CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
A NIGHT ATTACK UPON THE CHATEAU.
For the next two days, matters went on at the chateau much as usual.Old Maria was as sedulously attentive as ever, her sole occupation beingapparently the preparation of tempting and strengthening dishes for myconsumption, and the concoction of tonic herbal medicines which sheadministered with relentless severity.
The weather continued gloriously fine, enabling me to be in the open airthe greater portion of each day; and although the count was absent, hisbeautiful daughter more than supplied his place, as far at least as Iwas concerned; so that, what with judicious nursing and nourishment,plenty of easy exercise in the delicious bracing mountain air, and thedelightful society of Francesca Paoli, I was rapidly gaining both inhealth and spirits.
On the second evening after my conversation with Count Lorenzorespecting the man whom he called Matteo Bartolozzi, Francesca and Iwere slowly returning to the house, after a somewhat longer walk thanusual, when we were startled by the sound of a horse approaching at arapid gallop behind us. Turning round, we saw that it was the count.
He reined up when alongside of us, and, gaily saluting us, dismounted,and walked the rest of the distance to the house with us. When wereached the broad terrace in front of the chateau, he handed over hisstill panting horse to one of the servants, and, placing an arm in mine,dismissed his daughter, saying he had an important communication to maketo me.
The moment that Francesca was fairly out of ear-shot he turned to me andsaid,--
"I received about an hour ago an intimation that a party of Frenchsoldiers are on their way here, for the purpose of arresting me, onsuspicion of conspiring with the insurgents against the Frenchgovernment, and I was also informed that authority had been given to theofficer in command to take me by force, should I refuse to surrendermyself and accompany them quietly. I at once set out to return here,galloping all the way, and on reaching the cross roads about six milesfrom here, I saw approaching along the Ajaccio road a detachment ofinfantry, which I have not the least doubt is the party referred to. Ihave quite made up my mind not to surrender; it would be simply throwingaway my life to do so with the existing state of feeling of the Frenchtowards us Corsicans. I should doubtless be subjected to the ceremonyof a trial, but it would be quite a mock affair; my doom is probablyalready fixed. I shall therefore defend the chateau as long as itswalls will hold together, and I do not quite despair of doing sosuccessfully, although my garrison will be but a weak one--I do notsuppose I can muster more than twenty people all told, and they by nomeans reliable if it comes to a downright hand-to-hand tussle. Thequestion is, what are we to do with you? Should we fail, and you againfall into the hands of the French, your fate is sealed, they willassuredly hang you as a spy on the nearest tree."
"May I venture to ask, count, what are your intentions with regard toyour daughter?" said I.
He turned deadly pale for an instant, then the blood rushed furiously tohis head, his face crimsoned, his eyes sparkled vindictively, and theveins of his forehead stood out like knotted cords as he hoarselyejaculated,--
"The man who lays a hand upon her must pass over my dead body; and letme tell you, Signor Inglese, I shall not die easily; much French bloodwill flow before I fall."
"Unless an unlucky bullet happens to strike you fairly in the forehead,early in the fight," I suggested.
"And do you imagine that I shall be imbecile enough to expose myself inso reckless a fashion as to render that probable?" he returned. "No!If I fight, it will be for life, not for glory, therefore I shall takeevery reasonable precaution to protect my life."
"Still," I persisted, "in the excitement of a fight prudence issometimes forgotten for a brief space. Would it not be advisable totake any measures that may be possible to secure a retreat, should suchunhappily become necessary?"
The count made no reply for a full minute, during which we continued topace the terrace in the deepening twilight. Then he turned to me andsaid,--
"I wonder whether you will understand me if I say, that, as far as _I_am concerned, retreat is quite impossible. If I once come intocollision with the French, I must either conquer or die; there is, forme, no middle course."
"Then that settles the question, as far you are concerned," I replied."Is it imperative that your daughter should also die, in the event ofour sustaining a defeat?"
"She must either die or fall into the hands of the French," replied thecount sternly; "and with the fate of poor Bell' Demonio fresh in ourmemories, neither she nor I would for an instant hesitate as to whichalternative to accept. I would send her away to seek shelter with somefriend, but her presence, if discovered, would only compromise thatfriend irretrievably, as well as prove fatal to herself. Besides, tospeak the truth, there is so much treachery existing among us that Idare not run the risk. If your ship were only within reach, I think Idare trust Francesca on board her; she would at least be safe from theFrench, and I have no doubt your captain would afford her temporaryprotection, until other arrangements could be made."
