prompted her to offer her home to his children, but Lucia had declined
+the offer.  She said she would undertake the support of old Nana and
+Beppi and herself.  There was considerable disapproval over her
+decision, but as was generally the case, Lucia had her own way.  Her
+method of wage-earning was a simple one.  Her father had owned a herd
+of goats and a garden, and the two had provided ample support for the
+needs of the family.  At his death Lucia, with characteristic
+selection, had given up the garden and kept the goats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Every morning she milked them and carried the bright pails to town,
+where her aunt sold them at her little stall along with cheese and
+sausage.  The profits wore not great, but they wore enough.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is that the milk I brought in this morning?" Lucia asked incredulously
+as she approached the stall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, no, my dear," her aunt replied, shaking her head.  "You brought
+scarcely two full pails, and they were gone before you had reached the
+gate.  We have had a great day, so many soldiers, it is a shame that
+you cannot bring in more, for we could sell it.  Just see, we had to
+send to old Paolo's for this, and it is not as rich as yours of course,
+for his poor beasts have only the weeds between the cobblestones to
+eat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is because he is a lazy old man and won't take the trouble to
+lead his herd out on the slopes to graze," Lucia replied.  She put her
+hands on her hips and swayed back and forth as she talked.  It was a
+little trait she had inherited from her mother, and one of her most
+characteristic poses.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How well you look to-day!" Maria said, smiling.  "I have been wishing
+you would come, we are so busy&mdash;see, here come a group of soldiers all
+together.  Will you help me?"  She held out a dipper with a long
+handle, which Lucia accepted critically.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't like charging full price for this milk which is more like
+water," she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nonsense, child, it is business, the soldiers know no difference; it
+is only your silly pride," her aunt scolded.  She was a little in awe
+of her determined niece, and very often she was provoked at her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If you can't bring us more milk, we must do the best we can," she said
+meaningly.  "You used to bring us twice this much."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia shrugged her shoulders and tossed her head.  "I can bring no more
+than I bring," she said, and turned her attention to the soldiers
+before her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the explanation did not satisfy her thrifty aunt.  She was no
+authority on goats, but she had enough sense to know that the supply of
+milk does not dwindle to one-half the usual quantity over night.  Still
+she did not voice her suspicions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia and Maria were busy for the rest of the afternoon.  Lucia's
+flowered dress and brilliantly-colored bandana that she wore tied over
+her head, were added attractions to Seņora Rudini's stall, and the
+soldiers from the south came and chattered and laughed.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-025"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-025.jpg" ALT="&quot;The soldiers came and chattered and laughed.&quot;" BORDER="2" WIDTH="412" HEIGHT="536">
+<H4>
+[Illustration: "The soldiers came and chattered and laughed."]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"What a pity we have no more," Maria said as the last crock was
+emptied, and they set about preparing to return home.  "We could go on
+selling all night now that Lucia is here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, it is high time to go home, I am tired," her mother replied
+crossly.  "Hurry with what you are doing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia was busy closing the big umbrella.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is late, I will have to hurry, or Beppi will have let all my goats
+run away&mdash;he and his dreams.  He is a lazy little one, but I can't bear
+to scold him," she said.  "He is too little to understand."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her aunt nodded.  "Let him dream, but if you are not careful, he will
+be badly spoiled."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No fear of that," Lucia replied, "while Nana has a word to say.  She
+is always for bringing him up properly, but little good it does.  Now
+we are ready, I will help you carry home your things, if you will let
+Maria walk with me to the gate," Lucia bargained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, she may I suppose, though she should be at home helping me prepare
+the dinner.  I suppose you have some secrets between you that an old
+grayhead can't hear," she grumbled good-naturedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes a fine secret!" Lucia replied laughing, as she picked up the
+greatest share of the burden and led the way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria and her mother lived in an old stone house that had once been a
+palace.  It was hardly palatial now, but it was very picturesque.  It
+housed five families besides the Rudinis, and in spite of the many
+lines of wash that floated from its windows, it still retained enough
+of its old grandeur to be an interesting spot to the occasional tourist
+who visited Cellino.  Maria and her mother were very proud of this
+distinction.  It made up somewhat for the loss of their house, which
+they had been forced to leave, when six months before Maria's two
+brothers had gone off to fight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The new quarters were not far from the market place and they soon
+reached them.  Their rooms were on the ground floor, and Lucia and
+Maria made haste to drop what they were carrying and start off again at
+a much slower pace for the gate.  The sun was low in the west.  It was
+setting in a bank of golden clouds over the little river that ran
+parallel with the west wall of the town.  Lucia stopped to look at it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rain to-morrow, I suppose, by the look of those clouds," she said, a
+real pucker of concern between her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And no wonder," Maria agreed, "with all this banging of guns one would
+think it would rain all the time out of pity for so much suffering."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now, Maria, don't begin to cry," Lucia protested not unkindly.  "It
+will do you no good, and it will only make things look worse than they
+really are."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How can they?" Maria demanded, with more show of resentment than was
+usual with her quiet acceptance of things.  "Only this morning I sold
+milk to such a sweet boy from the south.  He had great sad, brown eyes
+like yours, and he was very young and unhappy.  His father and brother
+were both killed, and now he is going."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But perhaps he won't be killed," Lucia said practically.  "Anyway, he
+will get a chance to do a little killing first, and surely that is
+enough to satisfy any one, or ought to be."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Lucia you are cruel sometimes," Maria protested.  "Who wants to
+kill?  Surely not these happy boys, and they don't want to be killed
+either.  It is all too terrible to think about, and you are an
+unnatural girl to talk as you do.  Why, I don't believe you have cried
+once since the war began, even when the poor wounded were brought here,
+and we saw their faces all shot away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria's anger rose as she talked, and Lucia listened curiously.  It was
+something new for Maria to take her to task.  Her mind flew back over
+the past year, and she saw herself with her face buried in the grass
+and her hands clenched, and remembered her furious anger and her vows
+of vengeance, but she had to admit that her cousin was right; she had
+shed no tears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are not made the same way, I guess," she replied ruefully to
+Maria's charges.  "I cannot cry, I can only hate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But hate won't do any good," Maria protested feebly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It will do more than tears," Lucia replied shortly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They continued their walk in silence, now and then nodding to an
+acquaintance or bowing respectfully to the Sisters of Charity who lived
+at the big Convent just outside the Porto Romano, and who came to town
+to take care of the sick and cheer the broken-hearted.  When they
+reached the north gate Lucia stopped.  Roderigo was still on duty, but
+this time he did not pause in his brisk walk up and down to chat.  He
+never even glanced in the girls' direction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria nodded towards him and whispered excitedly, "That is the boy I
+was just now speaking of.  Doesn't he look sad?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, he looks quite cross," Lucia replied in a voice loud enough to be
+overheard, and her eyes sparkled with mischief as she added, "I wonder
+if he will let me through the gate to get home."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"May I pass, sir, please?  I live a little beyond the wall, but I am
+not a spy," she said with mock humility.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo blushed.  A soldier does not like to be made fun of,
+particularly when some one else is present.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pass," he said gruffly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia laughed provokingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good night, Maria," she said as she kissed her cousin.  "Sweet dreams.
+I may not be in very early in the morning, there is so much to do, you
+know, but I will bring as much milk as possible," she finished.  Then
+without even a glance at Roderigo she walked through the gate and down
+the wall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she had walked for a little distance she looked back.  Maria and
+the soldier were in earnest conversation.  Maria in her timid way was
+apologizing for her cousin's rudeness, and Roderigo was beginning to
+have doubts of the superiority of Southern beauty over the Northern,
+particularly when a gentle spirit was added to the charm of the latter.
+Lucia did not know she was the subject of their talk.  She shrugged her
+shoulders and turned her thoughts to a more important question that was
+puzzling her.  It was, how to slip out of the house the next morning
+without disturbing the already suspicious Beppi.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap03"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER III
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BEFORE DAYBREAK
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Lucia found Beppi asleep in the grass, curled up in the same position
+that he had been in earlier in the day.  One of his little hands had
+tight hold of the precious pink bag, and a sticky smile of blissful
+content turned up the corners of his full red lips.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked at him and shook her head.  There might have been
+twenty-seven instead of seven years between them, for there was
+something protective in her expression.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Little lazy bones, asleep again!" she said, shaking him gently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi stirred, one eye opened, and then with a sudden rush of memory he
+sat up and began excitedly: "I just this minute fell asleep, just this
+very second, truly, Lucia!  I have watched the goats, oh, so carefully,
+and they have not stirred,&mdash;see there they are only a little farther
+away than when you left.  I only closed my eyes because I thought I
+might go on with that nice dream, but I didn't," he finished
+sorrowfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look at the sun," she pointed.  "It is late, you should have driven
+the goats home long ago.  But I knew you would go to asleep after you
+ate up all the candy, such a naughty little brother that you are.  What
+kind of a soldier would you make, I'd like to know, dreaming every few
+minutes?  Come along, get up,&mdash;we must hurry back to Nana, or she will
+be worried."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She took his hand and together they drove the goats before them to the
+cottage.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-035"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-035.jpg" ALT="&quot;Together they drove the goats before them.&quot;" BORDER="2" WIDTH="412" HEIGHT="560">
+<H4>
+[Illustration: "Together they drove the goats before them."]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Nana Rudini was waiting for them at the door.  She was a little,
+wrinkled-up, old woman with bright blue eyes and thin gray hair.  She
+spoke very seldom and always in a high querulous voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So you're back at last, are you?" she greeted, when the children were
+within hearing.  "Supper's been on the stove for too long.  What kept
+you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very busy day, Nana," Lucia spoke in much the same tone she had used
+towards Beppi.  "I had to help Aunt and Maria at market.  More troops
+have arrived and the streets are crowded."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, sister, you never told me that!" Beppi said accusingly.  "Where
+are they from?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The south mostly," Lucia replied, "fine soldiers they are too, if you
+can judge by their looks."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Which you can't," old Nana interrupted shortly.  "Stop your talking
+and come in to supper."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Right away," Lucia promised, and hurried off to shut up her goats in
+the small, half-tumbled-down shack at the back of the cottage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Supper at the Rudinis consisted of boiled spaghetti, black bread and
+cheese, with a cup full of milk apiece.  It was not a very tempting
+meal, but Lucia was hungry and ate with a hearty appetite.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After the three bowls had been washed and put away in the cupboard, she
+helped her grandmother undress, and settled her comfortably in the
+green enameled bed with its brass trimmings, that occupied a good part
+of the small room.  Lucia's mother had brought it with her from Naples,
+and it was the most cherished and admired article of furniture that the
+Rudinis owned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you comfortable, Nana?" Lucia inquired gently, as she smoothed the
+fat, hard pillows in an attempt to make a rest for the old gray head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, go to bed, child," Nana replied, and without more ado she closed
+her eyes and went to sleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia climbed up the ladder to the loft, and was soon cuddled down
+beside Beppi in a bed of fresh straw.  Though she persisted in her
+determination that her grandmother sleep in state in the best bed, she
+herself preferred a simple and softer resting place.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me a story," Beppi demanded; "not about fairies and silly make
+believes, but about soldiers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But there are no pretty stories about soldiers, Beppino mio," Lucia
+protested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who wants pretty stories!" Beppi replied scornfully.  "<I>I</I> don't&mdash;tell
+me an exciting one about guns and war."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well I'll try, but be still," Lucia gave in, well knowing that
+she would not have to go very far.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Once upon a time," she began, "there was a soldier.  He had very big
+eyes, and he came from the south where the sun is very warm and the sky
+and the water are very, very blue."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Was he brave?" Beppi interrupted sleepily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes, he was very brave," Lucia replied hurriedly, "very brave, and
+he loved his country more than anything else in the world."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She waited but Beppi's voice commanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go on, don't stop."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, one day he was sent to guard a gate of a city, and he walked up
+and down before it with his gun on his shoulders, and no one could pass
+him unless it was a friend."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She paused again.  Beppi was breathing regularly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Old sleepy head!" Lucia whispered, and kissed him tenderly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The story was not continued and before many minutes she was fast asleep
+herself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was an hour before sunrise when she awoke.  The air that found its
+way into the little attic was damp and chill.  Lucia crept out of bed,
+being very careful not to disturb Beppi, and slipped hurriedly into her
+clothes.  With her shoes in her hand, she climbed gingerly down the
+ladder past her sleeping grandmother and out to the shed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good morning, Garibaldi, how are you this morning?" she said as she
+patted the stocky little neck of her pet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi submitted to her caress with a condescension worthy of the
+position her name gave her, and the other goats crowded to the open
+door, eager to leave their cramped quarters.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not yet, my dears," Lucia said softly, "it isn't time.  Here, Esther,
+I will milk you first.  You must all be good to-day, and Garibaldi, I
+don't want you to go running away if I have to leave you with Beppi,"
+she continued.  "You're nothing but goats, of course, but you know
+perfectly well that we are at war, and that you are very important, and
+must do your part.  Stop it, Miss, none of your pranks, I'm in a
+hurry," she chided the refractory Esther for an attempt at playfulness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There now, that's enough, I can't carry any more or I would.  Two
+pails only half full aren't much, but they help, I guess.  Now if it
+won't rain until I get there it will be all right, but I'll cover the
+pails to be on the safer side."  She found two covers and fitted them
+securely over the pails.  "Now children, good-by.  Be good till I come
+back, and don't go making any noise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She paused long enough to give Garibaldi a farewell pat and then left
+the shed closing the door behind her.  She looked up uneasily at the
+cottage, but everything seemed to be very still, so she picked up her
+pails and started off at as brisk a pace as possible.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She followed the main road that looked unnaturally white and ghostly in
+the pale dawn of the early morning.  It was down hill for about a mile,
+and traveling was comparatively easy at first, but when the road
+reached the bottom of the valley it stopped and seemed to straggle off
+into numerous little foot-paths.  The broadest and most traveled
+looking path Lucia followed, picking her way carefully for fear of
+stumbling and thus losing some of the precious milk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The path led up the other side of the valley.  It was a steep climb,
+and Lucia was tired when she reached the top.  She sat down for a while
+to rest before going on the remainder of the way.  The next path that
+she took turned abruptly to the right, and led up an even steeper hill
+to a tiny plateau above.  From it one could look down on Cellino across
+the valley.  When Lucia reached it she put down her pails in the shade
+of a big rock and looked about cautiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nothing seemed to stir.  The guns were quiet and nothing in the
+peaceful, secluded little spot suggested the close proximity of battle.
+The only human touch in sight was a small scrap of paper, held down by
+a stone on the flat rock above the pails.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia was not surprised, for she had done the same thing every morning
+for a week now.  She unfolded it.  As she expected, she found four
+brightly polished copper pennies and the words, "Thanks to the little
+milk maid," written in heavy pencil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia picked up the money and put it into her pocket, then with a
+pencil that she had brought especially for the purpose she wrote, "You
+are welcome, my friends; good luck!" below the message, and tucked the
+paper back under the stone.  Then with another curious look around,
+which discovered nothing, she started back, this time running as fleet
+and fast as any of her sure-footed little goats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She reached home before either Nana or Beppino were awake, and hurried
+to finish her milking.  When the scant breakfast was over, she was
+ready to start for town with her pails.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she entered the market-place, it was to find a very different
+scene from the one of the day before.  The place was thronged with
+soldiers, but they were not laughing and jesting; instead, little
+groups congregated around the stalls and talked excitedly.  Some of the
+old women had covered their faces with their black aprons, and were
+rocking back and forth on their chairs in an extremity of woe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was an unnatural hush, and men and women alike lowered heir
+voices instinctively as they talked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia had seen the same thing many times before.  She guessed, and
+rightly too, that a battle was going on, and that news of some disaster
+had reached the little town.  She did not go at once to her aunt's
+stall, but left her pails inside the big bronze door of the church, and
+slipped quietly inside.  The place was deserted, and the lofty dome was
+in dark shadow.  Long rays of pale yellow light from the morning sun
+came through the narrow windows and made queer patches on the marble
+floor.  In the dim recesses of the little chapels tiny candles
+flickered like stars in the dark.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked about her to make sure that she was alone, and then walked
+quickly to one of the chapels and dropped four shining copper pennies
+into the mite box that stood on a little shelf beside the altar.  She
+stayed only long enough to say a hasty little prayer, and then hurried
+out again into the sunshine.  The clouds of the night before and the
+mist of the early morning had disappeared, and the market-place was
+bathed in warm golden sunshine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia picked up her pails and hurried to her aunt's stall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, you are late," Maria said.  "We thought you had stubbed your toe
+and spilled all the milk."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And only two half-full pails again," Seņora Rudini grumbled.  "But no
+matter, we can get more from old Paolo.  Have you heard the news?" she
+asked abruptly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," Lucia replied indifferently.  "What is it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A big gain by the enemy.  They have taken thousands of our men, and
+they say we may be ordered to leave Cellino at any minute."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Think of it!  They are as near as that!" Maria said excitedly.  "Oh if
+we must move, where can we go to?  I am so frightened."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nonsense," Lucia spoke shortly.  There was an angry gleam in her big
+eyes and her cheeks flushed a dark red.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Leave Cellino, indeed!  The very idea!  Since when must Italians make
+way for Austrians, I'd like to know?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But if the enemy are advancing as they say," Maria protested
+nervously, "we will either have to leave, or be shelled to death by
+those dreadful guns."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Or be taken prisoners, and a nice thing that would be," her mother
+added.  "No, if the order to evacuate comes we must go at once.  There
+will be no time to spare.  Other towns have been captured, and there is
+only that between us."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She pointed to the zigzag mountain peaks so short a distance beyond the
+north gate.  As if to give her words weight, a heavy thunder of guns
+rumbled ominously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria shuddered.  "There, that is ever so much nearer.  Oh, I am
+frightened,&mdash;something dreadful is happening over there just out of
+sight."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Silly! those are our own guns.  Ask any of our soldiers," Lucia said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here comes your guard, the handsome Roderigo Vicello, maybe he can
+tell us.  Good morning to you!" she called gayly and beckoned the
+soldier to come to them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hope you are well this morning," Roderigo said respectfully, bowing
+to Seņora Rudini.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, we are well, but very frightened," Maria replied, trying hard to
+imitate her cousin's gaiety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Maria thinks that the guns we heard just now are Austrian, and I have
+been trying to tell her that they are Italian.  Which of us is right?
+You are a soldier and ought to know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Our guns, of course.  They have a different sound," Roderigo explained
+impressively.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He had never been any nearer to the front than he was at this moment,
+but he spoke with the assurance of an old soldier, partly to quiet
+Maria's fears, but mostly to still his own nervous forebodings.  It
+would never do to let the little black-eyed Lucia see that he was even
+a little afraid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There, what did I tell you!" Lucia was triumphant.  "I knew, but of
+course you would not believe me.  Now perhaps you will tell her that we
+will not have to run away at a minute's notice, too?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She turned to Roderigo, but eager as he was to display his importance
+he could not give the assurance she asked.  The little knowledge that
+he had, made him think that the evacuation was very likely to occur at
+any day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He covered his fears, however, by replying vaguely: "One can never be
+sure.  War is war, and perhaps it may be necessary, as well as safer,
+for you to leave for the time being."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked at him narrowly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What makes you say that?" she demanded.  "Have you heard any of the
+officers talking?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, but this morning's news is very bad.  We have our orders to be
+ready to start at any moment."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh!"  Maria caught her breath sharply, and her eyes filled with tears
+as she looked at Roderigo shyly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He saw the tears in surprise, and a contented warmth settled around his
+heart.  He looked half expectantly at Lucia.  Surely, if this calm, shy
+girl of the north would shed a tear for him, she with the warm blood of
+the south in her veins would weep.  But Lucia's eyes were dry, and the
+only expression he could find in them was envy.  He turned away in
+disgust.  He did not admire too much courage in girls, for he was very
+young and very sentimental, and he enjoyed being cried over.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A bugle sounded from the other end of the street, and in an instant
+everything was in confusion.  The soldiers hurried to answer, and the
+people crowded about to see what was going to happen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia, eager and excited, snatched Maria's hand and pulled her into the
+very center of the crowd.  An officer, with the bugler beside him, read
+an order from the steps of the town hall, an old gray stone building
+that had stood in silent dignity at the end of the square for many
+centuries.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The girls were not near enough to hear the order, but they soon found
+Roderigo in the excited mass of soldiers, and he explained it to them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are to leave for the front at once," he cried excitedly.  "We have
+not a moment to spare.  Tavola has been captured by the enemy, and our
+troops are retreating through the Pass."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Saints preserve us!" Seņora Rudini covered her face with her apron
+and cried.  "My sons!  My sons!  Where are they, dead or prisoners?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, no, they are safe," Lucia protested.  "They are with the Army.
+Don't worry, when the reënforcements reach them they will go forward
+again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But her aunt refused to be comforted.  Everywhere in the street women
+were calling excitedly, and a number of them besieged the officers for
+information.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldiers hurried to their billets and got together their kits.  The
+square buzzed and hummed with excitement and the guns kept up a steady
+bass accompaniment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bugle sounded a different order every little while.  Some of the
+more prudent women went home and began packing their household
+treasures, but for the most part every one stayed in the market-place
+and argued shrilly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come!" Lucia exclaimed, catching Maria's hand.  "We can watch them
+march off from the top of the wall by the gate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They ran quickly through the side streets, and by taking many turns
+they at last reached the broad top of the wall, which they ran along
+until they were just above the north gate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here they come!" Maria exclaimed.  "I can hear them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The paved streets of the town rang with the heavy tramp, tramp of men
+marching, and before long they appeared before the gate.  The order to
+walk four abreast was given.  The men took their places, and then at a
+brisk pace they marched through the old gate, a sea of bobbing black
+hats and cock feathers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The townspeople followed to cheer them excitedly.  Lucia and Maria
+leaned dangerously over the edge of the wall in their attempt to
+recognize the familiar faces under the hats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldiers looked up and called out gayly at sight of Lucia.  She had
+taken off her flowered kerchief and was waving it excitedly.  The wind
+caught her dark hair and blew it across her face, and her bright skirts
+in the sunshine made a vivid spot of color against the stone wall.  The
+men turned often to look back at her as they marched along the wide
+road.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria did not lift her eyes from the sea of hats beneath her.  She was
+waiting for one face to look up.  At last she had her wish.  Roderigo's
+place was towards the end of the column; when he walked under the gate
+he looked up and smiled.  It was a sad smile, full of regret.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without exactly meaning to, Maria dropped the flower she was wearing in
+her bodice.  Roderigo caught it and tucked it, Neapolitan fashion,
+behind his ear, then he blew a kiss to Maria and marched on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched the little scene.  She was half amused and half
+contemptuous.  Her little heart under its gay bodice was filled with a
+fine hate that left no room for pretty romance.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap04"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LOST
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+When the soldiers had climbed out of sight into the mountains, Maria
+walked slowly back to find her mother, and Lucia after a hurried
+good-by ran home to tell Nana and Beppino the news.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was far more worried over the possible order to evacuate than she
+would admit.  As their cottage was the farthest north on the road, it
+would be the nearest to the Austrian guns.  Personally Lucia scorned
+the very idea of the Austrian guns, but she could not help realizing
+the danger to Nana and Beppino and Garibaldi.  She was still undecided
+what to do when she reached the cottage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nana Rudini was standing in the doorway, shading her eyes with her
+withered old hand, and staring intently in the direction that the
+soldiers had taken.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did you see the troops, Nana?" Lucia asked cheerfully.  "They were a
+fine lot, eh?  I guess they will be able to stop the enemy from coming
+any nearer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nearer?" queried Nana, "what are you saying?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have had bad luck," Lucia explained.  "Tavola has been captured,
+and our soldiers are retreating.  In town they say we may have to
+evacuate before to-morrow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The old woman received the news without comment, but a look of despair
+came into her usually bright eyes, and for the moment made them tragic.
+Long years before, when Austria had crossed the mountains and entered
+Cellino, she had been a young girl.  Now in her old age they were to
+come again, and there was no reason to hope that this time they would
+be less brutal in their triumph than they had been formerly.  The
+memory of their brutality was still a vivid one.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We will leave at once," she said at last, and her decision was so
+unexpected, that Lucia gasped in surprise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Leave?  But, Nana, where will we go?  What will become of our things?"
+she exclaimed.  "Surely we had better wait at least until we are
+ordered out."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, we will leave at once," Nana replied firmly.  "The order may come
+too late, as it did before.  What do those boys who swagger about in
+men's places know about the enemy?  There is not one that can remember
+them.  But I, old Nana, have known them and their ways, and I say we
+must go at once."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked at the new light of determination in her grandmother's
+eyes, and realized with a shock of surprise that to protest would be
+useless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is Beppi?" she asked.  "I will go and find him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With the goats," Nana replied.  "Call him, I will go in and start
+packing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia ran around the house and off to the sunny slope where she had
+left Beppi a few hours before.  She saw the flock of goats grazing, and
+called, "Beppino mio, where are you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No one answered her.  She hurried on, believing him to have fallen
+asleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Beppi!" she shouted, "I have something exciting to tell you.  Stop
+hiding from me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She waited, but still no answer came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a sudden frenzy of fear she began running aimlessly up and down the
+hillside, and looking down into the tall grasses, but there was no sign
+of Beppi.  There were no trees or houses in sight, no place that he
+could hide behind, nearer than the mountain path at the foot of the
+valley.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked about her despairingly, then she went over to the goats.
+Garibaldi was not there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She has strayed away, and Beppi has gone after her," she said aloud in
+relief, and returned to the cottage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nana nodded when she explained.  She was busy tying up the household
+treasures in sheets, and Lucia helped her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Every few minutes she would go to the door and call, but Beppi did not
+reply.  The afternoon wore on slowly and a bank of rain clouds hid the
+sun.  Lucia's confidence gave way to her first feeling of terror, and
+Nana was growing impatient.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where can he be?" Lucia exclaimed.  "I am frightened, he has been gone
+so long."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nana shook her head.  "He was off after the soldiers, I suppose," she
+replied.  "He is always disobeying&mdash;no good will come to him and his
+naughty ways."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia's eyes flashed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is not naughty," she protested angrily, "and he may be lost this
+very minute.  Anyway I am going to find him and I am not coming home
+until I do.  If you are afraid to stay here go to Maria, she and aunt
+will look after you, and when I find Beppi I will meet you there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nana Rudini protested excitedly, but Lucia did not wait to hear what
+she said.  She ran out of the house and down the road towards the
+footpath.  She had no idea of where she was going, but fear lead her
+on.  Beppi, her adored little brother, and Garibaldi were lost, and she
+was going to find them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the end of the road she paused and looked ahead of her.  The sky was
+dark with rain-clouds and thunder rumbled in the west, an echo of the
+guns.  Lucia took the path that she had taken early that morning, and
+as she climbed up the steep ascent she called and shouted.  Her own
+voice came back to her from the flat rocks ahead, but there was no
+sound of Beppi.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instead of going on to the little plateau where she left her pails, she
+branched off to the left.  It was hard climbing, and after repeated
+shouts of "Beppi," she sat down and tried to think.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Big drops of rain were beginning to fall, and with the sun out of sight
+the fall air was damp and cold.  She pulled her thin shawl around her
+shoulders and shivered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If Garibaldi ran away she came up here; she always does," she argued
+to herself.  "She loves to climb, and she must have come this way in
+the hope of finding grass.  Up above, and a little over to the left,
+there is a sort of sheltered spot.  Perhaps&mdash;" she did not finish the
+thought, but jumped up and started to climb.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She hunted until she discovered a way to find the spot.  It was not
+difficult, for she knew every foot of the mountains from long
+association.  But Beppi was not to be seen, nor was Garibaldi.  Lucia
+stopped, discouraged.  Fear and helplessness were getting the better of
+her, and she would most likely have given way to the tears she so
+despised had her eye not caught sight of a tuft of fur on the ground.
+She seized upon it eagerly.  It was without doubt part of Garibaldi's
+shaggy coat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a cry of joy she started off up the tiny trail that led higher up
+into the rocks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Beppi, Beppi!" she called, and stopped.  Still no answer, but she was
+not discouraged for the guns were making so much noise that she
+realized her voice could not carry any great distance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The rain was coming down in earnest now, and it was hard to keep from
+losing her footing on the slippery rocks.  She stumbled on regardless
+of the danger, hoping against hope that she had chosen the right path,
+and that each step was bringing her nearer to Beppi.  Between calling
+and climbing, she was tired, and she stopped for a moment to catch her
+breath.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A sound, faint but unmistakable, reached her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naa, Naa!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi was complaining about the weather, at no very great distance
+away from her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In her relief Lucia laughed excitedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Beppi, Beppi, where are you?" she shouted, and waited eagerly for a
+reply, but none came.  She looked puzzled and then Garibaldi answered
+her:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naa!  Naa!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sound came from directly over her head, and she climbed up the
+steep rock as fast as she could.  Garibaldi was standing at the opening
+of a cave.  Lucia ran to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, my pet, I have found you at last.  Where is Beppi?" she cried.
+Garibaldi did not exactly reply, but she stepped a little to one side,
+and Lucia saw Beppino curled up on a bed of dry leaves sheltered and
+snug from the storm, and sleeping quite as contentedly as he did on the
+mattress in the attic at home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia ran to him and shook him.  He opened his eyes, and a dazed look
+came into them, then he said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes, I remember, it began to rain and we were lost, your old
+crosspatch Garibaldi and I, so I found this nice little place, and I
+was going to pretend that I was a gypsy brigand, but I fell asleep."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia was far too happy to attempt the scolding that she knew Beppi
+deserved.  She picked him up in her arms, and hugged and kissed him,
+then she encircled Garibaldi's neck and kissed her too.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My darlings, I thought you were both lost.  What a terrible fright you
+have given me!  But we are safe now, and we will wait until sunrise
+to-morrow, and then we will go home," she said happily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I saw the soldiers go away," Beppi said, pushing her face from him as
+she tried to kiss him again, "and they looked so fine with their shiny
+hats.  It was while I looked at them that old crosspatch ran away.  I
+did have a chase, I can tell you, she had such a big start."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you very hungry, little one?" Lucia asked gently.  "I should have
+brought bread with me, but I did not think."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi giggled, and from the pocket of his little tunic he produced the
+pink paper bag.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two left," he announced as he opened it, "and both long ones.  Here's
+yours and here's mine.  Garibaldi's been eating grass all day, so she's
+not hungry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia accepted the candy, and they both had a drink of milk.  Then
+Beppi snuggled down in his sister's arms and his eyelids grew heavy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go on with that story," he said, "the one about the soldier at the
+gate."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia smiled in the dark and hugged him tight.  The guns were silent,
+and only occasional peals of thunder broke the stillness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, one day," she began, "a very cross girl came to the gate, and
+the soldier who was always on the lookout for the stolen princess
+stopped her and spoke to her.  But the cross girl was feeling very mean
+indeed, and she teased the soldier and made him very unhappy.  But
+later on in the afternoon she was ashamed, and so she found the nice
+girl who was really the stolen princess, and took her with her to the
+gate, and the soldier&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia broke off and sat up suddenly to listen.  A queer "rat, tat,
+tat," detached itself from the other night noises.  Beppi was sound
+asleep, and she rolled him gently into the nest of leaves, then she
+listened again.  The sound came again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Rat, tat, tat."  It was a sharp staccato hammering, muffled by the
+wall of rock behind her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She stood up and crept softly to the mouth of the cave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The wind and the rain made such a noise that she could hear nothing,
+and it was already too dark to distinguish anything but the vaguest
+outlines.  She crept back into the shelter, believing that she had just
+imagined what she had heard, but she had not taken her place beside
+Beppi before she heard it again&mdash;a persistent "rat, tat, tat," too
+metallic and too regular to be accounted for by a natural cause.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia's mind was alert at once.  She put her ear up against the rock
+and listened again.  Muffled sounds too indistinct to recognize came to
+her.  Whatever they were, they were not far off, and right in a line
+with the back of the cave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia thought of several explanations, but could accept none of them.
+She tried to argue against her fears by saying over and over again that
+if it was a sound made by men, those men were surely Italian soldiers,
+but her arguments could not still the frightened beating of her heart,
+as the voice became more distinct.  She was filled with terror.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Rumors of underground tunnels and mines blowing off whole mountain
+tops, that she had heard from the soldiers, came back to her and left
+her cold with fear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi had rolled over beside the goat for warmth, and was sleeping
+soundly.  Lucia looked at him and then went once more to the mouth of
+the cave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The cold rain in her face gave her back her courage, and she felt her
+way around the cliff and up between the crevices of the two rocks,
+until she was on the roof of the cave.  It was flat and the ground
+seemed to stretch out level for quite a distance before her.  She
+listened for a moment, but the rain beating down made it impossible for
+her to distinguish any other sound.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She lay down flat on the wet ground, and crawled forward for a few
+feet, then listened again.  At first she heard only the rain and the
+wind, but after a little wait there was a muffled bang as if a bomb had
+exploded deep down in the earth, and the ground beneath her trembled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia sprang to her feet and ran terrified back to the cave.  It was
+fortunate that she was as sure-footed as her goats, for the way was
+steep and slippery, and she did not pause to take care.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Over in the cave, with her hand on Beppi's curly head, she sat down to
+think.  Her mind was not capable of arriving at any logical
+explanation.  Two thoughts stood out clearly and beyond doubt.  First,
+the enemy was doing something of which the Italians were unaware, and
+second, the Italians must be warned before it was too late.  That she
+must warn them she realized at once, but the way was not easy to
+determine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The mountains were tricky.  From one side they might look deserted, and
+yet a whole army could be in hiding just over the other side.  The
+giant peaks formed formidable and wellnigh impassable barriers between
+one range and the next.  Lucia had seen the troops disappear that
+morning, as if the great rocks had opened and devoured them, and she
+knew that at this moment they might be within a half a mile of her, but
+where to begin to find them she did not know.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The close proximity of the Austrians frightened her, and she was afraid
+to go off at random, or even to call.  Throughout the night she tried
+to think and plan as she sat up with her back against the rock
+listening for the rat, tat, tat, which began again after she returned
+to the cave, and continued at regular intervals.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before dawn the rain stopped and the wind blew the clouds away.  At the
+first streak of light Lucia stole softly away from the sleeping Beppi
+and Garibaldi, and crept down the tiny path to the plateau below.  Once
+there she was on familiar ground and even in the pale light she could
+tell her way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the night she had decided to go to the rock where she took her
+milk in the morning, surely the mysterious hand that left the pennies
+for her would be there, and she was determined, to wait for him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She reached the spot without encountering any difficulties, and sat
+down to wait.  The sun rose east of Cellino, and she watched it as it
+climbed over the hill and lighted the windows of the church with its
+yellow low rays.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All the world looked as if it had just been bathed and freshly clothed
+to step out glistening and very clean to greet the day.  The air was
+chilly, but so fresh and sweet that Lucia took long grateful breaths of
+it.  She was just wondering how long she would have to wait, when a
+stone rolled down beside her and hit her foot.  She jumped and turned
+around.  A soldier with a broad smile that showed all his fine white
+teeth was climbing down towards her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia put her fingers to her lip to caution silence, and his smile
+changed to a look of sudden anxiety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is it?" he demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't make any noise," Lucia warned.  "Listen to me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She told him all that she had discovered during the night.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you sure of what you say?" the soldier questioned her seriously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes, sir, I tell you I crawled out and listened.  The sound was
+very near."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you show me the place?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, yes, I have just come from there, but it is a slippery climb."
+Lucia looked at him interrogatively.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man nodded.  "Never mind that, lead the way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia did not hesitate, but hurried back along the rocks, choosing the
+safest footholds and sometimes leaving her companion far behind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she reached the little grassy plateau, she stopped and pointed.
+"It is above here, sir."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She started to ascend, and the soldier followed in silence.  When they
+reached the cave she pointed to the back wall and said: "Listen there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldier was so tall that he had to stoop down before he could
+enter, but he was very careful to be quiet and not disturb the still
+sleeping Beppi.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He put his ear to the wall and Lucia watched him excitedly.  By the
+expression of his face she knew he was hearing the "rat, tat, tat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Can you show me the place where you thought you heard the explosion?"
+he whispered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia nodded and beckoned to him to follow.  In her eagerness she
+forgot that he could not climb as nimbly as she could, and she was on
+the roof of the cave before he had started to ascend.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was fortunate that she was, for not ten feet ahead of her, crawling
+along the ground, his helmet shining in the sun, was a soldier in the
+Austrian uniform.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap05"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER V
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+IN THE TOOL SHED
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+At sight of her he jumped to his feet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Halt!" he commanded, unnecessarily, for Lucia was far too frightened
+to move.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was thinking of the soldier whose head would appear at any moment
+over the ledge of rock behind, and her one wish was to stop him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I won't move, sir!" she cried loudly, "I see you have a big gun and I
+am all alone."  She spoke in Italian, but the Austrian seemed to
+understand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What are you doing prowling around here at this time of day?" he
+demanded angrily, speaking to her in her own language.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, sir, I am lost," Lucia replied, not daring to look below her.  "My
+goat wandered away in the storm and I came out to find her, and now I
+am very, very far away from home."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She walked towards the man as she spoke.  She was terrified for fear he
+would discover the cave below her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where did you sleep?" he demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I have not slept, sir.  See my dress it is wet from the rain,
+there is no shelter anywhere, and the wind and the rain frightened me
+so I did not know where I was, and I was afraid to stay still."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Austrian eyed her suspiciously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why didn't you go to the soldiers and ask for shelter?" he inquired
+harshly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The soldiers?"  Lucia's brown eyes opened wide in surprise.  "But
+there are no soldiers near here.  They are miles away with the guns.
+How could I reach them?  My home is over there," she pointed in the
+opposite direction from the cave, "and I think I will go back to it,
+now that it is day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, no, you won't," the Austrian replied.  "You'll come with me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But why, what have I done?" Lucia inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's not the point," the soldier replied.  "You're an Italian, and
+if I let you go you'll run home and tell all the troops in the town
+that I was here.  Oh, no, my little lady, we can't allow that&mdash;you're
+coming along with me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His lordly tone and the sneer on his lips infuriated Lucia.  She
+thought all danger of his discovering the cave was over, so she replied
+angrily.  "And suppose I won't come?  Don't think you can frighten me,
+for you can't.  I tell you, I won't go a step with you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Austrian was about to reply, when a sound that had been so welcome
+only a few hours ago struck terror to Lucia's ears.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Naa, Naa!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's that?" the soldier jumped nervously.  He was startled and
+frightened.  Lucia saw it and her own courage returned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My goat," she said as Garibaldi appeared above the rock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia ran to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My pet, here you are, I have found you at last.  Where have you been?
