WITH BIXIO.
Just as the ship carrying Garibaldi and his followers weighed anchor,
Frank rode out from Palermo. The road was the best in the island, and he
arrived late that evening at Polizzi, a distance of some forty miles
from Palermo. On the following day he halted at Traina; here he found a
detachment of Bixio's brigade, which was commanded by Rubini, who
welcomed him most cordially.
"Who would have thought of seeing you, Percival! Surely the general is
not coming this way?"
"He started yesterday to join Medici, and give battle to Bosco, who has
some seven thousand picked troops at Milazzo. He has sent me here with
an order for Bixio."
"It is enough to make one tear one's hair," Rubini said, "to think that
we are out of it."
"Well, we have done our share, Rubini, and although I was disappointed
at first, I admit that it is only fair that the men who have done no
fighting should have a turn. We have lost about a third of our number,
and most of us have been wounded. Medici's corps have never fired a shot
yet, nor have those of Cosenz; we shall have our share again when we
cross to Calabria. Now, what are you doing here?"
"We are scattered about in small detachments, giving a sharp lesson,
whenever we get the chance, to the revolutionists."
"But who are the revolutionists?"
"They are agents of the revolutionary committee--that is, of Mazzini and
his fanatics--and it seems that several parties of them were landed on
the east coast to get up a row on their own account; and just as Farina
has been trying to induce the country to throw over Garibaldi, and
declare for Victor Emmanuel, of whom the people know nothing, and for
whom they care less, these agents have been trying to get them to
declare for a republic, and they have certainly had more success than
Farina had. There is nothing tangible in the idea of a king, while, when
the poor fools are told that a republic means that the land and property
of the rich are to be handed over to the poor, the programme has its
attractions. At any rate, it has its attractions for the brigands, of
whom, at the best of times, there are always a number in the forests on
the slopes of Etna; and I have no doubt that money was freely
distributed among them to inflame their zeal. Several houses of
well-to-do citizens and country proprietors had been looted, and
something like a reign of terror had begun, before Bixio's brigade
marched to restore order.
"You see there are a great many more of these bands in the forests than
usual. After the rising in the winter was suppressed, very many of those
who took part in it dared not return to their homes, and so fled to the
hills; the better class of these men came in as soon as our capture of
Palermo made it safe for them to do so. A company of them has been
formed, and is now with Bixio, and I believe that others have enlisted
with Medici; still there are a good many of the lower class who joined
in the rising, still among the hills. In a rebellion like this the
insurgents would be divided into two classes--the one true patriots, the
other men who join in the hope of plunder, the discontented riffraff of
the towns. A life in the mountains offers great attractions to these: in
the first place they don't have to work for a living, and in the next
there is always the chance of carrying off some rich proprietor and
getting a large ransom for him. These therefore go to swell the ranks of
the men who have for years set the authorities of the island at
defiance, and have terrorised all the people dwelling on the plains at
the foot of Etna.
"Just at present all these men call themselves republicans, and had it
not been for Bixio's arrival they would have established a perfect reign
of terror. We here have shot a good many, and I believe Bixio has also
given them some sharp lessons; at any rate, our presence here has
effectually stopped the game of the revolutionists in the towns and
villages on the plain, but it will be a long time indeed before
brigandage can be suppressed, and of course there is no intention of
attempting such a business now; that will be a work that must be
undertaken by government, when Italy has achieved her freedom, and feels
in a position to turn her attention to putting down these bands which
have for years past--I may almost say for centuries--been a disgrace to
our land. We are here solely to put a stop to the revolutionary
movement, just as Garibaldi put a stop to the royal movement by sending
Farina out of the island."
"And where is Bixio?"
"He has been sweeping through the small towns and villages round the
foot of the mountains, and will this afternoon, I believe, arrive at
Bronte, which has been the headquarters of this revolutionary business.
I expect he will put his foot heavily on the men who have been foremost
in stirring the people up there. Bixio is just the man for this work. He
knows that one sharp lesson impresses the minds of people like these
Sicilians, and has far more effect than lenient measures or verbal
reproofs. They have to be taught that it is not for them to meddle in
affairs of state. All these matters must be left to their
representatives in parliament and the government of the country. The
petty authorities of these little towns come to regard themselves as
important personages, and indulge themselves in prating on public
affairs, instead of minding their own business, which, in this case, is
to do their best to give protection to the people in their districts
against the incursions of bands of brigands. I suppose you go on
to-morrow?"
