I accomplished this manœuvre rather neatly, but parties now came straggling in from other directions, and I was obliged to give up whispering and become circumspect. They all seemed rather astonished at our group, and the captain laughed heartily as he rode up and called out, “Who have you got tied to you there, caro mio?”
“Croppo’s wife. I had her tied to me for fear she should escape; besides, she is not bad-looking.”
“What a prize!” he exclaimed. “We have made a tolerable haul this time,—twenty prisoners in all—among them the priest of the band. Our colonel has just arrived, so I am in luck—he will be delighted. See, the prisoners are being brought up to him now: but you had better remount and present yours in a less singular fashion.”
When we reached the colonel we found him examining the priest. His breviary contained various interesting notes, written on some of the fly-leaves. For instance:—
“Administered extreme unction to A---, shot by Croppo’s orders: my share ten scudi.
“Ditto, ditto, to R---, hung by Croppo’s order; my share two scudi.
“Ditto, ditto, to S---, roasted by Croppo’s order, to make him name an agent to bring his ransom: overdone by mistake, and died—so got nothing.
“Ditto, ditto, to P---, executed by the knife by Croppo’s order, for disobedience.
“M--- and F---, and D---, three new members, joined to-day: confessed them, and received the usual fees.”
He was a dark, beetle-browed-looking ruffian, this holy man; and the colonel, when he had finished examining his book of prayer and crime, tossed it to me, saying,—“There! that will show your friends in England the kind of politicians we make war against. Ha! what have we here? This is more serious.” And he unfolded a piece of paper which had been concealed in the breast of the priest. “This contains a little valuable information,” he added, with a grim smile. “Nobody like priests and women for carrying about political secrets, so you may have made a valuable capture,” and he turned to where I stood with Valeria; “let her be carefully searched.”