+you are a bad girl.  See how you frightened the brave Austrian soldier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sarcasm and scorn in her voice were unmistakable.  The soldier was
+indignant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here, that is enough from you.  Come along, I will take you where they
+will teach you better manners."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He caught her roughly by the shoulder, and Lucia went with him only too
+gladly.  If she could get him well away from the cave, it would be time
+enough to think of herself.  She, had no doubt that she would be able
+to run away from him later on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As they walked along the noise underground grew louder.  Every now and
+then the man would turn and look at her suspiciously.  He did not speak
+to her, however, and they walked for quite a distance in silence.  When
+Lucia considered that they had gone far enough she stopped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where are you taking me?" she demanded with spirit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never mind, you come along," the man replied impatiently.  "Time
+enough for you to know when we get there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I won't go any further."  Lucia was determined.  "Do you think
+that I will be taken prisoner by an Austrian?  Never!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her eyes blazed indignantly.  She planned so many times just what she
+would do, if she was ever brought face to face with her hated enemy,
+that the feeling of helplessness that she felt under the big man's hand
+infuriated her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come along, I will not speak again," the Austrian commanded, and once
+more Lucia went on, unable to withstand the strength of his arm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The flat ground ended abruptly, and they had to climb down jagged
+rocks.  Lucia thought that her chance of escape had come, but the
+Austrian never lessened his hold on her arm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They had traveled this far without meeting any one.  The only signs of
+life had been the mysterious noise underground, and the click of
+Garibaldi's sharp hoofs as they hit the stone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When they reached a certain point the soldier stopped.  "If you make
+any noise," he said roughly, "I will have to shoot you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia opened her mouth to scream, but before the sound came she changed
+her mind.  A new and splendid idea had just come to her.  She stopped
+holding back and walked obediently beside her guard.  They did not go
+very far, before he told her to lie down and crawl, and before she
+realized where she was going, she was in a deep trench that ran along
+the base of the rock and was completely hidden from sight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi followed them, picking her way daintily, and stopping every
+now and then to let out a mournful "Naa!"  The Austrian did not seem to
+hear her.  If he did, he paid no attention, but led Lucia hurriedly
+along the dark passage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They had not gone far before a sentry stopped them.  Lucia's guard said
+something to him that she could not understand.  The sentry
+disappeared, to return in a few minutes with another man.  From the
+respectful salutes that he received, Lucia decided he must be a very
+high officer.  More talk followed which she could not understand, and
+then her guard turned to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Follow me," he directed, and led her out of the passage across a
+stretch of open ground, and over to a shed.  Another soldier opened the
+door, and before Lucia quite got her breath, she heard the key turn in
+a lock and the thud, thud of the men's boots as they marched away.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap06"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+GARIBALDI PERFORMS
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+The shed had been hastily put together, and served as a place for picks
+and shovels.  There were so many of them, in fact, that Lucia at first
+had difficulty in finding a place to stand, but by rearranging them she
+cleared a portion of the floor and sat down to think.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The shed was by no means airtight, for the boards had been nailed up so
+far apart that not only did the air and light enter between the cracks,
+but it was also possible for Lucia to see everything that was going on
+about her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At first it looked as if the soldiers were just hurrying about
+aimlessly, but by watching them closely, especially the guard that had
+caught her, she saw that they were preparing to leave.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A bugle sounded from a dugout at the end of the passage, and all the
+soldiers in sight fell into marching order and waited at attention.
+Then the officer who had ordered Lucia shut up in the tool-house, gave
+them some orders that she could not understand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One soldier came over to the shed and unlocked the door.  He beckoned
+Lucia to step outside, and as the men filed past the door he handed
+each one a pick and shovel.  When they had all received them, and Lucia
+expected to return, the Captain spoke to her.  His Italian was so very
+bad she pretended not to understand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is your name?" was his first question.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia shook her head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your name?" he persisted.  "Marie, Louise, Josephine?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Seņor," Lucia replied bewildered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well then, what is it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't understand."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your name?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Seņor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Your name?  Have you no sense&mdash;stupid!"  The Captain's patience was
+fast giving way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now to call an Italian stupid is the worst possible insult, and Lucia's
+cheeks flushed hotly.  She was very angry, and she determined not to
+reply now at any cost.  She shook her head therefore, and a very
+stubborn and unpromising light came into her brown eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Captain looked at her in disgust.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I suppose your name does not matter anyway," he said gruffly.
+"Where do you live?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another shake of the small black head, and an expressive shrug.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You live in Cellino, so why not say so?  Come, no more sulking.  If
+you won't answer me of your own free will, you must be made to answer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Seņor," Lucia smiled provokingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No&mdash;what in thunder do you mean?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Seņor," there was not a trace of impertinence in her face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The officer looked at her in despair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you, or don't you understand what I am saying?" he demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Seņor," Lucia reiterated.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Where is the soldier who found this girl?" the Captain shouted to an
+orderly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia did not understand what he said, but she knew that her captor was
+well out of sight with his pick and shovel by now, and in all
+probability would not return and give her away, and she was beginning
+to enjoy the part of a "stupid."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just as the Captain turned to continue his questioning, Garibaldi, who
+had been grazing about unmolested at a little distance from the shed,
+saw Lucia and came bounding over to her.  In her delight at finding her
+young mistress she very nearly succeeded in butting over the officer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia had difficulty in repressing a smile, but she put her arms around
+the goat's neck and patted her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Does that animal belong to you?"  The Captain demanded, puffing a
+little in the effort to retain his balance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia only smiled and nodded.  Garibaldi kicked up her heels in an
+ecstasy of joy and sent the soft mud flying.  The Captain's anger broke
+all bounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Take that animal and shoot her," he demanded, but before the soldier
+could obey, he withdrew the order.  "Tie her to the tree instead, we
+may be able to milk her," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldier nodded and advanced towards Garibaldi with ponderous
+assurance, but Garibaldi was not going to be tied, she preferred her
+freedom.  She was not, however, unwilling to play a friendly game of
+tag; it was her favorite sport and she was very proficient in it.  When
+the big soldier would come within reach of her, she would lower her
+head and duck under his arm, and before the astonished pursuer could
+collect his wits and look around, she would be browsing innocently
+close by.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This game kept up for a long time.  The men who were in sight dropped
+what they were doing and made an admiring circle; even the Captain had
+to smile.  Lucia wanted to laugh outright, but she managed to keep her
+face set in grave lines.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last the soldier gave up the chase and retired among the jeers of
+his comrades to the side lines.  The Captain saw an opportunity to
+amuse his men, and perhaps end their grumbling for the time being.  He
+offered a reward to the man that could catch the goat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+First one soldier and then another attempted it, but none of them
+succeeded.  After a while the fun of the chase wore off for Garibaldi,
+and she became angry.  She had a little trick of butting that had won
+her Beppi's dislike, and she used it to the discomfiture of the
+Austrian army.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia saw them one after another rub their shins and their knees, for
+although Garibaldi did not have horns, her head was very, very hard
+indeed, and she was afraid that some one of them might grow angry and
+hurt her pet.  She looked at the officer and pointed to the goat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can catch her," she said simply.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, do it then," the Captain replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia called softly and made a queer clicking noise.  Garibaldi stopped
+butting, and walked soberly over to her.  She smiled good-naturedly at
+the men, and tied the rope that one of them handed to her around the
+goat's neck.  One of the soldiers pointed to a tree behind the shed,
+and she tied the rope securely around it Garibaldi protested mildly,
+but she patted her and left her lying contentedly in the mud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She took time to look hastily about her before returning to the shed.
+The tree to which the goat was tied was on the edge of a steep hill
+that fell away abruptly from the little clearing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked down it, and could hardly believe her eyes; for there, far
+below, was a silver stream glistening in the sunshine, and she realized
+with a sense of thankfulness that it could be no other than the little
+river that flowed below the west wall of Cellino, and right under the
+windows of the Convent.  If she could only get away, it would be an
+easier matter to go back that way, than over the dangerous route by
+which she had come.  But she was not very eager to return at once, for
+the idea that had come to her earlier in the day still tempted her to
+wait and listen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she returned to the shed the Captain was nowhere in sight, and one
+of the soldiers pointed to the open door.  She nodded and walked in,
+the key grated in the lock, and she was once more a prisoner.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap07"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE BEGGAR
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+As the sun rose higher, a quiet settled over the clearing.  The men
+talked and smoked, and the Captain read a newspaper at the door of his
+dugout.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No one bothered Lucia, and she kept very quiet.  She had had nothing to
+eat since the night before and she was very hungry, but she would not
+for the world ask her enemies for food.  She was not above accepting
+it, however, when a little before noon one of the soldiers brought her
+a hard and tasteless biscuit and a cup of water.  She ate greedily, and
+then tired out from so much excitement she fell asleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She awoke an hour later to a scene of activity.  She could see through
+the peek-hole that the Captain was consulting his watch every little
+while, and the men were hurrying about excitedly.  They all looked up
+at a certain mountain above with suspicious eyes, and Lucia could tell
+by the tone of their voices that they were angry about something.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few minutes later the arrival of a very muddy and tired soldier from
+the opposite direction created a diversion.  He saluted the Captain and
+handed him a message.  Whatever the message was, it pleased the
+Captain, for he brought his fist down on his knee and laughed.  Then he
+gave some very long; and to Lucia, unintelligible orders, and the men
+lost some of their ugly rebellious look.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He chose two soldiers from the group before him, and motioned them into
+his dugout.  Lucia tried to make something out of the strange words
+that the other men spoke, but she could not.  They were eagerly
+questioning the messenger and giving him food and water.  He was
+answering them, and from the expression of their faces his replies were
+not cheering.  At last he stood up, shrugged his shoulders and for the
+first time noticed Garibaldi.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The other soldiers explained, and Lucia knew they were discussing her
+when they pointed to the shed.  The messenger evidently suggested
+milking the goat, for after a little laughing and jesting, one of the
+men took a pail and approached Garibaldi.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now, no one had ever milked Garibaldi in all her life but Lucia, and
+from the disastrous attempts on the part of the soldiers it was evident
+that no one was ever going to, if that very particular animal could
+prevent it, and she seemed quite able to, to judge from the results.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watching through the cracks in the shed laughed softly to
+herself.  She was not surprised when, a few minutes later, one of the
+men opened the door and told her to come out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He could not speak Italian and he resorted to the sign language.  Lucia
+nodded in understanding.  She might have pretended blank stupidity, but
+she wanted some milk herself, and this was a good way to get it.
+Besides, she decided that she would do something to make it impossible
+for them to lock her up again on her return.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi stood quite still as she milked her, and submitted meekly to
+her affectionate pats.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The messenger drank greedily from the pail, and when he had finished
+there seemed to be nothing else for Lucia to do but return to the shed.
+She walked back to the door as slowly as possible, and looked hard at
+the lock.  It was just an ordinary padlock and it hung open on the
+rusty catch.  She looked quickly at the men behind her.  They were busy
+talking, and did not appear to be paying any attention to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Very quickly, without seeming to do it, she touched the padlock; it
+swung on the catch, and then fell into the mud.  Lucia put her foot
+over it and ground it in with her heel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the soldier remembered her a few minutes later, and came over to
+shut the door, he grumbled at the loss of the lock, but he did not
+apparently connect her with its disappearance, nor did he bother much
+about looking for it.  He shut the door and walked back to join the
+group that still surrounded the messenger.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia sat down again and watched the door of the Captain's dugout.  She
+had wondered all day what the smiling Italian soldier and Beppi had
+done after she left.  She knew that Beppi could easily find his way
+back to the cottage, and in case Nana had already gone, and Lucia knew
+that in spite of her threats she would not go off alone, he would go
+into the town and some one would take care of him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As for the soldier, he would hear the rat, tat, tat, and know what it
+meant, and return to his comrades for help.  She listened, but there
+was no sound of guns near enough to mean a fight close at hand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The thought puzzled her, but she dismissed it as the Captain and the
+two soldiers came out of the dugout.  The men looked cross and sullen,
+but the Captain was still smiling.  He walked over to the messenger,
+handed him a folded paper, and the man disappeared as mysteriously as
+he came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia did not pay any attention to him, however, for she was interested
+in the two soldiers.  They were very busy buckling on their kit bags in
+preparation for a departure.  When they were ready, they stood at
+attention before the Captain.  After more orders from him, they started
+off down the hill just back of the shed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia guessed that they were going to the river, with a cold feeling
+around her heart, she realized that they could go straight to the wall
+of Cellino.  She did not stop to consider the many sentries who walked
+up and down the walls day and night, or the fact that two enemy
+soldiers would hardly walk up and attempt to enter a town in broad
+daylight.  She only knew that the river led to Cellino, and that all
+she loved most in the world was there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was sick with fear.  She looked back at the Captain; he was again
+consulting his watch.  The soldiers looked at him and fell to grumbling
+again.  After a moment of indecision he called to them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They stood up and saluted.  He gave a very peremptory order, and in a
+few minutes almost all of them had their guns on their shoulders, and
+waited his next word.  The Captain himself buckled on his revolver, and
+the party started off at a brisk pace through the tunnel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched them go.  In a hazy way she realized that they were going
+out in search of the men who had left earlier in the morning.  This was
+correct in part, but they were also going to look for another party of
+men, the ones who had been responsible for the rat, tat, tat, Lucia had
+heard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The diggers, led by her captor, had been sent out that morning to
+relieve their comrades already at work.  When none of them returned the
+Captain grew anxious, and was himself leading the searching party.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If Lucia had known, she would have realized that her Italian soldier
+was in some way responsible for their absence, and she would have been
+delighted.  As it was, she dismissed the Captain with a shrug and
+turned her attention to the few soldiers who remained.  They were a
+little distance from her, and most of them had their backs to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia determined to try to slip out unnoticed.  She waited until they
+were all talking at once.  By their angry gestures they appeared to be
+discussing something of great importance; none of them even glanced
+towards the shed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia pushed open the door very gently and waited.  No one noticed it,
+then she laid down flat and crawled out into the mud; it was slow work,
+but in the end it proved the best way, for she reached the tree and
+Garibaldi without being discovered.  The shed hid her from sight.  She
+hurriedly untied the rope and freed the goat.  It had never entered her
+mind to escape and leave her behind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi, free once more, ran down the steep hill her hoofs making no
+more than a soft, pad, pad noise in the mud.  Lucia dropped to the
+ground again and crawled slowly after her.  Below her, almost at the
+river's edge, she could see the two soldiers slipping and stumbling
+along.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She wriggled on in the mud until she was well below the crest of the
+hill, then she got up and began to run.  She jumped from one rock to
+the next, always keeping the two men in sight, but keeping under cover
+herself.  The men kept to the bank of the river and moved forward
+cautiously.  Lucia kept abreast of them, but stayed high up above their
+heads.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a long walk, for the river twisted and turned many times before
+it reached the walls of Cellino.  But it did not tire Lucia, as it did
+the two men.  They walked slower and slower as the afternoon wore on,
+stopping every few minutes to rest and talk excitedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At a little before sunset the guns grew louder and seemed to be much
+nearer.  All day there had been a dull rumble, but now they burst out
+into a terrific roar.  Lucia saw the men below her stop and look up.
+They stood still for a long time, and then hurried on.  Until now the
+road had been deserted, but ahead at the end of a footbridge, just
+around a sharp turn, Lucia, from her vantage point, could see another
+figure.  The soldiers could not have seen him, but when they reached
+the turn of the road they both left the open and took cover in the
+rocks above.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched narrowly.  They did not stop as she half expected them to
+do, but crept on until they were abreast of the man.  He was a beggar
+to judge by his shabby clothes, and he was apparently whiling away his
+afternoon by staring into the river.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia's first thought was that the Austrians would shoot him.  She
+caught her breath sharply when a queer thing happened.  One of the
+soldiers picked up a stone and threw it down into the stream.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap08"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER VIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE SURPRISE ATTACK
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Without turning his head, the beggar picked up a stone and tossed it
+into the river.  He repeated this twice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched, fascinated.  The soldiers left their hiding-place and
+came down to the road.  The beggar took something out of the pocket of
+his coat, handed it to one of the soldiers, and shuffled off in the
+opposite direction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia waited to see what the soldiers would do.  She expected them to
+return, but instead they waited until the beggar was out of sight, and
+then hurried across the foot-bridge and plunged hurriedly into the
+mountains opposite.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia caught sight of their shining helmets every now and then as they
+climbed higher and higher, and finally disappeared.  She was undecided
+what to do, but after a little hesitation she determined to follow the
+beggar.  Now that the Austrians were out of sight there was no need for
+her to avoid the open path, and she hurried to it and ran quickly in
+the direction that the man had taken.  She did not know where she was,
+or how far she would have to go before she reached Cellino.  She had
+seen nothing of the town from the mountains, and she guessed that it
+was much farther away than she had at first supposed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She walked on as fast as she could, keeping a sharp lookout for the
+beggar, but he had apparently disappeared, for she could not find him
+or any trace of him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was late in the afternoon when she reached a part of the river that
+was familiar to her, and with a start she realized that she was still a
+good three miles from Cellino.  She was very tired and very hungry, but
+she sat down to consider the best plan to follow.  She knew nothing of
+what had passed between the men at the bridge, but she had sense enough
+to realize that whatever it was, it was not for the good of the Italian
+forces.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some one must be warned, and soon, for the speed of the Austrian
+soldiers made her feel that the danger was imminent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will go on to town and warn them," she said aloud to Garibaldi,
+"that is the best plan, and then I can find something to eat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She jumped up and started off with renewed energy.  At a little path
+that turned to the right she left the river and came out on the broad
+road at the foot of a valley.  It was not long after that, when she saw
+the little white cottage ahead.  The sight of it gave her courage.
+There, at any rate, would be a human being to talk to, and bread to
+eat.  She ran the rest of the way, and did not pause until she was in
+the little room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sight that met her eyes sent a sudden damper over her spirits.
+Everything was upside down.  The green bed was stripped of its sheets,
+and all the familiar ornaments had gone.  Lucia stood dumbfounded
+trying to realize that Nana had really gone.  A feeling of loneliness
+and despair made the tears come to her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She clenched her fists and tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but
+without success, the tears came in spite of her and in her
+disappointment she threw herself down on the bed and sobbed.  Fear got
+the better of her, and in an agony of mind she imagined every possible
+harm to Beppi.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But she was not allowed to stay long in that state of mind, for
+suddenly the guns broke into a terrible roar.  The air was black with
+smoke and the house trembled and rocked under her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She jumped up and ran to the window.  Great volumes of smoke arose to
+the east, and higher geysers of dirt and rock flew up into the air.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Austrians!"  Lucia did not stop to think in her fear.  She dashed
+out of the house and down the road in the opposite direction from the
+town.  Without realizing the personal danger to herself, she ran as
+fast as she could.  Fear and the noise of the exploding shells sent her
+plunging ahead regardless of direction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instinctively she took the path to the right at the foot of the village
+and climbed up to the little plateau.  She was directly under the fire
+of her own guns, but the noise from both sides was so great that she
+did not know it, and she forged ahead, shouting.  In all the tumult she
+could not even hear her own voice, but to shout relieved her nerves of
+the terrible strain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she reached the plateau she climbed on up, choosing the spot
+where, earlier in the day, the Italian soldiers had come from, and
+slipping and sliding, but always goaded on by fear, and the knowledge
+that she must tell some one about the beggar, she kept on her way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She did not know how long she ran, or when it was that she stumbled,
+but suddenly everything was black before her eyes, and the noise of the
+guns was blotted out by the awful ringing in her ears.  Then came
+oblivion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she next realized anything, she was conscious of some one bending
+over her and holding a water bottle to her lips.  She drank gratefully
+and opened her eyes.  The Italian soldier was beside her, and another
+man was lying on the ground near her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Give me something to eat," she said, trying to sit up, "or I will go
+away again."  Going away was the only way she knew of, to express the
+sensation of fainting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Italian took something out of his knapsack and gave it to her.
+Lucia ate ravenously, and the queer feeling at the pit of her stomach
+disappeared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How did you escape?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The question brought back a sudden wave of memory, and Lucia jumped up
+excitedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By the river road&mdash;two Austrians and a beggar&mdash;they met by the
+foot-bridge, over there where the noise comes from; I saw them."  She
+recalled the facts jerkily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go on!" the Italian's eyes flashed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The beggar gave the Austrians a paper, and they left with it and
+climbed up into the mountains across the river.  I could not follow
+without being seen, and when I tried to find the beggar he had
+disappeared.  The river runs right under the wall."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, look!"  She stopped abruptly and put her hand over her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A great cloud of fire followed a terrific report, and from the distance
+of the hill it looked as if the whole town of Cellino was in flames.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Italian snatched a field glass that lay on the ground beside the
+wounded man, and put it to his eyes.  Then without a word he dashed
+off.  Lucia followed him.  A giant tree grew between two huge rocks a
+little further up the mountain, and the Italian climbed up it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched him, and for the first time she noticed that several
+wires were strung along and ended high up in its branches.  She heard
+the Italian calling some directions, and knew that a telephone must be
+hidden somewhere in the tree.  She could make nothing of the orders;
+they were mostly numbers, and she waited impatiently until he returned
+to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stay here," he said quickly, "and lie down flat&mdash;don't move.  The
+Austrians are advancing on the other side of the river, and Cellino
+will fall if the bridge is not blown up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But who can get to it?" Lucia demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can; it is mined.  If I can reach it we may drive them back."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He did not wait to say more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched him impatiently as he stumbled and slid clumsily down the
+rough trail below her.  The shells were coming nearer and nearer, and
+the air was filled with brilliant fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She watched the man every second, afraid to lose track of him.  At the
+base of the rock he fell.  She caught her breath and shouted aloud when
+he picked himself up and stumbled on.  He reached the road and was just
+starting across the little path that led to the river, when a shell
+exploded so near him that the smoke hid him completely from view.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap09"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER IX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE BRIDGE
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+It was several minutes before Lucia saw him again; he was lying flat, a
+little to one side of the road, and he was very still.  She waited,
+hoping against hope to see him move, and fighting against the horrible
+thought that filled her mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is dead," she exclaimed, terrified, "and they are moving; and the
+bridge!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without another thought she got up and very carefully started down the
+descent, her mind concentrated on the bridge.  She did not attempt to
+go to the road, but kept to the shelter of the rocks, and a little to
+one side of the fire.  The shells were bursting all around her, but she
+was above the range of the guns, and comparatively safe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She hurried as fast as she could, but it was hard to keep the
+direction, in all the noise and blinding flames.  She did not dare to
+look towards Cellino, or think what that hideous column of smoke might
+mean.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last she reached the river, and the bridge was in sight a little
+distance ahead.  It was an old stone bridge, and wide enough for men to
+walk four abreast.  At that point the river was very wide and the
+bridge was made in three arches.  It looked very substantial, and Lucia
+stopped, suddenly terrified by the thought that she did not have the
+slightest idea how or where to blow it up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked about her as if for inspiration.  She found it in the moving
+line of men just visible far above in the mountains.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Austrians!  They were advancing, and the sudden realization of it
+brought out all her courage and daring, and intensified the hatred in
+her heart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They shall not cross our bridge," she shouted defiantly, and raced
+ahead regardless of the rain of shot and shell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But when she reached the bridge she stopped again, helpless and
+completely baffled.  The wall rose above her high and impregnable.  A
+little farther along, the window of the convent seemed to be ablaze
+with light.  The church had been struck, and Lucia could feel the heat
+of the flames from where she stood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The North Gate seemed miles away, and she turned to the convent.  She
+knew there was a door that gave on to the river bank, and she ran
+forward.  She found it and pushed frantically against it.  It was
+locked, the only other opening being a window higher up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked at it in despair.  It was her only chance.  The glass had
+been smashed by the impact of the bursting shells and lay in broken
+bits under her feet.  She could just reach the ledge with her hands,
+and the stone felt warm.  The wall was rough and uneven, and after a
+struggle she managed to find a foothold and pulled herself up.  The
+jagged glass still in the casement cut her hands, but she did not stop
+to think about it.  Once inside she ran along the dark corridor and up
+the few steps that led to the first floor.  The big iron doors were
+open, and she caught her first sight of the town.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The convent was just outside, and on the road that led south a great
+stream of people carrying every size of bundles, was hurrying along.
+Lucia recognized some of them, but the faces she most longed to see
+were not there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She turned away, for the sight seemed to drain all her courage, and she
+longed to run after them, but the memory of that moving mass of
+soldiers made her true to her trust, and she hurried through the
+convent, calling for aid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the farthest door she discovered several of the sisters hurrying
+about and trying to clear the big ward filled with wounded soldiers.
+They had been brought in that morning, and some of them were very ill
+indeed.  The sisters were carrying them out on improvised stretchers.
+Those who were able to stand up staggered along as best they could by
+themselves.  Lucia saw one boy leaning heavily against the door, and
+ran to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Roderigo Vicello!" she exclaimed, when she looked up at him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo swayed and would have fallen if she had not supported him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I can not go," he said weakly.  "I am too tired, and I want to go.  I
+have watched her out of sight, but I am too tired to follow."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked at him intently.  It seemed to her impossible that a man,
+and a soldier, could bother to think of a girl at such a time.  She
+took his arm firmly and shook him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know how to blow up a bridge that is mined?" she demanded
+excitedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, pull out the pin," Roderigo replied, "if it is a time fuse," he
+spoke slowly and painstakingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pin?" Lucia exclaimed impatiently, "I don't understand, you will have
+to come.  Listen, the Austrians are just a little way off across the
+river, they must not cross the bridge."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo was alert at once.  The light came back into his eyes and his
+body stiffened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What are you saying?" he demanded.  "Do you mean, they are coming from
+that side?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," Lucia exclaimed, "there is no time to spare; hurry, I will help
+you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She put her strong, young arm about his waist, and by leaning most of
+his weight on her shoulder he managed to crawl along.  Lucia was half
+crazy with impatience, but she suited her step to his, and helped him
+all she could.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last they reached the lower door.  She opened it hurriedly and the
+bridge was in sight, but so were the Austrians.  They were so near that
+what had seemed one solid mass now resolved itself into individual
+shapes.  To Lucia it seemed as if a great sea of men were rushing down
+upon them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The exertion from the walk made Roderigo sway, and just before they
+reached the bridge he fell forward.  Lucia crouched down beside him,
+and begged and pulled until he was on the bridge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now where is it?  Tell me what to do," she begged, "see they are
+almost here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a tremendous effort Roderigo pulled himself to the edge of the
+bridge and located the mine.  In a voice that was so weak that Lucia
+could hardly hear it he gave the directions.  Lucia obeyed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When will it go off?" she demanded.  "Will we have time to get away?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo shrugged his shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will," he said.  "Run as fast as you can, I don't know how long it
+will take."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia did not wait to argue.  She caught him under his arms and dragged
+him back to the convent as fast as she could.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo had given up all hope, but as they drew nearer to the door of
+the convent, the wish to live asserted itself, and he got to his feet
+and ran with Lucia.  They did not stop until they were safe on the road
+beyond.  The last inhabitant of Cellino was out of sight, and it seemed
+as if they were alone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They waited, Lucia supporting Roderigo's head in her arms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The explosion came, there was a crash, and then a great shaking of the
+earth.  Lucia listened, her eyes flashing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wait here," she said to Roderigo, "I will return at once." She ran
+hurriedly back to the convent and down again to the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The old bridge was ruined.  Great pieces of it were torn out and had
+fallen high on the banks.  The center span was entirely gone, and the
+river, broad and impassable, ran smoothly between the jagged ends.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia did not stand long in contemplation of the scene before her.  She
+hurried back to the road.  A sister was beside Roderigo, and Lucia went
+to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is not safe back in there," she said, pointing to the convent.  "A
+shell may hit it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sister nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It hardly matters," she replied quietly.  "No place is safe.  We will
+take him there; he is too ill to be carried far."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia agreed, and between them they carried the unconscious Roderigo
+back to the ward and laid him gently on one of the beds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sister Francesca turned back the cuffs of her robe and began doing what
+she could.  As she worked she talked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We were all ordered to leave," she said; "but when we were well along
+the road I turned back.  It seemed so cowardly to go when we were most
+needed.  The rest thought that by night the Austrians would be in
+possession, but I could not believe it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was a little woman with a soft voice and big blue eyes, and she
+spoke with such gentle assurance that Lucia felt comforted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They will not come to-night," she said, "for the bridge is down, and
+our troops will surely be able to force them back."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sister Francesca nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I hope so.  At any rate, there will be wounded and my place is here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the word "wounded," the vivid picture of the smoke-choked valley,
+the shell explosion, and the still form of the Italian soldier flashed
+before Lucia's mind.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What am I doing here?" she said impatiently.  "There are wounded now
+and perhaps we can save them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She did not offer any further explanation, but slipped out of the big
+room and hurried back to the road once more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The sun had set and twilight gleamed patchy through the clouds of
+smoke.  It was still light enough to see, and Lucia hurried to the
+gate.  The first sight that she had of Cellino made her stop and
+shudder.  The church was in ruins, and every pane of glass was broken
+in the entire village.  In their haste the refugees had thrown their
+belongings out of their windows to the street below, and then had gone
+off and left them.  Great piles of furniture and broken china littered
+the way, and stalls had been tipped over in the market place.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No one stopped Lucia; the town was deserted.  She ran hurriedly across
+to the North Gate, afraid of the ghostly shadows and unnatural sights.
+At the gate a splendid sight met her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From the convent she had only seen the Austrians, the wall had cut off
+her view of the west.  But now she commanded a view of the whole field,
+and to her joy the Italians were advancing as steadily from the west as
+the Austrians from the east.  They would meet at the river, and at the
+memory of the bridge Lucia threw back her head and laughed.  It was not
+a merry laugh, but a grim triumphant one, and it held all the relief
+that she felt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But, splendid as the sight before her was, she did not stay long to
+look at it.  Below, somewhere in the valley, the Italian soldier of the
+shining white teeth and the pennies was lying wounded, or dead, and
+nothing could make Lucia stop until she found him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The heavy artillery fire had let up a little, and the shells were not
+quite so many.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia started to run.  She had made up her mind earlier in the day that
+if she moved fast enough she would escape being hurt.  She
+unconsciously blamed the slowness of the Italian soldier for his
+injury.  She passed her cottage half-way down the hill.  It was still
+standing, but a shell had dropped on the little goat-shed and blown it
+to pieces.  One of the uprights and the door, which was made of stout
+branches lashed together with cord, still stood.  The door flapped
+drearily and added to the desolation of the scene.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia did not stop to investigate the damage, but hurried ahead.  She
+was afraid the light would fade before she reached the wounded soldier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the end of the road in the bottom of the valley she was just between
+both sides, the shells dropped all about her and she stood still,
+bewildered and frightened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The high mountains on either side made sounding boards for the noise,
+and the roar of the guns seemed to double in volume.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lie down!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A voice almost under her foot made her jump, and she saw the Italian
+soldier.  She did as he commanded, and he pulled her towards him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He was very weak, and when he moved one leg dragged behind him.  He
+tried to crawl with Lucia into the shell hole close by.  She saw what
+he was doing and did her best to help.  When they finally rolled down
+into the shell hole, the man groaned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia could feel that his forehead was wet with great drops of
+perspiration.  She found his water bottle and gave him a drink.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's happened?" he asked, speaking close to her ear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia told him as much as she knew.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then the bridge has gone?"  There was hope in his voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Gone for good.  They can never cross it, and our men are just over
+there."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How can I get you back?" she asked.  "The convent is so far away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldier shook his head.  "You can't.  We are caught here between
+the two fires, it would be certain death to move.  What made you come
+back?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To find you," Lucia replied.  "I could not come sooner, there was so
+much to do.  I even forgot you, but when I remembered, I ran all the
+way and now I am helpless."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't give up," the Italian replied.  "You must have courage for both
+of us, for I am useless.  My leg has been badly injured by a piece of
+shell, and I cannot even crawl."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then there is nothing to do but wait for the light," Lucia was
+trembling all over.  "Oh, what a long day it has been!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But the dawn will come soon," the soldier tried to cheer her, "and
+then perhaps the stretcher-bearers will find us.  If they do not&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If they do not, I will find a way to take you to the convent," Lucia
+replied with sudden spirit, and with the same determination that had
+resulted in her blowing up the bridge, she added to herself:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He shall not die!"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap10"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER X
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+GARIBALDI, STRETCHER-BEARER
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+The long night set in, and the soldier, wearied from his long wait,
+dropped to sleep in spite of the noise.  Lucia's tired little body
+rested, but her eyes never relaxed their watch in the darkness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The fire kept up steadily, and at irregular intervals a star-shell
+would illuminate the high mountains.  Towards midnight there was an
+extra loud explosion, and once more the terrifying flames seemed to
+encircle Cellino.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia wondered dully what had been struck.  The church was gone, and
+she supposed this was the town hall.  It looked too near, as far as she
+could judge, for the convent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her ears were becoming accustomed to the sound, and she thought the
+fire from both sides was being concentrated towards the south.  The
+shells near them lessened, and at last stopped.  Before dawn the
+Italian stirred, and called out in his sleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia spoke to him, but he did not answer; he was so exhausted that he
+was soon unconscious again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched the east, and tried to imagine Beppi safe and sound in a
+town far away from this terrible din, but she could be sure of nothing.
+She remembered Roderigo's words, 'She is safe,' and knew that he must
+have meant Maria.  Surely Beppi and Nana were with her and Aunt Rudini;
+it could not be otherwise.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a guilty start she remembered Garibaldi.  Where was she, and what
+had become of her in all the terrors of yesterday?  Lucia could not
+remember having noticed her after she left the footbridge.  Was she
+safe in the mountains, or lying dead in a shell hole?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My Garibaldi, poor little one, she would not understand, and she will
+think I neglected her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Tears of pity and weariness stung Lucia's cheeks.  The thought of her
+little goat, suffering and neglected, seemed to be more than she could
+bear.  She buried her head in her arm and cried softly.  The tears were
+a relief to her, and long after she had stopped sobbing they trickled
+down her cheeks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She fell into a light doze now that her watch was so nearly ended, and
+did not waken until the east was streaked with gray.  She might not
+have awakened then, had it not been for a cold, wet nose burrowing in
+her neck, and a plaintive, "Naa, Naa!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She sat up suddenly to discover Garibaldi, covered with mud from her
+ears to her tail, looking very woe-begone, standing beside her.
+Regardless of the mud Lucia threw her arms around her pet, and for once
+in her life the little goat seemed to return her caress.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Lucia lifted her head there was a smile on her lips, and the old
+light of determination shone in her eyes.  She got to her knees slowly
+and looked about her.  The guns were booming back and forth, but their
+position seemed to be changed.  The Austrian guns still sounded from
+across the river, but their range was much farther south.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked towards the west.  None of the guns that were there the
+night before could be heard.  With a throb of joy she realized that the
+booming now came from the town.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Had the Italians crept up and into Cellino during the night?"  The
+very idea was so exciting that she could not rest until she made sure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She stood up and walked over to the road.  The gate had an odd
+appearance in the half light.  She walked up the hill a little way,
+rubbing her eyes as she went.  Something behind the wall seemed to
+appear suddenly, emit a puff of smoke, and then disappear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia had never seen a big gun in her life, and she did not know that
+one was hidden securely in the cover of the wall near the ruins of the
+church, for so quietly had the great monster arrived, and so stealthily
+had the soldiers worked, that its sudden appearance seemed almost a
+miracle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia put it down as one, and offered her prayer of thankfulness from
+the middle of the muddy road.  Then the work at hand took the place of
+her surprise, and she ran back to her wounded soldier and roused him
+gently.  He opened his eyes; they were bright with fever, and he tossed
+restlessly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia tried to move him, but could not.  He was very big, and she could
+not pull him as she had the slender Roderigo.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As she stopped to consider, the walls of Cellino suddenly seemed to let
+loose a fury of smoke and flame.  Nothing that had happened during the
+day before equalled it.  The big guns boomed and the smaller ones sent
+out sharp, cracking noises that were even more terrifying.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Poor Lucia dropped to her face again, and Garibaldi cowered beside her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nothing seemed to happen.  The shells did not fall near them as she had
+expected, and after her first fright had passed, she got to her feet
+again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Tugging at the soldier was useless, and an idea was forming in her
+mind.  She ran as fast as she could up the hill to the cottage, calling
+Garibaldi to follow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the shed she stopped and looked at the door.  It was light, and she
+soon tore it away from its support.  Then she went into the cottage and
+came back with a rope.  She made a loop and put it over the goat's
+head.  Then with two long pieces she contrived a harness and hitched
+the door to it.  One end dragged on the ground, and the other was about
+a foot above it.  The rope was crossed on the goat's back and tied
+firmly to the long ends of the door that did duty as shafts.  Garibaldi
+was too disheartened to protest, and Lucia had little trouble in
+leading her down the hill.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldier was delirious when she reached him, but he was so weak that
+it was an easy matter to roll him on to the improvised stretcher.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia took hold of one shaft, and with Garibaldi pulling too, they
+started off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a long and weary climb, but at last they reached the cottage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The terrible jolting had been agony for the soldier.  He regained
+consciousness on the way, and from time to time a groan escaped him.
+But when he was in the house he did his best to smile, and crawled onto
+the mattress that Lucia had pulled to the floor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She made haste to take off his knapsack, and under his direction she
+dressed the ugly wound in his thigh.  Her fingers, only used to rough
+work, moved clumsily, but she managed to make him a little more
+comfortable.  He smiled up at her bravely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor little one, you are tired.  Go and eat," he whispered.  And
+Lucia, after she saw his head sink back on the pillow, found a stale
+loaf of black bread and began to munch it slowly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldier pointed to his knapsack and told her to eat whatever she
+found in it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There should be some of my emergency rations left," he said faintly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia found some dried beef and offered it to him, but he shook his
+head and asked for a drink of water.  She gave it to him, but his eyes
+closed and his head fell back as he drank.  She ate all the beef and a
+cake of chocolate that she found; and then went to the door to look out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Cellino was enveloped in smoke and she could not see the gate.  The
+guns were barking, and little spurts of white smoke seemed to punctuate
+each separate fire.  Away to the east the enemy's guns were still
+booming.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia realized that a hard battle was under way, and that it would be
+useless to try to get help until there was a lull.  She returned to the
+room and looked down at the soldier.  He was moaning softly, and his
+eyes looked up at her beseechingly.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap11"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE AMERICAN
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"Are you suffering very much?" she asked softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man nodded, his eyes closed, and a queer pallor came over his face.
+Lucia was suddenly terrified.  She felt very helpless in this battle
+with death, but her determination never left her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She ran to the door.  Poor Garibaldi was still standing hitched to the
+stretcher.  Lucia went to her and led her back to the door of the
+cottage.  She looked half-fearfully, half-angrily at the town above her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He shall not die!" she said between her teeth, and went back into the
+house.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The transfer from the bed to the stretcher was very difficult to
+manage, for the poor soldier was beyond helping himself.  But Lucia
+succeeded without hurting him too much, and once more the strange trio
+started out on their climb.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were in no great danger, for only an occasional shell burst near
+them.  The fighting was going on below the east wall.  Lucia and
+Garibaldi toiled up the hill, each one using every bit of their
+strength.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-127"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-127.jpg" ALT="&quot;Lucia and Garibaldi toiled up the hill, each one using every bit of their strength.&quot;" BORDER="2" WIDTH="412" HEIGHT="557">
+<H4>
+[Illustration: "Lucia and Garibaldi toiled up the hill, <BR>
+each one using every bit of their strength."]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+The soldier was limp and lifeless, his head rolled with every bump.  He
+looked like one dead, but Lucia refused even to consider such a
+possibility.  She urged Garibaldi on and tugged with determined
+persistence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were just below the wall when Lucia stopped to rest.  The little
+goat was staggering from the exertion, and she was out of breath.  She
+looked at the gate, it was only a little way off, but it seemed miles,
+and she wondered if she could go on.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked up at the wall.  A man dressed in a uniform unlike the
+Italian soldiers was looking down at her.  Lucia called to him just as
+he jumped to the ground.  She held her breath expecting to see him
+hurt, but he landed on his feet and ran to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For the love of Pete, what have you got there?" he asked in a language
+that Lucia did not understand.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked up at him bewildered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I do not understand what you say, but the soldier is very sick.