"That he would, I am certain," I replied eagerly, "I can certainlyventure to promise so much in his behalf. Unfortunately, however, the`Juno' is now at the north end of the island, and the only safe means--or rather the _least dangerous_ means of reaching her seems to me to beby water. I have come to the conclusion that that is the way by which Ishall have to go, and if you felt you could confide Miss Francesca to myprotection, I should be only too happy to have the opportunity to--to--"
"Make love to her on the way, eh?" interrupted the count, with a smile."Nay, never blush and look confused, my boy. Do you think that, becauseI have not seen much of you for the last few days, I am altogetherblind? I know, just as well as you do, that you two children fancyyourselves in love with each other; and were you a few years older Imight have somewhat to say in the matter; as it is, you are both tooyoung for me to take any serious notice of it. However, that is not nowthe question. Do you really think you could safely convey my daughterto the north end of the island, and place her, not on board your ship,but in the care of her aunt, my brother's wife? You are a seaman, Iknow, and are doubtless skilled in your profession; but how would youproceed? It would be perfect madness to attempt engaging a vessel toconvey you along the coast, the reward for delivering you both over tothe French authorities would be an irresistible temptation to thefishermen or coasters."
"I should not dream of running so serious a risk," I replied. "My planis very simple. I should make for Ajaccio, timing myself to reach theplace about two or three o'clock in the morning, seize the mostpromising-looking boat I could find, and make sail in her. The onlydifficulty would be with my wounded arm, which is at present quiteuseless, but I dare say--"
"If that is your only difficulty," again interrupted the count, "it maybe easily overcome. I would send one of my people with you, a man whomI can implicitly trust, and who has moreover had some experience onboard the small craft which trade along the coast."
"Not Matteo, I hope?" said I.
"No, not Matteo," replied the count. "You are prejudiced against him,and would probably refuse to take him. The man I am thinking of iscalled Giaccomo--he is one of the under-gardeners."
"I should like to see the man," said I; "but in the meantime had we notbetter make what preparations we can to defend the chateau, as well asto secure a retreat, should such be necessary?"
"By all means," said the count. "Let us first go to the stables, andarrange the means for your escape, should it be necessary, and then wewill go round the chateau together, and see what can be done in thematter of defending it."
We turned away and walked round to the stables, in which stood ten finehorses. These, the count ordered to be removed at once to a place whichhe called the Elfin Grotto, giving instructions that the three whichwere considered to be the fleetest were to be saddled and bridled readyfor instant use, Francesca's saddle being required for one of them. Healso hunted out Giaccomo--who looked a
smart honest fellow enough--andordered him to go with the horses to the grotto, holding himself inreadiness for a lengthened journey at a moment's notice, and that he wasto understand he was under my immediate orders, to do whatever I mightrequire of him.
We then retired to the interior of the chateau, to examine into itscapabilities of defence, and, as much to get her out of the way as forany other reason, Francesca was directed to prepare a small package ofclothing, such as would serve her for a week or so, her father informingher that it might be necessary for her to leave the chateau for a shorttime, and that in such an event I had undertaken to escort her to aplace of safety.
This done, we made a careful examination of each floor of the building,beginning with the lowest or ground floor. The chateau was built in theItalian style of architecture, and consisted of two wings and a loftycentral tower. The windows of the lower floor reached from near theceiling right down to the ground, and gave access, by means of a row ofthree steps, directly to the rooms from the broad terrace along thefront. These windows were protected by strong solid shutters of oakwhich were arranged to be fastened on the inside with three heavy ironbars, one at the top, one half-way down, and one at the bottom. Thedoor was a very solid and substantial affair of oak thickly studded withnails, and was so well provided with massive bolts that I felt confidentof its power to resist anything except artillery. This completed thedefences of the lower floor, so far as the front was concerned. Theback we had very little fear about; a high and solid stone wallsurmounted by a formidable _chevaux-de-frise_ extending for about thirtyyards from each wing, and then stretching back far enough to enclose thestables and other offices, as well as a spacious kitchen-garden. Thewindows of the next two floors were quite unprotected; and the counttherefore gave immediate orders to have all the available beds,mattresses, cushions, etcetera, piled up along the lower portion of eachwindow, just high enough to protect a person when kneeling on the floor.The grand staircase, which was the only one accessible from the frontentrance, was also strongly barricaded in three or four places, a sortof breastwork being constructed on the first landing, behind which thedefenders might shelter themselves from the fire of an attacking partybelow. This done, nothing remained but to collect the arms andammunition, muster the attendants, and await the development of events.
