He was armed and equipped for his ride, and he carried in his hand the black hat and feather fastened by the flaming carbuncle button.
“Alberta, dearest—quick! Your horse is ready and waiting beside my own!” he exclaimed. And he seized up her dark hooded cloak and with his own hands wrapped it about her form.
“It is true then! The enemy is upon us!” she cried.
“Two companies of cavalry armed with their accursed Henry rifles! sixteen shooters, that they may load up on a Sunday and fire off all the week! What can my ninety almost unarmed men do against such a force?”
“Oh! fly! fly, Vittorio! And here! take that burning carbuncle from your hat! You are known by it. And its rays shoot so far in the sunlight.”
“I would almost as willingly be captured as remove the gem, your gift, Alberta! placed, where it shines, by your hand!”
“Then my hand will remove it again!” said Corsoni’s wife, hastily unfastening the fiery stone and concealing it in her bosom.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE FLIGHT.
And there was mounting in hot haste.—Byron.
Then Corsoni seized her hand and drew her into the yard, where the men already mounted awaited their chief.