"Yes; I shall start at daybreak; it is not many hours' ride."
"I have about a score of mounted men here, Percival. I will send four of
them with you."
"Surely there is no occasion for that," Frank said.
"Well, I don't know: I think there is. There are no large bands, so far
as I know, down in the plain at present; but some of these gangs have
broken up, especially those that came from the mainland, and have not as
yet taken to the mountains. They go about perpetrating crimes at
detached houses or on any traveller they meet. I need not say that at
present their animosity to the red shirts is bitter, and that in revenge
for their comrades who have been shot or hanged, they would certainly
kill any of us on whom they could lay hands; so it would be better for
you to have four men as an escort. They might as well be doing that as
anything else, for just at present there is nothing going on about
here, and it is as dull as it would be in a small garrison town in
Northern Italy. How long do you suppose it will be before we join
Garibaldi at Messina?"
"Not for some little time, I think. If he and Medici defeat Bosco at
Milazzo, as I suppose they will, he will at once go on to Messina; but
his message to Bixio was that it must take some time to make the
preparations for crossing to the mainland, and that until he sends word
to the general to join him, he is to continue his work of stamping out
this movement in restoring order, in reorganising the municipal
authorities, and in placing the administration of the towns and villages
in the hands of well-affected men, so that there can be no chance of
Mazzini's party causing any serious disturbances again, after he has
left."
"I see you still wear your arm in a sling?"
"Yes; Mantoni told me that it would not be safe to take it out of the
splints for another month, but he had every hope that when I did so I
should be able to use it, though I must not put too much strain on it.
Of course it is a nuisance, but I have every reason to be thankful, for
I was afraid for a time that I was going to lose it altogether."
"It was a grand thing, the defence of that house, Percival."
"It was a grand thing that that shell struck the stairs just when it
did, for another minute would have seen the end of the defence and of
our lives. As it was, that explosion saved four of us, for the wounded
men we carried off are all convalescent,--and also the lives of five
women and eight children, for, exasperated as the Neapolitans were, they
would assuredly have shown no more mercy there than they did in the
other houses they entered. I have been well rewarded, for Garibaldi has
made me captain."
Sarto and Maffio returned at this moment, and the three heartily
congratulated Frank on his promotion. They had been away with a small
detachment to a village three miles distant, in search of a man who had
been one of the most prominent in stirring up the peasantry, but he had
left before they got there. They spent a pleasant evening together, and
in the morning Frank started with the four mounted men and rode to
Bronte. Just as he approached the town he heard several volleys of
musketry, and on inquiry found that thirty men who had been captured on
the march or caught in hiding in the town had been shot. All were
strangers--either revolutionary agents or brigands. On inquiring for the
general, he found that he had just gone to the town hall, where he had
ordered the municipal authorities and the principal citizens to meet
him. Putting up his horse, he went there first. Bixio had just begun to
speak.
"If I had done my duty," he said, "you as well as the men who have been
stirring up riot and revolution would be lying dead outside the town. It
is scandalous that you, men who have been elected by your fellows for
the maintenance of order and good government in this town and district,
should allow yourselves to be terrified into obedience by a handful of
agitators, instead of calling out all the men capable of bearing arms
and suppressing the sedition at once. You have failed miserably in your
duty. The man who came as your deliverer is now, in the hour of battle,
weakened by being compelled to send part of his army to suppress the
disorder at which you have connived. You private citizens are scarcely
less to blame: when you saw that these men were allowing brigandage and
robbery to go on unchecked and making speeches subversive of order
instead of doing their duty, you should have taken the matter into your
own hands, expelled them from the offices they disgraced, and appointed
worthier men as your representatives."
He spoke to an officer standing by him, who went out and returned with
twenty soldiers who had been drawn up outside the hall. Bixio remained
silent during his absence, and now said: "Captain Silvio, you will
arrest the syndic and these municipal councillors, and march them off to
prison. They may think themselves fortunate that I do not order them to
be shot for conniving at sedition, and permitting these brigands to
carry on their work of crime with impunity."
The soldiers surrounded the men pointed out, and marched away with them.