We had not very long to wait. Evening had closed down upon us anddeepened into night during the progress of our preparations, and thecount and I were watching from one of the windows the exquisitelybeautiful spectacle afforded by a clear moonrise, when we observed somemoving objects among the deep shadows cast by the trees of the distantavenue, and, once or twice, the cold gleam of steel where the mellowrays of the moon penetrated through the overarching branches. Presentlya small group of figures emerged from the shadows of the trees andapproached along the central drive which led up to the broad expanse offlower-beds beyond the terrace. As they came nearer, we perceived thatthey consisted of an officer in the uniform of one of the Frenchregiments of foot, a couple of files of men, and a bugler.
"Come," said the count to me, as soon as we had clearly made out thecharacter of our visitors, "let us go down and see what this gentlemanhas to say."
We made our way down the staircase--passing through openings which hadbeen purposely left in the barricades, but which could be effectuallyclosed in less than a minute--and accompanied by half-a-dozen of themost resolute and trusty of the count's people, armed with musket anddagger, emerged through the great door upon the terrace, the stepsleading to which the Frenchmen were just ascending. They were allowedto fairly reach the terrace, a distance of some thirty yards or so thenintervening between us and them, when the count stepped forward, and,raising his hand, cried in French, in an authoritative voice,--
"Halt! I allow no body of armed men to approach my chateau any nearerthan the spot where you now stand, without my first receiving anexplanation of the reason for their presence. The officer in commandmay, however, come forward and state his business; but I warn you that,if the rest attempt to approach, my men will at once fire upon you."
The Frenchmen halted, and the officer, after apparently giving his mensome brief instructions in a low tone of voice, advanced towards us,raising his shako as he joined us, and saying,--
"Have I the honour to address Count Lorenzo di Paoli?"
"I am the individual whom you name," replied the count. "To whatcircumstance am I indebted for the honour of this somewhat extraordinaryvisit?"
"I am instructed by General Lefevre, the officer in command of theforces now stationed at Ajaccio, to request your immediate attendancebefore him in reference to a matter closely affecting your own honour,"replied the Frenchman.
"As I have not the advantage of General Lefevre's acquaintance, andcannot conceive what interest he can possibly have in any matterrelating to my honour, you may go back to him, sir, and tell him Ipositively decline to accede to his request, which--to say the least ofit--is a very singular one to make to a Corsican noble."
"I regret to say that the general, anticipating the possibility of yourrefusal, has ordered me, in such a case, to arrest you. It is adisagreeable necessity, which I would much rather have avoided; but youleave me no alternative. Count Lorenzo di Paoli, I arrest you in thename of the National Assembly, on a charge of conspiracy," answered theFrenchman, stepping forward and attempting to lay his hand on thecount's shoulder.
"Stand back, sir!" cried Count Lorenzo, stepping back a pace andlevelling a pistol at the officer's head. "I am fully acquainted withyour general's designs against me; and I decline to walk into the trapwhich he has set for me. I repudiate and defy his authority, which Iwill resist to the death; and you may go back and tell him so."
"Ha! say you so?" exclaimed the Frenchman. "Rash man, you will soonfeel the power of the authority which you have so arrogantly defied, forI may inform you that I have at hand a party strong enough to _compel_your submission; and my orders are, not to return to Ajaccio withoutyou."
"Then go, sir, and bring up your party," retorted the count scornfully;"and we will endeavour to give you such a reception as shall teach yourgeneral to beware how he attempts to molest a Corsican noble for thefuture."
The French officer bowed, raised his shako, and somewhat hastilyretired, withdrawing his men from the terrace directly he joined them;and we stood watching them down the drive, until, having reached a pointabout midway between the terrace and the avenue, and well out of musket-shot, the little party halted; a bugle-call was sounded; and we saw alarge body of men deploy into line beneath the trees and advance alongthe drive at the double.
We then retreated to the interior of the chateau, carefully locking andbarring the great door behind us; and, closing the barriers on the grandstaircase as we ascended, made the best of our way to the principalfloor, from whence we had decided to conduct the defence in the firstinstance.
