"Come behind the house, signorino. Ah, Madonna!"
The last exclamation was breathed out with an intensity that was like the intensity of despair. The boy's look and manner were tragic.
"Gaspare," Maurice said, "what——?"
He saw Hermione turning towards him.
"I'll come in a minute, Gaspare."
"Madonna!" repeated the boy. "Madonna!"
He held up his hands and let them drop to his sides. Then he muttered something—a long sentence—in dialect. His voice sounded like a miserable old man's.
"Ah—ah!"
He called to the donkeys and drove them forward to the out-house. Maurice followed.
What had happened? Gaspare had the manner, the look, of one confronted by a terror from which there was no escape. His eyes had surely at the same time rebuked and furiously pitied his master. What did they mean?