+Please help me carry him to the convent," she said hurriedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hum, well you may be right," the big man laughed, "but I guess what
+you want is help."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He leaned over the wounded Italian.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pretty far gone, but there's hope.  Steady now, I've got you."  He
+lifted the man gently in his arms and carried him on his back.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched him with admiration shining in her eyes.  She followed
+with the goat through the gate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once in the town she could hardly believe her eyes.  Soldiers seemed to
+be everywhere, shouting and calling from one to the other.  She saw the
+little guns that were making all the sharp, clicking noises, and she
+knew that just below, and on the other side of the river, the Austrians
+were fighting desperately.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They passed many wounded as they hurried along, and to each one the big
+man would call out cheerily.  Lucia wished she could understand what he
+said, or even what language he spoke.  It was not German, of course,
+and she did not think it was French.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps he was a tourist?" she asked him shyly, but he shook his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I don't get you, I'm sorry.  I'm an American, you see."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Americano!"  Lucia clapped her hands delightedly.  "I am glad, I
+thought so, American is the name of the tourists, just as I guessed,"
+she replied.  "I have heard of Americans and I have seen some in the
+summer, but they were not like you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked up in his face and smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The American did not understand a word of her Italian, but he saw the
+smile, and answered it with a good-natured grin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You're a funny kid," he said.  "I wish I could find out what you are
+talking about, and where you got ahold of that queer rig and the goat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They had reached the other gate by now, and they hurried through it and
+to the convent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Several of the sisters had returned, and there were doctors and nurses
+all busy in the long room where, the night before, Lucia had left
+Roderigo and Sister Francesca.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The American laid the soldier down on one of the beds, and hurried to
+one of the doctors.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Saw this youngster dragging this man on a sort of stretcher hitched to
+a goat," he said.  "He's pretty bad.  Better look at him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The doctor nodded.  Lucia stood beside her soldier and waited.  She was
+almost afraid of what the doctor would say.  He leaned over him and
+began taking off his muddy uniform, while the American helped.  When he
+had examined the wound, he hurried over to a table and came back with a
+queer looking instrument.  To Lucia it looked like a small bottle
+attached to a very long needle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't, don't, you are cruel!" she protested, as he pushed it slowly
+into the soldier.  She put out her hand angrily, but the American
+pulled her back.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's all right," he said soothingly.  "It's to make him well."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia shook her head, and the doctor turned to her.  He spoke excellent
+Italian.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is to save his life, child, and it doesn't hurt him, I promise you.
+Now tell me, where did you find him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia explained hurriedly.  The story, as it came from her excited
+lips, sounded like some wild, distorted dream.  The doctor called to
+Sister Francesca.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Is this child telling me the truth?" he asked wonderingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As far as I know," she said; "and that boy in the third cot blew up
+the bridge.  I know she went out to find the wounded."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The doctor did not reply at once.  He was hunting for the soldier's
+identification tag.  When he found it, he read it and whistled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Captain Riccardi!" he exclaimed.  "By Jove, we can't let him die."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It could not be said that the doctor redoubled his efforts, for he was
+working his best then, but he added perhaps a little more interest to
+his work.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The American helped him, and Lucia, at a word from Sister Francesca,
+hurried to her and helped her with what she was doing.  It was not
+until many hours later that she stopped working, for more wounded were
+being brought in every few minutes by the other stretcher-bearers, and
+there was much to do.  But at last there was a lull, and Lucia ran
+through the long corridor and down to the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She opened it a crack and looked out.  Before her, stretched along the
+banks of the river, were countless Austrian soldiers, staggering and
+fighting in a wild attempt to run away from the guns in the wall that
+mowed them down pitilessly.  The officers tried to drive them on, but
+the men were too terrified, they could not advance under such steady
+fire.  A little farther on, there was the beginning of a rude bridge.
+The enemy had evidently tried to build it during the night, but had
+been forced to abandon it after the Italians reached their new position.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As Lucia watched, the men seemed to form in some sort of order, and
+retreat back into the hills.  Their guns stopped suddenly, and only the
+Italian fire continued.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a horrible scene, and in spite of the splendid knowledge that an
+undisputed victory was theirs, Lucia turned away and closed the door
+behind her.  She ran up to the big door and out on the road.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There were signs of the battle all about her in the big shell holes in
+the road, and in the ruins still smoking inside the walls, but there
+was no such sight as she had just witnessed, and she took a deep breath
+of the warm fresh air.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap12"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A REUNION
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+She shaded her eyes and looked down the road.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi, freed from her harness, was lying down in the sunshine, and
+as Lucia watched her she saw a familiar figure running towards her.
+She saw it stop and pat the goat.  With a cry of joy she recognized
+Maria, bedraggled and muddy, but without doubt Maria.  She ran forward
+to meet her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Maria, where have you come from?" she called as the older girl threw
+herself into her out-stretched arms and began to cry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, from miles and miles away!  I have been running since late last
+night," she sobbed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But what has happened?  Beppi, Nana, are they safe?" Lucia demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, yes, they are all safe with mother," Maria replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then why did you come back?" Lucia persisted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I could not bear it!"  Maria tried to stifle her sobs.  "All
+yesterday, as we ran away from the guns, I kept thinking&mdash;back there,
+there is work and I am running away.  I knew that you were here, and I
+thought you were killed.  Nana was half crazy with fear and we could
+get nothing out of her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But Beppi, he is safe, and aunt is taking care of him?" Lucia insisted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, he is safe, of course, and so excited over his adventure, but he
+was crying for you last night, and we had hard work to comfort him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria paused, and Lucia looked into her eyes.  There was a question
+there and she knew that her cousin did not give voice to it.  She put
+her arm around her and led her back towards the convent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come," she said, smiling with something of her old mischievousness.
+"There is much to be done, and I will take you to Sister Francesca.
+She will tell you where to begin."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria followed her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia went back to the ward and did not stop until she stood beside
+Roderigo's bed.  He was asleep, but his brows were drawn together in a
+worried frown.  Lucia put her finger on her lip and turned to her
+cousin and pointed.  Maria looked; a glad light came into her eyes, and
+without a sound she fell on her knees beside the bed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia left her and went over to Sister Francesca.  She was awfully
+tired, and her arms were numb, but she did not dare stop for fear she
+would not be able to begin again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What can I do?" she asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sister Francesca pointed to two empty buckets.  "Go out to the well and
+fill those.  We need more water badly," she said, without looking up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia picked up the pails and walked to the end of the room, through a
+little side door and into a cloister.  In the center of it was an old
+well that she worked by turning an iron wheel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia drew the water and poured it into her pails, and started back
+with them.  It had been all her tired arm could do to lift the empty
+ones, but now each step made sharp pains go up to her shoulders.  She
+staggered along with them, fighting hard against the dizziness in her
+head, but when she was half-way down the ward everything began to swim
+before her.  She swayed, lost her balance, and would have fallen had
+not a strong arm caught her.  The pails fell to the floor, the water
+splashing over the tops.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Through the singing in her ears she heard an angry voice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor youngster, whoever sent her out for water?  Seems to me she's
+earned a rest.  Here, sister, help me, will you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Maria's soft voice came to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lucia dear, don't look like that!" she cried excitedly.  "Here, senor,
+put her on the bed, so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She felt herself being lifted ever so gently, and then the soothing
+comfort of a mattress and a pillow stole over her and she fell sound
+asleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She did not wake up until late in the afternoon.  The sun was setting
+and the long ward was in deep shadow.  She opened her eyes for a minute
+and then closed them again.  She was too blissfully comfortable to make
+any effort.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was conscious first of all of a strange quiet.  The guns seemed to
+have very nearly stopped, there was only a faint rumble in the
+distance, and an occasional sputter from the guns near by.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The enemy had retreated beyond, far into the hills, and for the time
+being Cellino was safe.  Lucia guessed as much and smiled to herself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+People tiptoed about the room near her, and she could hear their voices
+indistinctly.  She did not try to hear what they said, she was too
+tired to think.  She snuggled closer in the soft pillows and sighed
+contentedly, but before long a voice near her separated itself from the
+rest, and she heard:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We will go to my beautiful Napoli, you and I, and I will show you the
+water, blue as the sky, and we will be very happy, and by and by you
+will forget this terrible war, as a baby forgets a bad dream."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia opened one eye and moved her head so that she could see the
+speaker.  He was Roderigo, of course, and he was holding Maria's hand
+and talking very earnestly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia eavesdropped shamelessly.  She was curious to hear what her
+cousin would say.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But surely you will not fight again!" Maria's voice was pleading.
+"You are so sick, they will not send you back again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I must go back, my wound is not a bad one and I will be well in no
+time, and I must go back.  Think how foolish it would be, if I was to
+say, 'Oh, yes, I fought for two days in the great war.'  You would be
+ashamed of me, and that little cousin of yours, Lucia, she would think
+me a fine soldier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia laughed aloud and the voices stopped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria's cheeks flushed and she jumped up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you awake, dear?" she asked hurriedly, "then I will go and tell
+Sister Francesca and the Doctor."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She hurried off.  Lucia sat up and looked at Roderigo.  She was a sorry
+sight in her muddy clothes, and her hair fell about her shoulders.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a fine soldier, Roderigo Vicello," she said impulsively, "and
+I would say so if you had only fought for one day, for I know how brave
+you are.  But you are right to want to go back."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I am right," Roderigo replied.  He stretched out his hand and
+Lucia slipped hers into it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We have been comrades, you and I," he said, "and we understand why."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia nodded gravely.  She felt suddenly very proud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Doctor came back a minute later with Maria.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, are you rested enough to be moved?" he asked, smiling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes I am quite all right," Lucia assured him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I wouldn't brag too much," the Doctor laughed.  "You'll find you
+are pretty shaky.  Sister Francesca has a little room fixed for you and
+some clean clothes; how does that sound?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia smiled in reply, and the American came over at the Doctor's call.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Think you can manage to carry the little lady, Lathrop?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Guess so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia felt the strong arms lift her, as if she weighed no more than a
+feather.  He carried her down the ward and up a flight of stairs.
+Sister Francesca was waiting for them at the door of the little room.
+It had been one of the sister's cells.  With her help Lucia was soon in
+a coarse white nightgown and tucked in between clean sheets.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Doctor came in to see her a little later.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How is my soldier of the pennies?" she asked, and then as she realized
+he would not understand she added, "the one I brought up the hill."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Captain Riccardi, he's still very ill, but he is going to pull
+through all right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I am glad," she said.  "I was so afraid, he looked so queer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, don't worry any more," the Doctor replied, "and now what do you
+want?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia sighed contentedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Something to eat, if you please," she said shyly, "I am very hungry."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap13"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+AN INTERRUPTED DREAM
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+A week passed, a week of lazy luxury between cool linen sheets for
+Lucia, and she enjoyed her rest to its fullest extent.  Every one in
+the convent, which was now a hospital, and running smoothly with
+capable American nurses, made a great fuss over her, and she had so
+much care that sometimes she was just the least bit bored.  When the
+week was over, and she was feeling herself again, she grew restless and
+clamored to get up.  Even the sheets, and the delicious things she had
+to eat, could not keep her contented.  At last the Doctor said she
+might go out for a few hours into the sunshine, and the whole hospital
+hummed with the news.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria, in a white apron and cap, helped her dress, and went with her
+down the stone steps and out into the convent garden.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The first thing that met her eye was Garibaldi, clean and lazy, lying
+contentedly in the sun.  She came over and seemed delighted to see her
+mistress once more.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you are so clean, my pet!" Lucia exclaimed.  "And your coat looks
+as if it had been brushed," she added, wonderingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was.  The big American, Seņor Lathrop, makes so much fuss over her,
+you would think she was a fine horse."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What about Seņor Lathrop?" a laughing voice demanded.  "Oh, drat this
+language, I keep forgetting."  He stopped and then said very slowly in
+Italian: "Good morning, how are you this morning?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I am very well, and you," Lucia replied, "you have been very good
+to take such care of Garibaldi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Garibaldi?  I don't understand," Lathrop replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia pointed to the goat and said slowly.  "That is her name."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Name!  The goat's name Garibaldi!" Lathrop exclaimed, and added in
+English, "Well I'll be darned!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not just Garibaldi," Lucia corrected him.  "Her name is 'The
+Illustrious and Gentile Seņora Guiseppe Garibaldi,' but we call her
+Garibaldi for short."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lathrop understood enough of her reply to catch the name.  He threw
+back his head and laughed uproariously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All that for a goat!  No wonder she was a good sport with a name like
+that to live up to!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He stood for a long time looking at the poor, shaggy animal before him,
+then he laughed again and went into the convent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is a funny man," Lucia said wonderingly.  "Why should he laugh
+because of Garibaldi's name?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, he meant no disrespect," Maria reasoned.  "Americans all laugh at
+everything.  The nurses are the same, they are always laughing.  If
+anything goes wrong and I want to stamp my foot, they laugh."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia was somewhat mollified.  "What is the news?" she demanded, "I
+have been up there in my little room for so long, no one would tell me
+anything.  Sister Francesca would smile and say, 'Everything is for the
+best, dear child,' when I asked for news of the front, and I was
+ashamed to ask again, but you tell me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, there is nothing but good news," Maria replied.  "We are gaining
+everywhere.  The night after the battle, some of our soldiers built a
+bridge over the river and crossed, and when the Austrians rallied for a
+counter-charge they were ready for them and took them by surprise."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria paused, and her eyes filled with tears.  "And only think, Lucia,
+if you had not destroyed the bridge and warned the Captain of the
+beggar man, we might have been taken by surprise, and Cellino would be
+an Austrian village.  Oh, I tell you the ward rings with your praise.
+The men talk of nothing else."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nonsense, I did not do it alone.  How about your Roderigo?  He is the
+one who deserves the praise.  But tell me, how is my soldier of the
+pennies?  I am never sure that the Doctor tells me truly how he is."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why do you call him 'your soldier of the pennies'?" Maria asked.  "His
+name is Captain Riccardi, and he is very brave.  Every one knows about
+him, and some of the boys say he is the bravest man in the Italian
+army."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps he is," Lucia laughed, "but he is my soldier of the pennies,
+just the same, that's the name I love him by."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I don't understand," Maria protested, "did you know him before?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes and no," Lucia teased.  "I did not know his name, or what he
+looked like, but I knew there was a soldier of the pennies somewhere."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But tell me," Maria begged.  "I am so curious."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia laughed.  "Very well, it is a queer thing.  Listen.  Do you
+remember how for a few days about a week before this battle, I only
+brought two pails of milk to your stall in the morning?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, the rest of the milk went to Captain Riccardi, but I did not
+know it.  You see, one day Garibaldi ran away and went far up into the
+hills.  I think the guns frightened her, and of course I went after
+her.  I found her on a little plateau quite far up, and because I was
+tired I sat down to rest, keeping tight hold of her, you may be sure.
+I was dreaming and thinking, and oh, a long way off, when suddenly I
+heard a voice above me.  I looked up; my, but I was frightened, I can
+tell you, but I could see no one.  The voice said: 'Little goat herder,
+will you give me a drink of milk?'"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia stopped.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go on!" Maria exclaimed.  "What did you do?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am ashamed to say," Lucia replied, "I was so frightened that I ran
+back down the mountain as if the evil spirit were after me, and I did
+not stop until I was safe at home.  Then I began to think.  Of course,
+at first I had thought only of an Austrian, but when I stopped to
+think, I knew that Austrians don't speak such Italian&mdash;low and very
+soft this was, as my mother used to speak, and your Roderigo.  Well,
+then of course, I wanted to die of shame; I had run away from one of
+the soldiers.  I thought about it all night, and I could not sleep.
+Just before dawn I got up very softly and went down to the shed.  I
+filled two pails half-full and carried them up to the same place.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I could not see or hear any one, but I left them, and that afternoon I
+went back to see if it had been taken away.  There were the empty
+pails, and beside them a strip of paper with four pennies wrapped up
+inside.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After that, I took the milk up every day to the plateau, but I never
+saw or heard the soldier again.  Sometimes he would write me a little
+note and say 'thank you,' to me, but always there was the money.  So
+that is why I called him my soldier of the pennies; do you see?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes, how splendid!" Maria was delighted.  "And to think it was
+Captain Riccardi all the time.  No wonder now that he talks sometimes
+in his sleep of the little goat-herder and her flowered dress.  He was
+an observer, Roderigo told me.  That is a very important thing to be,
+and he was hidden high up in a tree.  That is why you did not see him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia thought of the telephone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know now, of course, for I saw him climb up it and talk over the
+wire to the soldiers miles away," she exclaimed.  "But how could I
+think to look in a tree for a soldier?" she laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A bell tinkled, and Maria sprang up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must go, it is my time to be on duty," she said, smoothing her apron
+and settling her cap importantly, "I will come back when I can."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked envious.  "Do not be long," she called after her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She settled back with a sigh, and the little goat came over to have her
+neck patted.  Lucia stroked it lovingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Garibaldi," she said aloud, "we are in a dream, you and I, and soon we
+will both wake up and find ourselves back in the white cottage with
+Nana scolding because we are late for supper.  And we'll be sorry too,
+won't we?  For that will mean that the beautiful sheets and the soft
+pillow will vanish the way they do in the fairy tales, and this lovely
+garden will go too."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But what if there were another one to take its place?" a voice
+inquired from the doorway.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap14"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE FAIRY GODFATHER
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+Lucia turned and looked up quickly.  She was startled and not a little
+embarrassed at having her confidence overheard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Through the door that led from the ward the American was pushing a bed
+on wheels.  Lucia had seen that same bed many times before.  It had
+belonged to the old Mother Superior of the convent, and many a bright
+morning she had seen it out in the garden as she sat at her desk in the
+schoolroom above.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She looked at the white pillow half expecting to see the old wrinkled
+face of Mother Cecelia, but instead Captain Riccardi looked up at her
+and smiled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See, I've found you at last," he said, as Lathrop pushed the bed
+beside Lucia's chair.  "I was beginning to think that you were just a
+dream child, and that I had imagined about the milk."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia laughed gayly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, Captain, that was not a dream, or I hope it wasn't, for if the
+milk was not real then I dreamed about the pennies, and the sick
+soldiers never got them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sick soldiers!  Did you give away the money?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh yes, sir, how could I keep it?  I did not know you were a Captain,
+I thought&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You thought I was just a poor soldier, eh?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, yes, if you will excuse me for saying so, I did, but anyway I
+would not have kept the money."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why not?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How can you ask?  Why because, to accept pay for something&mdash;and such a
+little thing as a pail of milk&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Two pails."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, just one, they were only half-full, but no matter.  I wanted to
+give away the milk, not sell it, and so I put the pennies in the box at
+church."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And all the time I thought you were perhaps buying pretty ribbons with
+it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Riccardi shook his head.  "But I might have known better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ribbons!"  Lucia scorned the idea.  "What do I need with such
+foolishness, with a war going on just under my nose!  I had other
+things to think about, I can tell you, and other ways to spend my
+pennies."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Captain looked at her gravely.  Then he took her hand and patted it
+gently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are a brave and true little Italian," he said, "and I can never
+hope to pay you for what you have done.  You will have to look for your
+reward in your own heart.  It ought to be a very happy and contented
+heart, I should think."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia's cheeks flushed with pride.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, it is, Captain Riccardi," she said, "it is indeed, and I am quite
+content.  If you heard what I said just now about the dream, you must
+not think that I don't want to go back to the cottage&mdash;I do, and I want
+so much to see my Beppino and Nana again&mdash;only&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me about that 'only' Lucia," the Captain said gently.  "That is
+what I want to hear, and then perhaps I will have something to tell
+you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, it is nothing but silliness," Lucia protested, "how can it matter?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never mind, tell me," the Captain insisted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But you will laugh.  What do big men know of fairy stories!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lots, sometimes&mdash;I believe in fairies."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked into the smiling eyes incredulously, "You, a soldier!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course, haven't I told you that I thought you were a fairy when I
+first saw you, and by the Saints, I did too.  Do you know, I first
+discovered you way down in the valley.  You were with your goats.  I
+looked at you through my glass, and your pretty flowered dress, and the
+kerchief you wore over your hair, made me think of the little girls at
+home."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, then you come from the south, too?" Lucia laughed.  "I knew it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How do you?" the Captain demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia shook her head sadly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, my mother came from Napoli.  When I was a little girl she used to
+tell me all about the sunshine and the flowers, and the blue water in
+the bay, and old grandfather Vesuvius always frowning and puffing in
+the distance.  Oh, I tell you I feel sometimes as if I had been there,
+but, of course, that is silly," she broke off, laughing, "for I have
+never been away from Cellino."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Would you like to go away to the south and live there?" Captain
+Riccardi asked slowly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes, of course.  I dream sometimes that I am a princess and that a
+wicked fairy has turned me into a goat-herder and forced me to live
+here where it is so very cold sometimes, and then I wish hard for a
+good fairy to come and set me free, and take me on a magic carpet away
+to a garden full of flowers.  There," she smiled shyly, "that is what I
+was thinking of out loud when you came a minute ago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Captain did not laugh, except with his eyes.  His voice was very
+grave as he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wouldn't a prince or a fairy godfather do just as well?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes, even better," Lucia replied seriously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well then, what would you say if I told you that I am a fairy
+godfather, and that I can spirit you to a garden even nicer than this,
+where it is always summer?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I would surely say you were telling me fairy tales," Lucia replied
+frankly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Captain laughed delightedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I'm not, Lucia," he said seriously.  "I'm telling you the truth.
+Down in the south I have a big house set in the very heart of a
+beautiful garden, and I live there all by myself."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh!"  Lucia's big eyes were full of genuine sympathy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A long time ago, I used to have a little sister like you, but she
+died, and since then I have been ever and ever so lonely.  How would
+you like to come and be my sister?  I'd take awfully good care of you,
+and Garibaldi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For an instant Lucia's eyes danced with happiness, but it was only for
+an instant, then her face fell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I would like that Captain, so very much," she said, "but I could
+not leave Beppino and Nana."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Riccardi looked at her in silence for a moment, then he said
+slowly, "Of course, you couldn't.  I forgot them for the moment.  But
+of course I meant to include them in the invitation.  I am very fond of
+Beppino already.  We had quite a chat that day in the cave."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, but you don't mean it!" Lucia jumped up excitedly.  "To live with
+you and Nana and Beppi and Garibaldi in a garden,&mdash;oh! but of course,
+it is not so, and I shall presently wake up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Wake up in the little white cottage and milk the goats and trudge to
+town with the heavy pails?" the Captain said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia nodded soberly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not it I can help it, you won't," he added with decision.  "You'll
+never do another stroke of hard work again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But are there no goats in your garden to milk, and no work to do?"
+Lucia looked bewildered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, but there's a lot of people to do it,&mdash;so many in fact, that all
+you will have to do is to pick flowers and tell Beppi and me fairy
+stories.  Will you come?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh!"  Lucia stamped her foot.  "If this is only a dream!" she
+exclaimed half angrily, "I shall surely die of misery when I wake up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's no dream, little sister, it's true, and it won't be long before
+you realize it.  This leg is going to take a long time in healing, but
+as soon as it is better we will go home, then when I am well enough to
+go back to fight, you will stay in the garden and keep it looking
+beautiful for me until I return."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a full moment Lucia stared into the Captain's eyes, while the
+wonderful truth dawned on her, then her emotion being far beyond words,
+she threw her arms around him and kissed him heartily.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap15"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+EXCITING NEWS
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"Lucia, Lucia, such exciting news, come here at once!"  Maria ran up
+the stairs excitedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia, who was busy helping Sister Francesca put away the clean sheets,
+dropped what she was doing and ran down the corridor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What is it!" she demanded.  "Have the Austrians surrendered?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," Maria stopped, breathless from her haste, "that is, not yet,
+though Roderigo says&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, oh, oh!" Lucia protested.  "Don't start on what Roderigo says, or
+we will never learn the news."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria pouted.  "For that I have a good mind not to tell you," she
+threatened.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then I shall go downstairs myself and find out," Lucia replied, not
+one whit disturbed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then I may as well tell you," Maria laughed, "for the ward hums with
+it.  The King is coming&mdash;think of it&mdash;he is coming to Cellino
+to-morrow, and he is to go through the hospital and see all the
+wounded.  Only fancy, our King!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who told you?"  Lucia's eyes flashed excitedly.  Her loyal little
+Italian heart beat with eager anticipation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you suppose I can see him?" she demanded, "but of course, I must,
+even if I have to hide under the Captain's bed.  He is sure to stop and
+speak to my Captain," she added with pride.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Roderigo says that he always stops and speaks to all the wounded
+and shakes their hands, and is very kind and so sorry always when they
+are badly hurt.  Roderigo says he has talked to soldiers who have won
+decorations, and the King himself pins them on&mdash;just think of it!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia gave a profound sigh.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If he ever spoke to me," she said solemnly, "I would die of joy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was several days after Lucia and the Captain had talked in the
+garden, and Lucia was beginning to grow accustomed to the wonderful
+idea.  Her dreams were coming true at last, and she had to admit to
+herself that she always believed that they would.  Captain Riccardi was
+truly a fairy godfather in her eyes, and she proved her gratitude for
+his kindness in a hundred little ways a day.  It never seemed to enter
+her mind that all he was offering, wonderful as it was, could not pay
+her for her courage in saving his life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She insisted upon laying all the credit on his shoulders, and with a
+smile and a shrug the Captain accepted the double share, and determined
+in his big heart to be worthy of it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Lucia and Maria went down to the ward a little later, the patients
+were indeed humming with the news.  Every face wore a smile of keen
+joy, and the nurses hurried about to be sure everything was in perfect
+order.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia was well enough now to go wherever she pleased, and after she had
+talked for a few minutes with Captain Riccardi, and made sure that
+Maria had not exaggerated, she went out of the convent with the
+intention of going into town.  Some of the refugees had returned, but
+so far there had been no news of Seņora Rudini, Nana, or Beppi, and she
+was growing anxious.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As she walked down the broad steps, she saw Lathrop coming towards her.
+Lucia was particularly fond of the big American, and she smiled as she
+saw him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hello!" he greeted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia returned the salutation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know that the King is coming?" she demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lathrop understood the word King, and as the town was talking of
+nothing else he guessed what she meant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," he replied in Italian, "nice&mdash;glad&mdash;you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, but you are so funny.  How I wish you could speak so that I could
+understand you!" she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lathrop shook his head.  "There she goes again, I didn't get even one
+word this time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He put his hand in his pocket and drew out a letter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See," he said, pointing to it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia nodded.  Lathrop scratched his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You&mdash;in&mdash;letter," he said painstakingly, "Girl, American."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, you have put me in your letter?  How nice!" Lucia said.  "What did
+you say?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I get you, but I'm blest if I can tell you, and it's a shame, too.
+You're such a little winner, you and your Mrs. Garibaldi, that I'd like
+to be able to tell you so.  But I guess it's hopeless."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All of which Lucia listened to politely, but without the first idea of
+its meaning.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She nodded towards the gate and they walked towards it together.
+Lathrop mailed his letter, and they stopped to look at the ruins.
+Lucia questioned some soldiers who were clearing the streets as best
+they could.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The town hall, at the end of the market-place, was still standing, and
+to-day it was draped in Italian flags.  It looked older and more
+dignified than ever, amid the ruins, and the flag floated bravely in
+the crisp fall breeze.  Lucia and Lathrop stopped to look at it.
+Lucia's eyes sparkled and she threw an impulsive kiss towards it.
+Lathrop saluted respectfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As they turned to go back they noticed a crowd of soldiers and some of
+the townspeople gathered about the gate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What can the matter be?" Lucia exclaimed, hurrying forward.  "Perhaps
+it is the King."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They ran to the gate and questioned some of the soldiers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"More refugees returning," one of them explained.  "See there's a whole
+line of them, it is a good sight, and a good time that they have
+chosen.  Now we will not look so like a deserted place when the King
+comes."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, perhaps some of them can give me news of Beppino," Lucia
+exclaimed, forcing her way through the crowd.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Almost the first person she saw as she ran down the road was Maria's
+mother.  She was walking along beside several other women, and with a
+start Lucia realized that she looked thin and wan.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Aunt Rudini!" she called excitedly, "you are back at last.  Oh, Maria
+will be so glad!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seņora Rudini looked up, fear and hope in her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Maria!" she exclaimed, "where is she?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At the convent.  She is helping to nurse the soldiers," Lucia replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, and I thought she was dead or a prisoner.  She lay down beside me
+one night, and the next morning she was gone; I have been terrified."
+The old woman was wringing her hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But she is safe, go and see," Lucia protested, "I have just left her."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria's mother needed no urging, she ran as fast as her stiff joints
+would allow towards the hospital.  But she had not gone very far when
+she returned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am a selfish old woman," she said, "thinking first of myself, when
+of course you want news of Nana.  Well, look yonder in that farm wagon."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia did not wait to hear more.  She darted off and met the wagon
+before it reached the turn in the road.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Beppi!  Nana!" she called.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man who was driving stopped, and Nana slid down from the straw,
+right into Lucia's waiting arms.  She was so glad to see her, that she
+could only babble foolishly.  All during her long journey, and her stay
+in strange villages, she had thought of nothing but Lucia in the hands
+of the enemy, and she was nearly crazy with relief and joy to find her
+safe again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last Lucia quieted her.  "Where is Beppino?" she asked, "surely he
+is with you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Something in the straw of the wagon moved, and the old driver pointed
+his whip at a mop of black hair, and laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi was asleep of course.  Lucia's strong young arms lifted his
+little body out, and hugged and kissed him.  Beppi woke up, and at
+sight of her he shouted with joy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a happy and excited family that walked through the town and down
+to the little white cottage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia had so much to say, and Nana would not listen nor believe all the
+wonderful things she tried to tell her, but at last, from lack of
+breath, she stopped exclaiming and crying, and Lucia pushed her gently
+onto the green bed, took Beppi on her lap, and began the recital of her
+wonderful news in earnest.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap16"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE KING
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"The King!  The King!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Viva!  Viva!"  A great cry rose within the walls of Cellino, and
+swelled to a mighty cheer, as a gray automobile drove slowly through
+the Porto Romano, and stopped in the market-place opposite the town
+hall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldiers who had so bravely defended the town were lined up ready
+for inspection, and as the King lifted his hand to salute the colors, a
+silence, as profound and as moving as the cheer had been, fell over the
+crowd.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia, with Beppi held tightly by the hand, was on the edge of the
+crowd.  She trembled with excitement as she looked at the greatest, and
+best-loved man in all Italy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"See!" she whispered excitedly to Beppi, "that is the King&mdash;our King!
+Look at him well, for we may never be lucky enough to see him again in
+our whole lives."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi's big eyes were round with wonder.  He looked.  His gaze fastened
+on the shining sword.  Then the memory that he might some day be a
+General returned to him, and he drew himself up very straight.  As the
+King passed on his inspection, his little hand went up in a smart
+salute.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His Majesty stopped, smiled, and returned the salute gravely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi waited until he had walked on, then he buried his face in Lucia's
+skirts, and wept from sheer joy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia's pride knew no bounds.  Her heart was beating wildly, but she
+stood very still until the King went into the town hall, then she
+picked Beppi up in her arms and ran excitedly across the town and out
+to the convent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We can see him again, darling, so stand very still," she said.  "He is
+coming to see the soldiers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They watched the gate eagerly, and before long the gray car came
+through it very slowly.  A crowd of people surrounded it, cheering and
+throwing flowers.  The King smiled and bowed to them all.  Lucia's eyes
+never left his face.  Suddenly she saw him lean forward excitedly as
+the big car stopped.  Beppi tugged at her skirts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look at Garibaldi, she is blocking the way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked, and to her horror she saw her pet standing in the middle
+of the road, her four hoofs planted firmly in the mud, and her head
+lowered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, the wretch," Lucia exclaimed, darting forward.  "Come here at
+once!" she called.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi looked around and obediently trotted off.  The car started,
+and the King waved especially to Lucia as he passed, but even so great
+an honor could not compensate her.  She was mortified to tears that her
+goat should have been guilty of <I>lese majeste</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No entreaties on Beppi's part could make her stay to wait for the
+King's return.  She left him with a soldier, and went around the corner
+of the convent, followed by the disgraced Garibaldi.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She sat down on a bench and sighed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course you're only a goat," she said scornfully, "but I did think
+you had more sense than to do anything as terrible as that.  Do you
+know who that was that you made to stop?  That was the King, do you
+hear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi walked away indifferently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I am disgusted with you forever," Lucia exclaimed with a shrug of
+disdain.  "You will stay here until he goes away again, and then I
+shall take you home and tie you up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi paid no attention to the threat.  Perhaps she knew how empty
+it would prove to be.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lucia, Lucia, my child, where are you?"  Sister Francesca's voice
+trembled as she called.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here I am, sister," Lucia jumped up.  "Do you want me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, my dear, I have looked everywhere for you.  Come with me at once."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia followed, wondering at the expression in the nun's usually placid
+face.  But Sister Francesca did not stop to give any explanations.  She
+led the way hurriedly back to the front door, of the convent, and up
+the steps through the ward of smiling men, and only stopped when she
+reached the door of Captain Riccardi's private room.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go in, my dear," she said, giving Lucia a little push.  "The Captain
+wants to speak to you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia opened the door and found herself face to face with the King.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She was too astonished, and far too thrilled to speak.  She must have
+shown some of her feeling in her eyes, for the Captain, who was in bed,
+laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Here she is, Your Majesty," he said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The King stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So you are the brave little girl whom I must thank for saving Captain
+Riccardi's life, and for blowing up the bridge?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia was still tongue-tied.  She swallowed hard and tried to stop her
+heart from beating so fast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, yes, sir&mdash;Your Majesty," she said at last.  "I and Garibaldi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Garibaldi?"  The King could not restrain a smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The goat, sir," the Captain explained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I see, and what did you say his name was?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Garibaldi's a her, Your Majesty, and so she had to be Seņora
+Garibaldi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia was fast forgetting her embarrassment.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'The Illustrious and Gentile Seņora Guiseppi Garibaldi,' that's her
+real name, but of course, it's too long for every day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I should suppose so, particularly if you were in a hurry," the
+King laughed softly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Was that Seņora Garibaldi that we came nearly running over?" he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh yes, it was, but please, Your Majesty, don't be angry with her.
+You see, she really didn't know you were the King."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Angry, why I should say not.  Before I leave, yon must introduce me to
+her, I couldn't leave without seeing such a really important person."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia clapped her hands delightedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, she will be so proud!" she exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The King turned to the officer who stood beside him and nodded, then he
+shook Captain Riccardi's hand.  "I congratulate you on the addition to
+your household," he said, smiling.  "Come with me, Lucia," he
+continued, "I have something for you, and I want to give it to you
+where all the soldiers can see."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia followed in a dream.  She stood very still at the end of the
+ward, and watched the men salute as the King stood before them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She did not hear what he said to them, for her head was swimming, but
+she saw him turn to her, and her heart missed a beat as he pinned a
+medal on her faded bodice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In appreciation of your courage and loyalty," the King said, and
+Lucia's eyes looked into his for a brief, but never-to-be-forgotten
+moment.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap17"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+GOOD-BY TO CELLINO
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+It was over a month before Captain Riccardi was well enough to be
+moved, but at last the beautiful day for the departure for the south
+came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you really mean we are going?" Beppi demanded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course we are, darling," Lucia replied, laughing.  She was so
+excited that she could hardly wait to dress Beppi and Nana with the
+patience that such an undertaking required.  Nana had a new dress, Aunt
+Rudini made it with Maria's help, and though it was too somber for
+Lucia's color loving eyes, it was a new dress and she fastened it on
+Nana's bent shoulders with a glow of pride.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There now!" she exclaimed when it was on and Nana's stringy gray hair
+had been reduced to some sort of order.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Turn around and let me see you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nana turned.  She was in a flutter of excitement, although she would
+not have admitted it for the world.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't waste any more time over an old woman," she said, sharply.  "I
+am tidy and that is enough."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You are more than tidy, Nana, you look beautiful," Lucia exclaimed.
+"Now do sit still and don't do anything."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There's nothing to be done that has not already been done," Nana
+replied as she sat on the edge of the green bed and folded her hands on
+her lap.  Lucia nodded in satisfaction and turned her attention to
+Beppi.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He had a new suit too, and the broad sailor collar on it was
+embroidered with emblems and stars.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi was delighted, and Lucia helped him on with it as he danced and
+hopped, first on one foot and then to the other.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm a sailor," he announced, "a real sailor!  See the bands on my arm."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fickle one," Lucia protested as she tied the flaring red tie, with
+loving fingers, "I thought you were going to be a soldier like our
+Captain."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi thrust his small hands in his trouser pockets.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am when I grow up," he replied seriously, "but I can be a sailor in
+the meantime, can't I?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, of course," Lucia agreed, "and now put on your shoes, dear, it
+must be late, and it would never do to keep the Captain waiting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go and dress yourself then," Nana said, "and don't make yourself look
+too gay, it is not seemly."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia tossed her head and laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, but I will, my new bodice is so beautiful; all bright flowers, and
+my skirt is blue&mdash;I know the Captain will like it&mdash;and we are going to
+the South where all the girls wear bright colors&mdash;I expect my dress
+will look very somber."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nana did not reply, she grumbled a little to herself, and Lucia pulled
+out the drawer of the dresser and very carefully took out her new
+possessions.  She put them on slowly as if to prolong the pleasure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When she was ready she looked at as much of herself as she could see
+in the small mirror, and smiled happily.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I look very nice, I think," she said frankly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then we are ready," Nana exclaimed, getting up, "we had better start
+up the hill."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, do let's go," Beppi insisted, "I know we are going to be late."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, but we have plenty of time," Lucia replied.  "Go along both of
+you, I will follow with Garibaldi."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Such foolishness," Nana grumbled, "to take a goat in a train; there
+are many goats in the South.  Why don't you wait until you get there
+and leave Garibaldi to Maria with the rest?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia looked at her grandmother in consternation, but she did not stop
+to argue with her.  She left the house and went to the shed; repaired
+now enough to make a shelter to keep out the rain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi was firmly tied to one of the posts.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come, my pet," Lucia whispered, "we are going away and I have a ribbon
+for your neck, see?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now come," she coaxed, "we must go up to the convent, that nice
+American Mr. Lathrop is going to put you in a box.  You won't like it,
+poor dear, but it's the only way they let goats travel."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi seemed to understand something of the importance of the
+occasion, for she walked along beside her little mistress with lowered
+head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia waited until Nana and Beppi had disappeared through the gate
+before she started.  She knew there was plenty of time and she wanted
+to be alone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She stood in the doorway of the cottage and looked at the poor, tumbled
+little room.  She felt suddenly very forlorn and lonely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good-by, little room," she said softly, "I will never, never forget
+you.  It isn't as if you were going very far away from me for we have
+given you to Maria, she and Roderigo will take good care of you, and
+some day perhaps I will come back for a tiny visit," she said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A plaintive "Naa" from Garibaldi made her turn.  As she left the room
+her eyes lingered on the green bed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Riccardi was sitting up, fully dressed, and waiting for them in
+the garden of the convent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At sight of Lucia his eyes danced with fun.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, little sister of mine, how are you?" he greeted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I am so excited, Seņor," Lucia replied.  "Is it nearly time to go?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, not for a couple of hours," the Captain laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are we really going in an automobile?" Beppi demanded, "like the one
+the King came in?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, just like that, and then we go in a train for a long time," the
+Captain explained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do we <I>sleep</I> in the train?"  Beppi's eyes were as round as saucers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," the Captain shook his head, "we sleep in a lovely house that
+belongs to a friend of mine in Rome."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi tried to be polite but Captain Riccardi saw the disappointment in
+his eyes, and patted his small head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you sorry?" he laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, no, he is not," Lucia contradicted hastily, "he will like sleeping
+in Rome, won't you, my pet?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi hung his head.  "I will like it," he admitted, "but it will not
+be as exciting as sleeping on a train."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, of course it won't, but it will be lots more comfortable, and you
+see I have to think of that," the Captain explained, "but I promise you
+some day we will sleep in a train, and on a boat, or any old place you
+like, how's that?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will tell you afterwards," Beppi replied noncommittally.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I must go and find Maria," Lucia said, "I have not told her half the
+things I want to.  She won't take proper care of my goats, I know, but
+no matter, I will do my best to tell her what to do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She went into the convent.  Maria was busy in the ward, but at Lucia's
+beckon she left what she was doing and went to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come over by Roderigo's bed," Lucia said, "we have only a little time
+to talk before we leave."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, but you must be excited!" Maria exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Look at her eyes," Roderigo laughed, "of course she is."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, and why not," Lucia demanded, "wouldn't you be?"  Roderigo
+shivered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I were going this day, back to Napoli, I would die from joy," he
+said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nonsense, that's what Lucia said about the King's speaking to her,"
+Maria reminded, "but she's still alive, and the King not only spoke to
+her but kissed her too."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you know," Lucia said quietly, "sometimes I think perhaps I am dead
+and this is Heaven."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Heaven!" Roderigo laughed, "never, it is much too cold, see the sick
+yellow sun up there."  He pointed to the window, "in Heaven the sun is
+hot and the sky is blue, just as you will find it to-morrow.  Oh, but I
+envy you.  What wouldn't I give&mdash;"  He hesitated and looked at Maria,
+"No, I would not go if I could; I am happy here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Maria's smile rewarded him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But surely after the war," Lucia said, "you will both come to Napoli
+to live."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps," Roderigo assented, "after the war."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They were silent for a moment, aware for the first time of what the
+coming separation would mean.  Then Roderigo exclaimed gayly,
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But how solemn we are!  We must laugh.  I tell you, Lucia, when you
+see my old grandfather Vesuvius you must give him my best respects, for
+mind if you are not respectful to him he may do you some harm."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I will be very careful," Lucia laughed, "but I will never call
+that cross old, smoking mountain my grandfather, I can promise you
+that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Haven't you some friends that Lucia could see?" Maria inquired, "or
+could she perhaps take a message to your family."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No."  Roderigo shook his head, "she will not be near them, but
+perhaps&mdash;"  He turned to Lucia, "if you are ever walking along the
+shore below Captain Riccardi's place, you may meet a soldier, an old
+man with a scar on his face; if you do, he is my uncle Enrico."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But what does he do on the beach?" Maria inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, he watches to see that no one rows out to the boats in the bay
+without a passport, there are plenty of men who would like to leave
+without permission," Roderigo explained, "My uncle is there to keep
+them safe in Italy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are they Austrians?" Lucia inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Roderigo winked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are Italian citizens on the face of things," he replied, "but in
+their hearts&mdash;"  An expressive gesture finished the sentence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just as Maria was about to ask another question Beppi ran into the ward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Lucia, Lucia, come quickly, the American is packing Garibaldi up in a
+box, and you are missing all the fun."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia jumped up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh I must go and help," she exclaimed, "I will see you again for
+good-by."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She followed Beppi to the garden and found Lathrop nailing on the top
+to a big wooden crate.  From between the slats Garibaldi looked out
+reproachfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia petted and consoled her until it was time to go.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Garibaldi left first in a wagon; she was going all the way by train.