Our dispositions for the defence of the chateau were simple in theextreme. We had only the front of the house to defend, the sides andrear being protected by the high wall before referred to; we thereforedivided our little garrison into two parties, one to each wing of thebuilding; the count heading one party, and confiding the direction ofthe other to me. As our plans were complete, the count and I separatedon reaching the gallery at the head of the staircase, he going to thatpart of the building which he had undertaken to defend; and I making thebest of my way to my own command.
On entering the saloon where my party was stationed, I at once went tothe nearest window to reconnoitre. The moon was by this time ridinghigh in the unclouded ether, flooding the scene with the soft effulgenceof her silvery beams, and rendering every object which was not obscuredby the black shadows of the trees as distinct as though it had beendaylight. Her brilliant disc was invisible from the front windows ofthe chateau, she having by this time passed somewhat to the rear of thebuilding; and this of course gave us a very decided advantage, inasmuchas it rendered it difficult for the attacking party to distinguish
us atthe windows, while they were exposed in the full radiance of thebrilliant moonlight.
When I reached the window, the main body of the French had just joinedthe smaller party, and had been halted. They presented a formidablearray, numbering, in my estimation, quite a hundred, all armed withmusket and bayonet; and I thought I detected among them a small party ofgrenadiers. Three or four individuals, apparently officers, werestanding a little distance apart from the rest, and appeared to beconsulting together. They remained thus for about five minutes, whentheir bugler sounded a parley; and one of the officers, separatinghimself from the rest, advanced alone towards the chateau, displaying awhite handkerchief attached to his sword-point. On seeing this, CountLorenzo threw open the window immediately over the door, and stepped outupon the balcony, also exhibiting a white handkerchief. The officercontinued to approach until he was within easy speaking distance, whenhe halted, and exclaimed,--
"Once more, Count Lorenzo di Paoli, I call upon you to surrenderyourself. Resistance, as you must see, from the force under my command,will be quite useless, and can only result in a needless effusion ofblood, which I assure you will be visited with the severest retribution.Not on you alone, but also on all those who may be taken in arms withyou, will this retribution descend; for your own sake, therefore, andfor the sake of the misguided men who are being tempted by your rashnessto their _own_ destruction, I ask you again, and for the last time, toyield without further resistance."
"I have but one answer to make to your appeal, sir," replied the count,"and it is this. I positively refuse to place myself in the power ofthose who have again and again proved themselves completely devoid ofthe principles of honour and justice. And I here and now throw off myallegiance to a country the government of which is in the hands ofregicides and wholesale murderers, and declare myself to be in activesympathy with the Corsican patriots."
"Enough, sir, and more than enough," haughtily returned the Frenchman."On your head must rest the responsibility for whatever bloodshed maynow ensue."
And turning on his heel, he disdainfully snatched the handkerchief fromhis sword-point and strode resentfully away. He had, during this briefcolloquy, been covered by the muskets of the entire party under mycommand; and at its conclusion, though I promptly interfered, I wasbarely in time to prevent a volley being fired upon him. I learnedafterwards that the count, knowing the temper and feeling of his people,had, before going out on the balcony, given the most positive orders tothose under his command that, whatever the issue of the interview mightbe, the officer was to be allowed to retire unmolested.
The attack commenced immediately upon the French officer rejoining hiscommand, the entire force advancing at a rapid double, in order to placethemselves as speedily as possible under the cover afforded by the steepslope which divided the flower-garden from the broad terrace in front ofthe chateau. The rush was made, and the cover gained in less than acouple of minutes; but our coolest and steadiest marksmen had alreadybeen stationed at the windows, with orders to select an individual markand to make every shot tell; the result was that, almost immediatelyupon the troops getting in motion, an irregular fire broke out upon themfrom the chateau; and short as was the time occupied in making theirrush, they left some ten or eleven of their number prostrate behindthem.
The Frenchmen by no means intended letting us have things all our ownway, however, for directly they were safe under the shelter of the slopethey crept up it, and, shielding themselves as well as they could behindthe massive stone balustrades bounding the terrace, opened upon us agalling and continuous fire. This fire grew hotter and hotter, untilthe rattle of musketry all along the front of the terrace becamecontinuous; the bullets pattering in showers through every window, and,in spite of our hastily arranged bulwarks, wounding more or lessseverely many of our people; while the terrace itself was obscured by athick curtain of fleecy smoke.
