47'
"RAFFLES, THE AMATEUR1 CRACKSMAN"
By E. W. Hornung, Author of "The -Shadow of the
Rope," "The Rogue's March," Etc.
No. IX. The Fate of Faustina
Mar ira rL
e pcrzo a Salvatare!
lar ga rL
Ma I'orarao cacdatore!
Mar ga rl.
Nun ce aje corpa tu!
Chcllo ch e fatto. e ratto un no parlammo
echieu!
nv PIANO-ORGAN was pouring the
J metallic music through our open
window, while a voice of brass
brayed the words, which I have since
obtained, and print above for Identifica
tion by such as know their Italy better
than I. They will not thank me for re
minding them of a tune so lately epidemic
In that land of aloes and blue skies, but
at least It Is unlikely to run In their
heads as the ribald accompaniment to a
tragedy, and It does in mine.
It was In tho early heat of August, and
the hour that of the lawful and neces
sary siesta for such as turn night Into
flay. I was therefore shutting my window
in a rage and wondering whether I
should do the same for Raffles, when he
appeared In the silk pajamas to which the
chronic solicitude of Dr. Theobald con
fined, him from morning to night.
"Don't do that. Bunny," said he. "I
rather like that thing and want to listen.
What sort of fellows are they to look at,
by tho way?"
I put my head out to see. It being a
primary rule of our quaint establishment
that Baffles must never show himself at
any of the windows. I remember now
how hot the sill was to my elbows, as I
leaned, upon It and looked down In order
to satisfy a curiosity In which I could
see no point.
"Dirty-looking beggars," said I over my
ihoulder; "dark as dark; blue cmna,
oleaginous curls and earrings; raggea as
they make them, but nothing picturesque
In their rags."
"Neapolitans all over," murmured Raf
fles behind me, "and that's a characteris
tic touch, the one fellow singing while
the other grinds; they always have that
out there."
"He's rather a fine chap, the singer,"
eaid I, as the song ended. "My hat, what
teeth! He's looking up here and grinning
all round his head. Shall I chuck them
anything?"
"Well, I have no reason to love the
Neapolitans, but it takes me back It
takes mo back! Tcs. here you are, one
each."
It was a couple of half-crowns that
Raffles put Into my hand, but I had
thrown them Into the street for pennies
before I saw what they were. There
upon I left tho Italians bowing to tho
mud, as well they might, and I turned to
protest against such wanton waste. But
Raffles was walking up and down, his
head bent, his eyes troubled, and his one
excuse disarmed remonstrance.
"They took me back," he repeated. "My
God, how they took me fcwick!"
Suddenly he stopped in his stride.
"You dont understand, Bunny, old chap,
but If you like you shall. I always meant
to tell you some day, but never felt
worked up to it before, and it's not tho
kind of thing one talks about for talk
lng's sake. It Isn't a nursery story. Bun
ny, .nd there isn't a laugh In it from
start to finish. On the contrary, you have
often asked me what turned my hair
gray, and now you are going to hear."
This was. promising, but Raffles' man
ner was something more. It was unique
In my memory of the man. His fine face
softened and set hard by turns. I never i
knew It so hard. I never knew It so i
soft- And the same might bo said of his j
voice, now tender as any woman's, now j
flying to the other extreme of equally
unwonted ferocity. But this was toward j
the end of his tale; the beginning he
treated characteristically enough, though
I could have wished for a less cavalier
account of tho island of Elba, where,
upon hlf own showing, he had met with
much humanity.
"Deadly, my dear Bunny, Is not the
word for that glorified snag or for the
mollusks Its Inhabitants. But they start
ed by wounding my vanity, so perhaps
I am prejudiced after all. I 6prung my
self upoiVthem as a shipwrecked sailor
a sole survivor stripped in the sea and
landed without a stitch; yet they took
no more interest in me than you do in
Italian organ-grinders. They were de
cent enough. I didn't have to pick and
steal for a square meal and a pair of
trousem; it would have been more ex
citing if I hadl But what a place. Na
poleon couldn't stand It, you remember,
but he held on longer than I did. I put
in a few weeks In their infernal mines,
simply to pick up a smattering of Italian;
then got across to the mainland in a lit
tle wooden timber tramp, and ungrate
fully glad was I to-leave Elba blazing In
Just such another sunset as the one you
won't forget.
