'Do you remember in Tacitus,' he said, smiling pleasantly, 'how the plot against Nero was discovered by one of the conspirators giving his dagger to his freedman to sharpen? Whereupon the freedman became suspicious, and warned the Emperor.'
'The philosophers tell us to rise on the mistakes of others,' I remarked in the same tone.
'One reason for my affection towards you, Filippo,' he answered, 'is that you have nice moral sentiments, and a pleasant moral way of looking at things.'
He held out his dagger and looked at it. The blade was beautifully damaskeened, the hilt bejewelled.
'Look,' he said, showing me the excellence of the steel, and pointing out the maker's name. Then, meditatively, 'I have been wondering what sort of blow would be most effective if one wanted to kill a man.'
'You can get most force,' said Matteo, 'by bringing the dagger down from above your head—thus.'
'Yes; but then you may strike the ribs, in which case you would not seriously injure your friend.'
'You can hit him in the neck.'
'The space is too small, and the chin may get in the way. On the other hand, a wound in the large vessels of that region is almost immediately fatal.'
'It is an interesting subject,' I said. 'My opinion is that the best of all blows is an underhand one, ripping up the stomach.'