This had lasted for perhaps five minutes, when from my loophole ofobservation I descried dimly in the midst of the smoky canopy, somehalf-a-dozen indistinct forms hurriedly crossing the terrace toward thegreat entrance door of the chateau. I immediately directed theattention of my party to these men, ordering them to concentrate thewhole of their fire upon them, and stop their advance, if possible, atall hazards. We were just in time. An almost simultaneous volley rangout, just as the men were getting so near the walls that they could notbe aimed at without complete exposure on the part of the marksmen, andevery one of them fell. A few seconds afterwards a series of sharpexplosions took place, which told us that these men had been the bearersof grenades or petards with which to blow open the door. But oursuccess had not been obtained without its price; for three of our menwere shot dead, and one more so seriously wounded that he had to retirefrom the combat, in consequence of the way in which our men had beenobliged to expose themselves, in order to cover the grenadiers withtheir muskets.
Meanwhile, the curtain of smoke which veiled the terrace was everymoment growing more dense, and in a few minutes from the fall of thegrenadiers it had become so thick that it was quite impossible to seewhat was going on outside at a distance of more than twenty feet fromthe windows. The fire was maintained as furiously as ever, but thebullets no longer flew so thickly about our ears; a clear indicationthat our antagonists were as much blinded as we were, and were aimingpretty much at random; as it was of the utmost importance to economiseour ammunition as much as possible, I therefore directed my party tocease firing for a time, until the smoke should have cleared away alittle, or, at all events, only to fire when they could descry an objectat which to aim. I then went across to the other wing, to suggest tothe count the adoption of a similar plan, and had just reached his sidewhen a violent explosion occurred below us, accompanied by a sound ofsplitting and rending of timber, and a heavy crash.
"To the landing! to the landing, every man of you!" shouted the count."They have blown down the door, and nothing can now prevent theirentering the house. But keep cool and steady, my men, and we may yetsuccessfully defend the staircase. Ah! I was just about to seek you!"he exclaimed, as his eye fell upon me. "You must fly at once; do notdelay another instant, I beg of you. You will find Francesca in themusic saloon, she will be your guide to the grotto; and as soon as youhave reached it, mount and ride for your lives. Take care of her,Ralph, as you would that your own sister should be cared for; and mayGod be your shield and defence in every danger! Now go; there is notime for further parley; but you know all that I would have you do, andyou know where to seek for the friends with whom I wish you to placeFrancesca. God bless you, my dear boy, and farewell until we meetagain; I have already said farewell to my daughter."
He wrung my hand convulsively, and releasing it, fairly pushed me awayfrom him along the corridor which led to the music saloon.
As I hurried away a loud shout arose from the hall below, accompanied bya sound as of axes and bars crashing into the barricade at the foot ofthe staircase; then a rattling volley of musketry rang out from thegallery, followed by loud shrieks and agonised groans, fierce oaths, andyells of defiance; an answering volley from below, followed by moreshrieks and one or two heavy falls; and as I rapidly increased mydistance from the scene of action the varied sounds merged into a fierceand whirling din, such as might have arisen had Pandemonium opened itsadamantine gates, and poured out upon the hapless chateau a legion ofdestroying fiends. On entering the saloon I found Francesca on herknees, ready equipped for a journey, and with a small gold crucifix inher hands, which she had removed from her neck. As I entered theapartment she rose to her feet, and, hastily replacing the jewel, cameup to me, and, placing her hands in mine, exclaimed with quiveringlips,--
"Oh! Ralph dearest, what is the meaning of all this dreadful strife,and why have they attacked the chateau?"
"I will tell you as soon as we are out of the reach of immediatedanger," I replied; "at present we have no time for anything but action,so, if you are ready, we will proceed at once."
"I am quit
e ready," she answered; "but I feel very undecided what to do.My father told me to prepare for a journey, and to be ready to leavethe chateau with you at any moment, but do you think I should bejustified in doing so, now that he is in such dreadful peril?"
"The peril is by no means as great as you appear to think," said I, "andyour compliance with your father's instructions will relieve him of avery serious embarrassment; so let us not linger another moment, Ientreat you."
The suggestion that her presence might possibly prove embarrassing toher father at once decided her, and, placing her hand in mine, she saidsimply, "I am ready; let us go," and moved to the door of the apartment.