"Now, sirs," Bixio then went on to the private citizens, "you will at
once placard the town with notices that the most worthy and loyal man in
the town, whoever he may be, is nominated by me as syndic, and that
twelve others, all of them loyal and true men, are appointed municipal
councillors. I leave it to you to make the choice, but mind that it be a
good one. Of course I wish men of standing and influence to be
appointed, but the one absolute qualification is that they shall be men
who have shown themselves opposed to the conduct of those who will pass
the next six months in prison; who can be trusted to maintain law and
order with a strong hand, to punish malefactors, and to carry out all
orders they may receive from General Garibaldi, Dictator of the Island
of Sicily. Let me have the names of the men you have chosen in the
course of an hour. I shall have inquiries made as to the character and
reputation of each before confirming their appointment. I have nothing
more to say."
The men retired, looking greatly crestfallen; and Bixio, turning round,
saw for the first time Frank, who had quietly taken up his place behind
him. The young fellow had been a great favourite of his ever since he
saw him on the occasion of his first visit to Garibaldi.
"Ah, Percival, I am glad to see you, and that you should be here is a
proof that your arm is getting stronger. I suppose you are here on
duty?"
"Yes, sir; knowing that rumours of various kinds might reach you, the
general has sent me to tell you that he has started with a portion of
Cosenz's men to reinforce Medici, and to attack Bosco at Milazzo. He
considers that he will have sufficient force for the purpose, but if
not, he will, in a couple of days after he arrives there, be joined by
the rest of Cosenz's command, who are proceeding by land. After beating
Bosco, he will go on to Messina. It will take him a considerable time to
make all the preparations needful for the expedition to the mainland,
and he wishes you to continue your work here, to put down all disorder,
and to organise and establish strong and loyal municipal and district
councils in this part of the island, so that when he advances, he need
have no cause for any anxiety whatever for the state of affairs here. He
will send you ample notice when all is in readiness for the invasion of
Calabria."
"I should like to be at Milazzo," Bixio said, "but as that is now
impossible I should prefer remaining here until Garibaldi is ready to
start, to hanging about Messina for weeks: that sort of thing is very
bad for young troops. Here they get plenty of marching, and a certain
amount of drill every day, and in another month or six weeks even the
latest recruits, who arrived before we left Palermo, will be fit to take
part in a battle by the side of our veterans. Are you to stay with me,
or to go on to Messina?"
"I had no explicit order, sir, but from what the general said, I
gathered that he thought it better for me to stay, at any rate for the
present, with you. The doctor said that I must keep my arm in a sling
for some time to come, and although I did not ride here at any great
speed, I feel some sharp twinges in it, and think I should wait a few
days before I mount again. After that I shall be happy to carry out any
orders, or perform any duty, with which you may think fit to intrust
me."
"Quite right, Percival. You will, of course, be attached to my staff
while you are with me, and I will set you to easy work when I consider
you fit to undertake it. Now that I have put things in train here, I
shall make it my headquarters for a time, but shall be sending parties
to the hills. I know that the villages there are all terrorised by the
brigands, and although it is hopeless to try to stamp these fellows out,
I may strike a few blows at them. The worst of it is, that half the
peasantry are in alliance with them, and the other half know that it is
as much as their lives are worth to give any information as to the
brigands' movements, so that to a large extent I shall have to trust to
luck. When you are able to ride again, I will send you off with one of
these parties, for I am sure that the air of the slopes of Etna will do
an immense deal towards setting you up again, while the heat in the
plains is very trying, especially to those who are not in robust health,
and are unaccustomed to a climate like this."
"It is hot," Frank said. "I started my journeys very early in the
morning, and stopped for five or six hours in the middle of the day; but
I think that, even in that way, the heat has taken a good deal more out
of me than the fatigue of riding."
"I have no doubt that is so; and I should recommend you, for the next
week, to rise at daybreak, lie down, or at any rate keep within doors,
between ten or eleven and five in the afternoon, and then take gentle
exercise again, and enjoy yourself until eleven or twelve o'clock at
night. Even the natives of the island keep indoors as far as possible
during the heat of the day, at this time of year, and if they find it
necessary, it is still more so for you. I suppose you came through
Traina last night?"
"Yes, sir; and was very glad to find Rubini and my other two friends
there."
The next week passed pleasantly. Bixio himself was often away, making
flying visits to the towns and villages where he had left detachments;
but as there were several of the officers of the force at Bronte, who
had crossed in the same ship with him from Genoa, and by whose side he
had fought at Calatafimi and Palermo, Frank had very pleasant society.
