No one answered her. She hurried on, believing him to have fallen asleep.
"Beppi!" she shouted, "I have something exciting to tell you. Stop hiding from me."
She waited, but still no answer came.
In a sudden frenzy of fear she began running aimlessly up and down the hillside, and looking down into the tall grasses, but there was no sign of Beppi. There were no trees or houses in sight, no place that he could hide behind, nearer than the mountain path at the foot of the valley.
Lucia looked about her despairingly, then she went over to the goats. Garibaldi was not there.
"She has strayed away, and Beppi has gone after her," she said aloud in relief, and returned to the cottage.
Nana nodded when she explained. She was busy tying up the household treasures in sheets, and Lucia helped her.
Every few minutes she would go to the door and call, but Beppi did not reply. The afternoon wore on slowly and a bank of rain clouds hid the sun. Lucia's confidence gave way to her first feeling of terror, and Nana was growing impatient.
"Where can he be?" Lucia exclaimed. "I am frightened, he has been gone so long."
Nana shook her head. "He was off after the soldiers, I suppose," she replied. "He is always disobeying—no good will come to him and his naughty ways."