CHAPTER V
After some delay--owing to Tony's inability to balance the chafing-dishon Cristoforo Colombo's back--they filed from the gateway, an imposingcavalcade. The ladies were on foot, loftily oblivious to the fact thatthree empty saddles awaited their pleasure. Constance, a gesticulatingofficer at either hand, was vivaciously talking Italian, while Tony,trudging behind, listened with a sombre light in his eye. She now andthen cast a casual glance over her shoulder, and as she caught sight ofhis gloomy face the animation of her Italian redoubled. The situationheld for her mischief-loving soul undreamed-of possibilities; and thoughshe ostensibly occupied herself with the officers, she by no meansneglected the donkey-man.
During the first few miles of the journey he earned his four francs.Twice he reshifted the pack because Constance thought it insecure (it wasa disgracefully unprofessional pack; most guides would have blushed atthe making of it); once he retraced their path some two hundred yards insearch of a veil she thought she had dropped--it turned out that she hadhad it in her pocket all of the time. He chased Fidilini over half themountainside while the others were resting, and he carried thechafing-dish for a couple of miles because it refused to adjust itselfnicely to the pack. The morning ended by his being left behind with abalking donkey, while the others completed the last ascent that led totheir halting-place for lunch.
It was a small plateau shaded by oak trees with a broad view below them,and a mountain stream foaming down from the rocks above. It was owing toBeppo's knowledge of the mountain paths rather than Tony's which hadguided them to this agreeable spot; though no one in the party exceptConstance appeared to have noted the fact. Tony arrived some ten minutesafter the others, hot but victorious, driving Cristoforo Colombo beforehim. Constance welcomed his return with an off-hand nod and set him aboutpreparing lunch. He and Beppo served it and repacked the hampers,entirely ignored by the others of the party. Poor Tony was beginning torealize that a donkey-man lives on a desert island in so far as anycompanionship goes. But his moment was coming. As they were about tostart on, Constance spied high above their heads, where the stream burstfrom the rocks, a clump of starry white blossoms.
'Edelweiss!' she cried. 'Oh, I must have it--it's the first I ever sawgrowing; I hadn't supposed we were high enough.' She glanced at theofficers.
The ascent was not dangerous, but it was undeniably muddy, and they bothwore white; with very good cause they hesitated. And while theyhesitated, the opportunity was lost. Tony sprang forward, scrambled upthe precipice hand over hand, swung out across the stream by the aid ofan overhanging branch, and secured the flowers. It was very gracefullyand easily done, and a burst of applause greeted his descent. He dividedhis flowers into two equal parts, and sweeping off his hat, presentedthem with a bow, not to Constance, but to the officers, who somewhatsulkily passed them on. She received them with a smile; for an instanther eyes met Tony's, and he fell back, rewarded.
The captain and lieutenant for the first time regarded the donkey-man,and they regarded him narrowly, red sash, earrings, stiletto and all.Constance caught the look and laughed.
'Isn't he picturesque?' she inquired in Italian. 'The head-waiter at theHotel du Lac found him for me. He has been in the United States andspeaks English, which is a great convenience.'
The two said nothing, but they looked at each other and shrugged.
The donkeys were requisitioned for the rest of the journey; while Tonyled Miss Hazel's mount, he could watch Constance ahead on Fidilini, anofficer marching at each side of her saddle. She appeared to divide herfavours with nice discrimination; it was not her fault if the two werejealous of one another. Tony could draw from that obvious fact whatconsolation there was in it.
The ruined fortress, their destination, was now exactly above theirheads. The last ascent boldly skirted the shoulder of the mountain, andthen doubled upward in a series of serpentine coils. Below them thewhole of Lake Garda was spread like a map. Mr. Wilder and the Englishman,having paused at the edge of the declivity, were endeavouring to tracethe boundary line of Austria, and they called upon the officers for help.The two relinquished their post at Constance's side, while the donkeyskept on past them up the hill. The winding path was both stony and steep,and, from a donkey's standpoint, thoroughly objectionable. Fidilini waswell in the lead, trotting sedately, when suddenly, without the slightestwarning, he chose to revolt. Whether Constance pulled the wrong rein, orwhether, as she affirmed, it was merely his natural badness, in any case,he suddenly veered from the path and took a cross cut down the rockyslope below them. Donkeys are fortunately sure-footed beasts; otherwisethe two would have plunged together down the sheer face of the mountain.As it was it looked ghastly enough to the four men below; they shouted toConstance to stick on, and commenced scrambling up the slope withabsolutely no hope of reaching her.
It was Tony's chance a second time to show his agility--and this time tosome purpose. He was a dozen yards behind and much lower down, which gavehim a start. Leaping forward, he dropped over the precipice, a fall often feet, to a narrow ledge below. Running toward them at an angle, hesucceeded in cutting off their flight. Before the frightened donkey couldswerve, Tony had seized him--by the tail--and had braced himself againsta boulder. It was not a dignified rescue, but at least it was effective;Fidilini came to a halt. Constance, not expecting the sudden jolt,toppled over sidewise, and Tony, being equally unprepared to receive her,the two went down together rolling over and over on the grassy slope.
'My dear, are you hurt?'
Mr. Wilder, quite pale with anxiety, came scrambling to her side.Constance sat up and laughed hysterically, while she examined a bleedingelbow.
'N--no, not dangerously--but I think perhaps Tony is.'
Tony however was at least able to run, as he was again on his feet andafter the donkey. Captain Coroloni and her father helped Constance to herfeet while Lieutenant di Ferara recovered a side-comb and the white sunhat. They all climbed down together to the path below, none the worse forthe averted tragedy. Tony rejoined them somewhat short of breath, butleading a humbled Fidilini. Constance, beyond a brief glance, saidnothing; but her father, to the poor man's intense embarrassment, shookhim warmly by the hand with the repeated assurance that his braveryshould not go unrewarded.
They completed their journey on foot; Tony following behind, quiteconscious that, if he had played the part of hero, he had done it with alamentable lack of grace.