+Lucia had many misgivings but she watched the wagon out of sight with a
+smile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her thoughts were soon diverted by the arrival of a big automobile.
+Captain Riccardi was helped in by the doctor and Lathrop, and after
+repeated good-bys Lucia took her place beside him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The car started off slowly, they were going to take the train at a
+point several miles south.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched the walls of Cellino grow dim against their background of
+bare mountains.  It was her first departure, and it marked a new period
+in her life.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap18"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XVIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+IN THE GARDEN
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"How does my little sister like her new home?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Captain Riccardi was sitting in a comfortable chair in the warmth and
+sunshine of his garden.  He looked very much stronger than on his
+departure from Cellino.  A month under the southern sky had done much
+to make him well again, and as he sat looking at Lucia he was turning
+over in his mind the possibility of returning to the front.  Lucia was
+picking flowers near him, she had a basket over her arm and a big pair
+of scissors.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her cheeks, that had been so pale, were flushed and round, and an
+expression of happy contentment took the place of the excited sparkle
+in her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She dropped down on the ground beside the Captain as he spoke, and
+looked up at him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is the very first time you have asked me that," she said, "and we
+have been here for a long time.  You know I think it is very, very
+wonderful, what could be more beautiful than this garden, but I am
+getting lazy, the sun is so warm and there is so little to do."  She
+looked puzzled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's quite as it should be," the Captain replied, "you are too young
+to work."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, that is what you always say," Lucia protested, "I am too young and
+Nana is too old, and Beppi&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Beppi is too lazy," the Captain laughed, "he is always asleep under
+the flower bushes, but tell me," he continued gravely, "are you ever
+homesick?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Homesick."  Lucia considered for a moment, "For Maria, yes, but for
+Cellino, no.  I like to think of it, but I want always to live here."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good," the Captain smiled, "then you won't mind my going away?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Back to fight?" Lucia inquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Captain nodded.  "My wound is healed and I am well enough; they
+need all the men they can get up there, you know."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know," Lucia looked very unhappy, "what terrible times there have
+been since we came here; everything has gone wrong.  Why I wonder, our
+soldiers are as brave as ever.  What has made us lose so much lately?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A baffled look stole over the Captain's face and he shook his head
+sorrowfully.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No one knows, my dear," he said, "we have suffered terrible losses,
+every plan that we make is known to the enemy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you remember the beggar you saw on the road the day you followed
+the two Austrian soldiers?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, there are many men like that in Italy, some are disguised as
+beggars and some as just working men, but they are everywhere, and
+through them our plans are given to the enemy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But surely the police could arrest them," Lucia protested, "they must
+all be Austrians or Germans."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They are, of course, but they have lived here among us for so long
+that it is hard to tell them from ourselves; they speak, act and look
+as we do."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But they think as our enemies," Lucia added, "I understand.  What very
+bad men they must be, just to think that but for them we might have won
+this horrible war by now."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps," the Captain agreed, "but if they are here and we can't find
+them out then we must win the war in spite of them, and that is why I
+am going back."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When?" Lucia asked.  She was suddenly very unhappy for the memory of
+the attack was still vivid, and she dreaded to think of her newly found
+godfather's returning to the dangers and hardships of the front, but
+she was too brave and too wise to say so.  She kept a stiff upper lip
+and her eyes were dry as they discussed the plans.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I think I will leave in a day or two now that my mind is made up," the
+Captain said, "it will take me quite awhile to return to my Company,
+and I may have to wait in Rome for orders, so the sooner I am off the
+better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I suppose so," Lucia replied slowly.  "Oh, but how we will miss
+you, I cannot bear to think," she added impulsively.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then you must write to me often," the Captain laughed, "I get so few
+letters and I will treasure them.  I will want to know just how you and
+Beppi and Nana spend each day, and what tricks Garibaldi is up to."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I shall tell you everything," Lucia promised, eagerly, "every tiny
+little thing, and you will write back?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, as often as I can," the Captain promised.  He got up from his
+chair and started to walk toward the house.  When he was halfway up the
+path Beppi dashed through the garden gate and ran to him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, but I have had a fine morning," he declared, "you will never guess
+where I have been."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You do look excited," the Captain smiled, "it must have been a very
+nice place, tell us about it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then come back and sit down," Beppi insisted, taking his hand.  The
+Captain returned to his chair and Beppi perched on the arm of it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now begin," Lucia said, "we are listening."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well," Beppi took a long breath.  "This afternoon I was tired of
+playing in the garden and I went out into the road.  Nana was sound
+asleep and did not hear me, and when I had walked a little ways I met
+two boys; one of them was bigger than me and the other one was littler.
+We said hello, and one of them asked me my name, and I told him, and
+then the big one said he guessed I couldn't fight&mdash;"  Beppi stopped and
+turned two accusing eyes at Lucia, "that was because I had on these old
+stockings.  I told you, sister, that I'd be laughed at unless I went
+barefoot, same as always."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never mind about that," the Captain interposed, laughing, "tell us the
+rest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I told him I could, and we did, of course, and I won," he
+continued proudly, "and after that we were friends, and they asked me
+if I'd ever been to the shore, and I said; not right to it, so they
+took me.  We went down a hill and pretty soon we were right by the
+ocean, and the waves were coming in all frothy white on the blue water,
+and I took off my shoes and stockings&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Beppi," Lucia protested.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I did," Beppi repeated, "I certainly did and we had a fine time,
+I can tell you, and here comes the exciting part.  While we were on the
+beach a soldier came along; he was walking on the wall and he had a big
+gun.  The two boys ran to him and I went with them.  He asked me my
+name and where I lived, and I told him, and he said he had a nephew in
+the war, and one of the boys asked him how Roderigo Vicello was, and
+when I heard that name I just shouted, 'Why I know him,' and then I
+told them all about the bridge and the King giving Roderigo a medal,
+and everything.  They were all glad, I can tell you, and I guess these
+boys won't say I can't fight again in a hurry," he added triumphantly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, that is exciting news!" Lucia exclaimed, "Roderigo told me he had
+an uncle here.  Did he have a big scar on his face, Beppino?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," Beppi replied eagerly, "he got it in the Tripoli war.  He is a
+very brave man, I think, but he says he'd rather fight than guard the
+shore, but of course he has to do as he's told, because he's a soldier."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And I suppose that means you don't have to do what you're told until
+you're one," the Captain laughed, "what will Nana say when she hears
+you ran away?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Who's going to tell her?" Beppi inquired, "Lucia won't, and I don't
+think you will," he added with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I suppose I won't after that," the Captain replied, laughing,
+"that is if you will promise to be very good and mind Lucia while I am
+away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Away?" Beppi queried, "where are you going?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Back to fight," the Captain replied, "and perhaps I shall be gone for
+a long, long time, and of course, while I am gone I shall expect you to
+take care of your sister."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, Lucia can take care of herself," Beppi laughed, "she always has,
+and of Nana and me, too, but I'll be good if you say so, only can't I
+go down to the shore once in a while?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course, darling," Lucia answered for the Captain, "but you must
+tell Nana where you are going."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I will tell you I think," Beppi said gravely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Captain got up and he walked beside him to the house.  There was a
+chance that the bright sword might be taken from its chamois case, and
+Beppi never missed a chance of seeing it if he could help it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia, left alone in the garden, looked out over the low wall to the
+west.  The bay of Naples stretched out blue and glistening in the last
+rays of the sun, and the gray of the old house took on a soft pink tint.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It is a fairy palace, I believe."  Lucia buried her face in her basket
+and whispered to the flowers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder if it will disappear when my fairy godfather goes away, or if
+it will stay and be ours to keep for him until he comes back, for he
+must come back, he must, he must, he must," she finished almost angrily.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap19"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XIX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BACK TO FIGHT
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+A big gray car, very like the one that had come to Cellino, drove up
+before the door of the Riccardi villa two days later.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Captain, once his mind was made up, did not waste any time in
+carrying out his plans.  He was eager to rejoin his comrades in the
+north, but when the time came to leave he was very sorry to say good-by
+to Lucia.  She had found a warm and secure spot in his big heart, and
+he knew he would miss her gay chatter and the laughing expression of
+her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All the household were on the steps to say good-by, even Nana had been
+prevailed upon to leave her seat in the garden by the well, and her
+lace bobbins, long enough to see him off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beppi danced about excitedly.  "Oh, please hurry up and end the old
+war," he cried impatiently, "and come back, we will be so lonely
+without you.  I promise to be very, very good."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's right, and when I come home I shall bring you all the souvenirs
+I promised; an Austrian helmet and a piece of shell," the Captain
+replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And your sword, don't forget that," Beppi reminded him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh no, of course I won't forget that," the Captain swung Beppi high in
+the air above his head and kissed him, then he turned to Lucia.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I will be good too," she promised, laughing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course you will, but you must be happy too, that is the most
+important of all," the Captain said seriously.  "Be sure and pick all
+the flowers in the garden and stay out in the sunshine all day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And may I take the flowers to the hospital?" Lucia asked, "we have so
+many in the house, and the sick soldiers would love them so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, do what you like with them," the Captain replied, "but be
+careful, don't do anything dangerous, you are such a spunky little
+fire-brand, that I can't help worrying."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, but you mustn't, I will be so very careful.  Besides there is
+nothing to do down here, it is not like Cellino."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, you can't always be sure," the Captain said, his eyes twinkling,
+"if there was any danger you'd be sure to be in the heart of it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, I will close my eyes tight," Lucia promised, "and walk in the
+other direction, that is, unless it was something very, very important."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I thought so.  Well, I guess you'll be safe here, safer than you've
+ever been before, anyway," the Captain said, "and now good-by."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He kissed her low, broad forehead, very gently.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good-by, fairy godfather, come back soon."  Lucia tried not to let her
+voice tremble.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Captain got into the car hurriedly.  He waved to the group on the
+steps until he was out of sight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia went back into the house, but the spacious rooms and high
+ceilings only added to her unhappiness.  She almost longed for the
+comfort of the tiny old cottage and the familiar sight of the green bed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She wandered about listlessly; she was quite alone.  Nana had gone back
+to her lace making, and Beppi was in the garden.  The old man and his
+wife&mdash;the Captain's faithful servants&mdash;were in the kitchen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the library Lucia stopped before the rows of books and tried to read
+their titles.  But she gave it up and looked at the pictures, that
+amused her for a little while, for she thought they were beautiful, but
+she did not understand them.  She could not give anything her undivided
+attention for her thoughts were on the way with the Captain, and she
+was fighting against the unhappiness that threatened to overpower her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Surely he will come back," she said, to a copy of Andrea del Sarto's
+St. John that hung above the mantel.  "This cruel war has taken my real
+father; it cannot take my godfather too."  She gave herself a little
+shake, "It is that I am lonely that I think such sad thoughts, I will
+go out to the garden and pick flowers for the soldiers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Accordingly she found her basket and scissors and spent the rest of the
+afternoon in the garden.  When her basket was piled high she put on her
+hat very carefully, regarding it from every angle of the Florentin
+mirror.  It was the first hat she had ever owned and she was very proud
+of it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When it was tilted to her satisfaction she took up the basket and went
+out by the garden gate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hospital was a little over a mile away.  Lucia had visited it with
+Captain Riccardi.  It had formerly been a private villa and its
+terraced gardens went down to the water's edge.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia knew the way and she loitered along, enjoying the newness of the
+scenes about her.  Everything and everybody were so different, the
+fishermen with their bright sashes and Roman striped stocking caps, the
+old women and the young girls in their bright dresses, with great gold
+loops hanging from their ears.  Even the sound of their voices was
+different as they called out greetings to one another.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia decided that the very first thing she would do when the Captain
+came home would be to ask him for a pair of gold earrings.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So occupied was she with her thoughts that she reached the gate to the
+hospital before she realized it.  She lifted the heavy knocker; an old
+man opened the door.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is not visiting day, little one," he said, as he looked down at
+Lucia.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I am not visiting," she replied, "I brought these few flowers for
+the sick soldiers; will you take them?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Indeed I will."  The old man held out his hand.  "Do you want the
+basket back again?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, no, there's no hurry for that, I will get it the next time I
+come," Lucia replied.  "I mean to bring flowers every day or two for
+the soldiers."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is very kind of you," the old man smiled, "I'll take these right
+up."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia nodded and turned to go back along the road.  The sun was setting
+over the water, and below the bay beckoned invitingly.  She looked and
+decided to go home that way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She took a path that led to the water's edge.  It was steep, for that
+part of the coast rose high above the water.  She was tired when she
+reached the bottom and sat down to rest on the low stone wall.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soft lapping of the water made her drowsy, and she slipped to the
+sand, leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was not a sound but the soothing voice of nature, the ripple of
+the water, the sighing of the wind and the occasional cry of a sea bird.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All the sounds together seemed to rock Lucia in a sort of lullaby, and
+it was not many minutes before she was asleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she awoke it was quite dark and she was conscious of a difference
+in the voice of the water.  A heavy regular splash, splash, grew nearer
+and nearer as she listened.  If she had been accustomed to living near
+the water she would have recognized it as the rhythmic stroke of oars,
+but she did not, and it was not until a shape loomed up in the dusk a
+little farther down the beach that she realized it was a boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She got up and walked towards it.  If it was a fisherman's boat she
+wanted to see it, even if it meant being late to supper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But it was not a fisherman's boat, it was a light, high-sided row boat
+and the man in it stood up and pushed forward on his stout oars.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He made a landing on the sand before Lucia reached him, and he jumped
+out hurriedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Whatever his business was it occupied all his thoughts, for he did not
+look to right or left but ran straight to the wall.  Another figure
+came out of the shadows to meet him.  They spoke in whispers, but Lucia
+was near enough to hear what they said.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She listened out of curiosity for it struck her as being rather strange
+that a man dressed in beautiful dark clothes, with a hat such as she
+had seen the men in Rome wear, should be out on the beach whispering in
+the shadow of the wall to a boatman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she had listened she was even more surprised.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's all right, I've fixed it, you can get aboard her at midnight."
+The boatman's voice was husky and very mysterious.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Be sure and be here on time," the man replied, "this spot is safe,
+wait until the guard has passed and then land.  If there is any danger,
+whistle."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The boatman nodded.  "It's a risky business," he objected.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You will be well paid for it," the man answered sharply.  "Now go."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia watched him disappear into the dusk and waited until the boatman
+had rowed out of sight.  Then she straightened her hat and started for
+home, thinking very hard as she hurried along.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap20"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XX
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+AN INTERRUPTED SAIL
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+When Lucia reached the road above she ran as fast as she could.  She
+had been so startled at what she had heard that her thoughts were
+confused.  But as she hurried along her mind cleared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perhaps they are all right, and the man is just going for a row," she
+said to herself.  But the memory of the boatman's words returned to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It's a risky business."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She did her best to attach no importance to it, but back in her brain
+was the firm conviction that the man with the hat was one of the
+Austrians that Roderigo had spoken of.  "An Italian citizen on the face
+of things, but in their hearts&mdash;" Lucia instinctively mimicked
+Roderigo's gesture.  She knew too, that argue though she might, she
+would interfere.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When she reached the garden she heard Beppi crying and saw a light in
+his window above.  Beppi did not cry very often and by the sound she
+thought he was in pain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She hurried into the house and ran upstairs.  Nana met her at the door
+of Beppi's room; she was wringing her hands.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So you are back," she cried, "well, praise the Saints for that, I
+thought I should lose you both on the same day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Lose us,' what are you talking about?" Lucia demanded, pushing past
+her to the bed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Beppino mio, what has happened?" she asked, though there was little
+need to question for a deep cut in Beppi's cheek, from which the blood
+spurted freely, was answer enough.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My face, Lucia, it hurts me so, make it stop bleeding," Beppi pleaded,
+"I fell on a big rock in the garden."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Caro mio, how long ago?" Lucia asked excitedly, "here quick, Nana, get
+me some hot water, I will wash it as I saw Sister Veronica wash the
+soldiers.  There, there, darling, it will soon be better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With trembling fingers Nana and the old servant, Amelie, brought a
+basin and a towel, and Lucia bathed the wound.  It was a deep cut and
+poor Beppi winced as the water touched it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a little the blood stopped and Lucia bound up his head in soft
+white cloths.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Stay by me," Beppi begged, "don't go way downstairs, I am afraid."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Poor angel," Amelie cried, "he won't be left alone; old Amelie will
+bring up the little sister's dinner and she can eat by his bedside,"
+and she hurried off, crooning to herself as she went to the kitchen
+below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nana, now that she knew that Beppi was not going to die, started
+scolding him for not looking where he was going, but Lucia sent her
+downstairs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"He is too tired to listen to-night, Nana, and anyway he will be
+careful.  Do go away and rest a little, you must be tired."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Nana had left, Lucia returned to the bed and sat down.  She did
+not have any idea what time it was, and she knew that it would be
+impossible to leave Beppi until he was quiet.  She hardly touched the
+tempting tray that Amelie brought her, and her voice trembled as she
+asked what time it was.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ten minutes after seven," Amelie told her after she had carefully
+consulted the big hall clock.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh!"  Lucia was surprised and relieved.  She thought she must have
+slept for hours, but now she realized that in reality she had only
+dozed for a few minutes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She took Beppi's hand and set about putting him to sleep.  It was a
+difficult task.  She told him story after story, but at the end of each
+his eyes were bright and his demand for another one as insistent as
+ever.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia kept time by the chimes of the clock, and at ten she turned out
+the light.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am coming to bed beside you," she explained as Beppi protested, "I
+think the light will hurt your head."  She took off her dress and
+slipped on her nightgown.  Beppi snuggled contentedly into her arm, and
+she went on with her stories.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sing to me," he asked at last, sleepily, "your song," and Lucia began
+very softly to sing.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+"O'er sea the silver star brightly is glowing,<BR>
+Rocked now the billows are.<BR>
+Soft winds are blowing,<BR>
+Come to my bark with me.<BR>
+Come sail across the sea.<BR>
+Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<P>
+Beppi's even breathing rewarded her efforts.  She slipped her arm from
+under his head and stole softly out of the room just as the clock
+chimed eleven.  She put on her dress hurriedly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The house was very still as she crept downstairs and out into the
+garden.  The stars were out and it was an easy matter to find her way.
+She ran until she reached the path that led to the shore, then she
+moved very cautiously.  She hoped to reach the guard, tell him what she
+had heard, and then go home, but when she reached the beach she
+realized that she was too late.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was no guard in sight, but her ears detected the splash of oars,
+and she knew that the boatman was coming.  She crouched down beside the
+wall and waited.  She watched him pull his boat up on shore and then
+walk swiftly off in the opposite direction from her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She did not know what to do, and she was frightened&mdash;badly frightened.
+The broad shining water on one side and the hill on the other seemed to
+hem her in, and she felt lost.  It was not like the mountains of
+Cellino, where she knew every path.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She crouched down by the wall and waited.  Another figure joined the
+boatman, and they stood still, a little farther up the beach.  Lucia
+knew it was the man she had seen that afternoon, and she knew too that
+in a very few seconds they would turn around and come back to the boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a courage born of fear she jumped up and before she quite realized
+what she was doing she was tugging at the boat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not very high up on the beach for the boatman had left it so
+that it would be easily shoved off.  Fortunately the tide was going
+out.  Lucia's arms were strong and she pushed with a will.  The boat
+found the water and drifted silently away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Her feet were wet, but she did not realize it.  She crept back to the
+beach and flattened herself against the wall.  The men returned.  They
+too kept in the shadow of the wall.  It was not until they were almost
+brushing against Lucia that the boatman noticed that his boat was gone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Saints preserve us!" he exclaimed.  "It has been spirited away.  I
+knew I should be punished for doing such a black deed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Spirits, nonsense!" the man spoke angrily.  "It is your own stupid
+carelessness, you did not pull it up on shore far enough.  You
+rattlebrain idiot, I've a good mind to kill you for this.  See, there
+is your boat out there&mdash;empty&mdash;go and get it.  Do you hear?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But how?" the boatman wrung his hands desperately.  "I do not know how
+to swim.  I will die.  Santa Lucia, Saint of sailormen, spare me," he
+screamed as the man lifted his heavy cane to strike him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Don't you dare strike that man!" Lucia exclaimed, "he did pull his
+boat up on shore, but I pushed it off.  I heard you this afternoon, and
+I knew you wanted to go away to that big ship out there, and perhaps
+sail to Austria.  I know what you are, you two-faced man.  You speak,
+you laugh, you scold in Italian, and all the time your black heart is
+Austrian."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You shall not go away from here.  I, Lucia Rudini, tell you, you shall
+not!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Santa Lucia!  A miracle!"  The boatman trembled with fear, but the man
+was not so superstitious.  He caught Lucia's arm and shook her roughly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You did it, you little fiend, well, you shall get what you deserve for
+your meddling."  He motioned to the frightened boatman.  "Get me a
+rope, I'll make a gag of my handkerchief; hurry man, if you are found
+you will be shot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I dare not, I dare not, she is the spirit of Santa Lucia.  She
+came when I called.  The Saints have mercy!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a growl of disgust the man turned from him and caught both of
+Lucia's wrists in his firm clasp.  Then he lifted his cane.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"She must not tell until we are well away," he said, and brought the
+cane down heavily.  It was his intention to stun Lucia, but he had
+miscalculated when he expected her to stand still and receive the blow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She dodged to the right and began kicking and struggling.  The boatman
+wrung his hands and screamed for help.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was not many minutes before the guard, attracted by the noise, came
+running towards them.  The man's back was towards him, but Lucia saw
+him and stopped struggling.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The man raised his cane again but this time he stopped, because the
+muzzle of a gun was pressing him between the shoulder blades.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lucia turned to the guard and explained hurriedly.  In the starlight
+she could see that he had a long scar across his face, and she felt
+very secure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know your nephew, Roderigo," she ended, "he helped me blow up the
+bridge in Cellino."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The soldier nodded.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I know about that, Seņorina," he said respectfully, "and the rest of
+your fine deeds.  You were born for the work it seems.  Move an inch
+and off comes your head," he turned furiously on the man who had tried
+to edge away.  Then he continued in the soft, courteous tones he had
+been using.  "I hope some day you will do me the honor of telling me of
+the attack yourself," he said.  "It is sometimes very lonely here while
+I am on guard."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+His gentle tone, and above all the flattering respect he showed, gave
+Lucia back her courage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course I will come," she said, "just as soon as my little brother
+is better.  He fell and cut his head, and, and&mdash;well, I guess I'd
+better be going back, he may awaken and be frightened.  Good night."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good night, Seņorina," the soldier replied, "I am proud to have seen
+you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now then,&mdash;" his voice became harsh again as he turned to his
+prisoners, "go along, one wink of your eyelid in the wrong direction
+and I will shoot."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He marched them off quickly, and Lucia, because the affair seemed
+finished, started for home.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap21"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CHAPTER XXI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE END OF THE STORY
+</H3>
+
+
+<P>
+"Tell me a story," Beppi demanded when she was lying beside him once
+more, "I'm all awake again and my face hurts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What shall it be about?" Lucia asked, stroking his hair.  She was
+still trembling from the reaction of her adventure, and Beppi's warm
+little body snuggled close in her arms was comforting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Go on with the story about the soldier and the bad girl that teased
+him, and the good girl that was the fairy princess."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Very well, but shut your eyes.  Let me see," Lucia began, "the soldier
+went off to the war, and when he came back he was wounded and the good
+girl took care of him, and they decided to be married and live happily
+ever after.  And the bad girl when she saw the poor soldier wounded was
+sorry she had teased him, and she never did it again.  And because she
+was good all kinds of nice things happened to her.  She found her fairy
+godfather, and he had a magic carpet, and first thing you know she was
+in the middle of a beautiful garden with her little&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, bother, I knew that wasn't a real story," Beppi protested.  "It's
+just about Roderigo and Maria and the Captain and you.  And oh, Lucia,
+how silly you are, you called yourself the bad girl when really you're
+the goodest in the whole world."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Am I, Beppino mio?" Lucia laughed.  "I don't think so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I say you are," Beppi replied, drowsily, "and the Captain thinks
+so too, so&mdash;"  He dropped off to sleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I wonder if he would say so if he had seen me to-night," Lucia mused,
+"I had to do it, it was the only way, but oh, dear, I do hope I don't
+ever hear any more wicked men again."  She yawned and looked towards
+the window.  The first gray light of dawn streaked the sky.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I guess I'll stay in the garden with Beppi and Nana and Garibaldi, and
+wait for my fairy god-father's return," she said as she closed her eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As if to echo her words a faint "naa," came up from the stable yard
+below.  Garibaldi was agreeing with her mistress.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR><BR>
+
+<hr class="full" noshade>
+<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCIA RUDINI***</p>
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+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Lucia Rudini, by Martha Trent
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Lucia Rudini
+       Somewhere in Italy
+
+
+Author: Martha Trent
+
+
+
+Release Date: February 2, 2006  [eBook #17666]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCIA RUDINI***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Al Haines
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 17666-h.htm or 17666-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/6/6/17666/17666-h/17666-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/6/6/17666/17666-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+LUCIA RUDINI
+
+Somewhere in Italy
+
+by
+
+MARTHA TRENT
+
+Illustrated by Chas. L. Wrenn
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover art--Lucia Rudini.]
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: "My pet, see how you frightened
+the brave Austrian soldier"]
+
+
+
+
+New York
+Barse & Hopkins
+Publishers
+Copyright, 1918
+by
+Barse & Hopkins
+
+
+
+
+DEDICATED TO
+
+R. J. U.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+     I  CELLINO
+    II  MARIA
+   III  BEFORE DAYBREAK
+    IV  LOST
+     V  IN THE TOOL SHED
+    VI  GARIBALDI PERFORMS
+   VII  THE BEGGAR
+  VIII  THE SURPRISE ATTACK
+    IX  THE BRIDGE
+     X  GARIBALDI, STRETCHER-BEARER
+    XI  THE AMERICAN
+   XII  A REUNION
+  XIII  AN INTERRUPTED DREAM
+   XIV  THE FAIRY GODFATHER
+    XV  EXCITING NEWS
+   XVI  THE KING
+  XVII  GOOD-BY TO CELLINO
+ XVIII  IN THE GARDEN
+   XIX  BACK TO FIGHT
+    XX  AN INTERRUPTED SAIL
+   XXI  THE END OF THE STORY
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+"'My pet, see how you frightened the brave
+  Austrian soldier'" . . . . . . _Frontispiece_
+
+"The Soldiers came and chattered and laughed"
+
+"Together they drove the goats before them"
+
+"Lucia and Garibaldi toiled up the hill, each one
+  using every bit of their strength"
+
+
+
+
+LUCIA RUDINI
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+CELLINO
+
+Lucia Rudini folded her arms across her gaily-colored bodice, tilted
+her dark head to one side and laughed.
+
+"I see you, little lazy bones," she said.  "Wake up!"
+
+A small body curled into a ball in the grass at her feet moved
+slightly, and a sleepy voice whimpered, "Oh, Lucia, go away.  I was
+having such a nice dream about our soldiers up there, and I was just
+killing a whole regiment of Austrians, and now you come and spoil it."
+
+A curly black head appeared above the tops of the flowers, and two
+reproachful brown eyes stared up at her.
+
+Lucia laughed again.  "Poor Beppino, some one is always disturbing your
+fine dreams, aren't they?  But come now, I have something far better
+than dreams for you," she coaxed.
+
+"What?"  Beppi was on his feet in an instant, and the sleepy look
+completely disappeared.
+
+"Ha, ha, now you are curious," Lucia teased, "aren't you?  Well, you
+shan't see what I have, until you promise to do what I ask."
+
+Beppi's round eyes narrowed, and a cunning expression appeared in their
+velvety depth.
+
+"I suppose I am not to tell Nana that you left the house before sunrise
+this morning," he said.
+
+Lucia looked at him for a brief moment in startled surprise, then she
+replied quickly, "No, that is not it at all.  What harm would it do if
+you told Nana?  I am often up before sunrise."
+
+"Yes, but you don't go to the mountains," Beppi interrupted.  "Oh, I
+saw you walking smack into the guns.  What were you doing?"  He dropped
+his threatening tone, so incongruous with his tiny body, and coaxed
+softly, "please tell me, sister mine."
+
+"Silly head!" Lucia was breathing freely again, "there is nothing to
+tell.  I heard the guns all night, and they made me restless, so I went
+for a walk.  Go and tell Nana if you like, I don't care."
+
+Beppi's small mind returned to the subject at hand.
+
+"Then if it isn't that, what is it you want me to do?" he inquired, and
+continued without giving his sister time to reply.  "It's to take care
+of them, I suppose," he grumbled, pointing a browned berry-stained
+little finger at a herd of goats that were grazing contentedly a little
+farther down the slope.
+
+"Yes, that's it, and good care of them too," Lucia replied.  "You are
+not to go to sleep again, remember, and be sure and watch Garibaldi, or
+she will stray away and get lost."
+
+"And a good riddance too," Beppi commented under his breath.
+
+He did not share in the general admiration for the "Illustrious and
+Gentile Senora Garibaldi," the favorite goat of his sister's herd.
+Perhaps the vivid recollection of Garibaldi's hard head may have
+accounted for his aversion.  Lucia heard his remark and was quick to
+defend her pet.
+
+"Aren't you ashamed to speak so?" she exclaimed, "I've a good mind not
+to give you the candy after all."
+
+"Oh, Lucia, please, please!" Beppi begged.  "I will take such good care
+of them, I promise, and if you like, I will pick the tenderest grass
+for old crosspatch," he added grudgingly.
+
+Lucia smiled in triumph, and from the pocket of her dress she pulled
+out a small pink paper bag.
+
+"Here you are then," she said; "and I won't be away very long.  I am
+just going to see Maria for a few minutes."
+
+Beppi caught the bag as she tossed it, and lingered over the opening of
+it.  He wanted to prolong his pleasure as long as possible.  Candy in
+war times was a treat and one that the Rudinis seldom indulged in.
+
+As if to echo his thoughts, Lucia called back over her shoulder as she
+walked away, "Don't eat them fast, for they are the last you will get
+for a long time."
+
+Beppi did not bother to reply, but he acted on the advice, and selected
+a big lemon drop that looked hard and everlasting, and set about
+sucking it contentedly.
+
+Lucia walked quickly over the grass to a small white-washed cottage a
+little distance away.  She approached it from the side and peeked
+through one of the tiny windows.  Old Nana Rudini, her grandmother, was
+sitting in a low chair beside the table in the low-ceilinged room.  Her
+head nodded drowsily, and the white lace that she was making lay
+neglected in her lap.  Lucia smiled to herself in satisfaction and
+stole gently away from the window.
+
+The Rudinis lived about a mile beyond the north gate of Cellino, an old
+Italian town built on the summit of a hill.  Cellino was not
+sufficiently important to appear in the guide books, but it boasted of
+two possessions above its neighbors,--a beautiful old church opposite
+the market place, and a broad stone wall that dated back to the days of
+Roman supremacy.  It was still in perfect preservation, and completely
+surrounded the town giving it the appearance of a mediaeval fortress,
+rather than a twentieth century village.  Two roads led to it, one from
+the south through the Porto Romano, and one from the north, up-hill and
+from the valley below.  It was up the latter that Lucia walked.  She
+was in a hurry and she swung along with a firm, graceful step, her
+head, crowned by its heavy dark hair, held high and her shoulders
+straight.
+
+The soldier on guard at the gate watched her as she drew nearer.  She
+was a pleasing picture in her bright-colored gown against the glaring
+sun on the dusty white road.  Roderigo Vicello had only arrived that
+morning in Cellino, and Lucia was not the familiar little figure to him
+that she was to the other soldiers.  But she was none the less welcome
+for that, after the monotony of the day, and Roderigo as she came
+nearer straightened up self-consciously and tilted his black patent
+leather hat with its rakish cluster of cock feathers a little more to
+one side.
+
+"Good day, Senorina," he said smiling, as Lucia paused in the grateful
+shadow of the wall to catch her breath.
+
+"Good day to you," she replied good-naturedly.
+
+"You're new, aren't you?  I never saw you before.  Where is Paolo?"
+
+"Paolo and his regiment go up to the front this afternoon," Roderigo
+replied.  "We have just come to relieve them for a short time, then we
+too will follow."
+
+Lucia nodded.  "You come from the south, don't you?" she inquired,
+looking at him with frank admiration; "from near Napoli I should guess
+by your speech."
+
+Roderigo laughed.  "You guess right, I do, and now it is my turn to ask
+questions.  Where do you come from?"
+
+"Down there about a mile," Lucia pointed, "in the white cottage by the
+road."
+
+Roderigo looked at the dark hair and eyes and the gaudily colored dress
+before him, and shook his head.
+
+"Now perhaps," he admitted, "but you were born in the south where the
+sun really shines and the sky is blue and not a dull gray, or else
+where did you come by those eyes and those straight shoulders?"
+
+Lucia looked up at the dazzling sky above her and laughed.
+
+"And I suppose that spot is Napoli," she teased.  "Well, you don't
+guess as well as I do, for I was born here and I have lived here all my
+life."
+
+"'All my life,'" Roderigo mimicked.  "How very long you make that
+sound, Senorina, and yet you look no older than my little sister."
+
+Lucia drew herself up to her full height and did not deign a direct
+reply.
+
+"Fourteen years is a long time, Senor," she said gravely, "when you
+have many worries."
+
+"But you are too young to have many worries," Roderigo protested; "or I
+beg your pardon, perhaps you have some one up there?" he pointed to the
+north, where the high peaks of the Alps were visible at no great
+distance.
+
+"No, not now," Lucia replied; "for my father was killed a year ago."
+
+Roderigo was silent for a little, then he raised one shoulder in a
+characteristic shrug.
+
+"War," he said slowly.  "We all have our turn."
+
+Lucia nodded and returned almost at once to her gay mood.
+
+"But you are still wondering how I got my black hair and eyes up here,"
+she laughed.
+
+"Well, I will tell you.  My mother came from your beautiful Napoli, and
+Nana, that is my grandmother, says I inherited my foolish love of gay
+clothes from her.  Nana does not like gay clothes, but my father always
+liked me to wear them."
+
+"Then your mother is dead too?" Roderigo asked respectfully.
+
+"When I was a little girl, and when Beppino was a tiny baby.  Beppi is
+my little brother," Lucia explained.
+
+Roderigo's eyes were shining with delight.  There was something in
+Lucia's soft tones that filled his homesick heart with joy.  She was so
+different from most of the girls from the north, with their strange
+high voices and unfriendly manners.  If she wasn't exactly from the
+south she was near it.  He wanted to sit down beside her and tell her
+all about his home and his family, for he was very young and very
+homesick, but Lucia decreed otherwise.
+
+"Now do see what you have done," she scolded suddenly.  "You have kept
+me talking here until the sun is well down, and I will have to hurry if
+I want to see Maria and return home before Nana misses me.  So much for
+gabbing on the high road with some one who should be watching for
+suspicious spies instead of asking questions," she finished with a
+provoking toss of her head.
+
+Which sentence, considering that she had asked the first questions
+herself, was unjust.  Roderigo, however, did not seem to resent the
+blame laid upon him.  He did not even offer to contradict, but watched
+Lucia until she disappeared around a corner a few streets beyond the
+gate, and then he turned resolutely about and scanned the road with
+searching determination, as if he really believed that the open,
+smiling country about him might be concealing a spy.
+
+When Lucia disappeared around the comer of the narrow street that led
+to the market place, she stopped long enough to laugh softly to herself.
+
+"The great silly!  He took all the blame himself instead of boxing my
+ears for being impertinent.  A fine soldier he'll make!  If I can scare
+him, what will the guns do?" she said aloud, and then with a roguish
+gleam of mischief in her eyes she hurried on.
+
+The narrow side streets through which she passed were almost deserted,
+but when she reached the market place it was thronged with people.
+Every one was out to look at the new troops, and in the little square
+the great white umbrellas over the market stalls were surrounded by
+soldiers.  Their picturesque uniforms added a gala note to the
+commonplace little scene.
+
+Lucia elbowed her way through the jostling, laughing men to a certain
+umbrella, a little to one side of the open space left clear before the
+church.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+MARIA
+
+A neatly-dressed, dumpy little woman in a black dress and shawl sat
+beneath it, and behind a row of stone crocks beside her was a young
+girl several years older than Lucia, who ladled out cupfuls of the milk
+that the crocks contained, and gave them, always accompanied by a shy
+little smile, to the soldiers in return for their pennies.  She was
+Maria Rudini, Lucia's cousin, a pretty, gentle-featured girl with shy,
+bewildered eyes.
+
+People often spoke of her quiet loveliness until they saw her younger
+cousin.  Then their attention was apt to be diverted, for Maria's
+delicate charms seemed pale beside Lucia's southern beauty, and in the
+same manner her courage grew less.  Although she was three years older,
+Maria never questioned Lucia's authority to lead.
