"And they dared to seize him thus?" exclaimed Mr. Basset, flushing with indignation like an honest John Bull, while vigorously polishing his forehead with his silk handkerchief; "a frightful outrage on the rights of the subject! Where were the police? Where was that great bulwark of liberty, the writ of habeas corpus?"
Manfredi smiled sadly, and replied:
"You forget that I am talking of Tuscany?"
"True, my dear sir, true; but go on."
"The poor boy!" said Ethel, mournfully.
"Those odious, hateful Austrians!" commented Rose.
"D——n them!" was the addendum of Captain Jack Phillips, while Manfredi resumed:
"In this horrible condition, crushed for a time in body and in soul, and drowned in tears, he remained, while all access was denied to him, even to our parents; but ultimately he was found by the good Padre Marraccini, who had come to visit the sick prisoners, and who, by chance or mistake, was shown by Corporal Schwartz into the atrocious dungeon where our poor little Attilio lay.
"Undeterred by the grim Croat, who carried a smoky lamp, the light of which scared the rats and toads, who were seen hurrying away to their dark and slimy recesses, the child leaped up with a cry of joy, and hastened towards the padre, who was our father's friend, but in hastening fell, for his chain was short, and cramped the action of his limbs.
"'Water, Padre Marraccini!' he exclaimed hoarsely, 'water; for I am dying of thirst, and they have salted what is in that pitcher.'