"The tramp was bound for Naples, but
first touched at Baiae, where I carefully
deserted In the night. There are too
many English in Naples ltslf. though 1
thought It would make a first happy hunt
ing ground when I knew the language bet
ter and had altered myself a bit more.
Meanwhile I got a billet of several sorts
on one of the loveliest spot that ever
I atruck on all my travels. The place
was a vineyard, but it overhung the sea,
and I got taken on as tame sallorman and
emergency bottle-washer. The wages
were the noble figure of "a lira and a
half, which Is just over a bob, a day,
but there were lashings of sound wine
for one and all and better wine to bathe
in. And for- eight whole months, my
boy. I was an absolutely honest man. The
luxury of it. Bunny! I out-Hcroded Herod,
wouldn't touch a grape, and went In the
most delicious -danger of being knifed
for my principles by the thieving crew
I had Joined.
"It was the kind of place where every
prospect pleases and all the rest of it
especially all the rest. But may I see
it In my dreams till I die as it was in
the beginning before anything began to
happen. It was a wedge of rock sticking
out into the bay, thatched with vines,
and with the rummiest old house on the
very edge of all, a devil of a height
above the sea. You might have sat at
the windows and dropped your Sullivan
ends plumb Into blue water a hundred
and fifty feet below.
"From the garden behind the house
such a trarden. Bunny oleanders and
mimosa, myrtles, rosemary and red
tanxrles of fiery, untamed flowers In a
corner of this carden was the top of a
subterranean stair down to the sea; at
least there were nearly 200 steps tun
nelled throuxrh the solid rock; then an
iron rate, and another 80 steps In the
nnen air. and last of all a cave lit for
pirates a-Denny-Dlaln-and-twopence-colored.
This cave cave upon the
sweetest little thins: in coves, all deep
blue water and honest rocks: and here
I looked after the vineyard shipping,
a not-bellied tub with a brown sail,
and a sort of dincry. Tho tub took the
wine to Naples and the dingy was the
tub s tender.
"Tho house above was said to be on
the identical site of a suburban retreat
of the admirable Tiberius There was
tho old sinner's private theater, with
the tiers cut clean to this day; the well
where he used to fatten his lamDrevs
on his slaves, and a ruined temple of
Those rlDDlnc old Roman bricks. hal
low s dominoes and ruddier than tho
cherry. I never was much of an antl
ouary. but I could have become one
there If I'd had nothins: else to do. but
I had lots. When I wasn't busy with
the boats. I had to trim tho vines or
xrather tho cranes, or even help make
the wine itself In a cool. dark, musty
vault beneath the temple that I can see
and smell as I jaw. And can't I hear It
and feel it, too! Squish, squash, bub
ble: sauash. squish, sruccrle; and your
feet as thousrh you had bee wadlnc
throuch slaughter to a throne. Yes.
Bunny, you mightn't think It, but this
crood richt foot, that never was on the
wronsr side of the cr'se when the ball
left my hand, has also been known to
crush the lees of nleasur
From santrulno Krapes of pain."
He made a sudden pause, as thousrh
he had stumbled on the truth in Jest.
His face filled with lines. He was slt
tincr In the room that had been bare
when first-1 saw it. There were basket-chairs
and a table In it now. all
meant ostensibly for me. and hence
Raffles would slip to his bed with
schoolboy relish at everv tinkle of the
bell. This afternoon we felt fairly
safe, for Theobald had called" In the
morning, and Mrs. Theobald still took up
much of his time. Through tho open
window we could hear the piano-organ
and "Mar ga ri" a few hundred "yard
further on. I fancied Raffles was listen
ing to it while he paused. He shook his
head abstractedly when I handed him
tho cigarettes, and his tone thereafter
was never Just what It had been.
"I don't know. Bunny, whether you're
a believer In transmigration of souls. I
have often thought It easier to bellevn
than lots of other things, and I have been
pretty near believing In It myself since
I had my being on that villa of Tiberius
Tho brute who had It in my day, if hp
isn't still running it with a whole skin,
was or Is as cold-blooded a blackguard
as the worst of the emperors, but I hav
often thought he had a lot In common
with Tiberius. He had the great, high,
sensual Roman nose, eyes that were sink
of Iniquity in themselves, and that swelled
with fatness, like tho rest of him, so that
he wheezed if ho walked a yard, other
wise rather a fine beast to look ,h.t, with
a huge gray mustache, like a fl;ing gull,
and the most courteous manner even to
his men, but one of the worst. Bunny,
one of the worst that ever was. It was
said that the vineyard was only his hobby.
