“No, tell me the story.”
“Oh, it is a very short one.”
“So much the worse.”
“Well, you see, we have not much time to talk now.”
“I am all attention.”
“Well, this woman and this young man presented themselves before the Tower of Sullacaro and requested to speak with Paoli; but as he was engaged writing, he declined to admit them; and then, as the woman insisted, the two sentinels repulsed her, when Paoli, who had heard the noise, opened the door and inquired the cause.”
“ ‘It is I,’ said the woman; ‘I wish to speak to you.’
“ ‘What have you to say to me?’
“ ‘I have come to tell you that I have two sons. I heard yesterday that one had been killed for defending his country, and I have come twenty leagues to bring you the other!!!’ ”
“You are relating an incident of Sparta,” I said.