+
+When Lucia's father had died, the kindly heart of Maria's mother had
+prompted her to offer her home to his children, but Lucia had declined
+the offer.  She said she would undertake the support of old Nana and
+Beppi and herself.  There was considerable disapproval over her
+decision, but as was generally the case, Lucia had her own way.  Her
+method of wage-earning was a simple one.  Her father had owned a herd
+of goats and a garden, and the two had provided ample support for the
+needs of the family.  At his death Lucia, with characteristic
+selection, had given up the garden and kept the goats.
+
+Every morning she milked them and carried the bright pails to town,
+where her aunt sold them at her little stall along with cheese and
+sausage.  The profits wore not great, but they wore enough.
+
+"Is that the milk I brought in this morning?" Lucia asked incredulously
+as she approached the stall.
+
+"No, no, my dear," her aunt replied, shaking her head.  "You brought
+scarcely two full pails, and they were gone before you had reached the
+gate.  We have had a great day, so many soldiers, it is a shame that
+you cannot bring in more, for we could sell it.  Just see, we had to
+send to old Paolo's for this, and it is not as rich as yours of course,
+for his poor beasts have only the weeds between the cobblestones to
+eat."
+
+"That is because he is a lazy old man and won't take the trouble to
+lead his herd out on the slopes to graze," Lucia replied.  She put her
+hands on her hips and swayed back and forth as she talked.  It was a
+little trait she had inherited from her mother, and one of her most
+characteristic poses.
+
+"How well you look to-day!" Maria said, smiling.  "I have been wishing
+you would come, we are so busy--see, here come a group of soldiers all
+together.  Will you help me?"  She held out a dipper with a long
+handle, which Lucia accepted critically.
+
+"I don't like charging full price for this milk which is more like
+water," she said.
+
+"Nonsense, child, it is business, the soldiers know no difference; it
+is only your silly pride," her aunt scolded.  She was a little in awe
+of her determined niece, and very often she was provoked at her.
+
+"If you can't bring us more milk, we must do the best we can," she said
+meaningly.  "You used to bring us twice this much."
+
+Lucia shrugged her shoulders and tossed her head.  "I can bring no more
+than I bring," she said, and turned her attention to the soldiers
+before her.
+
+But the explanation did not satisfy her thrifty aunt.  She was no
+authority on goats, but she had enough sense to know that the supply of
+milk does not dwindle to one-half the usual quantity over night.  Still
+she did not voice her suspicions.
+
+Lucia and Maria were busy for the rest of the afternoon.  Lucia's
+flowered dress and brilliantly-colored bandana that she wore tied over
+her head, were added attractions to Senora Rudini's stall, and the
+soldiers from the south came and chattered and laughed.
+
+[Illustration: "The soldiers came and chattered and laughed."]
+
+"What a pity we have no more," Maria said as the last crock was
+emptied, and they set about preparing to return home.  "We could go on
+selling all night now that Lucia is here."
+
+"Well, it is high time to go home, I am tired," her mother replied
+crossly.  "Hurry with what you are doing."
+
+Lucia was busy closing the big umbrella.
+
+"It is late, I will have to hurry, or Beppi will have let all my goats
+run away--he and his dreams.  He is a lazy little one, but I can't bear
+to scold him," she said.  "He is too little to understand."
+
+Her aunt nodded.  "Let him dream, but if you are not careful, he will
+be badly spoiled."
+
+"No fear of that," Lucia replied, "while Nana has a word to say.  She
+is always for bringing him up properly, but little good it does.  Now
+we are ready, I will help you carry home your things, if you will let
+Maria walk with me to the gate," Lucia bargained.
+
+"Oh, she may I suppose, though she should be at home helping me prepare
+the dinner.  I suppose you have some secrets between you that an old
+grayhead can't hear," she grumbled good-naturedly.
+
+"Oh, yes a fine secret!" Lucia replied laughing, as she picked up the
+greatest share of the burden and led the way.
+
+Maria and her mother lived in an old stone house that had once been a
+palace.  It was hardly palatial now, but it was very picturesque.  It
+housed five families besides the Rudinis, and in spite of the many
+lines of wash that floated from its windows, it still retained enough
+of its old grandeur to be an interesting spot to the occasional tourist
+who visited Cellino.  Maria and her mother were very proud of this
+distinction.  It made up somewhat for the loss of their house, which
+they had been forced to leave, when six months before Maria's two
+brothers had gone off to fight.
+
+The new quarters were not far from the market place and they soon
+reached them.  Their rooms were on the ground floor, and Lucia and
+Maria made haste to drop what they were carrying and start off again at
+a much slower pace for the gate.  The sun was low in the west.  It was
+setting in a bank of golden clouds over the little river that ran
+parallel with the west wall of the town.  Lucia stopped to look at it.
+
+"Rain to-morrow, I suppose, by the look of those clouds," she said, a
+real pucker of concern between her eyes.
+
+"And no wonder," Maria agreed, "with all this banging of guns one would
+think it would rain all the time out of pity for so much suffering."
+
+"Now, Maria, don't begin to cry," Lucia protested not unkindly.  "It
+will do you no good, and it will only make things look worse than they
+really are."
+
+"How can they?" Maria demanded, with more show of resentment than was
+usual with her quiet acceptance of things.  "Only this morning I sold
+milk to such a sweet boy from the south.  He had great sad, brown eyes
+like yours, and he was very young and unhappy.  His father and brother
+were both killed, and now he is going."
+
+"But perhaps he won't be killed," Lucia said practically.  "Anyway, he
+will get a chance to do a little killing first, and surely that is
+enough to satisfy any one, or ought to be."
+
+"Oh, Lucia you are cruel sometimes," Maria protested.  "Who wants to
+kill?  Surely not these happy boys, and they don't want to be killed
+either.  It is all too terrible to think about, and you are an
+unnatural girl to talk as you do.  Why, I don't believe you have cried
+once since the war began, even when the poor wounded were brought here,
+and we saw their faces all shot away."
+
+Maria's anger rose as she talked, and Lucia listened curiously.  It was
+something new for Maria to take her to task.  Her mind flew back over
+the past year, and she saw herself with her face buried in the grass
+and her hands clenched, and remembered her furious anger and her vows
+of vengeance, but she had to admit that her cousin was right; she had
+shed no tears.
+
+"We are not made the same way, I guess," she replied ruefully to
+Maria's charges.  "I cannot cry, I can only hate."
+
+"But hate won't do any good," Maria protested feebly.
+
+"It will do more than tears," Lucia replied shortly.
+
+They continued their walk in silence, now and then nodding to an
+acquaintance or bowing respectfully to the Sisters of Charity who lived
+at the big Convent just outside the Porto Romano, and who came to town
+to take care of the sick and cheer the broken-hearted.  When they
+reached the north gate Lucia stopped.  Roderigo was still on duty, but
+this time he did not pause in his brisk walk up and down to chat.  He
+never even glanced in the girls' direction.
+
+Maria nodded towards him and whispered excitedly, "That is the boy I
+was just now speaking of.  Doesn't he look sad?"
+
+"No, he looks quite cross," Lucia replied in a voice loud enough to be
+overheard, and her eyes sparkled with mischief as she added, "I wonder
+if he will let me through the gate to get home."
+
+"May I pass, sir, please?  I live a little beyond the wall, but I am
+not a spy," she said with mock humility.
+
+Roderigo blushed.  A soldier does not like to be made fun of,
+particularly when some one else is present.
+
+"Pass," he said gruffly.
+
+Lucia laughed provokingly.
+
+"Good night, Maria," she said as she kissed her cousin.  "Sweet dreams.
+I may not be in very early in the morning, there is so much to do, you
+know, but I will bring as much milk as possible," she finished.  Then
+without even a glance at Roderigo she walked through the gate and down
+the wall.
+
+When she had walked for a little distance she looked back.  Maria and
+the soldier were in earnest conversation.  Maria in her timid way was
+apologizing for her cousin's rudeness, and Roderigo was beginning to
+have doubts of the superiority of Southern beauty over the Northern,
+particularly when a gentle spirit was added to the charm of the latter.
+Lucia did not know she was the subject of their talk.  She shrugged her
+shoulders and turned her thoughts to a more important question that was
+puzzling her.  It was, how to slip out of the house the next morning
+without disturbing the already suspicious Beppi.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+BEFORE DAYBREAK
+
+Lucia found Beppi asleep in the grass, curled up in the same position
+that he had been in earlier in the day.  One of his little hands had
+tight hold of the precious pink bag, and a sticky smile of blissful
+content turned up the corners of his full red lips.
+
+Lucia looked at him and shook her head.  There might have been
+twenty-seven instead of seven years between them, for there was
+something protective in her expression.
+
+"Little lazy bones, asleep again!" she said, shaking him gently.
+
+Beppi stirred, one eye opened, and then with a sudden rush of memory he
+sat up and began excitedly: "I just this minute fell asleep, just this
+very second, truly, Lucia!  I have watched the goats, oh, so carefully,
+and they have not stirred,--see there they are only a little farther
+away than when you left.  I only closed my eyes because I thought I
+might go on with that nice dream, but I didn't," he finished
+sorrowfully.
+
+Lucia laughed.
+
+"Look at the sun," she pointed.  "It is late, you should have driven
+the goats home long ago.  But I knew you would go to asleep after you
+ate up all the candy, such a naughty little brother that you are.  What
+kind of a soldier would you make, I'd like to know, dreaming every few
+minutes?  Come along, get up,--we must hurry back to Nana, or she will
+be worried."
+
+She took his hand and together they drove the goats before them to the
+cottage.
+
+[Illustration: "Together they drove the goats before them."]
+
+Nana Rudini was waiting for them at the door.  She was a little,
+wrinkled-up, old woman with bright blue eyes and thin gray hair.  She
+spoke very seldom and always in a high querulous voice.
+
+"So you're back at last, are you?" she greeted, when the children were
+within hearing.  "Supper's been on the stove for too long.  What kept
+you?"
+
+"Very busy day, Nana," Lucia spoke in much the same tone she had used
+towards Beppi.  "I had to help Aunt and Maria at market.  More troops
+have arrived and the streets are crowded."
+
+"Oh, sister, you never told me that!" Beppi said accusingly.  "Where
+are they from?"
+
+"The south mostly," Lucia replied, "fine soldiers they are too, if you
+can judge by their looks."
+
+"Which you can't," old Nana interrupted shortly.  "Stop your talking
+and come in to supper."
+
+"Right away," Lucia promised, and hurried off to shut up her goats in
+the small, half-tumbled-down shack at the back of the cottage.
+
+Supper at the Rudinis consisted of boiled spaghetti, black bread and
+cheese, with a cup full of milk apiece.  It was not a very tempting
+meal, but Lucia was hungry and ate with a hearty appetite.
+
+After the three bowls had been washed and put away in the cupboard, she
+helped her grandmother undress, and settled her comfortably in the
+green enameled bed with its brass trimmings, that occupied a good part
+of the small room.  Lucia's mother had brought it with her from Naples,
+and it was the most cherished and admired article of furniture that the
+Rudinis owned.
+
+"Are you comfortable, Nana?" Lucia inquired gently, as she smoothed the
+fat, hard pillows in an attempt to make a rest for the old gray head.
+
+"Yes, go to bed, child," Nana replied, and without more ado she closed
+her eyes and went to sleep.
+
+Lucia climbed up the ladder to the loft, and was soon cuddled down
+beside Beppi in a bed of fresh straw.  Though she persisted in her
+determination that her grandmother sleep in state in the best bed, she
+herself preferred a simple and softer resting place.
+
+"Tell me a story," Beppi demanded; "not about fairies and silly make
+believes, but about soldiers."
+
+"But there are no pretty stories about soldiers, Beppino mio," Lucia
+protested.
+
+"Who wants pretty stories!" Beppi replied scornfully.  "_I_ don't--tell
+me an exciting one about guns and war."
+
+"Very well I'll try, but be still," Lucia gave in, well knowing that
+she would not have to go very far.
+
+"Once upon a time," she began, "there was a soldier.  He had very big
+eyes, and he came from the south where the sun is very warm and the sky
+and the water are very, very blue."
+
+"Was he brave?" Beppi interrupted sleepily.
+
+"Oh, yes, he was very brave," Lucia replied hurriedly, "very brave, and
+he loved his country more than anything else in the world."
+
+She waited but Beppi's voice commanded.
+
+"Go on, don't stop."
+
+"Well, one day he was sent to guard a gate of a city, and he walked up
+and down before it with his gun on his shoulders, and no one could pass
+him unless it was a friend."
+
+She paused again.  Beppi was breathing regularly.
+
+"Old sleepy head!" Lucia whispered, and kissed him tenderly.
+
+The story was not continued and before many minutes she was fast asleep
+herself.
+
+It was an hour before sunrise when she awoke.  The air that found its
+way into the little attic was damp and chill.  Lucia crept out of bed,
+being very careful not to disturb Beppi, and slipped hurriedly into her
+clothes.  With her shoes in her hand, she climbed gingerly down the
+ladder past her sleeping grandmother and out to the shed.
+
+"Good morning, Garibaldi, how are you this morning?" she said as she
+patted the stocky little neck of her pet.
+
+Garibaldi submitted to her caress with a condescension worthy of the
+position her name gave her, and the other goats crowded to the open
+door, eager to leave their cramped quarters.
+
+"Not yet, my dears," Lucia said softly, "it isn't time.  Here, Esther,
+I will milk you first.  You must all be good to-day, and Garibaldi, I
+don't want you to go running away if I have to leave you with Beppi,"
+she continued.  "You're nothing but goats, of course, but you know
+perfectly well that we are at war, and that you are very important, and
+must do your part.  Stop it, Miss, none of your pranks, I'm in a
+hurry," she chided the refractory Esther for an attempt at playfulness.
+
+"There now, that's enough, I can't carry any more or I would.  Two
+pails only half full aren't much, but they help, I guess.  Now if it
+won't rain until I get there it will be all right, but I'll cover the
+pails to be on the safer side."  She found two covers and fitted them
+securely over the pails.  "Now children, good-by.  Be good till I come
+back, and don't go making any noise."
+
+She paused long enough to give Garibaldi a farewell pat and then left
+the shed closing the door behind her.  She looked up uneasily at the
+cottage, but everything seemed to be very still, so she picked up her
+pails and started off at as brisk a pace as possible.
+
+She followed the main road that looked unnaturally white and ghostly in
+the pale dawn of the early morning.  It was down hill for about a mile,
+and traveling was comparatively easy at first, but when the road
+reached the bottom of the valley it stopped and seemed to straggle off
+into numerous little foot-paths.  The broadest and most traveled
+looking path Lucia followed, picking her way carefully for fear of
+stumbling and thus losing some of the precious milk.
+
+The path led up the other side of the valley.  It was a steep climb,
+and Lucia was tired when she reached the top.  She sat down for a while
+to rest before going on the remainder of the way.  The next path that
+she took turned abruptly to the right, and led up an even steeper hill
+to a tiny plateau above.  From it one could look down on Cellino across
+the valley.  When Lucia reached it she put down her pails in the shade
+of a big rock and looked about cautiously.
+
+Nothing seemed to stir.  The guns were quiet and nothing in the
+peaceful, secluded little spot suggested the close proximity of battle.
+The only human touch in sight was a small scrap of paper, held down by
+a stone on the flat rock above the pails.
+
+Lucia was not surprised, for she had done the same thing every morning
+for a week now.  She unfolded it.  As she expected, she found four
+brightly polished copper pennies and the words, "Thanks to the little
+milk maid," written in heavy pencil.
+
+Lucia picked up the money and put it into her pocket, then with a
+pencil that she had brought especially for the purpose she wrote, "You
+are welcome, my friends; good luck!" below the message, and tucked the
+paper back under the stone.  Then with another curious look around,
+which discovered nothing, she started back, this time running as fleet
+and fast as any of her sure-footed little goats.
+
+She reached home before either Nana or Beppino were awake, and hurried
+to finish her milking.  When the scant breakfast was over, she was
+ready to start for town with her pails.
+
+When she entered the market-place, it was to find a very different
+scene from the one of the day before.  The place was thronged with
+soldiers, but they were not laughing and jesting; instead, little
+groups congregated around the stalls and talked excitedly.  Some of the
+old women had covered their faces with their black aprons, and were
+rocking back and forth on their chairs in an extremity of woe.
+
+There was an unnatural hush, and men and women alike lowered heir
+voices instinctively as they talked.
+
+Lucia had seen the same thing many times before.  She guessed, and
+rightly too, that a battle was going on, and that news of some disaster
+had reached the little town.  She did not go at once to her aunt's
+stall, but left her pails inside the big bronze door of the church, and
+slipped quietly inside.  The place was deserted, and the lofty dome was
+in dark shadow.  Long rays of pale yellow light from the morning sun
+came through the narrow windows and made queer patches on the marble
+floor.  In the dim recesses of the little chapels tiny candles
+flickered like stars in the dark.
+
+Lucia looked about her to make sure that she was alone, and then walked
+quickly to one of the chapels and dropped four shining copper pennies
+into the mite box that stood on a little shelf beside the altar.  She
+stayed only long enough to say a hasty little prayer, and then hurried
+out again into the sunshine.  The clouds of the night before and the
+mist of the early morning had disappeared, and the market-place was
+bathed in warm golden sunshine.
+
+Lucia picked up her pails and hurried to her aunt's stall.
+
+"Well, you are late," Maria said.  "We thought you had stubbed your toe
+and spilled all the milk."
+
+"And only two half-full pails again," Senora Rudini grumbled.  "But no
+matter, we can get more from old Paolo.  Have you heard the news?" she
+asked abruptly.
+
+"No," Lucia replied indifferently.  "What is it?"
+
+"A big gain by the enemy.  They have taken thousands of our men, and
+they say we may be ordered to leave Cellino at any minute."
+
+"Think of it!  They are as near as that!" Maria said excitedly.  "Oh if
+we must move, where can we go to?  I am so frightened."
+
+"Nonsense," Lucia spoke shortly.  There was an angry gleam in her big
+eyes and her cheeks flushed a dark red.
+
+"Leave Cellino, indeed!  The very idea!  Since when must Italians make
+way for Austrians, I'd like to know?"
+
+"But if the enemy are advancing as they say," Maria protested
+nervously, "we will either have to leave, or be shelled to death by
+those dreadful guns."
+
+"Or be taken prisoners, and a nice thing that would be," her mother
+added.  "No, if the order to evacuate comes we must go at once.  There
+will be no time to spare.  Other towns have been captured, and there is
+only that between us."
+
+She pointed to the zigzag mountain peaks so short a distance beyond the
+north gate.  As if to give her words weight, a heavy thunder of guns
+rumbled ominously.
+
+Maria shuddered.  "There, that is ever so much nearer.  Oh, I am
+frightened,--something dreadful is happening over there just out of
+sight."
+
+"Silly! those are our own guns.  Ask any of our soldiers," Lucia said.
+
+"Here comes your guard, the handsome Roderigo Vicello, maybe he can
+tell us.  Good morning to you!" she called gayly and beckoned the
+soldier to come to them.
+
+"I hope you are well this morning," Roderigo said respectfully, bowing
+to Senora Rudini.
+
+"Oh, we are well, but very frightened," Maria replied, trying hard to
+imitate her cousin's gaiety.
+
+"Maria thinks that the guns we heard just now are Austrian, and I have
+been trying to tell her that they are Italian.  Which of us is right?
+You are a soldier and ought to know."
+
+"Our guns, of course.  They have a different sound," Roderigo explained
+impressively.
+
+He had never been any nearer to the front than he was at this moment,
+but he spoke with the assurance of an old soldier, partly to quiet
+Maria's fears, but mostly to still his own nervous forebodings.  It
+would never do to let the little black-eyed Lucia see that he was even
+a little afraid.
+
+"There, what did I tell you!" Lucia was triumphant.  "I knew, but of
+course you would not believe me.  Now perhaps you will tell her that we
+will not have to run away at a minute's notice, too?"
+
+She turned to Roderigo, but eager as he was to display his importance
+he could not give the assurance she asked.  The little knowledge that
+he had, made him think that the evacuation was very likely to occur at
+any day.
+
+He covered his fears, however, by replying vaguely: "One can never be
+sure.  War is war, and perhaps it may be necessary, as well as safer,
+for you to leave for the time being."
+
+Lucia looked at him narrowly.
+
+"What makes you say that?" she demanded.  "Have you heard any of the
+officers talking?"
+
+"No, but this morning's news is very bad.  We have our orders to be
+ready to start at any moment."
+
+"Oh!"  Maria caught her breath sharply, and her eyes filled with tears
+as she looked at Roderigo shyly.
+
+He saw the tears in surprise, and a contented warmth settled around his
+heart.  He looked half expectantly at Lucia.  Surely, if this calm, shy
+girl of the north would shed a tear for him, she with the warm blood of
+the south in her veins would weep.  But Lucia's eyes were dry, and the
+only expression he could find in them was envy.  He turned away in
+disgust.  He did not admire too much courage in girls, for he was very
+young and very sentimental, and he enjoyed being cried over.
+
+A bugle sounded from the other end of the street, and in an instant
+everything was in confusion.  The soldiers hurried to answer, and the
+people crowded about to see what was going to happen.
+
+Lucia, eager and excited, snatched Maria's hand and pulled her into the
+very center of the crowd.  An officer, with the bugler beside him, read
+an order from the steps of the town hall, an old gray stone building
+that had stood in silent dignity at the end of the square for many
+centuries.
+
+The girls were not near enough to hear the order, but they soon found
+Roderigo in the excited mass of soldiers, and he explained it to them.
+
+"We are to leave for the front at once," he cried excitedly.  "We have
+not a moment to spare.  Tavola has been captured by the enemy, and our
+troops are retreating through the Pass."
+
+"The Saints preserve us!" Senora Rudini covered her face with her apron
+and cried.  "My sons!  My sons!  Where are they, dead or prisoners?"
+
+"No, no, they are safe," Lucia protested.  "They are with the Army.
+Don't worry, when the reenforcements reach them they will go forward
+again."
+
+But her aunt refused to be comforted.  Everywhere in the street women
+were calling excitedly, and a number of them besieged the officers for
+information.
+
+The soldiers hurried to their billets and got together their kits.  The
+square buzzed and hummed with excitement and the guns kept up a steady
+bass accompaniment.
+
+The bugle sounded a different order every little while.  Some of the
+more prudent women went home and began packing their household
+treasures, but for the most part every one stayed in the market-place
+and argued shrilly.
+
+"Come!" Lucia exclaimed, catching Maria's hand.  "We can watch them
+march off from the top of the wall by the gate."
+
+They ran quickly through the side streets, and by taking many turns
+they at last reached the broad top of the wall, which they ran along
+until they were just above the north gate.
+
+"Here they come!" Maria exclaimed.  "I can hear them."
+
+The paved streets of the town rang with the heavy tramp, tramp of men
+marching, and before long they appeared before the gate.  The order to
+walk four abreast was given.  The men took their places, and then at a
+brisk pace they marched through the old gate, a sea of bobbing black
+hats and cock feathers.
+
+The townspeople followed to cheer them excitedly.  Lucia and Maria
+leaned dangerously over the edge of the wall in their attempt to
+recognize the familiar faces under the hats.
+
+The soldiers looked up and called out gayly at sight of Lucia.  She had
+taken off her flowered kerchief and was waving it excitedly.  The wind
+caught her dark hair and blew it across her face, and her bright skirts
+in the sunshine made a vivid spot of color against the stone wall.  The
+men turned often to look back at her as they marched along the wide
+road.
+
+Maria did not lift her eyes from the sea of hats beneath her.  She was
+waiting for one face to look up.  At last she had her wish.  Roderigo's
+place was towards the end of the column; when he walked under the gate
+he looked up and smiled.  It was a sad smile, full of regret.
+
+Without exactly meaning to, Maria dropped the flower she was wearing in
+her bodice.  Roderigo caught it and tucked it, Neapolitan fashion,
+behind his ear, then he blew a kiss to Maria and marched on.
+
+Lucia watched the little scene.  She was half amused and half
+contemptuous.  Her little heart under its gay bodice was filled with a
+fine hate that left no room for pretty romance.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+LOST
+
+When the soldiers had climbed out of sight into the mountains, Maria
+walked slowly back to find her mother, and Lucia after a hurried
+good-by ran home to tell Nana and Beppino the news.
+
+She was far more worried over the possible order to evacuate than she
+would admit.  As their cottage was the farthest north on the road, it
+would be the nearest to the Austrian guns.  Personally Lucia scorned
+the very idea of the Austrian guns, but she could not help realizing
+the danger to Nana and Beppino and Garibaldi.  She was still undecided
+what to do when she reached the cottage.
+
+Nana Rudini was standing in the doorway, shading her eyes with her
+withered old hand, and staring intently in the direction that the
+soldiers had taken.
+
+"Did you see the troops, Nana?" Lucia asked cheerfully.  "They were a
+fine lot, eh?  I guess they will be able to stop the enemy from coming
+any nearer."
+
+"Nearer?" queried Nana, "what are you saying?"
+
+"We have had bad luck," Lucia explained.  "Tavola has been captured,
+and our soldiers are retreating.  In town they say we may have to
+evacuate before to-morrow."
+
+The old woman received the news without comment, but a look of despair
+came into her usually bright eyes, and for the moment made them tragic.
+Long years before, when Austria had crossed the mountains and entered
+Cellino, she had been a young girl.  Now in her old age they were to
+come again, and there was no reason to hope that this time they would
+be less brutal in their triumph than they had been formerly.  The
+memory of their brutality was still a vivid one.
+
+"We will leave at once," she said at last, and her decision was so
+unexpected, that Lucia gasped in surprise.
+
+"Leave?  But, Nana, where will we go?  What will become of our things?"
+she exclaimed.  "Surely we had better wait at least until we are
+ordered out."
+
+"No, we will leave at once," Nana replied firmly.  "The order may come
+too late, as it did before.  What do those boys who swagger about in
+men's places know about the enemy?  There is not one that can remember
+them.  But I, old Nana, have known them and their ways, and I say we
+must go at once."
+
+Lucia looked at the new light of determination in her grandmother's
+eyes, and realized with a shock of surprise that to protest would be
+useless.
+
+"Where is Beppi?" she asked.  "I will go and find him."
+
+"With the goats," Nana replied.  "Call him, I will go in and start
+packing."
+
+Lucia ran around the house and off to the sunny slope where she had
+left Beppi a few hours before.  She saw the flock of goats grazing, and
+called, "Beppino mio, where are you?"
+
+No one answered her.  She hurried on, believing him to have fallen
+asleep.
+
+"Beppi!" she shouted, "I have something exciting to tell you.  Stop
+hiding from me."
+
+She waited, but still no answer came.
+
+In a sudden frenzy of fear she began running aimlessly up and down the
+hillside, and looking down into the tall grasses, but there was no sign
+of Beppi.  There were no trees or houses in sight, no place that he
+could hide behind, nearer than the mountain path at the foot of the
+valley.
+
+Lucia looked about her despairingly, then she went over to the goats.
+Garibaldi was not there.
+
+"She has strayed away, and Beppi has gone after her," she said aloud in
+relief, and returned to the cottage.
+
+Nana nodded when she explained.  She was busy tying up the household
+treasures in sheets, and Lucia helped her.
+
+Every few minutes she would go to the door and call, but Beppi did not
+reply.  The afternoon wore on slowly and a bank of rain clouds hid the
+sun.  Lucia's confidence gave way to her first feeling of terror, and
+Nana was growing impatient.
+
+"Where can he be?" Lucia exclaimed.  "I am frightened, he has been gone
+so long."
+
+Nana shook her head.  "He was off after the soldiers, I suppose," she
+replied.  "He is always disobeying--no good will come to him and his
+naughty ways."
+
+Lucia's eyes flashed.
+
+"He is not naughty," she protested angrily, "and he may be lost this
+very minute.  Anyway I am going to find him and I am not coming home
+until I do.  If you are afraid to stay here go to Maria, she and aunt
+will look after you, and when I find Beppi I will meet you there."
+
+Nana Rudini protested excitedly, but Lucia did not wait to hear what
+she said.  She ran out of the house and down the road towards the
+footpath.  She had no idea of where she was going, but fear lead her
+on.  Beppi, her adored little brother, and Garibaldi were lost, and she
+was going to find them.
+
+At the end of the road she paused and looked ahead of her.  The sky was
+dark with rain-clouds and thunder rumbled in the west, an echo of the
+guns.  Lucia took the path that she had taken early that morning, and
+as she climbed up the steep ascent she called and shouted.  Her own
+voice came back to her from the flat rocks ahead, but there was no
+sound of Beppi.
+
+Instead of going on to the little plateau where she left her pails, she
+branched off to the left.  It was hard climbing, and after repeated
+shouts of "Beppi," she sat down and tried to think.
+
+Big drops of rain were beginning to fall, and with the sun out of sight
+the fall air was damp and cold.  She pulled her thin shawl around her
+shoulders and shivered.
+
+"If Garibaldi ran away she came up here; she always does," she argued
+to herself.  "She loves to climb, and she must have come this way in
+the hope of finding grass.  Up above, and a little over to the left,
+there is a sort of sheltered spot.  Perhaps--" she did not finish the
+thought, but jumped up and started to climb.
+
+She hunted until she discovered a way to find the spot.  It was not
+difficult, for she knew every foot of the mountains from long
+association.  But Beppi was not to be seen, nor was Garibaldi.  Lucia
+stopped, discouraged.  Fear and helplessness were getting the better of
+her, and she would most likely have given way to the tears she so
+despised had her eye not caught sight of a tuft of fur on the ground.
+She seized upon it eagerly.  It was without doubt part of Garibaldi's
+shaggy coat.
+
+With a cry of joy she started off up the tiny trail that led higher up
+into the rocks.
+
+"Beppi, Beppi!" she called, and stopped.  Still no answer, but she was
+not discouraged for the guns were making so much noise that she
+realized her voice could not carry any great distance.
+
+The rain was coming down in earnest now, and it was hard to keep from
+losing her footing on the slippery rocks.  She stumbled on regardless
+of the danger, hoping against hope that she had chosen the right path,
+and that each step was bringing her nearer to Beppi.  Between calling
+and climbing, she was tired, and she stopped for a moment to catch her
+breath.
+
+A sound, faint but unmistakable, reached her.
+
+"Naa, Naa!"
+
+Garibaldi was complaining about the weather, at no very great distance
+away from her.
+
+In her relief Lucia laughed excitedly.
+
+"Beppi, Beppi, where are you?" she shouted, and waited eagerly for a
+reply, but none came.  She looked puzzled and then Garibaldi answered
+her:
+
+"Naa!  Naa!"
+
+The sound came from directly over her head, and she climbed up the
+steep rock as fast as she could.  Garibaldi was standing at the opening
+of a cave.  Lucia ran to her.
+
+"Oh, my pet, I have found you at last.  Where is Beppi?" she cried.
+Garibaldi did not exactly reply, but she stepped a little to one side,
+and Lucia saw Beppino curled up on a bed of dry leaves sheltered and
+snug from the storm, and sleeping quite as contentedly as he did on the
+mattress in the attic at home.
+
+Lucia ran to him and shook him.  He opened his eyes, and a dazed look
+came into them, then he said:
+
+"Oh, yes, I remember, it began to rain and we were lost, your old
+crosspatch Garibaldi and I, so I found this nice little place, and I
+was going to pretend that I was a gypsy brigand, but I fell asleep."
+
+Lucia was far too happy to attempt the scolding that she knew Beppi
+deserved.  She picked him up in her arms, and hugged and kissed him,
+then she encircled Garibaldi's neck and kissed her too.
+
+"My darlings, I thought you were both lost.  What a terrible fright you
+have given me!  But we are safe now, and we will wait until sunrise
+to-morrow, and then we will go home," she said happily.
+
+"I saw the soldiers go away," Beppi said, pushing her face from him as
+she tried to kiss him again, "and they looked so fine with their shiny
+hats.  It was while I looked at them that old crosspatch ran away.  I
+did have a chase, I can tell you, she had such a big start."
+
+"Are you very hungry, little one?" Lucia asked gently.  "I should have
+brought bread with me, but I did not think."
+
+Beppi giggled, and from the pocket of his little tunic he produced the
+pink paper bag.
+
+"Two left," he announced as he opened it, "and both long ones.  Here's
+yours and here's mine.  Garibaldi's been eating grass all day, so she's
+not hungry."
+
+Lucia accepted the candy, and they both had a drink of milk.  Then
+Beppi snuggled down in his sister's arms and his eyelids grew heavy.
+
+"Go on with that story," he said, "the one about the soldier at the
+gate."
+
+Lucia smiled in the dark and hugged him tight.  The guns were silent,
+and only occasional peals of thunder broke the stillness.
+
+"Well, one day," she began, "a very cross girl came to the gate, and
+the soldier who was always on the lookout for the stolen princess
+stopped her and spoke to her.  But the cross girl was feeling very mean
+indeed, and she teased the soldier and made him very unhappy.  But
+later on in the afternoon she was ashamed, and so she found the nice
+girl who was really the stolen princess, and took her with her to the
+gate, and the soldier--"
+
+Lucia broke off and sat up suddenly to listen.  A queer "rat, tat,
+tat," detached itself from the other night noises.  Beppi was sound
+asleep, and she rolled him gently into the nest of leaves, then she
+listened again.  The sound came again.
+
+"Rat, tat, tat."  It was a sharp staccato hammering, muffled by the
+wall of rock behind her.
+
+She stood up and crept softly to the mouth of the cave.
+
+The wind and the rain made such a noise that she could hear nothing,
+and it was already too dark to distinguish anything but the vaguest
+outlines.  She crept back into the shelter, believing that she had just
+imagined what she had heard, but she had not taken her place beside
+Beppi before she heard it again--a persistent "rat, tat, tat," too
+metallic and too regular to be accounted for by a natural cause.
+
+Lucia's mind was alert at once.  She put her ear up against the rock
+and listened again.  Muffled sounds too indistinct to recognize came to
+her.  Whatever they were, they were not far off, and right in a line
+with the back of the cave.
+
+Lucia thought of several explanations, but could accept none of them.
+She tried to argue against her fears by saying over and over again that
+if it was a sound made by men, those men were surely Italian soldiers,
+but her arguments could not still the frightened beating of her heart,
+as the voice became more distinct.  She was filled with terror.
+
+Rumors of underground tunnels and mines blowing off whole mountain
+tops, that she had heard from the soldiers, came back to her and left
+her cold with fear.
+
+Beppi had rolled over beside the goat for warmth, and was sleeping
+soundly.  Lucia looked at him and then went once more to the mouth of
+the cave.
+
+The cold rain in her face gave her back her courage, and she felt her
+way around the cliff and up between the crevices of the two rocks,
+until she was on the roof of the cave.  It was flat and the ground
+seemed to stretch out level for quite a distance before her.  She
+listened for a moment, but the rain beating down made it impossible for
+her to distinguish any other sound.
+
+She lay down flat on the wet ground, and crawled forward for a few
+feet, then listened again.  At first she heard only the rain and the
+wind, but after a little wait there was a muffled bang as if a bomb had
+exploded deep down in the earth, and the ground beneath her trembled.
+
+Lucia sprang to her feet and ran terrified back to the cave.  It was
+fortunate that she was as sure-footed as her goats, for the way was
+steep and slippery, and she did not pause to take care.
+
+Over in the cave, with her hand on Beppi's curly head, she sat down to
+think.  Her mind was not capable of arriving at any logical
+explanation.  Two thoughts stood out clearly and beyond doubt.  First,
+the enemy was doing something of which the Italians were unaware, and
+second, the Italians must be warned before it was too late.  That she
+must warn them she realized at once, but the way was not easy to
+determine.
+
+The mountains were tricky.  From one side they might look deserted, and
+yet a whole army could be in hiding just over the other side.  The
+giant peaks formed formidable and wellnigh impassable barriers between
+one range and the next.  Lucia had seen the troops disappear that
+morning, as if the great rocks had opened and devoured them, and she
+knew that at this moment they might be within a half a mile of her, but
+where to begin to find them she did not know.
+
+The close proximity of the Austrians frightened her, and she was afraid
+to go off at random, or even to call.  Throughout the night she tried
+to think and plan as she sat up with her back against the rock
+listening for the rat, tat, tat, which began again after she returned
+to the cave, and continued at regular intervals.
+
+Before dawn the rain stopped and the wind blew the clouds away.  At the
+first streak of light Lucia stole softly away from the sleeping Beppi
+and Garibaldi, and crept down the tiny path to the plateau below.  Once
+there she was on familiar ground and even in the pale light she could
+tell her way.
+
+During the night she had decided to go to the rock where she took her
+milk in the morning, surely the mysterious hand that left the pennies
+for her would be there, and she was determined, to wait for him.
+
+She reached the spot without encountering any difficulties, and sat
+down to wait.  The sun rose east of Cellino, and she watched it as it
+climbed over the hill and lighted the windows of the church with its
+yellow low rays.
+
+All the world looked as if it had just been bathed and freshly clothed
+to step out glistening and very clean to greet the day.  The air was
+chilly, but so fresh and sweet that Lucia took long grateful breaths of
+it.  She was just wondering how long she would have to wait, when a
+stone rolled down beside her and hit her foot.  She jumped and turned
+around.  A soldier with a broad smile that showed all his fine white
+teeth was climbing down towards her.
+
+Lucia put her fingers to her lip to caution silence, and his smile
+changed to a look of sudden anxiety.
+
+"What is it?" he demanded.
+
+"Don't make any noise," Lucia warned.  "Listen to me."
+
+She told him all that she had discovered during the night.
+
+"Are you sure of what you say?" the soldier questioned her seriously.
+
+"Oh, yes, sir, I tell you I crawled out and listened.  The sound was
+very near."
+
+"Can you show me the place?"
+
+"Yes, yes, I have just come from there, but it is a slippery climb."
+Lucia looked at him interrogatively.
+
+The man nodded.  "Never mind that, lead the way."
+
+Lucia did not hesitate, but hurried back along the rocks, choosing the
+safest footholds and sometimes leaving her companion far behind.
+
+When she reached the little grassy plateau, she stopped and pointed.
+"It is above here, sir."
+
+She started to ascend, and the soldier followed in silence.  When they
+reached the cave she pointed to the back wall and said: "Listen there."
+
+The soldier was so tall that he had to stoop down before he could
+enter, but he was very careful to be quiet and not disturb the still
+sleeping Beppi.
+
+He put his ear to the wall and Lucia watched him excitedly.  By the
+expression of his face she knew he was hearing the "rat, tat, tat."
+
+"Can you show me the place where you thought you heard the explosion?"
+he whispered.
+
+Lucia nodded and beckoned to him to follow.  In her eagerness she
+forgot that he could not climb as nimbly as she could, and she was on
+the roof of the cave before he had started to ascend.
+
+It was fortunate that she was, for not ten feet ahead of her, crawling
+along the ground, his helmet shining in the sun, was a soldier in the
+Austrian uniform.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+IN THE TOOL SHED
+
+At sight of her he jumped to his feet.
+
+"Halt!" he commanded, unnecessarily, for Lucia was far too frightened
+to move.
+
+She was thinking of the soldier whose head would appear at any moment
+over the ledge of rock behind, and her one wish was to stop him.
+
+"I won't move, sir!" she cried loudly, "I see you have a big gun and I
+am all alone."  She spoke in Italian, but the Austrian seemed to
+understand.
+
+"What are you doing prowling around here at this time of day?" he
+demanded angrily, speaking to her in her own language.
+
+"Oh, sir, I am lost," Lucia replied, not daring to look below her.  "My
+goat wandered away in the storm and I came out to find her, and now I
+am very, very far away from home."