If so, he did his best to make his hobby
pay. He used to come out from Naples
or tho week-ends In tho tub when It
wasn't too rough for his nerves and ho
didn't always como alone. His very namo
sounded unneajtny Corbuccl. I suppose
I ought to add that he was a count,
though counts are two-a-penny In Naples
and in season all the year round.
"He had a little English and liked to
air it upon me, much to my disgust If
I could not hope to conceal my nation
ality as yet I at least lid not want to
have it advertised, and tho swine had
English friends. When he heard that I
was bathing in November, when the bay
is still as warm as new mill:, he would
shake his wicked old head and say, 'You
are very' audashuss you are very ou
dashuss!' and put on no end of side bo
fore his Italians. By god. ho had pitched
upon the right word unawares, and I
let him know it In the end!
"But that bathing, Bunny; It was ab
solutely the best I ever had anj'where.
I said Just now the water was like wine;
In my own mind I used to call It blue
champagne, and was rather annoyed that
I had no one to admire the phrase. Other
wise I assure you that I missed my own
particular kind very' little inder d, though
I often wished that you were there, old
chap, particularly when I went for my
lonesome swim first thing in the morn
ing, when the bay was all rose leaves.
and last thlruc at night, when your body
ciiught phosphorescent fire! Ah. yes, It
was a good enough life for a change, a
perfect paradise to He low in, another
Eden until
"My poor Eve!"
And he fetched a sigh that took away
his words; then his Jaws snapped together
and his eyes spoke terribly while he con
quered his emotion. I pen tho last word
advisedly. I fancy It is one which I have
never used before in writing of A. J. Raf
fles, for I cannot at the moment recall
any other occasion upon which its use
would have been justlflcd. On resuming,
however, he was not only calm but cold,
and this flying for safety to the other ex
treme is the single instance of solf-dls-trust
which the present Achates can re
cord to the credit of his Impious Aeneas.
"I called the girl Eve," said he. "Her
reM name was Faustina, and she was one
of a vast family who hung out In a hovel
on the Inland border of the vineyard. And
Aphrodite rising from the sea was less
wonderful and not more beautiful than
Aphrodite emerging from that hole!
"It was the most exquisite face I ever
saw or shall see in this life absolutely
perfect features, a skin that reminded
vou of old gold, so delicate was Its bronze;
magnificent hair, not black but nearly.
ind such eyes and teeth that would have
made the fortune of a face without an
other point. I tell you. Bunny, London
would go mad about a girl like that. But
I don'J believe there's such another in
the world. And there she was wasting
her sweetness upon that lovely but deso
late little corner of It! Well, she did not
waste It upon me. I would have married
her and lived happily ever after in such
a hovel as her people's with her. Only
to look at her only to look at her for tho
rest of my days 7 could have lain low
and remained dead even to you! And
that's all I'm going to tell you about that.
Bunny; cursed be he who tells more! Tet
don't you run away with the idea that
this poor Faustina was the only woman
I ever cared about. I don't believe in
all that 'only' rot; nevertheless I tell you
that she was the one being who ever en
tirely satisfied my sense of beauty, and I
honestly believe I could have chucked
the world and been" true to Faustina for
that alone.
"We met sometimes In tho little tem
ple I told you about, sometimes among
the vines, now by honest accident, now
by flagrant design, and found a ready
made rendezvous, romantic as one
could wish, in the cave down all those
subterranean .steps. Then the sea
would call us my blue champagne, my
sparkling cobalt and there was the
dingy ready to our hand. Oh. those
nights! I never knew which I liked
best, the moonlit ones, when you
sculled through sliver and could see
for miles, or the dark nights, when
the fishermen's torches stood for the
sea and a red zigzag in the sky for old
Vesuvius. We were happy. I don't
mind owning it. We seemed not to
have a care between us. My mates
took no. Interest In my affairs and
Faustina's family did not appear to
bother about her. The Count was in
Naples five nights of the seven; the
other two we sighed apart.
"At first it was tho oltiest story in
literature Eden plus Eve. The place
had been a heaven on earth before,
but now It was heaven Itself. So for
a little. Then one night a Monday
night Faustina burst out crying In
the boat, and sobbed her story as we
drifted without mishap by the mercy
of the Lord. And that ivas almost as
old a story as the other.
