"'Now drink,' said the president. And a tumbler of red wine was handed to me, and I duly drained it to the dregs, after first walking round the table and clinking glasses with every member.
"'And now,' the president continued, 'we reach the business of the evening.'
"I listened eagerly. At last, it seemed, the mystery was to be solved, and I was to learn the secret of the Camorra—in what sacred cause it gathered in its revenues, and by what subtle means it proposed to employ them for the overthrow of principalities and powers. The truth burst upon me like a thunderbolt.
"'Giovanni, bring me the books!' called the president to a subordinate. And two great ledgers, such as you see in merchants' offices, were laid before him.
"'And the cash!' he added; and a number of small bags full of coins were also brought.
"In a few minutes he was immersed in calculations, while a loud buzz of talk went on around him. Then he looked up, and banging upon the table, called for silence. When he spoke, you could have heard a pin drop.
"'The week has been a fortunate one,' he said, and cheers broke out. 'In addition to the ordinary tribute collected on the quays, at the hotels, and in the cafés, some heavy fees have been received from farmers whose cattle the companions have promised not to poison, and from citizens at whose houses the companions have undertaken that there shall be no burglaries. The barattolo——'
"'Viva il barattolo!' shouted the companions gleefully.
"'The barattolo for the week amounts to the sum of 20,000 lire (loud cheers). When the necessary deductions have been made for working expenses, and for the remuneration of the office-bearers of the society, there remain 730 lire for each companion.'
"Not a word, you perceive, about the political purposes of the society, concerning which I had been promised information. I rose from my stool to point out the omission.