Indeed, as the majority of the force were men of good family and
education, there was, when off duty, little distinction of rank, and
with the tie of good comradeship, and of dangers and fatigues borne in
common, there was none of the stiffness and exclusiveness that
necessarily prevail in regular armies. All of the original thousand knew
Frank well, had heard how largely the expedition was indebted for its
success to the aid his mother had sent, and how he had distinguished
himself in the fighting, and they welcomed him everywhere with the
utmost cordiality.
Early in the morning he always went for a walk, and was usually
accompanied by one or two of his acquaintances who happened to be off
duty. After taking a meal, he generally spent the evening sitting in the
open air in front of the principal _café_, eating ices, drinking coffee,
and chatting with the officers who gathered there. At the end of a week
he no longer felt even passing pains in his arm, and reported to Bixio
that he was ready for work again.
"Not hard work," the general said; "but I can give you employment that
will suit you. I am calling in Rubini's detachment from Traina, where
things are settling down, and shall send fifty men under his command to
the village of Latinano. It is some three thousand feet above the sea,
and you will find it much more cool and pleasant there than it is here.
Other villages, on about the same line, will also be occupied. The
brigands have found that it is no longer safe to come down into the
plains, and I am going to push them as far up the slopes as I can:
possibly we may then be able to obtain some information from the
peasants below that line as to the principal haunts of these fellows in
the mountains. At present these villages that I am going to occupy are
all used by the brigands, whom the people regard as good customers; and
though they ill-treat and murder without mercy any they suspect of being
hostile to them, it is of course to their interest to keep well with the
majority, and to pay for what they want. Terror will do a good deal
towards keeping men's mouths shut; but anything like the general
ill-treatment of the population would soon drive somebody to betray
them.
"Of course, hitherto the brigands have had little fear of treachery. The
commanders of the Bourbon troops had no disposition to enter upon
toilsome expeditions, which offered small prospect of success, merely
to avenge the wrongs of the peasants; but now matters have changed. We
are not only willing, but eager, to suppress these bands; and, seeing
that we are in earnest, some of the peasantry may pluck up heart enough
to endeavour to get rid of those who at present hold them at their
mercy.
"However, I own I have no very great hopes that it will be so. There
exists, and has existed for many years, an association called the Mafia,
which extends over the whole island. It comprises men of all classes,
from the highest to the lowest, and exercises a terrible power. No one,
save the leaders, know who are its members, and therefore each distrusts
his neighbour. A murder is committed. Every one may be perfectly well
aware who is its author, and yet no one dare say a word. If by some
chance the carabinieri, knowing the assassin had a standing feud with
the victim, lay hands upon him, the organisation sets to work. The judge
himself may be a member; if not, he speedily receives an intimation that
his own life will be forfeited if the murderer is condemned. But it is
seldom that this is necessary. The jailors are bribed or terrorised, and
when the time comes for him to be brought to trial, it is found that he
has mysteriously escaped; and, in the few cases where a man is brought
into court, no witnesses dare appear against him, and he is certain to
be acquitted. It is a scandalous state of things, and one which, we may
hope, will be changed when Italy is free, and able to attend to its
domestic affairs. But at present the organisation is all-powerful, so
that you see it is not only the vengeance of the brigands, but the power
of the Mafia, which seals men's mouths, and enables criminals to carry
on their proceedings with but little fear of the arm of the law."
"I am much obliged to you for sending me up with Rubini," Frank said;
"and I shall greatly enjoy the mountain air, but I hardly see that I can
be of much service there."
"Not much, perhaps; but it will fit you to do duty when we land in
Calabria. Rubini's corps is, like the rest, composed partly of men who
have seen service before, with a few of the thousand; but with them are
a large proportion of fresh arrivals, as brave, no doubt, as the others,
but without their experience. He will at times make excursions if he can
obtain news of a party of brigands being in the neighbourhood, in which
case he will naturally take the men he can most rely upon; and I shall
request him when he is away to intrust the command of those left in the
village to you, who are one of the thousand. You are a captain, as I
heard with much pleasure in a letter from Garibaldi, and on the
general's staff; and as you showed how stoutly you could defend a house
against an overwhelming force, you could certainly hold a village with
fifteen or twenty men against any number of brigands who might try to
take advantage of the absence of a portion of the force to attack those
that remained there. However, it is not likely that anything of the sort
will take place: the brigands are not fond of fighting unless there is
ample booty to be obtained, though they might endeavour to avenge the
losses they have sustained by a sudden attack, if they thought they
could take you wholly unawares. Rubini will arrive here with his corps
to-morrow afternoon, and will start the next day with half his
detachment; the other half will go to Malfi, a village ten miles from
Latinano."
