“Put on your hat and cloak again,” he said, “and go down to the road by the sea; watch if any one goes along, and stay a quarter of an hour to see if he returns.”
Then, without putting on his own disguise, he went to the spot where the townspeople, among whom the report of what had happened had spread rapidly, were assembled, and mounting on the steps of a large building there, addressed them.
“Calabrians,” he said, “the moment when your freedom will be attained is at hand. You have heard that a party of troops of that champion of freedom, General Garibaldi, has crossed to the mainland. The officer in command has sent me to tell you that they are everywhere joined by the brave Calabrians, and will speedily have a force capable of giving battle to the armies of your tyrants. It may be that before many days they will come down here from the mountains, and he hopes to find every man capable of bearing arms ready to join him; it will be a bad day for those who, in spite of the wishes of the people, and the certainty that Calabria will shortly be freed from the presence of the troops at Naples, strive to check the tide.
“For your own sakes watch the men who have acted as the agents of the government of Naples; station armed men on every road by which they could send a message to Reggio, for should they do so troops might be sent here, and then, when the soldiers of freedom come down from the hills, a battle will be fought in your streets, and many innocent persons might suffer. I do not ask any to come forward now, to declare himself for the cause of freedom; I only ask you to hold yourselves in readiness, so that when we come down from the hills you will welcome us, as men welcome those who come to strike the fetters from their limbs. It may be that you will not have long to wait, and that in eight-and-forty hours Missori with a portion of his army will be here. But this I do ask you: keep an eye on your syndic and his council, on the police, and all others who represent the authority of Naples, and see that no one on any pretence leaves the town for the next forty-eight hours.”
The town was a very small one, and a large portion of its population were fishermen; these latter shouted loud approval of Frank’s words, and declared themselves ready to carry out the instructions he had given them, but the trading class was silent. They had something to lose, and had been so long accustomed to the tyranny of the government that they feared to make any demonstration whatever of liberal opinions until they saw how matters went. It was upon them that the taxes pressed most heavily, and they had far more reason than the fishing class to hail a release from these exactions; but they had more to lose, and they felt that it was best to hold themselves aloof from any manifestation of their feelings. The fishermen, however, thronged round Frank, and announced themselves ready at once to obey his orders.
“Divide yourselves into four parties,” he went on; “let each choose a leader and take it in turn to watch the roads and see that none passes.”
At this moment Frank’s follower returned. “Two of the police went out along the road,” he said, “but have just come back.”
“I am not surprised at what I have just heard,” he went on, addressing the fishermen. “The police have already endeavoured to send word to Reggio that our friends from the hills are shortly coming here, but they have been stopped on the way by some brave peasants whom I stationed on the road for the purpose. How many police are there here?”
“Only eight, signor,” one of the men said.
“Come with me, and I will warn them that if any attempt is again made to send word of what is going on here they will be at once hanged.”