"She was engaged what! Had I never
heard of It? Did I mean to upset the
boat? What was her engagement beside
our love? 'Niente, nlente crooned Faus
tina, sighing yet smiling through her
tears. No. but what did matter was that
the man had threatened to tab her to
.1, 11 ,...XW,.M... . - - - ------------'"-----------------
the heart and would do it as soon as
look at her that I knew.
"I knew it merely from my knowledge
of tne Neapolitans, for I had no Idea
who the man might be. I knew It. and
yet I took this detail better than the fact
of the engagement, though now I began
to laugh at both. As if I was going to
let her marry' anybody else! As if a
hair of her lovely head should be touched
while I lived to protect her! I had a
great mind to row away to blazes with
her that very night and never go near
the vineyard again, or let her, either.
But we had not a lira between us at tho
time, and only the rags In which we sat
barefoot in the boat. Besides, I had to
know the name of the animal who had
threatened a woman, and such a woman
as this,
For a long tlmo he refused to tell
me, with splendid obduracy, but I was
as determined as she, so at last she made
conditions. I was not to go and get put
In prison for sticking a knife into him
he wasn't worth it and I did promise
not to stab him In the back. Faustina
seemed quite satisfied, though a little !
puzzled by my manner, having herself
the racial tolerance for cold steel, and
next moment she had taken away my
breath. 'It is Stefano, she whispered,
and hung her head.
"And well she might, poor thing! Ste
fano. of all creatures on God's earth
for her!
"Bunny, he was a miserable little under-sized
wretch, ill favored, servile,
surly and second only to his master in
bestial cunning and hypocrisy. His face t merit in hushing this thing up. - 'Let him
was enough for me; that was what I who wins her take and keep Faustina.
read in It, and I don't often make mis- Yes. but let him win her openly, or lose
takes. He was Corbucci's own confiden- her and bo damned to him! So on the
tial body servant, and that alone was i Sunday I was going to have It out with
enough to damn him in decent eyes; al- her people with the Count and Stefano
ways came out first on the Saturday j as soon as they showed their noses. I
with the spese, to have all ready for his : had no inducement, remember, ev'er to
master and current mistress, and stayed ' return to surreptitious life within a cab
behind on the Monday to clear and lock ! faro of Wormwood Scrubba Faustina and
up. Stefano! That worm! I could well ,
understand his threatening a woman with
a knife. What beat me was how any
woman could ever havo listened to him;
above all. that Faustina should be the
one! It passed my comprehension. But
I questioned her as gently as I could.
and her explanation was largely the
threadbare one you would expect- Her
parents wero so poor. Thero were so
many in the family. Some of them
begged would I promise never to tell?
Then some of them stole sometimes
and all knew tn.e pains of actual want,
She looked after the cows, but there
wero only two of them, and brought the
milk to the vineyard and elsewhere, but
that was not employment for more than
one. and there were countless sisters
waiting to lake her place. Then he was
so rich, Stefano.
" 'Rich? I echoed. 'Stefano?
" 'SI, Arturo mlo.
"Yes, I played the game on that vine
yard. Bunny, even to going by my pwn
first name.
" 'And how comes he to be rich? I
asked suspiciously.
"She did not -know, but he had given
her such beautiful Jewels, the family had
lived on them for months, she pretend-
ing- an avocat had taken charge of them
lor her against her marriage- But I
cared nothing about all that.
" 'Jewels! Stefano! I could only mut
ter. " 'Perhaps the Count has paid for some
of them. He is very kind.'
" 'To you. Is he?"
" 'Oh. yes. very kind.'
" 'And you would live In his house aft
erward?' " 'Not now, mla cara not now!'
"'No, by God. you don't!' said I In
English. 'But you would have done so,
eh?'
" 'Of course. That was arranged. The
Count Is really very kind.
" 'Do you see anything of him when
he comes here? Qf doing another stroke of work that
"Yes. he had sometimes brought her night,
little presents, sweetmeats, ribbons and i "It was very dark, and I remember
the like, but the offering had always i knocking my head against the oranges
been made through this toad of a Stefano. J as I ran up the long, shallow steps which
Knowing the man, I knew all. But , ended the journey between the dlrectore's
Faustina, she had the pure and simple j lodge and the villa Itself. But at the
heart and the white soul by the God who j back of the villa was the garden I spoke
made it. and for all her kindness about and alto a bare chunk of the
to a tattered scapegrace who made love cliff where It was bored by that subter
to her In broken Italian between the rip- I ranean stair. So I saw the stars close
pies and the stars. She was not to know ' overhead, and the fishermen's torches far
wnat i was. rcmemoer. and beside Cor-
bucci and his henchman I was the Arch
angel Gabriel come down to earth.