+
+She walked towards the man as she spoke.  She was terrified for fear he
+would discover the cave below her.
+
+"Where did you sleep?" he demanded.
+
+"Oh, I have not slept, sir.  See my dress it is wet from the rain,
+there is no shelter anywhere, and the wind and the rain frightened me
+so I did not know where I was, and I was afraid to stay still."
+
+The Austrian eyed her suspiciously.
+
+"Why didn't you go to the soldiers and ask for shelter?" he inquired
+harshly.
+
+"The soldiers?"  Lucia's brown eyes opened wide in surprise.  "But
+there are no soldiers near here.  They are miles away with the guns.
+How could I reach them?  My home is over there," she pointed in the
+opposite direction from the cave, "and I think I will go back to it,
+now that it is day."
+
+"Oh, no, you won't," the Austrian replied.  "You'll come with me."
+
+"But why, what have I done?" Lucia inquired.
+
+"That's not the point," the soldier replied.  "You're an Italian, and
+if I let you go you'll run home and tell all the troops in the town
+that I was here.  Oh, no, my little lady, we can't allow that--you're
+coming along with me."
+
+His lordly tone and the sneer on his lips infuriated Lucia.  She
+thought all danger of his discovering the cave was over, so she replied
+angrily.  "And suppose I won't come?  Don't think you can frighten me,
+for you can't.  I tell you, I won't go a step with you."
+
+The Austrian was about to reply, when a sound that had been so welcome
+only a few hours ago struck terror to Lucia's ears.
+
+"Naa, Naa!"
+
+"What's that?" the soldier jumped nervously.  He was startled and
+frightened.  Lucia saw it and her own courage returned.
+
+"My goat," she said as Garibaldi appeared above the rock.
+
+Lucia ran to him.
+
+"My pet, here you are, I have found you at last.  Where have you been?
+you are a bad girl.  See how you frightened the brave Austrian soldier."
+
+The sarcasm and scorn in her voice were unmistakable.  The soldier was
+indignant.
+
+"Here, that is enough from you.  Come along, I will take you where they
+will teach you better manners."
+
+He caught her roughly by the shoulder, and Lucia went with him only too
+gladly.  If she could get him well away from the cave, it would be time
+enough to think of herself.  She, had no doubt that she would be able
+to run away from him later on.
+
+As they walked along the noise underground grew louder.  Every now and
+then the man would turn and look at her suspiciously.  He did not speak
+to her, however, and they walked for quite a distance in silence.  When
+Lucia considered that they had gone far enough she stopped.
+
+"Where are you taking me?" she demanded with spirit.
+
+"Never mind, you come along," the man replied impatiently.  "Time
+enough for you to know when we get there."
+
+"But I won't go any further."  Lucia was determined.  "Do you think
+that I will be taken prisoner by an Austrian?  Never!"
+
+Her eyes blazed indignantly.  She planned so many times just what she
+would do, if she was ever brought face to face with her hated enemy,
+that the feeling of helplessness that she felt under the big man's hand
+infuriated her.
+
+"Come along, I will not speak again," the Austrian commanded, and once
+more Lucia went on, unable to withstand the strength of his arm.
+
+The flat ground ended abruptly, and they had to climb down jagged
+rocks.  Lucia thought that her chance of escape had come, but the
+Austrian never lessened his hold on her arm.
+
+They had traveled this far without meeting any one.  The only signs of
+life had been the mysterious noise underground, and the click of
+Garibaldi's sharp hoofs as they hit the stone.
+
+When they reached a certain point the soldier stopped.  "If you make
+any noise," he said roughly, "I will have to shoot you."
+
+Lucia opened her mouth to scream, but before the sound came she changed
+her mind.  A new and splendid idea had just come to her.  She stopped
+holding back and walked obediently beside her guard.  They did not go
+very far, before he told her to lie down and crawl, and before she
+realized where she was going, she was in a deep trench that ran along
+the base of the rock and was completely hidden from sight.
+
+Garibaldi followed them, picking her way daintily, and stopping every
+now and then to let out a mournful "Naa!"  The Austrian did not seem to
+hear her.  If he did, he paid no attention, but led Lucia hurriedly
+along the dark passage.
+
+They had not gone far before a sentry stopped them.  Lucia's guard said
+something to him that she could not understand.  The sentry
+disappeared, to return in a few minutes with another man.  From the
+respectful salutes that he received, Lucia decided he must be a very
+high officer.  More talk followed which she could not understand, and
+then her guard turned to her.
+
+"Follow me," he directed, and led her out of the passage across a
+stretch of open ground, and over to a shed.  Another soldier opened the
+door, and before Lucia quite got her breath, she heard the key turn in
+a lock and the thud, thud of the men's boots as they marched away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+GARIBALDI PERFORMS
+
+The shed had been hastily put together, and served as a place for picks
+and shovels.  There were so many of them, in fact, that Lucia at first
+had difficulty in finding a place to stand, but by rearranging them she
+cleared a portion of the floor and sat down to think.
+
+The shed was by no means airtight, for the boards had been nailed up so
+far apart that not only did the air and light enter between the cracks,
+but it was also possible for Lucia to see everything that was going on
+about her.
+
+At first it looked as if the soldiers were just hurrying about
+aimlessly, but by watching them closely, especially the guard that had
+caught her, she saw that they were preparing to leave.
+
+A bugle sounded from a dugout at the end of the passage, and all the
+soldiers in sight fell into marching order and waited at attention.
+Then the officer who had ordered Lucia shut up in the tool-house, gave
+them some orders that she could not understand.
+
+One soldier came over to the shed and unlocked the door.  He beckoned
+Lucia to step outside, and as the men filed past the door he handed
+each one a pick and shovel.  When they had all received them, and Lucia
+expected to return, the Captain spoke to her.  His Italian was so very
+bad she pretended not to understand.
+
+"What is your name?" was his first question.
+
+Lucia shook her head.
+
+"Your name?" he persisted.  "Marie, Louise, Josephine?"
+
+"No, Senor," Lucia replied bewildered.
+
+"Well then, what is it?"
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+"Your name?"
+
+"No, Senor."
+
+"Your name?  Have you no sense--stupid!"  The Captain's patience was
+fast giving way.
+
+Now to call an Italian stupid is the worst possible insult, and Lucia's
+cheeks flushed hotly.  She was very angry, and she determined not to
+reply now at any cost.  She shook her head therefore, and a very
+stubborn and unpromising light came into her brown eyes.
+
+The Captain looked at her in disgust.
+
+"Well, I suppose your name does not matter anyway," he said gruffly.
+"Where do you live?"
+
+Another shake of the small black head, and an expressive shrug.
+
+"You live in Cellino, so why not say so?  Come, no more sulking.  If
+you won't answer me of your own free will, you must be made to answer."
+
+"No, Senor," Lucia smiled provokingly.
+
+"No--what in thunder do you mean?"
+
+"No, Senor," there was not a trace of impertinence in her face.
+
+The officer looked at her in despair.
+
+"Do you, or don't you understand what I am saying?" he demanded.
+
+"No, Senor," Lucia reiterated.
+
+"Where is the soldier who found this girl?" the Captain shouted to an
+orderly.
+
+Lucia did not understand what he said, but she knew that her captor was
+well out of sight with his pick and shovel by now, and in all
+probability would not return and give her away, and she was beginning
+to enjoy the part of a "stupid."
+
+Just as the Captain turned to continue his questioning, Garibaldi, who
+had been grazing about unmolested at a little distance from the shed,
+saw Lucia and came bounding over to her.  In her delight at finding her
+young mistress she very nearly succeeded in butting over the officer.
+
+Lucia had difficulty in repressing a smile, but she put her arms around
+the goat's neck and patted her.
+
+"Does that animal belong to you?"  The Captain demanded, puffing a
+little in the effort to retain his balance.
+
+Lucia only smiled and nodded.  Garibaldi kicked up her heels in an
+ecstasy of joy and sent the soft mud flying.  The Captain's anger broke
+all bounds.
+
+"Take that animal and shoot her," he demanded, but before the soldier
+could obey, he withdrew the order.  "Tie her to the tree instead, we
+may be able to milk her," he said.
+
+The soldier nodded and advanced towards Garibaldi with ponderous
+assurance, but Garibaldi was not going to be tied, she preferred her
+freedom.  She was not, however, unwilling to play a friendly game of
+tag; it was her favorite sport and she was very proficient in it.  When
+the big soldier would come within reach of her, she would lower her
+head and duck under his arm, and before the astonished pursuer could
+collect his wits and look around, she would be browsing innocently
+close by.
+
+This game kept up for a long time.  The men who were in sight dropped
+what they were doing and made an admiring circle; even the Captain had
+to smile.  Lucia wanted to laugh outright, but she managed to keep her
+face set in grave lines.
+
+At last the soldier gave up the chase and retired among the jeers of
+his comrades to the side lines.  The Captain saw an opportunity to
+amuse his men, and perhaps end their grumbling for the time being.  He
+offered a reward to the man that could catch the goat.
+
+First one soldier and then another attempted it, but none of them
+succeeded.  After a while the fun of the chase wore off for Garibaldi,
+and she became angry.  She had a little trick of butting that had won
+her Beppi's dislike, and she used it to the discomfiture of the
+Austrian army.
+
+Lucia saw them one after another rub their shins and their knees, for
+although Garibaldi did not have horns, her head was very, very hard
+indeed, and she was afraid that some one of them might grow angry and
+hurt her pet.  She looked at the officer and pointed to the goat.
+
+"I can catch her," she said simply.
+
+"Well, do it then," the Captain replied.
+
+Lucia called softly and made a queer clicking noise.  Garibaldi stopped
+butting, and walked soberly over to her.  She smiled good-naturedly at
+the men, and tied the rope that one of them handed to her around the
+goat's neck.  One of the soldiers pointed to a tree behind the shed,
+and she tied the rope securely around it Garibaldi protested mildly,
+but she patted her and left her lying contentedly in the mud.
+
+She took time to look hastily about her before returning to the shed.
+The tree to which the goat was tied was on the edge of a steep hill
+that fell away abruptly from the little clearing.
+
+Lucia looked down it, and could hardly believe her eyes; for there, far
+below, was a silver stream glistening in the sunshine, and she realized
+with a sense of thankfulness that it could be no other than the little
+river that flowed below the west wall of Cellino, and right under the
+windows of the Convent.  If she could only get away, it would be an
+easier matter to go back that way, than over the dangerous route by
+which she had come.  But she was not very eager to return at once, for
+the idea that had come to her earlier in the day still tempted her to
+wait and listen.
+
+When she returned to the shed the Captain was nowhere in sight, and one
+of the soldiers pointed to the open door.  She nodded and walked in,
+the key grated in the lock, and she was once more a prisoner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE BEGGAR
+
+As the sun rose higher, a quiet settled over the clearing.  The men
+talked and smoked, and the Captain read a newspaper at the door of his
+dugout.
+
+No one bothered Lucia, and she kept very quiet.  She had had nothing to
+eat since the night before and she was very hungry, but she would not
+for the world ask her enemies for food.  She was not above accepting
+it, however, when a little before noon one of the soldiers brought her
+a hard and tasteless biscuit and a cup of water.  She ate greedily, and
+then tired out from so much excitement she fell asleep.
+
+She awoke an hour later to a scene of activity.  She could see through
+the peek-hole that the Captain was consulting his watch every little
+while, and the men were hurrying about excitedly.  They all looked up
+at a certain mountain above with suspicious eyes, and Lucia could tell
+by the tone of their voices that they were angry about something.
+
+A few minutes later the arrival of a very muddy and tired soldier from
+the opposite direction created a diversion.  He saluted the Captain and
+handed him a message.  Whatever the message was, it pleased the
+Captain, for he brought his fist down on his knee and laughed.  Then he
+gave some very long; and to Lucia, unintelligible orders, and the men
+lost some of their ugly rebellious look.
+
+He chose two soldiers from the group before him, and motioned them into
+his dugout.  Lucia tried to make something out of the strange words
+that the other men spoke, but she could not.  They were eagerly
+questioning the messenger and giving him food and water.  He was
+answering them, and from the expression of their faces his replies were
+not cheering.  At last he stood up, shrugged his shoulders and for the
+first time noticed Garibaldi.
+
+The other soldiers explained, and Lucia knew they were discussing her
+when they pointed to the shed.  The messenger evidently suggested
+milking the goat, for after a little laughing and jesting, one of the
+men took a pail and approached Garibaldi.
+
+Now, no one had ever milked Garibaldi in all her life but Lucia, and
+from the disastrous attempts on the part of the soldiers it was evident
+that no one was ever going to, if that very particular animal could
+prevent it, and she seemed quite able to, to judge from the results.
+
+Lucia watching through the cracks in the shed laughed softly to
+herself.  She was not surprised when, a few minutes later, one of the
+men opened the door and told her to come out.
+
+He could not speak Italian and he resorted to the sign language.  Lucia
+nodded in understanding.  She might have pretended blank stupidity, but
+she wanted some milk herself, and this was a good way to get it.
+Besides, she decided that she would do something to make it impossible
+for them to lock her up again on her return.
+
+Garibaldi stood quite still as she milked her, and submitted meekly to
+her affectionate pats.
+
+The messenger drank greedily from the pail, and when he had finished
+there seemed to be nothing else for Lucia to do but return to the shed.
+She walked back to the door as slowly as possible, and looked hard at
+the lock.  It was just an ordinary padlock and it hung open on the
+rusty catch.  She looked quickly at the men behind her.  They were busy
+talking, and did not appear to be paying any attention to her.
+
+Very quickly, without seeming to do it, she touched the padlock; it
+swung on the catch, and then fell into the mud.  Lucia put her foot
+over it and ground it in with her heel.
+
+When the soldier remembered her a few minutes later, and came over to
+shut the door, he grumbled at the loss of the lock, but he did not
+apparently connect her with its disappearance, nor did he bother much
+about looking for it.  He shut the door and walked back to join the
+group that still surrounded the messenger.
+
+Lucia sat down again and watched the door of the Captain's dugout.  She
+had wondered all day what the smiling Italian soldier and Beppi had
+done after she left.  She knew that Beppi could easily find his way
+back to the cottage, and in case Nana had already gone, and Lucia knew
+that in spite of her threats she would not go off alone, he would go
+into the town and some one would take care of him.
+
+As for the soldier, he would hear the rat, tat, tat, and know what it
+meant, and return to his comrades for help.  She listened, but there
+was no sound of guns near enough to mean a fight close at hand.
+
+The thought puzzled her, but she dismissed it as the Captain and the
+two soldiers came out of the dugout.  The men looked cross and sullen,
+but the Captain was still smiling.  He walked over to the messenger,
+handed him a folded paper, and the man disappeared as mysteriously as
+he came.
+
+Lucia did not pay any attention to him, however, for she was interested
+in the two soldiers.  They were very busy buckling on their kit bags in
+preparation for a departure.  When they were ready, they stood at
+attention before the Captain.  After more orders from him, they started
+off down the hill just back of the shed.
+
+Lucia guessed that they were going to the river, with a cold feeling
+around her heart, she realized that they could go straight to the wall
+of Cellino.  She did not stop to consider the many sentries who walked
+up and down the walls day and night, or the fact that two enemy
+soldiers would hardly walk up and attempt to enter a town in broad
+daylight.  She only knew that the river led to Cellino, and that all
+she loved most in the world was there.
+
+She was sick with fear.  She looked back at the Captain; he was again
+consulting his watch.  The soldiers looked at him and fell to grumbling
+again.  After a moment of indecision he called to them.
+
+They stood up and saluted.  He gave a very peremptory order, and in a
+few minutes almost all of them had their guns on their shoulders, and
+waited his next word.  The Captain himself buckled on his revolver, and
+the party started off at a brisk pace through the tunnel.
+
+Lucia watched them go.  In a hazy way she realized that they were going
+out in search of the men who had left earlier in the morning.  This was
+correct in part, but they were also going to look for another party of
+men, the ones who had been responsible for the rat, tat, tat, Lucia had
+heard.
+
+The diggers, led by her captor, had been sent out that morning to
+relieve their comrades already at work.  When none of them returned the
+Captain grew anxious, and was himself leading the searching party.
+
+If Lucia had known, she would have realized that her Italian soldier
+was in some way responsible for their absence, and she would have been
+delighted.  As it was, she dismissed the Captain with a shrug and
+turned her attention to the few soldiers who remained.  They were a
+little distance from her, and most of them had their backs to her.
+
+Lucia determined to try to slip out unnoticed.  She waited until they
+were all talking at once.  By their angry gestures they appeared to be
+discussing something of great importance; none of them even glanced
+towards the shed.
+
+Lucia pushed open the door very gently and waited.  No one noticed it,
+then she laid down flat and crawled out into the mud; it was slow work,
+but in the end it proved the best way, for she reached the tree and
+Garibaldi without being discovered.  The shed hid her from sight.  She
+hurriedly untied the rope and freed the goat.  It had never entered her
+mind to escape and leave her behind.
+
+Garibaldi, free once more, ran down the steep hill her hoofs making no
+more than a soft, pad, pad noise in the mud.  Lucia dropped to the
+ground again and crawled slowly after her.  Below her, almost at the
+river's edge, she could see the two soldiers slipping and stumbling
+along.
+
+She wriggled on in the mud until she was well below the crest of the
+hill, then she got up and began to run.  She jumped from one rock to
+the next, always keeping the two men in sight, but keeping under cover
+herself.  The men kept to the bank of the river and moved forward
+cautiously.  Lucia kept abreast of them, but stayed high up above their
+heads.
+
+It was a long walk, for the river twisted and turned many times before
+it reached the walls of Cellino.  But it did not tire Lucia, as it did
+the two men.  They walked slower and slower as the afternoon wore on,
+stopping every few minutes to rest and talk excitedly.
+
+At a little before sunset the guns grew louder and seemed to be much
+nearer.  All day there had been a dull rumble, but now they burst out
+into a terrific roar.  Lucia saw the men below her stop and look up.
+They stood still for a long time, and then hurried on.  Until now the
+road had been deserted, but ahead at the end of a footbridge, just
+around a sharp turn, Lucia, from her vantage point, could see another
+figure.  The soldiers could not have seen him, but when they reached
+the turn of the road they both left the open and took cover in the
+rocks above.
+
+Lucia watched narrowly.  They did not stop as she half expected them to
+do, but crept on until they were abreast of the man.  He was a beggar
+to judge by his shabby clothes, and he was apparently whiling away his
+afternoon by staring into the river.
+
+Lucia's first thought was that the Austrians would shoot him.  She
+caught her breath sharply when a queer thing happened.  One of the
+soldiers picked up a stone and threw it down into the stream.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE SURPRISE ATTACK
+
+Without turning his head, the beggar picked up a stone and tossed it
+into the river.  He repeated this twice.
+
+Lucia watched, fascinated.  The soldiers left their hiding-place and
+came down to the road.  The beggar took something out of the pocket of
+his coat, handed it to one of the soldiers, and shuffled off in the
+opposite direction.
+
+Lucia waited to see what the soldiers would do.  She expected them to
+return, but instead they waited until the beggar was out of sight, and
+then hurried across the foot-bridge and plunged hurriedly into the
+mountains opposite.
+
+Lucia caught sight of their shining helmets every now and then as they
+climbed higher and higher, and finally disappeared.  She was undecided
+what to do, but after a little hesitation she determined to follow the
+beggar.  Now that the Austrians were out of sight there was no need for
+her to avoid the open path, and she hurried to it and ran quickly in
+the direction that the man had taken.  She did not know where she was,
+or how far she would have to go before she reached Cellino.  She had
+seen nothing of the town from the mountains, and she guessed that it
+was much farther away than she had at first supposed.
+
+She walked on as fast as she could, keeping a sharp lookout for the
+beggar, but he had apparently disappeared, for she could not find him
+or any trace of him.
+
+It was late in the afternoon when she reached a part of the river that
+was familiar to her, and with a start she realized that she was still a
+good three miles from Cellino.  She was very tired and very hungry, but
+she sat down to consider the best plan to follow.  She knew nothing of
+what had passed between the men at the bridge, but she had sense enough
+to realize that whatever it was, it was not for the good of the Italian
+forces.
+
+Some one must be warned, and soon, for the speed of the Austrian
+soldiers made her feel that the danger was imminent.
+
+"I will go on to town and warn them," she said aloud to Garibaldi,
+"that is the best plan, and then I can find something to eat."
+
+She jumped up and started off with renewed energy.  At a little path
+that turned to the right she left the river and came out on the broad
+road at the foot of a valley.  It was not long after that, when she saw
+the little white cottage ahead.  The sight of it gave her courage.
+There, at any rate, would be a human being to talk to, and bread to
+eat.  She ran the rest of the way, and did not pause until she was in
+the little room.
+
+The sight that met her eyes sent a sudden damper over her spirits.
+Everything was upside down.  The green bed was stripped of its sheets,
+and all the familiar ornaments had gone.  Lucia stood dumbfounded
+trying to realize that Nana had really gone.  A feeling of loneliness
+and despair made the tears come to her eyes.
+
+She clenched her fists and tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but
+without success, the tears came in spite of her and in her
+disappointment she threw herself down on the bed and sobbed.  Fear got
+the better of her, and in an agony of mind she imagined every possible
+harm to Beppi.
+
+But she was not allowed to stay long in that state of mind, for
+suddenly the guns broke into a terrible roar.  The air was black with
+smoke and the house trembled and rocked under her.
+
+She jumped up and ran to the window.  Great volumes of smoke arose to
+the east, and higher geysers of dirt and rock flew up into the air.
+
+"The Austrians!"  Lucia did not stop to think in her fear.  She dashed
+out of the house and down the road in the opposite direction from the
+town.  Without realizing the personal danger to herself, she ran as
+fast as she could.  Fear and the noise of the exploding shells sent her
+plunging ahead regardless of direction.
+
+Instinctively she took the path to the right at the foot of the village
+and climbed up to the little plateau.  She was directly under the fire
+of her own guns, but the noise from both sides was so great that she
+did not know it, and she forged ahead, shouting.  In all the tumult she
+could not even hear her own voice, but to shout relieved her nerves of
+the terrible strain.
+
+When she reached the plateau she climbed on up, choosing the spot
+where, earlier in the day, the Italian soldiers had come from, and
+slipping and sliding, but always goaded on by fear, and the knowledge
+that she must tell some one about the beggar, she kept on her way.
+
+She did not know how long she ran, or when it was that she stumbled,
+but suddenly everything was black before her eyes, and the noise of the
+guns was blotted out by the awful ringing in her ears.  Then came
+oblivion.
+
+When she next realized anything, she was conscious of some one bending
+over her and holding a water bottle to her lips.  She drank gratefully
+and opened her eyes.  The Italian soldier was beside her, and another
+man was lying on the ground near her.
+
+"Give me something to eat," she said, trying to sit up, "or I will go
+away again."  Going away was the only way she knew of, to express the
+sensation of fainting.
+
+The Italian took something out of his knapsack and gave it to her.
+Lucia ate ravenously, and the queer feeling at the pit of her stomach
+disappeared.
+
+"How did you escape?" he asked.
+
+The question brought back a sudden wave of memory, and Lucia jumped up
+excitedly.
+
+"By the river road--two Austrians and a beggar--they met by the
+foot-bridge, over there where the noise comes from; I saw them."  She
+recalled the facts jerkily.
+
+"Go on!" the Italian's eyes flashed.
+
+"The beggar gave the Austrians a paper, and they left with it and
+climbed up into the mountains across the river.  I could not follow
+without being seen, and when I tried to find the beggar he had
+disappeared.  The river runs right under the wall."
+
+"Oh, look!"  She stopped abruptly and put her hand over her eyes.
+
+A great cloud of fire followed a terrific report, and from the distance
+of the hill it looked as if the whole town of Cellino was in flames.
+
+The Italian snatched a field glass that lay on the ground beside the
+wounded man, and put it to his eyes.  Then without a word he dashed
+off.  Lucia followed him.  A giant tree grew between two huge rocks a
+little further up the mountain, and the Italian climbed up it.
+
+Lucia watched him, and for the first time she noticed that several
+wires were strung along and ended high up in its branches.  She heard
+the Italian calling some directions, and knew that a telephone must be
+hidden somewhere in the tree.  She could make nothing of the orders;
+they were mostly numbers, and she waited impatiently until he returned
+to her.
+
+"Stay here," he said quickly, "and lie down flat--don't move.  The
+Austrians are advancing on the other side of the river, and Cellino
+will fall if the bridge is not blown up."
+
+"But who can get to it?" Lucia demanded.
+
+"I can; it is mined.  If I can reach it we may drive them back."
+
+He did not wait to say more.
+
+Lucia watched him impatiently as he stumbled and slid clumsily down the
+rough trail below her.  The shells were coming nearer and nearer, and
+the air was filled with brilliant fire.
+
+She watched the man every second, afraid to lose track of him.  At the
+base of the rock he fell.  She caught her breath and shouted aloud when
+he picked himself up and stumbled on.  He reached the road and was just
+starting across the little path that led to the river, when a shell
+exploded so near him that the smoke hid him completely from view.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE BRIDGE
+
+It was several minutes before Lucia saw him again; he was lying flat, a
+little to one side of the road, and he was very still.  She waited,
+hoping against hope to see him move, and fighting against the horrible
+thought that filled her mind.
+
+"He is dead," she exclaimed, terrified, "and they are moving; and the
+bridge!"
+
+Without another thought she got up and very carefully started down the
+descent, her mind concentrated on the bridge.  She did not attempt to
+go to the road, but kept to the shelter of the rocks, and a little to
+one side of the fire.  The shells were bursting all around her, but she
+was above the range of the guns, and comparatively safe.
+
+She hurried as fast as she could, but it was hard to keep the
+direction, in all the noise and blinding flames.  She did not dare to
+look towards Cellino, or think what that hideous column of smoke might
+mean.
+
+At last she reached the river, and the bridge was in sight a little
+distance ahead.  It was an old stone bridge, and wide enough for men to
+walk four abreast.  At that point the river was very wide and the
+bridge was made in three arches.  It looked very substantial, and Lucia
+stopped, suddenly terrified by the thought that she did not have the
+slightest idea how or where to blow it up.
+
+She looked about her as if for inspiration.  She found it in the moving
+line of men just visible far above in the mountains.
+
+The Austrians!  They were advancing, and the sudden realization of it
+brought out all her courage and daring, and intensified the hatred in
+her heart.
+
+"They shall not cross our bridge," she shouted defiantly, and raced
+ahead regardless of the rain of shot and shell.
+
+But when she reached the bridge she stopped again, helpless and
+completely baffled.  The wall rose above her high and impregnable.  A
+little farther along, the window of the convent seemed to be ablaze
+with light.  The church had been struck, and Lucia could feel the heat
+of the flames from where she stood.
+
+The North Gate seemed miles away, and she turned to the convent.  She
+knew there was a door that gave on to the river bank, and she ran
+forward.  She found it and pushed frantically against it.  It was
+locked, the only other opening being a window higher up.
+
+Lucia looked at it in despair.  It was her only chance.  The glass had
+been smashed by the impact of the bursting shells and lay in broken
+bits under her feet.  She could just reach the ledge with her hands,
+and the stone felt warm.  The wall was rough and uneven, and after a
+struggle she managed to find a foothold and pulled herself up.  The
+jagged glass still in the casement cut her hands, but she did not stop
+to think about it.  Once inside she ran along the dark corridor and up
+the few steps that led to the first floor.  The big iron doors were
+open, and she caught her first sight of the town.
+
+The convent was just outside, and on the road that led south a great
+stream of people carrying every size of bundles, was hurrying along.
+Lucia recognized some of them, but the faces she most longed to see
+were not there.
+
+She turned away, for the sight seemed to drain all her courage, and she
+longed to run after them, but the memory of that moving mass of
+soldiers made her true to her trust, and she hurried through the
+convent, calling for aid.
+
+At the farthest door she discovered several of the sisters hurrying
+about and trying to clear the big ward filled with wounded soldiers.
+They had been brought in that morning, and some of them were very ill
+indeed.  The sisters were carrying them out on improvised stretchers.
+Those who were able to stand up staggered along as best they could by
+themselves.  Lucia saw one boy leaning heavily against the door, and
+ran to him.
+
+"Roderigo Vicello!" she exclaimed, when she looked up at him.
+
+Roderigo swayed and would have fallen if she had not supported him.
+
+"I can not go," he said weakly.  "I am too tired, and I want to go.  I
+have watched her out of sight, but I am too tired to follow."
+
+Lucia looked at him intently.  It seemed to her impossible that a man,
+and a soldier, could bother to think of a girl at such a time.  She
+took his arm firmly and shook him.
+
+"Do you know how to blow up a bridge that is mined?" she demanded
+excitedly.
+
+"Yes, pull out the pin," Roderigo replied, "if it is a time fuse," he
+spoke slowly and painstakingly.
+
+"Pin?" Lucia exclaimed impatiently, "I don't understand, you will have
+to come.  Listen, the Austrians are just a little way off across the
+river, they must not cross the bridge."
+
+Roderigo was alert at once.  The light came back into his eyes and his
+body stiffened.
+
+"What are you saying?" he demanded.  "Do you mean, they are coming from
+that side?"
+
+"Yes," Lucia exclaimed, "there is no time to spare; hurry, I will help
+you."
+
+She put her strong, young arm about his waist, and by leaning most of
+his weight on her shoulder he managed to crawl along.  Lucia was half
+crazy with impatience, but she suited her step to his, and helped him
+all she could.
+
+At last they reached the lower door.  She opened it hurriedly and the
+bridge was in sight, but so were the Austrians.  They were so near that
+what had seemed one solid mass now resolved itself into individual
+shapes.  To Lucia it seemed as if a great sea of men were rushing down
+upon them.
+
+The exertion from the walk made Roderigo sway, and just before they
+reached the bridge he fell forward.  Lucia crouched down beside him,
+and begged and pulled until he was on the bridge.
+
+"Now where is it?  Tell me what to do," she begged, "see they are
+almost here."
+
+With a tremendous effort Roderigo pulled himself to the edge of the
+bridge and located the mine.  In a voice that was so weak that Lucia
+could hardly hear it he gave the directions.  Lucia obeyed.
+
+"When will it go off?" she demanded.  "Will we have time to get away?"
+
+Roderigo shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You will," he said.  "Run as fast as you can, I don't know how long it
+will take."
+
+Lucia did not wait to argue.  She caught him under his arms and dragged
+him back to the convent as fast as she could.
+
+Roderigo had given up all hope, but as they drew nearer to the door of
+the convent, the wish to live asserted itself, and he got to his feet
+and ran with Lucia.  They did not stop until they were safe on the road
+beyond.  The last inhabitant of Cellino was out of sight, and it seemed
+as if they were alone.
+
+They waited, Lucia supporting Roderigo's head in her arms.
+
+The explosion came, there was a crash, and then a great shaking of the
+earth.  Lucia listened, her eyes flashing.
+
+"Wait here," she said to Roderigo, "I will return at once." She ran
+hurriedly back to the convent and down again to the door.
+
+The old bridge was ruined.  Great pieces of it were torn out and had
+fallen high on the banks.  The center span was entirely gone, and the
+river, broad and impassable, ran smoothly between the jagged ends.
+
+Lucia did not stand long in contemplation of the scene before her.  She
+hurried back to the road.  A sister was beside Roderigo, and Lucia went
+to her.
+
+"It is not safe back in there," she said, pointing to the convent.  "A
+shell may hit it."
+
+The sister nodded.
+
+"It hardly matters," she replied quietly.  "No place is safe.  We will
+take him there; he is too ill to be carried far."
+
+Lucia agreed, and between them they carried the unconscious Roderigo
+back to the ward and laid him gently on one of the beds.
+
+Sister Francesca turned back the cuffs of her robe and began doing what
+she could.  As she worked she talked.
+
+"We were all ordered to leave," she said; "but when we were well along
+the road I turned back.  It seemed so cowardly to go when we were most
+needed.  The rest thought that by night the Austrians would be in
+possession, but I could not believe it."
+
+She was a little woman with a soft voice and big blue eyes, and she
+spoke with such gentle assurance that Lucia felt comforted.
+
+"They will not come to-night," she said, "for the bridge is down, and
+our troops will surely be able to force them back."
+
+Sister Francesca nodded.
+
+"I hope so.  At any rate, there will be wounded and my place is here."
+
+At the word "wounded," the vivid picture of the smoke-choked valley,
+the shell explosion, and the still form of the Italian soldier flashed
+before Lucia's mind.
+
+"What am I doing here?" she said impatiently.  "There are wounded now
+and perhaps we can save them."
+
+She did not offer any further explanation, but slipped out of the big
+room and hurried back to the road once more.
+
+The sun had set and twilight gleamed patchy through the clouds of
+smoke.  It was still light enough to see, and Lucia hurried to the
+gate.  The first sight that she had of Cellino made her stop and
+shudder.  The church was in ruins, and every pane of glass was broken
+in the entire village.  In their haste the refugees had thrown their
+belongings out of their windows to the street below, and then had gone
+off and left them.  Great piles of furniture and broken china littered
+the way, and stalls had been tipped over in the market place.
+
+No one stopped Lucia; the town was deserted.  She ran hurriedly across
+to the North Gate, afraid of the ghostly shadows and unnatural sights.
+At the gate a splendid sight met her eyes.
+
+From the convent she had only seen the Austrians, the wall had cut off
+her view of the west.  But now she commanded a view of the whole field,
+and to her joy the Italians were advancing as steadily from the west as
+the Austrians from the east.  They would meet at the river, and at the
+memory of the bridge Lucia threw back her head and laughed.  It was not
+a merry laugh, but a grim triumphant one, and it held all the relief
+that she felt.
+
+But, splendid as the sight before her was, she did not stay long to
+look at it.  Below, somewhere in the valley, the Italian soldier of the
+shining white teeth and the pennies was lying wounded, or dead, and
+nothing could make Lucia stop until she found him.
+
+The heavy artillery fire had let up a little, and the shells were not
+quite so many.
+
+Lucia started to run.  She had made up her mind earlier in the day that
+if she moved fast enough she would escape being hurt.  She
+unconsciously blamed the slowness of the Italian soldier for his
+injury.  She passed her cottage half-way down the hill.  It was still
+standing, but a shell had dropped on the little goat-shed and blown it
+to pieces.  One of the uprights and the door, which was made of stout
+branches lashed together with cord, still stood.  The door flapped
+drearily and added to the desolation of the scene.
+
+Lucia did not stop to investigate the damage, but hurried ahead.  She
+was afraid the light would fade before she reached the wounded soldier.
+
+At the end of the road in the bottom of the valley she was just between
+both sides, the shells dropped all about her and she stood still,
+bewildered and frightened.
+
+The high mountains on either side made sounding boards for the noise,
+and the roar of the guns seemed to double in volume.
+
+"Lie down!"
+
+A voice almost under her foot made her jump, and she saw the Italian
+soldier.  She did as he commanded, and he pulled her towards him.
+
+He was very weak, and when he moved one leg dragged behind him.  He
+tried to crawl with Lucia into the shell hole close by.  She saw what
+he was doing and did her best to help.  When they finally rolled down
+into the shell hole, the man groaned.
+
+Lucia could feel that his forehead was wet with great drops of
+perspiration.  She found his water bottle and gave him a drink.
+
+"What's happened?" he asked, speaking close to her ear.
+
+Lucia told him as much as she knew.
+
+"Then the bridge has gone?"  There was hope in his voice.
+
+"Gone for good.  They can never cross it, and our men are just over
+there."
+
+"How can I get you back?" she asked.  "The convent is so far away."
+
+The soldier shook his head.  "You can't.  We are caught here between
+the two fires, it would be certain death to move.  What made you come
+back?"
+
+"To find you," Lucia replied.  "I could not come sooner, there was so
+much to do.  I even forgot you, but when I remembered, I ran all the
+way and now I am helpless."
+
+"Don't give up," the Italian replied.  "You must have courage for both
+of us, for I am useless.  My leg has been badly injured by a piece of
+shell, and I cannot even crawl."
+
+"Then there is nothing to do but wait for the light," Lucia was
+trembling all over.  "Oh, what a long day it has been!"
+
+"But the dawn will come soon," the soldier tried to cheer her, "and
+then perhaps the stretcher-bearers will find us.  If they do not--"
+
+"If they do not, I will find a way to take you to the convent," Lucia
+replied with sudden spirit, and with the same determination that had
+resulted in her blowing up the bridge, she added to herself:
+
+"He shall not die!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+GARIBALDI, STRETCHER-BEARER
+
+The long night set in, and the soldier, wearied from his long wait,
+dropped to sleep in spite of the noise.  Lucia's tired little body
+rested, but her eyes never relaxed their watch in the darkness.
+
+The fire kept up steadily, and at irregular intervals a star-shell
+would illuminate the high mountains.  Towards midnight there was an
+extra loud explosion, and once more the terrifying flames seemed to
+encircle Cellino.
+
+Lucia wondered dully what had been struck.  The church was gone, and
+she supposed this was the town hall.  It looked too near, as far as she
+could judge, for the convent.
+
+Her ears were becoming accustomed to the sound, and she thought the
+fire from both sides was being concentrated towards the south.  The
+shells near them lessened, and at last stopped.  Before dawn the
+Italian stirred, and called out in his sleep.
+
+Lucia spoke to him, but he did not answer; he was so exhausted that he
+was soon unconscious again.
+
+Lucia watched the east, and tried to imagine Beppi safe and sound in a
+town far away from this terrible din, but she could be sure of nothing.
+She remembered Roderigo's words, 'She is safe,' and knew that he must
+have meant Maria.  Surely Beppi and Nana were with her and Aunt Rudini;
+it could not be otherwise.
+
+With a guilty start she remembered Garibaldi.  Where was she, and what
+had become of her in all the terrors of yesterday?  Lucia could not
+remember having noticed her after she left the footbridge.  Was she
+safe in the mountains, or lying dead in a shell hole?
+
+"My Garibaldi, poor little one, she would not understand, and she will
+think I neglected her."
+
+Tears of pity and weariness stung Lucia's cheeks.  The thought of her
+little goat, suffering and neglected, seemed to be more than she could
+bear.  She buried her head in her arm and cried softly.  The tears were
+a relief to her, and long after she had stopped sobbing they trickled
+down her cheeks.
+
+She fell into a light doze now that her watch was so nearly ended, and
+did not waken until the east was streaked with gray.  She might not
+have awakened then, had it not been for a cold, wet nose burrowing in
+her neck, and a plaintive, "Naa, Naa!"
+
+She sat up suddenly to discover Garibaldi, covered with mud from her
+ears to her tail, looking very woe-begone, standing beside her.
+Regardless of the mud Lucia threw her arms around her pet, and for once
+in her life the little goat seemed to return her caress.
+
+When Lucia lifted her head there was a smile on her lips, and the old
+light of determination shone in her eyes.  She got to her knees slowly
+and looked about her.  The guns were booming back and forth, but their
+position seemed to be changed.  The Austrian guns still sounded from
+across the river, but their range was much farther south.
+
+Lucia looked towards the west.  None of the guns that were there the
+night before could be heard.  With a throb of joy she realized that the
+booming now came from the town.
+
+"Had the Italians crept up and into Cellino during the night?"  The
+very idea was so exciting that she could not rest until she made sure.
+
+She stood up and walked over to the road.  The gate had an odd
+appearance in the half light.  She walked up the hill a little way,
+rubbing her eyes as she went.  Something behind the wall seemed to
+appear suddenly, emit a puff of smoke, and then disappear.
+
+Lucia had never seen a big gun in her life, and she did not know that
+one was hidden securely in the cover of the wall near the ruins of the
+church, for so quietly had the great monster arrived, and so stealthily
+had the soldiers worked, that its sudden appearance seemed almost a
+miracle.
