"At Messina our proposals were rejected, on the plea that the Neapolitan government had done great things for the commerce of that city, and that, all things considered, peace at any price, with flourishing trade and the hope of growing rich, was preferable to a patriotic war with confusion and anarchy. At Catania they told us that they could not do anything without the concurrence of Messina, and would not do anything without that of Palermo. In fact they definitely refused to assist us in any way; and, after putting us off from year to year, they informed us that the trade of brigand had gone out of fashion, and that it was very bad taste to persist in it when we could sell out to the government and make our fortunes in its service. They forgot to add, it is true, that, in order to resume his place in society, it would have been necessary for the Prince of Castro-Reale to become the enemy of his country and accept some military or civil post, the duties of which consisted in dispersing insurrections with cannon, and in pursuing, denouncing, and hanging his old comrades.
"The Destatore, seeing that his mission was at an end, and that, in order to live by his gun, he must thenceforth prey upon his fellow-countrymen, fell into a state of profound depression. Wandering among the wildest ravines on the island, and making bold forays, sometimes to the very gates of the cities, he lived for a time upon foreign travellers who were rash enough to visit the island. That trade was not worthy of him, for those foreigners were, for the most part, entirely free from blame for our ills, and so utterly incapable of defending themselves, that it was a pity to rob them. The brave fellows who followed him were disgusted with such wretched business, and every day brought its quota of desertions. To be sure those scrupulous fellows did worse when they left him; for some, being frowned upon everywhere, relapsed into idleness and poverty; others were forced to join the forces of the government, who considered them good soldiers, and made gendarmes and spies of them.
"Thus there remained with the Destatore only the more determined malefactors, who robbed and murdered, without scrutiny, everyone who came in their way. A single one was still honest, and refused to take part in this highwayman's business. It was the poor devil whose story I am telling you. Nor on the other hand would he leave his unfortunate captain; he loved him, and his heart was broken at the idea of abandoning him to traitors who would murder him some fine morning when they had no one to rob, or would force him into useless crimes for their own gratification.
"The Destatore did full justice to his poor friend's devotion. He had appointed him his lieutenant—an absurd title in a band which now consisted of only a handful of knaves. He still allowed him to tell him the truth sometimes, and to give him good advice; but as a general rule he drove him away angrily, for the leader's temper became more and more soured from day to day, and the savage virtues which he had acquired in the days of enthusiasm and gallant exploits gave way to the vices of the past, children of despair, ill-omened guests which resumed possession of his storm-beaten soul.
"Drunkenness and lust took possession of him, as in the early days of idleness and discouragement. He fell below himself, and one day—an accursed day, which will never be blotted from my memory—he committed a terrible crime, a dastardly, detestable crime! If I had witnessed it, I would have killed him on the spot. But the Destatore's last remaining friend did not learn of it until the next day; and on that next day he left him, after bitterly upbraiding him for his infamy.
"Thereupon that poor devil, having no one to love, and being unable to do anything for his unhappy country, began to wonder what was going to become of him. His heart, still ardent and youthful, turned toward religion, and being of the opinion that an honest monk, thoroughly imbued with the ideas of the Bible, might do a good work, preach virtue to the powerful, give instruction and assistance to the poor and the ignorant, he assumed the frock of a Capuchin, received the lesser orders, and retired to this convent. He accepted the duty of mendicancy imposed upon his order, as an expiation of his sins, and found it preferable to pillage, in that he applied thereafter to the rich in behalf of the poor, without violence and without cunning. It is inferior in a certain sense; it is less sure and less expeditious. But, all things considered, a man who wants to do the greatest possible amount of good should be a brigand in his youth; and he who simply wants to do the least possible harm should be a monk in his old age: you said so yourself.
"There is my story; do you understand it?"
"Perfectly, uncle; it is very interesting indeed, and, in my eyes, the principal hero of the romance is not the Prince of Castro-Reale, but the monk who is speaking to me."
[1]He who slumbers not.