"Well, as I lay awake that night two
more lines of Swinburne came Into my
head nnd came to stay:
God said. "Let him who win her take
And kep Faustlne."
"On that couplet I slept at last, and
It was my text and watchword when I
awoke in the morning. I forget how well
you know your Swinburne, Bunny, but
dont' you run away with the Idea that
there was anything else In common be
tween his Faustlne and mine. For the
last time let me tell you that poor Faust-
AND THEN WE WEItE AX.OXE TOK TU il LAST TIME."
Ina was the whitest and the best JL ever
knew.
"Well, I was strung up for trouble
when the next Sunday came, and I'll tell
you what I had done. I had broken the
pledge and burgled Corbucci's villa In my
best manner during his absence in Na
ples. Not that it gave me the slightest
troubJe, but no human being could havo
told that I had been In when I came, out.
And I had stolen nothing, mark you, but
only borrowed a revolver from a drawer
In the Count's desk, with one or two ,
trifling accessories, for by this tlmo I
had the measure of these damned Nea
politans. They -are spry enough with a
knife, hut you show them the business
end of a shooting iron and they'll streak
like rabbits for the nearest hole. But
the revolver wasn't for my own use. It
was for Fanstlna. and I taught her hov
to usu It In the cave down there by the
sea shooting at candles stuck upon the
rock. Tlie noise In the cave was some
thing frightful, but high up abovo it
couldn't be hjatd at all, as wo proved to
each other 'satisfaction pretty arly In
tho proceedlnga. So now Faustina was
armed with munitions of t3lf-defonse.
nnd I knew enough of her character to
entertain no doubt as to tneir splrltca
use upon occasion. Between the two of
us. In fact, our friend Stefano seemed
tolerably certain of a warm week-end.
"But the Saturday brought word that
tho Count was not coming this week.
being in Rome on business and unable '
to return in time, so for a whole Sunday
we were promised peace, and made bold !
plans accordingly. There was no further
the bay of Naple
bay of Naples were quite good
enough for me. And the prehistoric man
in me rather exulted in the Idea of fight
ing for my desire.
"On the Saturday, however, we were
i to meet for the last-time as heretofore
' Just once more In secret, down there in
the cave, as soon as might be after dark,
1 Neither of us minded If we were kept
for hours; each knew that In the end
the other would come, and there was a
j charm of its own even in waiting for
such knowledge. But that night I did
lose patience, not in the cave, but
up
above, where first on one pretext and
then on another the dircctore kept me
! going until 1 smelled a rat. He was not
' given to exacting overtime, this diret-
I tore, whose only fault was his servile
i subjection to" our common boss. It
i teemed pretty obvious, therefore, that
h was acting upon some secret instruc-
tions from Corbuccl himself, and the
moment I suspected this I asked him to
his face if It was not the case. And it
was; he admitted It with many shrugs,
being a conveniently weak person, whom
one felt almost -ashamed of bulbing as
the occasion demanded.
"The fact was. however, that tho
Count had sent for him on finding he
! had to go to Rome, and had said he was
very sorry to go Just' then, as among
other things he intended to speak to me
about Faustina. Stefano had told him
all about his row with her, and, more
over, that It was on my account, which
Faustina had never told me, though I
had guessed as much for myself. Well,
the Count was going to take his Jackal's
part for all he was worth, which was
Just exactly what I expected him to do.
He Intended going for me on his return,
but meanwhile I was not to make hay in
his absence, and so this tool of a dircc
tore had orders to keep me at it night
and day. I undertook not to give the
poor beast away, but at the same time
told him I had not the faintest Intention
I below, the coastwise lights and the crim-
tnn hieroglyph that spelt Vesuvius, be
fore I plunged Into the darkness of the
Fhaft- And that was the last time I
appreciated the unique and peaceful
charm of this outlandish spot.