+
+Lucia put it down as one, and offered her prayer of thankfulness from
+the middle of the muddy road.  Then the work at hand took the place of
+her surprise, and she ran back to her wounded soldier and roused him
+gently.  He opened his eyes; they were bright with fever, and he tossed
+restlessly.
+
+Lucia tried to move him, but could not.  He was very big, and she could
+not pull him as she had the slender Roderigo.
+
+As she stopped to consider, the walls of Cellino suddenly seemed to let
+loose a fury of smoke and flame.  Nothing that had happened during the
+day before equalled it.  The big guns boomed and the smaller ones sent
+out sharp, cracking noises that were even more terrifying.
+
+Poor Lucia dropped to her face again, and Garibaldi cowered beside her.
+
+Nothing seemed to happen.  The shells did not fall near them as she had
+expected, and after her first fright had passed, she got to her feet
+again.
+
+Tugging at the soldier was useless, and an idea was forming in her
+mind.  She ran as fast as she could up the hill to the cottage, calling
+Garibaldi to follow.
+
+At the shed she stopped and looked at the door.  It was light, and she
+soon tore it away from its support.  Then she went into the cottage and
+came back with a rope.  She made a loop and put it over the goat's
+head.  Then with two long pieces she contrived a harness and hitched
+the door to it.  One end dragged on the ground, and the other was about
+a foot above it.  The rope was crossed on the goat's back and tied
+firmly to the long ends of the door that did duty as shafts.  Garibaldi
+was too disheartened to protest, and Lucia had little trouble in
+leading her down the hill.
+
+The soldier was delirious when she reached him, but he was so weak that
+it was an easy matter to roll him on to the improvised stretcher.
+
+Lucia took hold of one shaft, and with Garibaldi pulling too, they
+started off.
+
+It was a long and weary climb, but at last they reached the cottage.
+
+The terrible jolting had been agony for the soldier.  He regained
+consciousness on the way, and from time to time a groan escaped him.
+But when he was in the house he did his best to smile, and crawled onto
+the mattress that Lucia had pulled to the floor.
+
+She made haste to take off his knapsack, and under his direction she
+dressed the ugly wound in his thigh.  Her fingers, only used to rough
+work, moved clumsily, but she managed to make him a little more
+comfortable.  He smiled up at her bravely.
+
+"Poor little one, you are tired.  Go and eat," he whispered.  And
+Lucia, after she saw his head sink back on the pillow, found a stale
+loaf of black bread and began to munch it slowly.
+
+The soldier pointed to his knapsack and told her to eat whatever she
+found in it.
+
+"There should be some of my emergency rations left," he said faintly.
+
+Lucia found some dried beef and offered it to him, but he shook his
+head and asked for a drink of water.  She gave it to him, but his eyes
+closed and his head fell back as he drank.  She ate all the beef and a
+cake of chocolate that she found; and then went to the door to look out.
+
+Cellino was enveloped in smoke and she could not see the gate.  The
+guns were barking, and little spurts of white smoke seemed to punctuate
+each separate fire.  Away to the east the enemy's guns were still
+booming.
+
+Lucia realized that a hard battle was under way, and that it would be
+useless to try to get help until there was a lull.  She returned to the
+room and looked down at the soldier.  He was moaning softly, and his
+eyes looked up at her beseechingly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE AMERICAN
+
+"Are you suffering very much?" she asked softly.
+
+The man nodded, his eyes closed, and a queer pallor came over his face.
+Lucia was suddenly terrified.  She felt very helpless in this battle
+with death, but her determination never left her.
+
+She ran to the door.  Poor Garibaldi was still standing hitched to the
+stretcher.  Lucia went to her and led her back to the door of the
+cottage.  She looked half-fearfully, half-angrily at the town above her.
+
+"He shall not die!" she said between her teeth, and went back into the
+house.
+
+The transfer from the bed to the stretcher was very difficult to
+manage, for the poor soldier was beyond helping himself.  But Lucia
+succeeded without hurting him too much, and once more the strange trio
+started out on their climb.
+
+They were in no great danger, for only an occasional shell burst near
+them.  The fighting was going on below the east wall.  Lucia and
+Garibaldi toiled up the hill, each one using every bit of their
+strength.
+
+[Illustration: "Lucia and Garibaldi toiled up the hill, each one using
+every bit of their strength."]
+
+The soldier was limp and lifeless, his head rolled with every bump.  He
+looked like one dead, but Lucia refused even to consider such a
+possibility.  She urged Garibaldi on and tugged with determined
+persistence.
+
+They were just below the wall when Lucia stopped to rest.  The little
+goat was staggering from the exertion, and she was out of breath.  She
+looked at the gate, it was only a little way off, but it seemed miles,
+and she wondered if she could go on.
+
+She looked up at the wall.  A man dressed in a uniform unlike the
+Italian soldiers was looking down at her.  Lucia called to him just as
+he jumped to the ground.  She held her breath expecting to see him
+hurt, but he landed on his feet and ran to her.
+
+"For the love of Pete, what have you got there?" he asked in a language
+that Lucia did not understand.
+
+She looked up at him bewildered.
+
+"I do not understand what you say, but the soldier is very sick.
+Please help me carry him to the convent," she said hurriedly.
+
+"Hum, well you may be right," the big man laughed, "but I guess what
+you want is help."
+
+He leaned over the wounded Italian.
+
+"Pretty far gone, but there's hope.  Steady now, I've got you."  He
+lifted the man gently in his arms and carried him on his back.
+
+Lucia watched him with admiration shining in her eyes.  She followed
+with the goat through the gate.
+
+Once in the town she could hardly believe her eyes.  Soldiers seemed to
+be everywhere, shouting and calling from one to the other.  She saw the
+little guns that were making all the sharp, clicking noises, and she
+knew that just below, and on the other side of the river, the Austrians
+were fighting desperately.
+
+They passed many wounded as they hurried along, and to each one the big
+man would call out cheerily.  Lucia wished she could understand what he
+said, or even what language he spoke.  It was not German, of course,
+and she did not think it was French.
+
+"Perhaps he was a tourist?" she asked him shyly, but he shook his head.
+
+"I don't get you, I'm sorry.  I'm an American, you see."
+
+"Oh, Americano!"  Lucia clapped her hands delightedly.  "I am glad, I
+thought so, American is the name of the tourists, just as I guessed,"
+she replied.  "I have heard of Americans and I have seen some in the
+summer, but they were not like you."
+
+She looked up in his face and smiled.
+
+The American did not understand a word of her Italian, but he saw the
+smile, and answered it with a good-natured grin.
+
+"You're a funny kid," he said.  "I wish I could find out what you are
+talking about, and where you got ahold of that queer rig and the goat."
+
+They had reached the other gate by now, and they hurried through it and
+to the convent.
+
+Several of the sisters had returned, and there were doctors and nurses
+all busy in the long room where, the night before, Lucia had left
+Roderigo and Sister Francesca.
+
+The American laid the soldier down on one of the beds, and hurried to
+one of the doctors.
+
+"Saw this youngster dragging this man on a sort of stretcher hitched to
+a goat," he said.  "He's pretty bad.  Better look at him."
+
+The doctor nodded.  Lucia stood beside her soldier and waited.  She was
+almost afraid of what the doctor would say.  He leaned over him and
+began taking off his muddy uniform, while the American helped.  When he
+had examined the wound, he hurried over to a table and came back with a
+queer looking instrument.  To Lucia it looked like a small bottle
+attached to a very long needle.
+
+"Don't, don't, you are cruel!" she protested, as he pushed it slowly
+into the soldier.  She put out her hand angrily, but the American
+pulled her back.
+
+"It's all right," he said soothingly.  "It's to make him well."
+
+Lucia shook her head, and the doctor turned to her.  He spoke excellent
+Italian.
+
+"It is to save his life, child, and it doesn't hurt him, I promise you.
+Now tell me, where did you find him?"
+
+Lucia explained hurriedly.  The story, as it came from her excited
+lips, sounded like some wild, distorted dream.  The doctor called to
+Sister Francesca.
+
+"Is this child telling me the truth?" he asked wonderingly.
+
+"As far as I know," she said; "and that boy in the third cot blew up
+the bridge.  I know she went out to find the wounded."
+
+The doctor did not reply at once.  He was hunting for the soldier's
+identification tag.  When he found it, he read it and whistled.
+
+"Captain Riccardi!" he exclaimed.  "By Jove, we can't let him die."
+
+It could not be said that the doctor redoubled his efforts, for he was
+working his best then, but he added perhaps a little more interest to
+his work.
+
+The American helped him, and Lucia, at a word from Sister Francesca,
+hurried to her and helped her with what she was doing.  It was not
+until many hours later that she stopped working, for more wounded were
+being brought in every few minutes by the other stretcher-bearers, and
+there was much to do.  But at last there was a lull, and Lucia ran
+through the long corridor and down to the door.
+
+She opened it a crack and looked out.  Before her, stretched along the
+banks of the river, were countless Austrian soldiers, staggering and
+fighting in a wild attempt to run away from the guns in the wall that
+mowed them down pitilessly.  The officers tried to drive them on, but
+the men were too terrified, they could not advance under such steady
+fire.  A little farther on, there was the beginning of a rude bridge.
+The enemy had evidently tried to build it during the night, but had
+been forced to abandon it after the Italians reached their new position.
+
+As Lucia watched, the men seemed to form in some sort of order, and
+retreat back into the hills.  Their guns stopped suddenly, and only the
+Italian fire continued.
+
+It was a horrible scene, and in spite of the splendid knowledge that an
+undisputed victory was theirs, Lucia turned away and closed the door
+behind her.  She ran up to the big door and out on the road.
+
+There were signs of the battle all about her in the big shell holes in
+the road, and in the ruins still smoking inside the walls, but there
+was no such sight as she had just witnessed, and she took a deep breath
+of the warm fresh air.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+A REUNION
+
+She shaded her eyes and looked down the road.
+
+Garibaldi, freed from her harness, was lying down in the sunshine, and
+as Lucia watched her she saw a familiar figure running towards her.
+She saw it stop and pat the goat.  With a cry of joy she recognized
+Maria, bedraggled and muddy, but without doubt Maria.  She ran forward
+to meet her.
+
+"Maria, where have you come from?" she called as the older girl threw
+herself into her out-stretched arms and began to cry.
+
+"Oh, from miles and miles away!  I have been running since late last
+night," she sobbed.
+
+"But what has happened?  Beppi, Nana, are they safe?" Lucia demanded.
+
+"Yes, yes, they are all safe with mother," Maria replied.
+
+"Then why did you come back?" Lucia persisted.
+
+"Oh, I could not bear it!"  Maria tried to stifle her sobs.  "All
+yesterday, as we ran away from the guns, I kept thinking--back there,
+there is work and I am running away.  I knew that you were here, and I
+thought you were killed.  Nana was half crazy with fear and we could
+get nothing out of her."
+
+"But Beppi, he is safe, and aunt is taking care of him?" Lucia insisted.
+
+"Oh, he is safe, of course, and so excited over his adventure, but he
+was crying for you last night, and we had hard work to comfort him."
+
+Maria paused, and Lucia looked into her eyes.  There was a question
+there and she knew that her cousin did not give voice to it.  She put
+her arm around her and led her back towards the convent.
+
+"Come," she said, smiling with something of her old mischievousness.
+"There is much to be done, and I will take you to Sister Francesca.
+She will tell you where to begin."
+
+Maria followed her.
+
+Lucia went back to the ward and did not stop until she stood beside
+Roderigo's bed.  He was asleep, but his brows were drawn together in a
+worried frown.  Lucia put her finger on her lip and turned to her
+cousin and pointed.  Maria looked; a glad light came into her eyes, and
+without a sound she fell on her knees beside the bed.
+
+Lucia left her and went over to Sister Francesca.  She was awfully
+tired, and her arms were numb, but she did not dare stop for fear she
+would not be able to begin again.
+
+"What can I do?" she asked.
+
+Sister Francesca pointed to two empty buckets.  "Go out to the well and
+fill those.  We need more water badly," she said, without looking up.
+
+Lucia picked up the pails and walked to the end of the room, through a
+little side door and into a cloister.  In the center of it was an old
+well that she worked by turning an iron wheel.
+
+Lucia drew the water and poured it into her pails, and started back
+with them.  It had been all her tired arm could do to lift the empty
+ones, but now each step made sharp pains go up to her shoulders.  She
+staggered along with them, fighting hard against the dizziness in her
+head, but when she was half-way down the ward everything began to swim
+before her.  She swayed, lost her balance, and would have fallen had
+not a strong arm caught her.  The pails fell to the floor, the water
+splashing over the tops.
+
+Through the singing in her ears she heard an angry voice.
+
+"Poor youngster, whoever sent her out for water?  Seems to me she's
+earned a rest.  Here, sister, help me, will you?"
+
+Then Maria's soft voice came to her.
+
+"Lucia dear, don't look like that!" she cried excitedly.  "Here, senor,
+put her on the bed, so."
+
+She felt herself being lifted ever so gently, and then the soothing
+comfort of a mattress and a pillow stole over her and she fell sound
+asleep.
+
+She did not wake up until late in the afternoon.  The sun was setting
+and the long ward was in deep shadow.  She opened her eyes for a minute
+and then closed them again.  She was too blissfully comfortable to make
+any effort.
+
+She was conscious first of all of a strange quiet.  The guns seemed to
+have very nearly stopped, there was only a faint rumble in the
+distance, and an occasional sputter from the guns near by.
+
+The enemy had retreated beyond, far into the hills, and for the time
+being Cellino was safe.  Lucia guessed as much and smiled to herself.
+
+People tiptoed about the room near her, and she could hear their voices
+indistinctly.  She did not try to hear what they said, she was too
+tired to think.  She snuggled closer in the soft pillows and sighed
+contentedly, but before long a voice near her separated itself from the
+rest, and she heard:
+
+"We will go to my beautiful Napoli, you and I, and I will show you the
+water, blue as the sky, and we will be very happy, and by and by you
+will forget this terrible war, as a baby forgets a bad dream."
+
+Lucia opened one eye and moved her head so that she could see the
+speaker.  He was Roderigo, of course, and he was holding Maria's hand
+and talking very earnestly.
+
+Lucia eavesdropped shamelessly.  She was curious to hear what her
+cousin would say.
+
+"But surely you will not fight again!" Maria's voice was pleading.
+"You are so sick, they will not send you back again."
+
+"But I must go back, my wound is not a bad one and I will be well in no
+time, and I must go back.  Think how foolish it would be, if I was to
+say, 'Oh, yes, I fought for two days in the great war.'  You would be
+ashamed of me, and that little cousin of yours, Lucia, she would think
+me a fine soldier."
+
+Lucia laughed aloud and the voices stopped.
+
+Maria's cheeks flushed and she jumped up.
+
+"Are you awake, dear?" she asked hurriedly, "then I will go and tell
+Sister Francesca and the Doctor."
+
+She hurried off.  Lucia sat up and looked at Roderigo.  She was a sorry
+sight in her muddy clothes, and her hair fell about her shoulders.
+
+"You are a fine soldier, Roderigo Vicello," she said impulsively, "and
+I would say so if you had only fought for one day, for I know how brave
+you are.  But you are right to want to go back."
+
+"Yes, I am right," Roderigo replied.  He stretched out his hand and
+Lucia slipped hers into it.
+
+"We have been comrades, you and I," he said, "and we understand why."
+
+Lucia nodded gravely.  She felt suddenly very proud.
+
+The Doctor came back a minute later with Maria.
+
+"Well, are you rested enough to be moved?" he asked, smiling.
+
+"Oh, yes I am quite all right," Lucia assured him.
+
+"Well, I wouldn't brag too much," the Doctor laughed.  "You'll find you
+are pretty shaky.  Sister Francesca has a little room fixed for you and
+some clean clothes; how does that sound?"
+
+Lucia smiled in reply, and the American came over at the Doctor's call.
+
+"Think you can manage to carry the little lady, Lathrop?" he asked.
+
+"Guess so."
+
+Lucia felt the strong arms lift her, as if she weighed no more than a
+feather.  He carried her down the ward and up a flight of stairs.
+Sister Francesca was waiting for them at the door of the little room.
+It had been one of the sister's cells.  With her help Lucia was soon in
+a coarse white nightgown and tucked in between clean sheets.
+
+The Doctor came in to see her a little later.
+
+"How is my soldier of the pennies?" she asked, and then as she realized
+he would not understand she added, "the one I brought up the hill."
+
+"Oh, Captain Riccardi, he's still very ill, but he is going to pull
+through all right."
+
+Lucia smiled.
+
+"Oh, I am glad," she said.  "I was so afraid, he looked so queer."
+
+"Well, don't worry any more," the Doctor replied, "and now what do you
+want?"
+
+Lucia sighed contentedly.
+
+"Something to eat, if you please," she said shyly, "I am very hungry."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+AN INTERRUPTED DREAM
+
+A week passed, a week of lazy luxury between cool linen sheets for
+Lucia, and she enjoyed her rest to its fullest extent.  Every one in
+the convent, which was now a hospital, and running smoothly with
+capable American nurses, made a great fuss over her, and she had so
+much care that sometimes she was just the least bit bored.  When the
+week was over, and she was feeling herself again, she grew restless and
+clamored to get up.  Even the sheets, and the delicious things she had
+to eat, could not keep her contented.  At last the Doctor said she
+might go out for a few hours into the sunshine, and the whole hospital
+hummed with the news.
+
+Maria, in a white apron and cap, helped her dress, and went with her
+down the stone steps and out into the convent garden.
+
+The first thing that met her eye was Garibaldi, clean and lazy, lying
+contentedly in the sun.  She came over and seemed delighted to see her
+mistress once more.
+
+"But you are so clean, my pet!" Lucia exclaimed.  "And your coat looks
+as if it had been brushed," she added, wonderingly.
+
+Maria laughed.
+
+"It was.  The big American, Senor Lathrop, makes so much fuss over her,
+you would think she was a fine horse."
+
+"What about Senor Lathrop?" a laughing voice demanded.  "Oh, drat this
+language, I keep forgetting."  He stopped and then said very slowly in
+Italian: "Good morning, how are you this morning?"
+
+"Oh, I am very well, and you," Lucia replied, "you have been very good
+to take such care of Garibaldi."
+
+"Garibaldi?  I don't understand," Lathrop replied.
+
+Lucia pointed to the goat and said slowly.  "That is her name."
+
+"Name!  The goat's name Garibaldi!" Lathrop exclaimed, and added in
+English, "Well I'll be darned!"
+
+"Not just Garibaldi," Lucia corrected him.  "Her name is 'The
+Illustrious and Gentile Senora Guiseppe Garibaldi,' but we call her
+Garibaldi for short."
+
+Lathrop understood enough of her reply to catch the name.  He threw
+back his head and laughed uproariously.
+
+"All that for a goat!  No wonder she was a good sport with a name like
+that to live up to!"
+
+He stood for a long time looking at the poor, shaggy animal before him,
+then he laughed again and went into the convent.
+
+"He is a funny man," Lucia said wonderingly.  "Why should he laugh
+because of Garibaldi's name?"
+
+"Oh, he meant no disrespect," Maria reasoned.  "Americans all laugh at
+everything.  The nurses are the same, they are always laughing.  If
+anything goes wrong and I want to stamp my foot, they laugh."
+
+Lucia was somewhat mollified.  "What is the news?" she demanded, "I
+have been up there in my little room for so long, no one would tell me
+anything.  Sister Francesca would smile and say, 'Everything is for the
+best, dear child,' when I asked for news of the front, and I was
+ashamed to ask again, but you tell me."
+
+"Oh, there is nothing but good news," Maria replied.  "We are gaining
+everywhere.  The night after the battle, some of our soldiers built a
+bridge over the river and crossed, and when the Austrians rallied for a
+counter-charge they were ready for them and took them by surprise."
+
+Maria paused, and her eyes filled with tears.  "And only think, Lucia,
+if you had not destroyed the bridge and warned the Captain of the
+beggar man, we might have been taken by surprise, and Cellino would be
+an Austrian village.  Oh, I tell you the ward rings with your praise.
+The men talk of nothing else."
+
+"Nonsense, I did not do it alone.  How about your Roderigo?  He is the
+one who deserves the praise.  But tell me, how is my soldier of the
+pennies?  I am never sure that the Doctor tells me truly how he is."
+
+"Why do you call him 'your soldier of the pennies'?" Maria asked.  "His
+name is Captain Riccardi, and he is very brave.  Every one knows about
+him, and some of the boys say he is the bravest man in the Italian
+army."
+
+"Perhaps he is," Lucia laughed, "but he is my soldier of the pennies,
+just the same, that's the name I love him by."
+
+"But I don't understand," Maria protested, "did you know him before?"
+
+"Yes and no," Lucia teased.  "I did not know his name, or what he
+looked like, but I knew there was a soldier of the pennies somewhere."
+
+"But tell me," Maria begged.  "I am so curious."
+
+Lucia laughed.  "Very well, it is a queer thing.  Listen.  Do you
+remember how for a few days about a week before this battle, I only
+brought two pails of milk to your stall in the morning?"
+
+Maria nodded.
+
+"Well, the rest of the milk went to Captain Riccardi, but I did not
+know it.  You see, one day Garibaldi ran away and went far up into the
+hills.  I think the guns frightened her, and of course I went after
+her.  I found her on a little plateau quite far up, and because I was
+tired I sat down to rest, keeping tight hold of her, you may be sure.
+I was dreaming and thinking, and oh, a long way off, when suddenly I
+heard a voice above me.  I looked up; my, but I was frightened, I can
+tell you, but I could see no one.  The voice said: 'Little goat herder,
+will you give me a drink of milk?'"
+
+Lucia stopped.
+
+"Go on!" Maria exclaimed.  "What did you do?"
+
+"I am ashamed to say," Lucia replied, "I was so frightened that I ran
+back down the mountain as if the evil spirit were after me, and I did
+not stop until I was safe at home.  Then I began to think.  Of course,
+at first I had thought only of an Austrian, but when I stopped to
+think, I knew that Austrians don't speak such Italian--low and very
+soft this was, as my mother used to speak, and your Roderigo.  Well,
+then of course, I wanted to die of shame; I had run away from one of
+the soldiers.  I thought about it all night, and I could not sleep.
+Just before dawn I got up very softly and went down to the shed.  I
+filled two pails half-full and carried them up to the same place.
+
+"I could not see or hear any one, but I left them, and that afternoon I
+went back to see if it had been taken away.  There were the empty
+pails, and beside them a strip of paper with four pennies wrapped up
+inside.
+
+"After that, I took the milk up every day to the plateau, but I never
+saw or heard the soldier again.  Sometimes he would write me a little
+note and say 'thank you,' to me, but always there was the money.  So
+that is why I called him my soldier of the pennies; do you see?"
+
+"Oh, yes, how splendid!" Maria was delighted.  "And to think it was
+Captain Riccardi all the time.  No wonder now that he talks sometimes
+in his sleep of the little goat-herder and her flowered dress.  He was
+an observer, Roderigo told me.  That is a very important thing to be,
+and he was hidden high up in a tree.  That is why you did not see him."
+
+Lucia thought of the telephone.
+
+"I know now, of course, for I saw him climb up it and talk over the
+wire to the soldiers miles away," she exclaimed.  "But how could I
+think to look in a tree for a soldier?" she laughed.
+
+A bell tinkled, and Maria sprang up.
+
+"I must go, it is my time to be on duty," she said, smoothing her apron
+and settling her cap importantly, "I will come back when I can."
+
+Lucia looked envious.  "Do not be long," she called after her.
+
+She settled back with a sigh, and the little goat came over to have her
+neck patted.  Lucia stroked it lovingly.
+
+"Garibaldi," she said aloud, "we are in a dream, you and I, and soon we
+will both wake up and find ourselves back in the white cottage with
+Nana scolding because we are late for supper.  And we'll be sorry too,
+won't we?  For that will mean that the beautiful sheets and the soft
+pillow will vanish the way they do in the fairy tales, and this lovely
+garden will go too."
+
+"But what if there were another one to take its place?" a voice
+inquired from the doorway.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE FAIRY GODFATHER
+
+Lucia turned and looked up quickly.  She was startled and not a little
+embarrassed at having her confidence overheard.
+
+Through the door that led from the ward the American was pushing a bed
+on wheels.  Lucia had seen that same bed many times before.  It had
+belonged to the old Mother Superior of the convent, and many a bright
+morning she had seen it out in the garden as she sat at her desk in the
+schoolroom above.
+
+She looked at the white pillow half expecting to see the old wrinkled
+face of Mother Cecelia, but instead Captain Riccardi looked up at her
+and smiled.
+
+"See, I've found you at last," he said, as Lathrop pushed the bed
+beside Lucia's chair.  "I was beginning to think that you were just a
+dream child, and that I had imagined about the milk."
+
+Lucia laughed gayly.
+
+"No, Captain, that was not a dream, or I hope it wasn't, for if the
+milk was not real then I dreamed about the pennies, and the sick
+soldiers never got them."
+
+"Sick soldiers!  Did you give away the money?"
+
+"Oh yes, sir, how could I keep it?  I did not know you were a Captain,
+I thought--"
+
+"You thought I was just a poor soldier, eh?"
+
+"Well, yes, if you will excuse me for saying so, I did, but anyway I
+would not have kept the money."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"How can you ask?  Why because, to accept pay for something--and such a
+little thing as a pail of milk--"
+
+"Two pails."
+
+"No, just one, they were only half-full, but no matter.  I wanted to
+give away the milk, not sell it, and so I put the pennies in the box at
+church."
+
+"And all the time I thought you were perhaps buying pretty ribbons with
+it."
+
+Captain Riccardi shook his head.  "But I might have known better."
+
+"Ribbons!"  Lucia scorned the idea.  "What do I need with such
+foolishness, with a war going on just under my nose!  I had other
+things to think about, I can tell you, and other ways to spend my
+pennies."
+
+The Captain looked at her gravely.  Then he took her hand and patted it
+gently.
+
+"You are a brave and true little Italian," he said, "and I can never
+hope to pay you for what you have done.  You will have to look for your
+reward in your own heart.  It ought to be a very happy and contented
+heart, I should think."
+
+Lucia's cheeks flushed with pride.
+
+"Oh, it is, Captain Riccardi," she said, "it is indeed, and I am quite
+content.  If you heard what I said just now about the dream, you must
+not think that I don't want to go back to the cottage--I do, and I want
+so much to see my Beppino and Nana again--only--"
+
+"Tell me about that 'only' Lucia," the Captain said gently.  "That is
+what I want to hear, and then perhaps I will have something to tell
+you."
+
+"Oh, it is nothing but silliness," Lucia protested, "how can it matter?"
+
+"Never mind, tell me," the Captain insisted.
+
+"But you will laugh.  What do big men know of fairy stories!"
+
+"Lots, sometimes--I believe in fairies."
+
+Lucia looked into the smiling eyes incredulously, "You, a soldier!"
+
+"Of course, haven't I told you that I thought you were a fairy when I
+first saw you, and by the Saints, I did too.  Do you know, I first
+discovered you way down in the valley.  You were with your goats.  I
+looked at you through my glass, and your pretty flowered dress, and the
+kerchief you wore over your hair, made me think of the little girls at
+home."
+
+"Ah, then you come from the south, too?" Lucia laughed.  "I knew it."
+
+"How do you?" the Captain demanded.
+
+Lucia shook her head sadly.
+
+"No, my mother came from Napoli.  When I was a little girl she used to
+tell me all about the sunshine and the flowers, and the blue water in
+the bay, and old grandfather Vesuvius always frowning and puffing in
+the distance.  Oh, I tell you I feel sometimes as if I had been there,
+but, of course, that is silly," she broke off, laughing, "for I have
+never been away from Cellino."
+
+"Would you like to go away to the south and live there?" Captain
+Riccardi asked slowly.
+
+"Oh, yes, of course.  I dream sometimes that I am a princess and that a
+wicked fairy has turned me into a goat-herder and forced me to live
+here where it is so very cold sometimes, and then I wish hard for a
+good fairy to come and set me free, and take me on a magic carpet away
+to a garden full of flowers.  There," she smiled shyly, "that is what I
+was thinking of out loud when you came a minute ago."
+
+The Captain did not laugh, except with his eyes.  His voice was very
+grave as he asked.
+
+"Wouldn't a prince or a fairy godfather do just as well?"
+
+"Oh, yes, even better," Lucia replied seriously.
+
+"Well then, what would you say if I told you that I am a fairy
+godfather, and that I can spirit you to a garden even nicer than this,
+where it is always summer?"
+
+"I would surely say you were telling me fairy tales," Lucia replied
+frankly.
+
+The Captain laughed delightedly.
+
+"But I'm not, Lucia," he said seriously.  "I'm telling you the truth.
+Down in the south I have a big house set in the very heart of a
+beautiful garden, and I live there all by myself."
+
+"Oh!"  Lucia's big eyes were full of genuine sympathy.
+
+"A long time ago, I used to have a little sister like you, but she
+died, and since then I have been ever and ever so lonely.  How would
+you like to come and be my sister?  I'd take awfully good care of you,
+and Garibaldi."
+
+For an instant Lucia's eyes danced with happiness, but it was only for
+an instant, then her face fell.
+
+"Oh, I would like that Captain, so very much," she said, "but I could
+not leave Beppino and Nana."
+
+Captain Riccardi looked at her in silence for a moment, then he said
+slowly, "Of course, you couldn't.  I forgot them for the moment.  But
+of course I meant to include them in the invitation.  I am very fond of
+Beppino already.  We had quite a chat that day in the cave."
+
+"Oh, but you don't mean it!" Lucia jumped up excitedly.  "To live with
+you and Nana and Beppi and Garibaldi in a garden,--oh! but of course,
+it is not so, and I shall presently wake up."
+
+"Wake up in the little white cottage and milk the goats and trudge to
+town with the heavy pails?" the Captain said.
+
+Lucia nodded soberly.
+
+"Not it I can help it, you won't," he added with decision.  "You'll
+never do another stroke of hard work again."
+
+"But are there no goats in your garden to milk, and no work to do?"
+Lucia looked bewildered.
+
+"Yes, but there's a lot of people to do it,--so many in fact, that all
+you will have to do is to pick flowers and tell Beppi and me fairy
+stories.  Will you come?"
+
+"Oh!"  Lucia stamped her foot.  "If this is only a dream!" she
+exclaimed half angrily, "I shall surely die of misery when I wake up."
+
+"It's no dream, little sister, it's true, and it won't be long before
+you realize it.  This leg is going to take a long time in healing, but
+as soon as it is better we will go home, then when I am well enough to
+go back to fight, you will stay in the garden and keep it looking
+beautiful for me until I return."
+
+For a full moment Lucia stared into the Captain's eyes, while the
+wonderful truth dawned on her, then her emotion being far beyond words,
+she threw her arms around him and kissed him heartily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+EXCITING NEWS
+
+"Lucia, Lucia, such exciting news, come here at once!"  Maria ran up
+the stairs excitedly.
+
+Lucia, who was busy helping Sister Francesca put away the clean sheets,
+dropped what she was doing and ran down the corridor.
+
+"What is it!" she demanded.  "Have the Austrians surrendered?"
+
+"No," Maria stopped, breathless from her haste, "that is, not yet,
+though Roderigo says--"
+
+"Oh, oh, oh!" Lucia protested.  "Don't start on what Roderigo says, or
+we will never learn the news."
+
+Maria pouted.  "For that I have a good mind not to tell you," she
+threatened.
+
+"Then I shall go downstairs myself and find out," Lucia replied, not
+one whit disturbed.
+
+"Then I may as well tell you," Maria laughed, "for the ward hums with
+it.  The King is coming--think of it--he is coming to Cellino
+to-morrow, and he is to go through the hospital and see all the
+wounded.  Only fancy, our King!"
+
+"Who told you?"  Lucia's eyes flashed excitedly.  Her loyal little
+Italian heart beat with eager anticipation.
+
+"Do you suppose I can see him?" she demanded, "but of course, I must,
+even if I have to hide under the Captain's bed.  He is sure to stop and
+speak to my Captain," she added with pride.
+
+"Oh, Roderigo says that he always stops and speaks to all the wounded
+and shakes their hands, and is very kind and so sorry always when they
+are badly hurt.  Roderigo says he has talked to soldiers who have won
+decorations, and the King himself pins them on--just think of it!"
+
+Lucia gave a profound sigh.
+
+"If he ever spoke to me," she said solemnly, "I would die of joy."
+
+It was several days after Lucia and the Captain had talked in the
+garden, and Lucia was beginning to grow accustomed to the wonderful
+idea.  Her dreams were coming true at last, and she had to admit to
+herself that she always believed that they would.  Captain Riccardi was
+truly a fairy godfather in her eyes, and she proved her gratitude for
+his kindness in a hundred little ways a day.  It never seemed to enter
+her mind that all he was offering, wonderful as it was, could not pay
+her for her courage in saving his life.
+
+She insisted upon laying all the credit on his shoulders, and with a
+smile and a shrug the Captain accepted the double share, and determined
+in his big heart to be worthy of it.
+
+When Lucia and Maria went down to the ward a little later, the patients
+were indeed humming with the news.  Every face wore a smile of keen
+joy, and the nurses hurried about to be sure everything was in perfect
+order.
+
+Lucia was well enough now to go wherever she pleased, and after she had
+talked for a few minutes with Captain Riccardi, and made sure that
+Maria had not exaggerated, she went out of the convent with the
+intention of going into town.  Some of the refugees had returned, but
+so far there had been no news of Senora Rudini, Nana, or Beppi, and she
+was growing anxious.
+
+As she walked down the broad steps, she saw Lathrop coming towards her.
+Lucia was particularly fond of the big American, and she smiled as she
+saw him.
+
+"Hello!" he greeted.
+
+Lucia returned the salutation.
+
+"Do you know that the King is coming?" she demanded.
+
+Lathrop understood the word King, and as the town was talking of
+nothing else he guessed what she meant.
+
+"Yes," he replied in Italian, "nice--glad--you."
+
+Lucia laughed.
+
+"Oh, but you are so funny.  How I wish you could speak so that I could
+understand you!" she said.
+
+Lathrop shook his head.  "There she goes again, I didn't get even one
+word this time."
+
+He put his hand in his pocket and drew out a letter.
+
+"See," he said, pointing to it.
+
+Lucia nodded.  Lathrop scratched his head.
+
+"You--in--letter," he said painstakingly, "Girl, American."
+
+"Oh, you have put me in your letter?  How nice!" Lucia said.  "What did
+you say?"
+
+"I get you, but I'm blest if I can tell you, and it's a shame, too.
+You're such a little winner, you and your Mrs. Garibaldi, that I'd like
+to be able to tell you so.  But I guess it's hopeless."
+
+All of which Lucia listened to politely, but without the first idea of
+its meaning.
+
+She nodded towards the gate and they walked towards it together.
+Lathrop mailed his letter, and they stopped to look at the ruins.
+Lucia questioned some soldiers who were clearing the streets as best
+they could.
+
+The town hall, at the end of the market-place, was still standing, and
+to-day it was draped in Italian flags.  It looked older and more
+dignified than ever, amid the ruins, and the flag floated bravely in
+the crisp fall breeze.  Lucia and Lathrop stopped to look at it.
+Lucia's eyes sparkled and she threw an impulsive kiss towards it.
+Lathrop saluted respectfully.
+
+As they turned to go back they noticed a crowd of soldiers and some of
+the townspeople gathered about the gate.
+
+"What can the matter be?" Lucia exclaimed, hurrying forward.  "Perhaps
+it is the King."
+
+They ran to the gate and questioned some of the soldiers.
+
+"More refugees returning," one of them explained.  "See there's a whole
+line of them, it is a good sight, and a good time that they have
+chosen.  Now we will not look so like a deserted place when the King
+comes."
+
+"Oh, perhaps some of them can give me news of Beppino," Lucia
+exclaimed, forcing her way through the crowd.
+
+Almost the first person she saw as she ran down the road was Maria's
+mother.  She was walking along beside several other women, and with a
+start Lucia realized that she looked thin and wan.
+
+"Aunt Rudini!" she called excitedly, "you are back at last.  Oh, Maria
+will be so glad!"
+
+Senora Rudini looked up, fear and hope in her eyes.
+
+"Maria!" she exclaimed, "where is she?"
+
+"At the convent.  She is helping to nurse the soldiers," Lucia replied.
+
+"Oh, and I thought she was dead or a prisoner.  She lay down beside me
+one night, and the next morning she was gone; I have been terrified."
+The old woman was wringing her hands.
+
+"But she is safe, go and see," Lucia protested, "I have just left her."
+
+Maria's mother needed no urging, she ran as fast as her stiff joints
+would allow towards the hospital.  But she had not gone very far when
+she returned.
+
+"I am a selfish old woman," she said, "thinking first of myself, when
+of course you want news of Nana.  Well, look yonder in that farm wagon."
+
+Lucia did not wait to hear more.  She darted off and met the wagon
+before it reached the turn in the road.
+
+"Beppi!  Nana!" she called.
+
+The man who was driving stopped, and Nana slid down from the straw,
+right into Lucia's waiting arms.  She was so glad to see her, that she
+could only babble foolishly.  All during her long journey, and her stay
+in strange villages, she had thought of nothing but Lucia in the hands
+of the enemy, and she was nearly crazy with relief and joy to find her
+safe again.
+
+At last Lucia quieted her.  "Where is Beppino?" she asked, "surely he
+is with you?"
+
+Something in the straw of the wagon moved, and the old driver pointed
+his whip at a mop of black hair, and laughed.
+
+Beppi was asleep of course.  Lucia's strong young arms lifted his
+little body out, and hugged and kissed him.  Beppi woke up, and at
+sight of her he shouted with joy.
+
+It was a happy and excited family that walked through the town and down
+to the little white cottage.
+
+Lucia had so much to say, and Nana would not listen nor believe all the
+wonderful things she tried to tell her, but at last, from lack of
+breath, she stopped exclaiming and crying, and Lucia pushed her gently
+onto the green bed, took Beppi on her lap, and began the recital of her
+wonderful news in earnest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE KING
+
+"The King!  The King!"
+
+"Viva!  Viva!"  A great cry rose within the walls of Cellino, and
+swelled to a mighty cheer, as a gray automobile drove slowly through
+the Porto Romano, and stopped in the market-place opposite the town
+hall.
+
+The soldiers who had so bravely defended the town were lined up ready
+for inspection, and as the King lifted his hand to salute the colors, a
+silence, as profound and as moving as the cheer had been, fell over the
+crowd.
+
+Lucia, with Beppi held tightly by the hand, was on the edge of the
+crowd.  She trembled with excitement as she looked at the greatest, and
+best-loved man in all Italy.
+
+"See!" she whispered excitedly to Beppi, "that is the King--our King!
+Look at him well, for we may never be lucky enough to see him again in
+our whole lives."
+
+Beppi's big eyes were round with wonder.  He looked.  His gaze fastened
+on the shining sword.  Then the memory that he might some day be a
+General returned to him, and he drew himself up very straight.  As the
+King passed on his inspection, his little hand went up in a smart
+salute.
+
+His Majesty stopped, smiled, and returned the salute gravely.
+
+Beppi waited until he had walked on, then he buried his face in Lucia's
+skirts, and wept from sheer joy.
+
+Lucia's pride knew no bounds.  Her heart was beating wildly, but she
+stood very still until the King went into the town hall, then she
+picked Beppi up in her arms and ran excitedly across the town and out
+to the convent.
+
+"We can see him again, darling, so stand very still," she said.  "He is
+coming to see the soldiers."
+
+They watched the gate eagerly, and before long the gray car came
+through it very slowly.  A crowd of people surrounded it, cheering and
+throwing flowers.  The King smiled and bowed to them all.  Lucia's eyes
+never left his face.  Suddenly she saw him lean forward excitedly as
+the big car stopped.  Beppi tugged at her skirts.
