Well, death must come some time; and, at any rate, he had tried to do his duty. Death, perhaps, would come to him as it had done to his Master, at the hands of those who knew not what they did.
"Morte—morte al traditore!"
A heavy blow struck from behind him fell upon his head, causing him to reel and totter back. Don Agostino shut his eyes, and his lips moved silently. Surely, death was very near now. Surely—
Suddenly another voice sounded in his ears. His name was shouted out loudly; yes, but in very different accents from those of the peasants now closing round him.
Don Agostino opened his eyes in time to see two men with raised reaping-hooks, who were apparently about to strike him a more deadly blow than the rest, hurled right and left, and the next moment Silvio Rossano stood by his side.
"Stand back!" Silvio shouted. "Back, I say, or by God, I will blow the brains out of the first man who comes within a metre of Don Agostino!" and as he spoke he covered the nearest peasant with a revolver.
"Coraggio, Don Agostino!" he said, quickly, "you are not hurt—no? In a minute or two the troops will be here. Ah, I could stay no longer. I knew the mob had gone to the castle, and that you were still there. And then, on my way here, I met Fontana and his daughter, and they told me the peasants had turned against you. When I heard that I ran as hard as I could—and here I am!"
Don Agostino felt sick and dizzy from the blow he had received. "You are just in time, Silvio mio," he said. "Another minute, and who knows whether you would have found me alive? Oh, but it is not their fault, the poor people—they think that I knew the troops had been sent for, and that I meant to deceive them."
The peasants, who had fallen back at Silvio's unexpected appearance and at the sight of his revolver, now began to crowd round Don Agostino again, and once more cries of "Morte al pretaccio!" were raised, coupled with threats against Silvio and curses at his interference.
Suddenly a woman's voice rose above the uproar. "Fools!—idiots! Are you trying to murder your best friend, Don Agostino? And that other—-do you know who he is? He is the fidanzato of the Principessina Bianca!"