"You are looking better," Rubini said, as Frank met him, when the
company piled arms in the principal square in the town. "You said you
were all right when I saw you the other day, but you were not looking
so."
"No; I was feeling the ride, and my arm was hurting me a bit. However,
ten days' rest has set me all right again, and I am quite equal to
moderate work. Do you know what you are going to do?"
"No, I have only orders to march in here to-day."
"Well, I can tell you. Several detachments, of fifty men each, are going
up to the villages some three thousand feet up the slopes of Etna. Your
company is to be divided into two. You with half of them are to go to
Latinano, and the other half to Malfi, a place ten miles from it. Your
lieutenant, Pasco, will take the other wing to Malfi. I am going with
you."
"Well, in that case I shall not mind it, though it will not be lively
there unless we have a brush with the brigands. It will at any rate be a
great deal cooler than Traina, which was an oven for six hours every
day. Are you going as second in command?"
"To a certain extent, yes. Bixio said that, as I should be no good for
fighting at present, I was to take command of the village when you were
away brigand-hunting. He said that naturally you would take your best
men for that work, and leave some of those who have had as yet no
experience in fighting to take care of the village."
"Well, they could not be left in better hands than yours," Rubini said
heartily. "I shall be very glad to have you with me."
At daybreak the next morning Rubini's little column got into motion.
Frank was the only mounted officer, and he took his place by the side of
Bixio, who marched at the head of the column. The rise was steady, and
though occasionally they came to steeper places, there was no pause,
with the exception of a couple of halts for a few minutes, and they
reached Latinano at eleven o'clock, having been nearly seven hours on
the way. There was no demonstration of welcome when they arrived, nor
did they expect it. Doubtless such of the villagers as felt glad to see
them march in would be afraid to show it openly, as they would assuredly
suffer, were they to do so, when the troop marched away again. Rubini at
once quartered his men in twos and threes among the houses. He himself,
with Frank as his lieutenant, accepted the invitation of the priest,
whose house was the best in the village, to stay there.
"It is not like the Palazzo at Palermo, Percival," Rubini laughed; "but
you can scarcely expect that on Mount Etna; at any rate, it is a vast
improvement on our camping ground on the plains."
The priest set before them what provisions he had in the house, and
assured them that he would provide better for them in the future.
Rubini, however, knowing how poor were the priests of these mountain
villages, told him that, although they thankfully accepted his
hospitality on that occasion, they would in the future cater for
themselves.
"We have," he said, "two waggons following us; they will be up by the
evening. We have no idea of imposing ourselves, or our men, upon the
inhabitants of this village, who assuredly could hardly fill fifty
additional mouths. We have brought with us flour, wine, and other
necessaries, and no doubt we shall be able to purchase sheep and goats
from your people, who, by the way, did not appear to be very much
pleased at our arrival."
"You must not blame them, signor. In the first place, they are poor; and
once, when a detachment of Bourbon troops came up here, they devoured
everything, and paid for nothing: happily they only stayed for a week,
or the village would have been ruined. After the tales that have been
spread of the lawlessness of Garibaldi's troops, they must have feared
that even worse than what before happened was about to befall them."
"They do nothing but tell lies of us," Rubini said angrily. "Never since
we landed at Marsala have we taken a mouthful of food without paying for
it, unless it has been spontaneously offered to us, as it was when we
were fighting at Palermo."
"I have no doubt that what you say is true, signor; but the poor people
have been taught to believe otherwise, so they are hardly to blame if
they did not evince any lively joy at your arrival. Moreover, they do
not know how long you are going to stay here, and are well aware that
any who show satisfaction at your coming, or who afford you any aid or
hospitality beyond that which they dare not refuse, will be reported to
the brigands, who will take a terrible revenge after you have left the
village."