+
+"Look at Garibaldi, she is blocking the way."
+
+Lucia looked, and to her horror she saw her pet standing in the middle
+of the road, her four hoofs planted firmly in the mud, and her head
+lowered.
+
+"Oh, the wretch," Lucia exclaimed, darting forward.  "Come here at
+once!" she called.
+
+Garibaldi looked around and obediently trotted off.  The car started,
+and the King waved especially to Lucia as he passed, but even so great
+an honor could not compensate her.  She was mortified to tears that her
+goat should have been guilty of _lese majeste_.
+
+No entreaties on Beppi's part could make her stay to wait for the
+King's return.  She left him with a soldier, and went around the corner
+of the convent, followed by the disgraced Garibaldi.
+
+She sat down on a bench and sighed.
+
+"Of course you're only a goat," she said scornfully, "but I did think
+you had more sense than to do anything as terrible as that.  Do you
+know who that was that you made to stop?  That was the King, do you
+hear?"
+
+Garibaldi walked away indifferently.
+
+"Oh, I am disgusted with you forever," Lucia exclaimed with a shrug of
+disdain.  "You will stay here until he goes away again, and then I
+shall take you home and tie you up."
+
+Garibaldi paid no attention to the threat.  Perhaps she knew how empty
+it would prove to be.
+
+"Lucia, Lucia, my child, where are you?"  Sister Francesca's voice
+trembled as she called.
+
+"Here I am, sister," Lucia jumped up.  "Do you want me?"
+
+"Oh, my dear, I have looked everywhere for you.  Come with me at once."
+
+Lucia followed, wondering at the expression in the nun's usually placid
+face.  But Sister Francesca did not stop to give any explanations.  She
+led the way hurriedly back to the front door, of the convent, and up
+the steps through the ward of smiling men, and only stopped when she
+reached the door of Captain Riccardi's private room.
+
+"Go in, my dear," she said, giving Lucia a little push.  "The Captain
+wants to speak to you."
+
+Lucia opened the door and found herself face to face with the King.
+
+She was too astonished, and far too thrilled to speak.  She must have
+shown some of her feeling in her eyes, for the Captain, who was in bed,
+laughed.
+
+"Here she is, Your Majesty," he said.
+
+The King stepped forward and put his hand on her shoulder.
+
+"So you are the brave little girl whom I must thank for saving Captain
+Riccardi's life, and for blowing up the bridge?"
+
+Lucia was still tongue-tied.  She swallowed hard and tried to stop her
+heart from beating so fast.
+
+"Yes, yes, sir--Your Majesty," she said at last.  "I and Garibaldi."
+
+"Garibaldi?"  The King could not restrain a smile.
+
+"The goat, sir," the Captain explained.
+
+"Oh, I see, and what did you say his name was?"
+
+"Garibaldi's a her, Your Majesty, and so she had to be Senora
+Garibaldi."
+
+Lucia was fast forgetting her embarrassment.
+
+"'The Illustrious and Gentile Senora Guiseppi Garibaldi,' that's her
+real name, but of course, it's too long for every day."
+
+"Yes, I should suppose so, particularly if you were in a hurry," the
+King laughed softly.
+
+"Was that Senora Garibaldi that we came nearly running over?" he asked.
+
+"Oh yes, it was, but please, Your Majesty, don't be angry with her.
+You see, she really didn't know you were the King."
+
+"Angry, why I should say not.  Before I leave, yon must introduce me to
+her, I couldn't leave without seeing such a really important person."
+
+Lucia clapped her hands delightedly.
+
+"Oh, she will be so proud!" she exclaimed.
+
+The King turned to the officer who stood beside him and nodded, then he
+shook Captain Riccardi's hand.  "I congratulate you on the addition to
+your household," he said, smiling.  "Come with me, Lucia," he
+continued, "I have something for you, and I want to give it to you
+where all the soldiers can see."
+
+Lucia followed in a dream.  She stood very still at the end of the
+ward, and watched the men salute as the King stood before them.
+
+She did not hear what he said to them, for her head was swimming, but
+she saw him turn to her, and her heart missed a beat as he pinned a
+medal on her faded bodice.
+
+"In appreciation of your courage and loyalty," the King said, and
+Lucia's eyes looked into his for a brief, but never-to-be-forgotten
+moment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+GOOD-BY TO CELLINO
+
+It was over a month before Captain Riccardi was well enough to be
+moved, but at last the beautiful day for the departure for the south
+came.
+
+"Do you really mean we are going?" Beppi demanded.
+
+"Of course we are, darling," Lucia replied, laughing.  She was so
+excited that she could hardly wait to dress Beppi and Nana with the
+patience that such an undertaking required.  Nana had a new dress, Aunt
+Rudini made it with Maria's help, and though it was too somber for
+Lucia's color loving eyes, it was a new dress and she fastened it on
+Nana's bent shoulders with a glow of pride.
+
+"There now!" she exclaimed when it was on and Nana's stringy gray hair
+had been reduced to some sort of order.
+
+"Turn around and let me see you."
+
+Nana turned.  She was in a flutter of excitement, although she would
+not have admitted it for the world.
+
+"Don't waste any more time over an old woman," she said, sharply.  "I
+am tidy and that is enough."
+
+"You are more than tidy, Nana, you look beautiful," Lucia exclaimed.
+"Now do sit still and don't do anything."
+
+"There's nothing to be done that has not already been done," Nana
+replied as she sat on the edge of the green bed and folded her hands on
+her lap.  Lucia nodded in satisfaction and turned her attention to
+Beppi.
+
+He had a new suit too, and the broad sailor collar on it was
+embroidered with emblems and stars.
+
+Beppi was delighted, and Lucia helped him on with it as he danced and
+hopped, first on one foot and then to the other.
+
+"I'm a sailor," he announced, "a real sailor!  See the bands on my arm."
+
+"Fickle one," Lucia protested as she tied the flaring red tie, with
+loving fingers, "I thought you were going to be a soldier like our
+Captain."
+
+Beppi thrust his small hands in his trouser pockets.
+
+"I am when I grow up," he replied seriously, "but I can be a sailor in
+the meantime, can't I?"
+
+"Yes, of course," Lucia agreed, "and now put on your shoes, dear, it
+must be late, and it would never do to keep the Captain waiting."
+
+"Go and dress yourself then," Nana said, "and don't make yourself look
+too gay, it is not seemly."
+
+Lucia tossed her head and laughed.
+
+"Ah, but I will, my new bodice is so beautiful; all bright flowers, and
+my skirt is blue--I know the Captain will like it--and we are going to
+the South where all the girls wear bright colors--I expect my dress
+will look very somber."
+
+Nana did not reply, she grumbled a little to herself, and Lucia pulled
+out the drawer of the dresser and very carefully took out her new
+possessions.  She put them on slowly as if to prolong the pleasure.
+
+"When she was ready she looked at as much of herself as she could see
+in the small mirror, and smiled happily.
+
+"I look very nice, I think," she said frankly.
+
+"Then we are ready," Nana exclaimed, getting up, "we had better start
+up the hill."
+
+"Yes, do let's go," Beppi insisted, "I know we are going to be late."
+
+"Oh, but we have plenty of time," Lucia replied.  "Go along both of
+you, I will follow with Garibaldi."
+
+"Such foolishness," Nana grumbled, "to take a goat in a train; there
+are many goats in the South.  Why don't you wait until you get there
+and leave Garibaldi to Maria with the rest?"
+
+Lucia looked at her grandmother in consternation, but she did not stop
+to argue with her.  She left the house and went to the shed; repaired
+now enough to make a shelter to keep out the rain.
+
+Garibaldi was firmly tied to one of the posts.
+
+"Come, my pet," Lucia whispered, "we are going away and I have a ribbon
+for your neck, see?"
+
+"Now come," she coaxed, "we must go up to the convent, that nice
+American Mr. Lathrop is going to put you in a box.  You won't like it,
+poor dear, but it's the only way they let goats travel."
+
+Garibaldi seemed to understand something of the importance of the
+occasion, for she walked along beside her little mistress with lowered
+head.
+
+Lucia waited until Nana and Beppi had disappeared through the gate
+before she started.  She knew there was plenty of time and she wanted
+to be alone.
+
+She stood in the doorway of the cottage and looked at the poor, tumbled
+little room.  She felt suddenly very forlorn and lonely.
+
+"Good-by, little room," she said softly, "I will never, never forget
+you.  It isn't as if you were going very far away from me for we have
+given you to Maria, she and Roderigo will take good care of you, and
+some day perhaps I will come back for a tiny visit," she said.
+
+A plaintive "Naa" from Garibaldi made her turn.  As she left the room
+her eyes lingered on the green bed.
+
+Captain Riccardi was sitting up, fully dressed, and waiting for them in
+the garden of the convent.
+
+At sight of Lucia his eyes danced with fun.
+
+"Well, little sister of mine, how are you?" he greeted.
+
+"Oh, I am so excited, Senor," Lucia replied.  "Is it nearly time to go?"
+
+"No, not for a couple of hours," the Captain laughed.
+
+"Are we really going in an automobile?" Beppi demanded, "like the one
+the King came in?"
+
+"Yes, just like that, and then we go in a train for a long time," the
+Captain explained.
+
+"Do we _sleep_ in the train?"  Beppi's eyes were as round as saucers.
+
+"No," the Captain shook his head, "we sleep in a lovely house that
+belongs to a friend of mine in Rome."
+
+Beppi tried to be polite but Captain Riccardi saw the disappointment in
+his eyes, and patted his small head.
+
+"Are you sorry?" he laughed.
+
+"Oh, no, he is not," Lucia contradicted hastily, "he will like sleeping
+in Rome, won't you, my pet?"
+
+Beppi hung his head.  "I will like it," he admitted, "but it will not
+be as exciting as sleeping on a train."
+
+"No, of course it won't, but it will be lots more comfortable, and you
+see I have to think of that," the Captain explained, "but I promise you
+some day we will sleep in a train, and on a boat, or any old place you
+like, how's that?"
+
+"I will tell you afterwards," Beppi replied noncommittally.
+
+"I must go and find Maria," Lucia said, "I have not told her half the
+things I want to.  She won't take proper care of my goats, I know, but
+no matter, I will do my best to tell her what to do."
+
+She went into the convent.  Maria was busy in the ward, but at Lucia's
+beckon she left what she was doing and went to her.
+
+"Come over by Roderigo's bed," Lucia said, "we have only a little time
+to talk before we leave."
+
+"Oh, but you must be excited!" Maria exclaimed.
+
+"Look at her eyes," Roderigo laughed, "of course she is."
+
+"Well, and why not," Lucia demanded, "wouldn't you be?"  Roderigo
+shivered.
+
+"If I were going this day, back to Napoli, I would die from joy," he
+said.
+
+"Nonsense, that's what Lucia said about the King's speaking to her,"
+Maria reminded, "but she's still alive, and the King not only spoke to
+her but kissed her too."
+
+"Do you know," Lucia said quietly, "sometimes I think perhaps I am dead
+and this is Heaven."
+
+"Heaven!" Roderigo laughed, "never, it is much too cold, see the sick
+yellow sun up there."  He pointed to the window, "in Heaven the sun is
+hot and the sky is blue, just as you will find it to-morrow.  Oh, but I
+envy you.  What wouldn't I give--"  He hesitated and looked at Maria,
+"No, I would not go if I could; I am happy here."
+
+Maria's smile rewarded him.
+
+"But surely after the war," Lucia said, "you will both come to Napoli
+to live."
+
+"Perhaps," Roderigo assented, "after the war."
+
+They were silent for a moment, aware for the first time of what the
+coming separation would mean.  Then Roderigo exclaimed gayly,
+
+"But how solemn we are!  We must laugh.  I tell you, Lucia, when you
+see my old grandfather Vesuvius you must give him my best respects, for
+mind if you are not respectful to him he may do you some harm."
+
+"Oh, I will be very careful," Lucia laughed, "but I will never call
+that cross old, smoking mountain my grandfather, I can promise you
+that."
+
+"Haven't you some friends that Lucia could see?" Maria inquired, "or
+could she perhaps take a message to your family."
+
+"No."  Roderigo shook his head, "she will not be near them, but
+perhaps--"  He turned to Lucia, "if you are ever walking along the
+shore below Captain Riccardi's place, you may meet a soldier, an old
+man with a scar on his face; if you do, he is my uncle Enrico."
+
+"But what does he do on the beach?" Maria inquired.
+
+"Oh, he watches to see that no one rows out to the boats in the bay
+without a passport, there are plenty of men who would like to leave
+without permission," Roderigo explained, "My uncle is there to keep
+them safe in Italy."
+
+"Are they Austrians?" Lucia inquired.
+
+Roderigo winked.
+
+"They are Italian citizens on the face of things," he replied, "but in
+their hearts--"  An expressive gesture finished the sentence.
+
+Just as Maria was about to ask another question Beppi ran into the ward.
+
+"Lucia, Lucia, come quickly, the American is packing Garibaldi up in a
+box, and you are missing all the fun."
+
+Lucia jumped up.
+
+"Oh I must go and help," she exclaimed, "I will see you again for
+good-by."
+
+She followed Beppi to the garden and found Lathrop nailing on the top
+to a big wooden crate.  From between the slats Garibaldi looked out
+reproachfully.
+
+Lucia petted and consoled her until it was time to go.
+
+Garibaldi left first in a wagon; she was going all the way by train.
+Lucia had many misgivings but she watched the wagon out of sight with a
+smile.
+
+Her thoughts were soon diverted by the arrival of a big automobile.
+Captain Riccardi was helped in by the doctor and Lathrop, and after
+repeated good-bys Lucia took her place beside him.
+
+The car started off slowly, they were going to take the train at a
+point several miles south.
+
+Lucia watched the walls of Cellino grow dim against their background of
+bare mountains.  It was her first departure, and it marked a new period
+in her life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+IN THE GARDEN
+
+"How does my little sister like her new home?"
+
+Captain Riccardi was sitting in a comfortable chair in the warmth and
+sunshine of his garden.  He looked very much stronger than on his
+departure from Cellino.  A month under the southern sky had done much
+to make him well again, and as he sat looking at Lucia he was turning
+over in his mind the possibility of returning to the front.  Lucia was
+picking flowers near him, she had a basket over her arm and a big pair
+of scissors.
+
+Her cheeks, that had been so pale, were flushed and round, and an
+expression of happy contentment took the place of the excited sparkle
+in her eyes.
+
+She dropped down on the ground beside the Captain as he spoke, and
+looked up at him.
+
+"That is the very first time you have asked me that," she said, "and we
+have been here for a long time.  You know I think it is very, very
+wonderful, what could be more beautiful than this garden, but I am
+getting lazy, the sun is so warm and there is so little to do."  She
+looked puzzled.
+
+"That's quite as it should be," the Captain replied, "you are too young
+to work."
+
+"Oh, that is what you always say," Lucia protested, "I am too young and
+Nana is too old, and Beppi--"
+
+"Beppi is too lazy," the Captain laughed, "he is always asleep under
+the flower bushes, but tell me," he continued gravely, "are you ever
+homesick?"
+
+"Homesick."  Lucia considered for a moment, "For Maria, yes, but for
+Cellino, no.  I like to think of it, but I want always to live here."
+
+"Good," the Captain smiled, "then you won't mind my going away?"
+
+"Back to fight?" Lucia inquired.
+
+The Captain nodded.  "My wound is healed and I am well enough; they
+need all the men they can get up there, you know."
+
+"I know," Lucia looked very unhappy, "what terrible times there have
+been since we came here; everything has gone wrong.  Why I wonder, our
+soldiers are as brave as ever.  What has made us lose so much lately?"
+
+A baffled look stole over the Captain's face and he shook his head
+sorrowfully.
+
+"No one knows, my dear," he said, "we have suffered terrible losses,
+every plan that we make is known to the enemy."
+
+"Do you remember the beggar you saw on the road the day you followed
+the two Austrian soldiers?"
+
+Lucia nodded.
+
+"Well, there are many men like that in Italy, some are disguised as
+beggars and some as just working men, but they are everywhere, and
+through them our plans are given to the enemy."
+
+"But surely the police could arrest them," Lucia protested, "they must
+all be Austrians or Germans."
+
+"They are, of course, but they have lived here among us for so long
+that it is hard to tell them from ourselves; they speak, act and look
+as we do."
+
+"But they think as our enemies," Lucia added, "I understand.  What very
+bad men they must be, just to think that but for them we might have won
+this horrible war by now."
+
+"Perhaps," the Captain agreed, "but if they are here and we can't find
+them out then we must win the war in spite of them, and that is why I
+am going back."
+
+"When?" Lucia asked.  She was suddenly very unhappy for the memory of
+the attack was still vivid, and she dreaded to think of her newly found
+godfather's returning to the dangers and hardships of the front, but
+she was too brave and too wise to say so.  She kept a stiff upper lip
+and her eyes were dry as they discussed the plans.
+
+"I think I will leave in a day or two now that my mind is made up," the
+Captain said, "it will take me quite awhile to return to my Company,
+and I may have to wait in Rome for orders, so the sooner I am off the
+better."
+
+"Yes, I suppose so," Lucia replied slowly.  "Oh, but how we will miss
+you, I cannot bear to think," she added impulsively.
+
+"Then you must write to me often," the Captain laughed, "I get so few
+letters and I will treasure them.  I will want to know just how you and
+Beppi and Nana spend each day, and what tricks Garibaldi is up to."
+
+"I shall tell you everything," Lucia promised, eagerly, "every tiny
+little thing, and you will write back?"
+
+"Yes, as often as I can," the Captain promised.  He got up from his
+chair and started to walk toward the house.  When he was halfway up the
+path Beppi dashed through the garden gate and ran to him.
+
+"Oh, but I have had a fine morning," he declared, "you will never guess
+where I have been."
+
+"You do look excited," the Captain smiled, "it must have been a very
+nice place, tell us about it."
+
+"Then come back and sit down," Beppi insisted, taking his hand.  The
+Captain returned to his chair and Beppi perched on the arm of it.
+
+"Now begin," Lucia said, "we are listening."
+
+"Well," Beppi took a long breath.  "This afternoon I was tired of
+playing in the garden and I went out into the road.  Nana was sound
+asleep and did not hear me, and when I had walked a little ways I met
+two boys; one of them was bigger than me and the other one was littler.
+We said hello, and one of them asked me my name, and I told him, and
+then the big one said he guessed I couldn't fight--"  Beppi stopped and
+turned two accusing eyes at Lucia, "that was because I had on these old
+stockings.  I told you, sister, that I'd be laughed at unless I went
+barefoot, same as always."
+
+"Never mind about that," the Captain interposed, laughing, "tell us the
+rest."
+
+"Well, I told him I could, and we did, of course, and I won," he
+continued proudly, "and after that we were friends, and they asked me
+if I'd ever been to the shore, and I said; not right to it, so they
+took me.  We went down a hill and pretty soon we were right by the
+ocean, and the waves were coming in all frothy white on the blue water,
+and I took off my shoes and stockings--"
+
+"Oh, Beppi," Lucia protested.
+
+"Yes, I did," Beppi repeated, "I certainly did and we had a fine time,
+I can tell you, and here comes the exciting part.  While we were on the
+beach a soldier came along; he was walking on the wall and he had a big
+gun.  The two boys ran to him and I went with them.  He asked me my
+name and where I lived, and I told him, and he said he had a nephew in
+the war, and one of the boys asked him how Roderigo Vicello was, and
+when I heard that name I just shouted, 'Why I know him,' and then I
+told them all about the bridge and the King giving Roderigo a medal,
+and everything.  They were all glad, I can tell you, and I guess these
+boys won't say I can't fight again in a hurry," he added triumphantly.
+
+"Oh, that is exciting news!" Lucia exclaimed, "Roderigo told me he had
+an uncle here.  Did he have a big scar on his face, Beppino?"
+
+"Yes," Beppi replied eagerly, "he got it in the Tripoli war.  He is a
+very brave man, I think, but he says he'd rather fight than guard the
+shore, but of course he has to do as he's told, because he's a soldier."
+
+"And I suppose that means you don't have to do what you're told until
+you're one," the Captain laughed, "what will Nana say when she hears
+you ran away?"
+
+"Who's going to tell her?" Beppi inquired, "Lucia won't, and I don't
+think you will," he added with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
+
+"No, I suppose I won't after that," the Captain replied, laughing,
+"that is if you will promise to be very good and mind Lucia while I am
+away."
+
+"Away?" Beppi queried, "where are you going?"
+
+"Back to fight," the Captain replied, "and perhaps I shall be gone for
+a long, long time, and of course, while I am gone I shall expect you to
+take care of your sister."
+
+"Oh, Lucia can take care of herself," Beppi laughed, "she always has,
+and of Nana and me, too, but I'll be good if you say so, only can't I
+go down to the shore once in a while?"
+
+"Of course, darling," Lucia answered for the Captain, "but you must
+tell Nana where you are going."
+
+"No, I will tell you I think," Beppi said gravely.
+
+The Captain got up and he walked beside him to the house.  There was a
+chance that the bright sword might be taken from its chamois case, and
+Beppi never missed a chance of seeing it if he could help it.
+
+Lucia, left alone in the garden, looked out over the low wall to the
+west.  The bay of Naples stretched out blue and glistening in the last
+rays of the sun, and the gray of the old house took on a soft pink tint.
+
+"It is a fairy palace, I believe."  Lucia buried her face in her basket
+and whispered to the flowers.
+
+"I wonder if it will disappear when my fairy godfather goes away, or if
+it will stay and be ours to keep for him until he comes back, for he
+must come back, he must, he must, he must," she finished almost angrily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BACK TO FIGHT
+
+A big gray car, very like the one that had come to Cellino, drove up
+before the door of the Riccardi villa two days later.
+
+The Captain, once his mind was made up, did not waste any time in
+carrying out his plans.  He was eager to rejoin his comrades in the
+north, but when the time came to leave he was very sorry to say good-by
+to Lucia.  She had found a warm and secure spot in his big heart, and
+he knew he would miss her gay chatter and the laughing expression of
+her eyes.
+
+All the household were on the steps to say good-by, even Nana had been
+prevailed upon to leave her seat in the garden by the well, and her
+lace bobbins, long enough to see him off.
+
+Beppi danced about excitedly.  "Oh, please hurry up and end the old
+war," he cried impatiently, "and come back, we will be so lonely
+without you.  I promise to be very, very good."
+
+"That's right, and when I come home I shall bring you all the souvenirs
+I promised; an Austrian helmet and a piece of shell," the Captain
+replied.
+
+"And your sword, don't forget that," Beppi reminded him.
+
+"Oh no, of course I won't forget that," the Captain swung Beppi high in
+the air above his head and kissed him, then he turned to Lucia.
+
+"I will be good too," she promised, laughing.
+
+"Of course you will, but you must be happy too, that is the most
+important of all," the Captain said seriously.  "Be sure and pick all
+the flowers in the garden and stay out in the sunshine all day."
+
+"And may I take the flowers to the hospital?" Lucia asked, "we have so
+many in the house, and the sick soldiers would love them so."
+
+"Yes, do what you like with them," the Captain replied, "but be
+careful, don't do anything dangerous, you are such a spunky little
+fire-brand, that I can't help worrying."
+
+"Oh, but you mustn't, I will be so very careful.  Besides there is
+nothing to do down here, it is not like Cellino."
+
+"Well, you can't always be sure," the Captain said, his eyes twinkling,
+"if there was any danger you'd be sure to be in the heart of it."
+
+"No, I will close my eyes tight," Lucia promised, "and walk in the
+other direction, that is, unless it was something very, very important."
+
+"I thought so.  Well, I guess you'll be safe here, safer than you've
+ever been before, anyway," the Captain said, "and now good-by."
+
+He kissed her low, broad forehead, very gently.
+
+"Good-by, fairy godfather, come back soon."  Lucia tried not to let her
+voice tremble.
+
+The Captain got into the car hurriedly.  He waved to the group on the
+steps until he was out of sight.
+
+Lucia went back into the house, but the spacious rooms and high
+ceilings only added to her unhappiness.  She almost longed for the
+comfort of the tiny old cottage and the familiar sight of the green bed.
+
+She wandered about listlessly; she was quite alone.  Nana had gone back
+to her lace making, and Beppi was in the garden.  The old man and his
+wife--the Captain's faithful servants--were in the kitchen.
+
+In the library Lucia stopped before the rows of books and tried to read
+their titles.  But she gave it up and looked at the pictures, that
+amused her for a little while, for she thought they were beautiful, but
+she did not understand them.  She could not give anything her undivided
+attention for her thoughts were on the way with the Captain, and she
+was fighting against the unhappiness that threatened to overpower her.
+
+"Surely he will come back," she said, to a copy of Andrea del Sarto's
+St. John that hung above the mantel.  "This cruel war has taken my real
+father; it cannot take my godfather too."  She gave herself a little
+shake, "It is that I am lonely that I think such sad thoughts, I will
+go out to the garden and pick flowers for the soldiers."
+
+Accordingly she found her basket and scissors and spent the rest of the
+afternoon in the garden.  When her basket was piled high she put on her
+hat very carefully, regarding it from every angle of the Florentin
+mirror.  It was the first hat she had ever owned and she was very proud
+of it.
+
+When it was tilted to her satisfaction she took up the basket and went
+out by the garden gate.
+
+The hospital was a little over a mile away.  Lucia had visited it with
+Captain Riccardi.  It had formerly been a private villa and its
+terraced gardens went down to the water's edge.
+
+Lucia knew the way and she loitered along, enjoying the newness of the
+scenes about her.  Everything and everybody were so different, the
+fishermen with their bright sashes and Roman striped stocking caps, the
+old women and the young girls in their bright dresses, with great gold
+loops hanging from their ears.  Even the sound of their voices was
+different as they called out greetings to one another.
+
+Lucia decided that the very first thing she would do when the Captain
+came home would be to ask him for a pair of gold earrings.
+
+So occupied was she with her thoughts that she reached the gate to the
+hospital before she realized it.  She lifted the heavy knocker; an old
+man opened the door.
+
+"This is not visiting day, little one," he said, as he looked down at
+Lucia.
+
+"Oh, I am not visiting," she replied, "I brought these few flowers for
+the sick soldiers; will you take them?"
+
+"Indeed I will."  The old man held out his hand.  "Do you want the
+basket back again?"
+
+"Oh, no, there's no hurry for that, I will get it the next time I
+come," Lucia replied.  "I mean to bring flowers every day or two for
+the soldiers."
+
+"That is very kind of you," the old man smiled, "I'll take these right
+up."
+
+Lucia nodded and turned to go back along the road.  The sun was setting
+over the water, and below the bay beckoned invitingly.  She looked and
+decided to go home that way.
+
+She took a path that led to the water's edge.  It was steep, for that
+part of the coast rose high above the water.  She was tired when she
+reached the bottom and sat down to rest on the low stone wall.
+
+The soft lapping of the water made her drowsy, and she slipped to the
+sand, leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.
+
+There was not a sound but the soothing voice of nature, the ripple of
+the water, the sighing of the wind and the occasional cry of a sea bird.
+
+All the sounds together seemed to rock Lucia in a sort of lullaby, and
+it was not many minutes before she was asleep.
+
+When she awoke it was quite dark and she was conscious of a difference
+in the voice of the water.  A heavy regular splash, splash, grew nearer
+and nearer as she listened.  If she had been accustomed to living near
+the water she would have recognized it as the rhythmic stroke of oars,
+but she did not, and it was not until a shape loomed up in the dusk a
+little farther down the beach that she realized it was a boat.
+
+She got up and walked towards it.  If it was a fisherman's boat she
+wanted to see it, even if it meant being late to supper.
+
+But it was not a fisherman's boat, it was a light, high-sided row boat
+and the man in it stood up and pushed forward on his stout oars.
+
+He made a landing on the sand before Lucia reached him, and he jumped
+out hurriedly.
+
+Whatever his business was it occupied all his thoughts, for he did not
+look to right or left but ran straight to the wall.  Another figure
+came out of the shadows to meet him.  They spoke in whispers, but Lucia
+was near enough to hear what they said.
+
+She listened out of curiosity for it struck her as being rather strange
+that a man dressed in beautiful dark clothes, with a hat such as she
+had seen the men in Rome wear, should be out on the beach whispering in
+the shadow of the wall to a boatman.
+
+When she had listened she was even more surprised.
+
+"It's all right, I've fixed it, you can get aboard her at midnight."
+The boatman's voice was husky and very mysterious.
+
+"Be sure and be here on time," the man replied, "this spot is safe,
+wait until the guard has passed and then land.  If there is any danger,
+whistle."
+
+The boatman nodded.  "It's a risky business," he objected.
+
+"You will be well paid for it," the man answered sharply.  "Now go."
+
+Lucia watched him disappear into the dusk and waited until the boatman
+had rowed out of sight.  Then she straightened her hat and started for
+home, thinking very hard as she hurried along.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+AN INTERRUPTED SAIL
+
+When Lucia reached the road above she ran as fast as she could.  She
+had been so startled at what she had heard that her thoughts were
+confused.  But as she hurried along her mind cleared.
+
+"Perhaps they are all right, and the man is just going for a row," she
+said to herself.  But the memory of the boatman's words returned to her.
+
+"It's a risky business."
+
+She did her best to attach no importance to it, but back in her brain
+was the firm conviction that the man with the hat was one of the
+Austrians that Roderigo had spoken of.  "An Italian citizen on the face
+of things, but in their hearts--" Lucia instinctively mimicked
+Roderigo's gesture.  She knew too, that argue though she might, she
+would interfere.
+
+When she reached the garden she heard Beppi crying and saw a light in
+his window above.  Beppi did not cry very often and by the sound she
+thought he was in pain.
+
+She hurried into the house and ran upstairs.  Nana met her at the door
+of Beppi's room; she was wringing her hands.
+
+"So you are back," she cried, "well, praise the Saints for that, I
+thought I should lose you both on the same day."
+
+"'Lose us,' what are you talking about?" Lucia demanded, pushing past
+her to the bed.
+
+"Beppino mio, what has happened?" she asked, though there was little
+need to question for a deep cut in Beppi's cheek, from which the blood
+spurted freely, was answer enough.
+
+"My face, Lucia, it hurts me so, make it stop bleeding," Beppi pleaded,
+"I fell on a big rock in the garden."
+
+"Caro mio, how long ago?" Lucia asked excitedly, "here quick, Nana, get
+me some hot water, I will wash it as I saw Sister Veronica wash the
+soldiers.  There, there, darling, it will soon be better."
+
+With trembling fingers Nana and the old servant, Amelie, brought a
+basin and a towel, and Lucia bathed the wound.  It was a deep cut and
+poor Beppi winced as the water touched it.
+
+After a little the blood stopped and Lucia bound up his head in soft
+white cloths.
+
+"Stay by me," Beppi begged, "don't go way downstairs, I am afraid."
+
+"Poor angel," Amelie cried, "he won't be left alone; old Amelie will
+bring up the little sister's dinner and she can eat by his bedside,"
+and she hurried off, crooning to herself as she went to the kitchen
+below.
+
+Nana, now that she knew that Beppi was not going to die, started
+scolding him for not looking where he was going, but Lucia sent her
+downstairs.
+
+"He is too tired to listen to-night, Nana, and anyway he will be
+careful.  Do go away and rest a little, you must be tired."
+
+When Nana had left, Lucia returned to the bed and sat down.  She did
+not have any idea what time it was, and she knew that it would be
+impossible to leave Beppi until he was quiet.  She hardly touched the
+tempting tray that Amelie brought her, and her voice trembled as she
+asked what time it was.
+
+"Ten minutes after seven," Amelie told her after she had carefully
+consulted the big hall clock.
+
+"Oh!"  Lucia was surprised and relieved.  She thought she must have
+slept for hours, but now she realized that in reality she had only
+dozed for a few minutes.
+
+She took Beppi's hand and set about putting him to sleep.  It was a
+difficult task.  She told him story after story, but at the end of each
+his eyes were bright and his demand for another one as insistent as
+ever.
+
+Lucia kept time by the chimes of the clock, and at ten she turned out
+the light.
+
+"I am coming to bed beside you," she explained as Beppi protested, "I
+think the light will hurt your head."  She took off her dress and
+slipped on her nightgown.  Beppi snuggled contentedly into her arm, and
+she went on with her stories.
+
+"Sing to me," he asked at last, sleepily, "your song," and Lucia began
+very softly to sing.
+
+  "O'er sea the silver star brightly is glowing,
+  Rocked now the billows are.
+  Soft winds are blowing,
+  Come to my bark with me.
+  Come sail across the sea.
+  Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia."
+
+
+Beppi's even breathing rewarded her efforts.  She slipped her arm from
+under his head and stole softly out of the room just as the clock
+chimed eleven.  She put on her dress hurriedly.
+
+The house was very still as she crept downstairs and out into the
+garden.  The stars were out and it was an easy matter to find her way.
+She ran until she reached the path that led to the shore, then she
+moved very cautiously.  She hoped to reach the guard, tell him what she
+had heard, and then go home, but when she reached the beach she
+realized that she was too late.
+
+There was no guard in sight, but her ears detected the splash of oars,
+and she knew that the boatman was coming.  She crouched down beside the
+wall and waited.  She watched him pull his boat up on shore and then
+walk swiftly off in the opposite direction from her.
+
+She did not know what to do, and she was frightened--badly frightened.
+The broad shining water on one side and the hill on the other seemed to
+hem her in, and she felt lost.  It was not like the mountains of
+Cellino, where she knew every path.
+
+She crouched down by the wall and waited.  Another figure joined the
+boatman, and they stood still, a little farther up the beach.  Lucia
+knew it was the man she had seen that afternoon, and she knew too that
+in a very few seconds they would turn around and come back to the boat.
+
+With a courage born of fear she jumped up and before she quite realized
+what she was doing she was tugging at the boat.
+
+It was not very high up on the beach for the boatman had left it so
+that it would be easily shoved off.  Fortunately the tide was going
+out.  Lucia's arms were strong and she pushed with a will.  The boat
+found the water and drifted silently away.
+
+Her feet were wet, but she did not realize it.  She crept back to the
+beach and flattened herself against the wall.  The men returned.  They
+too kept in the shadow of the wall.  It was not until they were almost
+brushing against Lucia that the boatman noticed that his boat was gone.
+
+"The Saints preserve us!" he exclaimed.  "It has been spirited away.  I
+knew I should be punished for doing such a black deed."
+
+"Spirits, nonsense!" the man spoke angrily.  "It is your own stupid
+carelessness, you did not pull it up on shore far enough.  You
+rattlebrain idiot, I've a good mind to kill you for this.  See, there
+is your boat out there--empty--go and get it.  Do you hear?"
+
+"But how?" the boatman wrung his hands desperately.  "I do not know how
+to swim.  I will die.  Santa Lucia, Saint of sailormen, spare me," he
+screamed as the man lifted his heavy cane to strike him.
+
+"Don't you dare strike that man!" Lucia exclaimed, "he did pull his
+boat up on shore, but I pushed it off.  I heard you this afternoon, and
+I knew you wanted to go away to that big ship out there, and perhaps
+sail to Austria.  I know what you are, you two-faced man.  You speak,
+you laugh, you scold in Italian, and all the time your black heart is
+Austrian."
+
+"You shall not go away from here.  I, Lucia Rudini, tell you, you shall
+not!"
+
+"Santa Lucia!  A miracle!"  The boatman trembled with fear, but the man
+was not so superstitious.  He caught Lucia's arm and shook her roughly.
+
+"You did it, you little fiend, well, you shall get what you deserve for
+your meddling."  He motioned to the frightened boatman.  "Get me a
+rope, I'll make a gag of my handkerchief; hurry man, if you are found
+you will be shot."
+
+"But I dare not, I dare not, she is the spirit of Santa Lucia.  She
+came when I called.  The Saints have mercy!"
+
+With a growl of disgust the man turned from him and caught both of
+Lucia's wrists in his firm clasp.  Then he lifted his cane.
+
+"She must not tell until we are well away," he said, and brought the
+cane down heavily.  It was his intention to stun Lucia, but he had
+miscalculated when he expected her to stand still and receive the blow.
+
+She dodged to the right and began kicking and struggling.  The boatman
+wrung his hands and screamed for help.
+
+It was not many minutes before the guard, attracted by the noise, came
+running towards them.  The man's back was towards him, but Lucia saw
+him and stopped struggling.
+
+The man raised his cane again but this time he stopped, because the
+muzzle of a gun was pressing him between the shoulder blades.
+
+Lucia turned to the guard and explained hurriedly.  In the starlight
+she could see that he had a long scar across his face, and she felt
+very secure.
+
+"I know your nephew, Roderigo," she ended, "he helped me blow up the
+bridge in Cellino."
+
+The soldier nodded.
+
+"I know about that, Senorina," he said respectfully, "and the rest of
+your fine deeds.  You were born for the work it seems.  Move an inch
+and off comes your head," he turned furiously on the man who had tried
+to edge away.  Then he continued in the soft, courteous tones he had
+been using.  "I hope some day you will do me the honor of telling me of
+the attack yourself," he said.  "It is sometimes very lonely here while
+I am on guard."
+
+His gentle tone, and above all the flattering respect he showed, gave
+Lucia back her courage.
+
+"Of course I will come," she said, "just as soon as my little brother
+is better.  He fell and cut his head, and, and--well, I guess I'd
+better be going back, he may awaken and be frightened.  Good night."
+
+"Good night, Senorina," the soldier replied, "I am proud to have seen
+you."
+
+"Now then,--" his voice became harsh again as he turned to his
+prisoners, "go along, one wink of your eyelid in the wrong direction
+and I will shoot."
+
+He marched them off quickly, and Lucia, because the affair seemed
+finished, started for home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE END OF THE STORY
+
+"Tell me a story," Beppi demanded when she was lying beside him once
+more, "I'm all awake again and my face hurts."
+
+"What shall it be about?" Lucia asked, stroking his hair.  She was
+still trembling from the reaction of her adventure, and Beppi's warm
+little body snuggled close in her arms was comforting.
+
+"Go on with the story about the soldier and the bad girl that teased
+him, and the good girl that was the fairy princess."
+
+"Very well, but shut your eyes.  Let me see," Lucia began, "the soldier
+went off to the war, and when he came back he was wounded and the good
+girl took care of him, and they decided to be married and live happily
+ever after.  And the bad girl when she saw the poor soldier wounded was
+sorry she had teased him, and she never did it again.  And because she
+was good all kinds of nice things happened to her.  She found her fairy
+godfather, and he had a magic carpet, and first thing you know she was
+in the middle of a beautiful garden with her little--"
+
+"Oh, bother, I knew that wasn't a real story," Beppi protested.  "It's
+just about Roderigo and Maria and the Captain and you.  And oh, Lucia,
+how silly you are, you called yourself the bad girl when really you're
+the goodest in the whole world."
+
+"Am I, Beppino mio?" Lucia laughed.  "I don't think so."
+
+"Well, I say you are," Beppi replied, drowsily, "and the Captain thinks
+so too, so--"  He dropped off to sleep.
+
+"I wonder if he would say so if he had seen me to-night," Lucia mused,
+"I had to do it, it was the only way, but oh, dear, I do hope I don't
+ever hear any more wicked men again."  She yawned and looked towards
+the window.  The first gray light of dawn streaked the sky.
+
+"I guess I'll stay in the garden with Beppi and Nana and Garibaldi, and
+wait for my fairy god-father's return," she said as she closed her eyes.
+
+As if to echo her words a faint "naa," came up from the stable yard
+below.  Garibaldi was agreeing with her mistress.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LUCIA RUDINI***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 17666.txt or 17666.zip *******
+
+
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