"That is it," the monk replied. "The signora has to look out for her interests, and I for my family. That is why I have advised her to seek your assistance, and why I consented to convey her request."
The Piccinino seemed to reflect a moment; then, suddenly throwing himself back on his cushions, he exclaimed, in a voice broken by peals of hearty laughter:
"A most excellent story! This is one of the most attractive adventures in which I have ever taken part!"
[5]The Piccinino is a friendly diminutive which the mountaineers might well have given him because of his small size. But the phrase piccin-piccino signifies the act of hiding in order to prove an alibi.
[6]That is to say, modified Arabian, as found in Sicily.
XXV
THE DESTATORE'S CROSS
This outburst of merriment, which seemed exceedingly insolent to Michel, alarmed the monk at last; but, giving him no time to question him, the Piccinino resumed his seriousness as abruptly as he had laid it aside.
"The affair becomes clearer," he said. "One point is still obscure; why does Ninfo wait for the cardinal to die before denouncing your kinsmen?"
"Because he knows that the princess is their protector," the Capuchin replied; "that she has affection and esteem for the honest old artisan who has been working in her palace for a year past, and that, to save them from persecution, she would allow herself to be bled by that infamous priest. So he says to himself that when the cardinal is dead he will have that noble lady's fate in his hands absolutely, and that he will be at liberty to ruin her to his own profit. Doesn't it seem better to you that the Princess Agatha, who is a good Sicilian, should inherit the cardinal's property peaceably, and recompense handsomely the services of a gallant fellow like yourself, than that she should spend her money to buy the silence of a venomous reptile like Ninfo?"
"That is my opinion. But how can you be sure that the will has not been already abstracted?