We passed down the entire length of the corridor, and presently reachedthe head of a staircase leading to the rear portion of the house, andordinarily used exclusively by the servants. Descending this, wetraversed a short passage at its foot, and finally emerged through adoor into the garden at the rear. A path closely bordered withmulberry-trees led down through the centre of this garden, passing downwhich we eventually reached a rustic building ordinarily used as atool-house. Entering this, Francesca turned to me and said,--
"Now, Ralph, there is a secret door in that back wall, but I have neverbeen through it, so I do not know its exact position. But it is openedby pressing a spring, the head of which is formed like an ordinary nail-head, differing from the others only in that it projects a little morefrom the woodwork than the others. Do you think you can find it?"
I ran my hand over the boarding, and soon encountered what would haveseemed to any one unacquainted with the secret merely an ill-drivennail. Pressing firmly upon this, it yielded; a cleverly-concealed dooropened and revealed a very narrow passage-like space between the woodenpartition and the solid stone boundary-wall of the garden. Enteringthis and turning my back upon the open door, in accordance withFrancesca's directions, and feeling cautiously before me with my feet, Ifound myself standing at the head of a flight of stone steps. These Icautiously descended, Francesca following closely behind me afterclosing the secret door in her rear, and in a _few_ seconds we foundourselves at the foot of the steps, and standing in an arched tunnelapparently about six feet high and as many feet wide. We then movedcautiously but rapidly forward, hand-in-hand, meeting with no difficultyor inconvenience during our passage, excepting such as arose from themephitic atmosphere. This, however, was in itself sufficiently trying,and I was heartily glad when, after the lapse of nearly a quarter of anhour, we suddenly experienced a delicious whiff of cool pure night-air,and immediately afterwards emerged from the confined tunnel-like passageinto a moderately spacious cavern, through the foliage at the mouth ofwhich a broad patch of the luminous star-lighted sky was visible.
"Who goes there?" ejaculated a voice from a mass of deep shadow on oneside of the cave.
I recognised Giaccomo's voice, and at once replied, adding an inquiry asto whether he had detected any signs of the presence of the enemy in theneighbourhood of the cavern.
"None whatever, signor," he replied. "I have seen nothing all the timeI have been here, and have heard nothing except the sound of distantfiring in the direction of the chateau."
"Then let us be off at once," said I. "The sooner we get into the mainroad the less likelihood will there be of our meeting with molestation."
Without more ado Francesca was accordingly assisted by Giaccomo tomount, my wounded arm precluding me from seizing that coveted privilege,after which the Corsican and I sprang into our saddles, and thecavalcade moved forth into the dazzling moonlight, taking our way overthe short springy turf in a direction which enabled us to keep thechateau between us and the French, being cautious at the same time tokeep as much as possible within the shadow of the trees. Aftertravelling in this way for about a couple of miles, the chateau becameentirely concealed from view by the intervening trees (though the soundof brisk firing could still be distinctly heard); I therefore sentGiaccomo to the front as guide, with instructions to shape such a courseas would take us out upon the high road to Ajaccio, and ranged my ownhorse up alongside that of Francesca, who had behaved with admirablecoolness and courage throughout the adventure, but seemed keenlydistressed at the necessity which forced her from her father's side at atime of such peculiar peril to him. This feeling I at once set myselfto combat, making as light as possible of the peril, and stating thatthe attack upon the chateau was merely a wanton outrage on the part ofthe French, inflicted by way of retaliation in consequence of thecount's refusal to obey a discourteous summons from their general atAjaccio. I was successful beyond my utmost hopes, my fair companionderiving from my representations a comfort and reassurance which Iscarcely intended, but which I certainly had not the heart to take awayagain, so that by the time we reached Ajaccio--which we did withoutadventure of any kind--she had grown to regard the whole affair with avery tolerable amount of equanimity.
After striking the high road we performed the remainder of the journeyat a foot-pace, our object being to reach the town by about one o'clockin the morning, by which time Giaccomo assured me the entire inhabitantsof the place would be in bed and fast asleep.
On reaching that point in the road where I had taken leave of Rawlings,the "Juno's" sailing-master, we dismounted, and turning the horses'heads homeward, after adjusting their bridles so that they would not belikely to trail on the ground or entangle their feet, Giaccomoadministered to each of the animals a smart stroke across the flank withhis riding whip, which sent them off at a rattling gallop back along theroad we had come, the man assuring me that they would be certain to keepon steadily until they again found themselves at their stable door atthe chateau. We did this so as to avoid the necessity of attractingattention to ourselves by seeking stabling for them in the town at thatlate hour. When our steeds were fairly out of sight we resumed our way,and walked leisurely into Ajaccio, which we safely reached just aboutthe time we had previously fixed upon as most desirable for our arrival.