"The stair was in two long flights.
with an air-hole or two at the top of tho
upper one. but not another pin-prick till
you came to the Iron gate at the bottom
of the lower. As you may read of an
Infinitely lighter place, in a finer work
of fiction than you are ever likely to
write. Bunny, It was 'gloomy at noon,
dark as midnight at dusk, and black aa
the ninth plague of Egypt at midnight.'
i
I won't swear to my quotation, hut I will
to thoso stairs. They wero as black that
night as tho inside of the safest safe in
tho strongest strong room in the Chan
cery Lane Deposit. Yet I had not got
far down them with my bare feet beforo
I heard somebody else coming up In
boots. You may Imagine what a turn
that gave me! It could not be Faustina,
who went barefoot three seasons of the
four, anil yet thero was Faustina waiting
for me down below. What a fright she
must have had! And all at once my own
blood ran cold; for the man sang like
a kettle as he plodded up and up. " It
was, It must be, the short-winded Count
himself, whom we all supposed to be In
Rome!
"Higher ho came and nearer, nearer,
slowly yet hurriedly, now stopping to
cough and gasp, now taking a few steps
to elephantine assault. I should have en
Joyed the situation If It had not been
for poor Faustina in tho cave; as It w
I was filled with nameless fears. But I
could not resist giving that grampus
Corbuccl one bad moment on account. A
crazy hand-rail ran up one wall; so I
carefully flattened myself against the
other, and ho passed within six Inches of
me. pufiing and wheezing llko a brass
band. I let him go a few steps higher,
and then I let him have It with both
lungs.
" 'Buona sera, ecccllenza slgnorll I
roared after him. And a scream came
down In answer such a scream! A dozen
different terrors were in It; and the
wheezing had stopped with the old scoun
drel's heart.
" 'Chi sta la?' he squeaked at last, gib
bering and whimpering like a whipped
monkey, so that I could not bear to miss
his face and got a match all ready to
strike.
" 'Arturo, slgnorl.
"He didn't repeat my name, nor did
he damn mo In heaps. He did nothing
but wheeze for a good minute, and when
ho spoke It was with Insinuating civility,
in his best English. .
" 'Come nearer, Arturo. You are in the
lower regions down there. I want to
ctuinlr m-lfTl -VfttT
" 'No. thanks. I'm in a hurry.' I sald.'t
and dropped that match back Into my
pocket. He might be armed, and I was
not.
" So you are In a urry! and ho
wheezed amusement. 'And you thought
I was still In Rome, no doubt: and so I j
was until this afternoon, when I caught
train at the eleventh moment, and then
another train from Naples, to Pozzuoll. j
I have been rowed hero now by a fisher
man of Pozzuoll. I had net tlmo to stop I
anywhere in Naples, but only to drive
from station to station. So I am without
Stefano, Arturo. I am without Stefano.'
"His sly voice sounded preternaturally I
sly In the absolute darkness, but even
through that Impenetrable veil I knew It
for a sham- I had laid hold of the hand
rail. It shook violently In my hand; he
also was holding It where ho stood. And
these suppressed tremors, or rather their
detection in this way, struck a Btrange
chill to my heart. Just as I was begin
ning to pluck It up.
" 'It Is lucky for Stefano,' said I grim
as death.
" 'Ah. but you must not be too 'ard on
im.' remonstrated the Count. 'You have
stole his girl; ho speak with me about It,
and I wish to speak with you. It Is very
audashuss. Arturo. very audashuss! Per
haps you are even going to -meet her now,
chr
"I told him straight that I was.
" Then there is no 'urry. for she Is
not there.' ,
" 'You didn't see her in the cave?' I
cried, too delighted at the thought to
keep it to myself.
" 'I had no such fortune,' the old devil
said.
" 'She is there, all the same.
"I only wish I 'ad known.'
" 'And I've kept her long enough!
"In fact. I threw this over my shoul
der as I turned and went running down.
" 'I 'ope you will find her!' his mali
cious voice came croaking after me. 'I
'ope you will I 'ope so.'
"And find her I did."
Raffles had been on his feet some time,
unable to sit still or to stand, moving ex
citedly about the room. But now he
stood still enough, his elbows on the
cast-Iron mantleplece, his head between
his hands.
"Dead?" I whispered.
And he nodded to the wall.
"There was not a sound In the cave.
There was no answer to my voice. Then
I went in. and my foot touched hers, and
it was colder than the rock . . . Bun
ny, they had stabbed her to the heart.
She had fought them, and they had
stabbed her to the heart!"
"You say 'they," " I said gently, as he
stood In heavy silence, his back still
turned. "I thought Stefano had been
left behind?"