"I can understand that their position is not a comfortable one," Rubini
said; "but the people of these districts have largely brought it upon
themselves. I do not say that they are in a position to resist large
parties of brigands, but their sympathy seems to be everywhere with
these scoundrels; they afford them every information in their power,
screen them in every way, give false information to the carabinieri, and
hinder the course of justice. People who act thus must not be surprised
if they are regarded as allies of these bands, and they must put up with
the inconvenience of having troops quartered upon them, and may think
themselves fortunate that the consequences are no worse. At present we
are not here to act against the brigands alone, as that work must be
postponed until other matters are settled, and the government has time
to turn its attention to rooting out a state of things that is
disgraceful to the country. We are here now as the agents of General
Garibaldi, Dictator of Sicily, to suppress--not crime--but the
stirring-up of insurrection and revolt against the existing government
of the island."
"I heartily wish that it could be rooted out," the priest said. "I can
assure you that we, whose work lies in these mountain villages, feel the
evil consequences to the full as much as those who work in the towns and
villages lying round the foot of the mountains. It is not that our
people suffer so greatly in pocket--for the most part they are too poor
to be robbed; the few that are better off pay a yearly contribution, and
as long as they do so are left in peace, while the better class down in
the plains are liable at any time to be seized and compelled to pay
perhaps their all to save their lives. The harm is rather to their souls
than to their bodies; as you say, their sympathies are wholly with the
brigands, they come to regard them as heroes, and to think lightly of
the terrible crimes they commit upon others; and not infrequently some
young man more enterprising than the rest, or one who has perhaps
stabbed a rival in love or has been drawn for service in the army, takes
to the hills and joins them, and for so doing he incurs no reprobation
whatever. It is a sad state of things, and I trust that when your
general has settled all other matters in the island he will employ his
whole force in a campaign against the brigands. It is not a work to be
taken up by small parties; the evil has grown to such dimensions that
nothing short of an army would root it out, and indeed it could only
then be accomplished by months of patient work, so extensive are the
forests, so great the facility for concealment."
"It will fall to other hands than Garibaldi's, father. His mission is to
deliver Sicily and the mainland from the Bourbon rule, and then to hand
them over to Victor Emmanuel, who, a free king over a free nation, will
be able to remove all these abuses that have flourished under the
Bourbons. As for us, we are soldiers without pay, fighting for love of
our country. When we have done our work and freed it from its
oppressors, we shall return to our homes, and leave it to the king, his
parliament, and the regular army to put down such abuses as this
brigandage. I suppose, father, it would hardly be fair to ask you if
there are many of these fellows in the neighbourhood?"
The priest smiled. "I do not mind telling you that there was a band of
some fifty of them within five miles of this place yesterday. This
morning it was known that several detachments of troops would march from
Bronte at daybreak, and that their destination was the mountains. I have
no doubt whatever that the news was carried to the band half an hour
later; and by this time they are probably twenty miles away up in the
forests, but in which direction I have no idea, nor do I know what their
plans are. It may be that so long as these villages are held they will
move round to the other side of Etna. It may be that several of the
bands will unite and attack one or other of your parties, not for what
they think they would get, but as a lesson that it would be better to
leave them alone. I should say that, except by pure accident, you are
not likely to catch sight of a brigand--unless, indeed, one comes down
here as a shepherd from the hills, to make some small purchases, and to
gather news."
"I think that is likely to be the result of our journey," Rubini
laughed; "but, nevertheless, our being here will have served its
purpose. So long as we and the other detachments are up here, the
brigands will not care to venture into the plain; nor will the agents of
the revolution who are with them. If they do, they are not likely to get
safely back again. I may tell you that signals have been arranged by
which smoke from the hill-tops near Bronte will give us information that
some of these bands have passed down the mountain, the direction in
which they have gone, and that in which they are retiring; and I fancy
they will hardly regain the mountains without being intercepted by one
or other of our parties. It is true that we shall not remain here very
long; but by the time we go, there will be a very different system
established throughout the island; and they will find in future that
they can no longer get friends and abettors among the local authorities,
but will have to meet an active resistance, that plunder cannot be
obtained without fighting, and that even when obtained it will not be
carried off to the hills without a hot pursuit being maintained."
"I shall be glad indeed if it is so," the priest said. "If the people of
the towns and villages will but combine, and are actively supported by
small bodies of troops in all the towns, it will deal a far heavier blow
to brigandage than can be effected by sending flying expeditions into
the mountains."