"It will be a grand experience, sir," he smiled. "Besides, have you not lived that sort of life for years? And look how fit and well you are."
"It has made a man of me, lad. When I am away from the house on the rancho I feel free as the air. I eat and sleep heartily, and fine weather, sunshine, frost, or rain are one and the same to me. Give me the gauchos' camp on the plains, or amidst the small forests, the crackling fire of thistle tops, a saddle to rest my head on, and a thick blanket to cover me. I am happy then. I enjoy every minute of the day, and sleep soundly at night. But there is something else. Lad, there are Indians. I have been raided twice already, and on each occasion I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth. Fifteen of my gauchos were killed on the last occasion, and all my stock was cleared out."
"And still you are going back to the place, and sighing to get there, sir," came Dudley's answer, short and abrupt. "If you can face an Indian raid, why, I shall try to do so also."
"Then our compact is settled. Not that I thought that you would flinch; but there are some who would. Now for a few words as to myself. You have told me who you are. I will let you have a little of my own history. You hear me use strange expressions sometimes. They are Italian, and though I am an Englishman born and bred, yet I have Italian sympathies and interests. My father lived many years in Rome, and often had a villa in Sicily, to which I used to go for my holidays. I speak Italian like a native, and know the southern portions of Italy and the whole of Sicily very well. I married an Italian lady, and settled in the island I have mentioned, till one of the foulest acts of treachery drove me from it and sent me out here. You have heard of the vendetta?"
Dudley had heard of it in some obscure way, and had a faint idea of its meaning, but he was not quite sure.
"I fancy it is sometimes a secret society," he said. "Or perhaps it is an oath which certain families take, that they will be revenged on some individual or even on a whole family. They plot and plan for years, if need be, till their revenge is accomplished."
"Just so; the latter is more correct. It is a hateful practice, and is one which might be expected in a country such as Italy, where secret societies abound, where men are condemned before secret tribunals, and assassinated by the poniard of a ruffian who, beyond his interest in this society, has no direct animus against the condemned man. Dudley, my wife's family had fallen under the ban of some secret society the members of which are, to the best of my belief, all of one family. These wretches murdered her father, and would have done the same by the mother had not a kind providence removed her peacefully before their poniards could reach her heart. That did not satisfy them. They slew my dear wife, and would have assassinated me and my little daughter had I not escaped from the country. They drove me out, and I sailed for South America, where there are many Italians, a number of whom, however, have now returned to their native country with Garibaldi. But that does not concern us now. My daughter, a child of your age, is settled in a convent near Naples, where she is secure, and where she has been for the past six years, passing under an assumed name. For myself, one of these days I may be able to return to Italy, where I should like to live, for the warmth suits me, and I feel at home. Also I have an estate in Sicily. There, I have bored you, I fear."
Dudley shook his head emphatically, for, on the contrary, he had been vastly interested. Many a time during the voyage he had wondered what there was about his friend which made him so different from other men. He was sure that he had a history, and now he had learned it.
"It seems terrible that such things should occur," he said aloud. "In England we have nothing like it, for the people would not allow such revenge and such assassinations. You have found security in this country, sir?"
"Would that I had," came the answer. "I thought that by coming here I should escape these miscreants, but that is not the case. It is true that I have been far more secure, for the simple reason that out on the ranchos there are so few men that a stranger is at once noticeable. We want to know at once who the man is, where he comes from, and what he wants. I have faithful gauchos there who would protect me, and who may be relied on to give me instant warning of danger. And yet I know that one Indian raid at least was instigated by my enemies, and I was once attacked in the streets of Montevideo. There is, indeed, no doubt that the ruffians who slew my wife would willingly kill me and my child. However, they have a big, strong man to deal with, and if I catch them in the act of attacking, why——"