Raffles was round in a flash, his face
white-hot, his eyes dancing death.
"He was In the cave!" he shouted. "I
.
saw him I spotted him It was broad
twilight after those stairs and I went
for him with my bare hands. Not fists,.
Bunny; not fists for a thing like that; X
meant getting my fingers Into his vilo
little heart and tearing It out by the roots.
I was stark mad. But he had the revolver
her3. He blazed it at arm's length and
missed. And that steadied me. I had
smashed his funny-bone against the rock
beforo he could blaze again; the revolver
fell with a rattle, but without going oft;
In an instant I had It tight, and the little
swine at my mercy at last."
"You didn't show him any?"
"Mercy? With Fautina dead at my
feet? I should havo deserved nono In the
next Tvorld If I had shown him any in
this! No, 1 just stood over him. with
the royolver in both bands, feeling tho
chambers with my thumb; and 'as I stood
he stabbed at me; but I stepped back to
that one and brought him down with a
bullo in his guts.
'And I can spare you two or three
more,' I said, for my poor girl could not
havo fired a shot. Take that one to hell
with you and that and that!'
'Then I started coughing nnd wheezing
like the Count himself, for the place was
full of smoke. When It cleared my man
was very dead, and I tipped him Into the
sea to defile that rather than Faustina's
cave. And then and then we were alone
for tho last tune, she and I, In our own
pet haunt; and I could scarcely see her.
yet r would not strike a match, for I
knew she would not have me see her as
she was. I could say good-by to her
without that. I said it; and I left her like
a roan, and up the first open-air steps
with my head in the air and the stars all
sharp in the sky; then suddenly they
swam, and back I went like a lunatic,
to see if she was really dead, to bring
her back to life . . . Bunny, I can't
tell you any more."
"Not of the Count?" I murmured at
last.
"Not even of the Count," said Raffles,
turning round with a sigh. "I left him
pretty sorry for himself: but what was
the good of that? 1 had taken blood for
blood, and It was not Corbuccl who had
killed Faustina. No, the plan was his.
but that was not part of the plan. They
had found out about our meetings In the
cave; nothing simpler than to have me
kept hard at it overhead and to carry off
Faustina by brute force in the boat. It
was their only chance, for she had said
more to Stefano than she had admitted
to me. and more than I am going to re
peat about myself. No persuasion would
have Induced her to listen to him again;
so they tried force, and she drew Cor
bucci's revolver on them, but they had
taken her by surprise, and Stefano
stabbed her before she could fire."
"But how do you know all that?" I
asked Raffles, for his tale was going to
pieces In tho telling, and the tragic end
of poor Faustina was no ending for me.
"Oh," said he, "I had it from Cor
buccl at his own revolver's point. He
was waiting at his window, and I could
have potted him at my ease where he
stood against the light listening hard
enough but not seeing a thing. So he
asked whether it was Stefano. and I
whispered. 'SI, slgnore:' and then wheth
er he had finished Arturo, and I brought
the same shot off again. He had let me
In beore he knew who was finished and
who was not."
"And did j-ou finish him?"
'"No; that was too good for Corbuccl.
But I bound and gagged him about as
tight as man was ever gagged or bound,
and I left him In his room with the
shutters shut and the house locked up.
The shutters of that old place were six
inches thick and the wall nearly six feet;
that was on the Saturday night, and the
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Count wasn't expected at the vineyard
before the following Saturday. Mean
while he was supposed to be In Rome.
But the dead would doubtless be dis
covered next day, and I am afraid this
would lead to his own discovery with the
life still in him. I believe he figured on
that himself, for he sat threatening me
gamely till the last. You never saw
such a sight as he was, with his head
split In two by a ruler tied- at the back
of It, and his great mustache pushed, up
Into his bulging eyes. But I locked him
up In the dark without a qualm, and I
wished and still wish him every torment
of the damned."
"And then?"
"The night was still young, and with
in ten miles there was the best of ports
in a storm, and hundreds of holds for
the humble stowaway to choose from.
But I didn't want to go further than
Genoa, for by this time my Italian
would wash, so I chose the old Nord
deutscher Lloyd, and had an excellent
voyage In one of the boats slung In
board over the bridge. That's better than
any hold. Bunny, and I did splendidly on
oranges brought from the vineyard."
"And at Genoa?"
"At Genoa I took to my wlt3 once
more, and have been living on nothing
else ever since. But there I had to be
gin all over again, and at the very bot
tom of the ladder. I slept in the streets.
I begged. I did all manner of terrible
things, rather hoping for a bad end, but
never coming to one. Then one day I
saw'a white-headed old chap looking at
mo through a shop window a window I
had designs upon and when I stared at
him he stared at me, and we wore tho
same rags. So I had come to that! But
one reflection makes many. I had not
recognized myself; who on earth would
recognize me? London called me and
here I am. Italy had broken my heart
and there It stays."
Flippant as a schoolboy one moment,
playful even In the bitterness of tho
next, and now no longer giving way to
the feeling which had spoiled the climax
of his tale. Raffles needed knowing as I
alone- knew him for a right appreciation
of those last words. That they were no
mere words I knew full well. That but
for the tragedy of his Italian life that
life would have sufficed him for years, If
not forever, I did and do still believe.
But I alone see him as I saw him then,
the lines upon his face and the pain be
hind the lines. How they came to disap
pear and what removed them you will
never gues3. It was the one thing you
would have expected to havo the opposite
effect, the thing. Indeed, that had forced
his confidence the organ and the voice
once more beneath our very windows:
Margarita de Parete.
era a sarta d e slffnore;
se pugneva serope e ddete
po penzaro a Salvatorel
Mar ga rl,
e-perzo e Sal va tore! T
. Mar-ga rl, ;
Ma 1 omtno e cacclatore!
Mar ga rl.
Nun ce aje corpa tu!
Chella- ch e fatto, e fatto, un no parlammo
cchleu!
I simply stared at Raffles. Instead of
deepening, hie lines had vanished. Ho
looked years younger, mischievous and
merry and alert as I remembered him
of old in the breathless crisis of somo
madcap escapade. He was holding up
his finger; he was stealing to the win
dow; he was peeping through the
blind as though our side street wero
Scotland Yard itself; he was stealing;
back again, all revolry, excitement and
suspense.
"I half thought they wero after me
before," said he. 'That was why I
made you look I daren't take-a .proper
look myself, but what a Jest if" thejr
were! What a jest!"
"Do you mean the police?" said I
'The police! Bunny, do you know
them and me so little that you can look:
me In the face and ask such a ques
tion? My boy, I'm dead to them off
their books a good deal deader than
being oft the hooks! Why. If I went to
Scotland Yard this minute to give my
self up they'd chuck roe out for a
harmless lunatic No, I fear an enemy
nowadays, and I go in terror of tho
sometime friend, but I have the ut
most confidence In the dear police."
'Then whom do you mean?"
'The Camorral"
I repeated the word'wlth a different
Intonation. Not that I had never heard
of that most powerful and sinister of
secret societies, but I failed to see on.
what grounds Raffles should jump to
the conclusion that these every-day
organ-grinders belonged to it.
"It was one of Corbucci's threats.'
said he. "If I killed him the Camorra
would certainly kill me. He kept on
telling me so. It was like his cunning
not to say that he would put them on
my tracks whether or no.'
"He Is probably a member himself!"
"Obviously, from what he said."
"But why on earth should you think
that these fellows are?" I demanded
as that brazen voice came rasping
through a second verse.
"I don't think. It wa only an Idea.
That thing Is so thoroughly Neapoli
tan, and l never heard It on a London
organ before. Then, again, what should
bring them back hero?"
I peeped through the blind in my
turn. and. to be sure, there was tha
fellow with the blue chin and the
white teeth watching our windows, and:
ours only, as he bawled.
"And why?" cried Raffles, his eyes)
dancing when I told him. "Why should
they come sneaking back to ua?
Doesn't that look suspicious. Bunny;
doesn't that promise a lark?"
"Not to me," I suld, having the smlla
for once. "How many people, should,
you Imagine, toss them 5 shillings for
as many minutos of their infernal row?
You seem to forget that that's what
you did an hour ago."
Raffles had forgotten. His blank faca
confessed the fact. Then suddenly ha
burst out laughing at himself.
"Bunny," said he. "you've no imagina
tion, and I never knew I had so much!
Of course you're right. I only wish you
were not. for there's nothing I should
enjoy more than taking on another Ne
apolitan or two. You see, I owe them
something still! I didn't settle In full.
I owe them more than ever I shall pay
them on this side Styx!"
He had hardened even as he spoke; the
lines and the years had come again and
his eyes were flint and steel, with aa
honest grief behind the glitter.
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