The two carabineers who had met Tebaldo in the field had treated him
with the greatest civility, but when he was out of hearing they
discussed the rather singular meeting. The more they thought of it, the
more strange it seemed to them that he should have been riding alone,
without so much as a portmanteau, by way of luggage, towards the Maniace
woods, and at such an hour. It must be remembered that before
Francesco's death, and since Ferdinando's, the authorities had
everywhere been warned against the Corleone family, in the expectation
of some outrage against the Saracinesca or their property; and the
impression was universal that Ippolito had not killed Francesco, while
many who had known the brothers since they had been wild boys at
Camaldoli believed that Tebaldo had done the deed, or that he had caused
it to be done, and had cleverly managed to throw the guilt upon the
priest. The carabineers quartered in the neighbourhood all believed this
and scouted Tebaldo's story of a race. They had no more opinion of the
law's wisdom than the outlaws whom they were continually hunting, for
their experience had shown them how easily the law could be defeated in
a country where the whole population was banded together to defy it.
The troopers discussed the question as they rode down to Randazzo. They
had seen nothing else worth mentioning, on their patrol, and when they
reported themselves to the sergeant at quarters, they told him exactly
what had passed. The sergeant was the one who had at first accompanied
the Saracinesca to Camaldoli. He dismissed the troopers to their supper,
thought the matter over, and went to the inn to find the lieutenant.
The latter was playing dominoes, as usual, with the deputy prefect,
before going home to supper.
He was a grey-haired man of forty, prematurely aged by hard service and
constant anxiety, a tall, spare figure, the perfection of military
neatness in his dress, with a grave manner and a rare but kindly smile.
For the rest, he was brave, honourable, and energetic, and, like the men
under him, he was not much inclined to believe in the law on its own
recommendation. He was as firmly persuaded as they that Tebaldo was a
bad character, and had quietly watched him on the several occasions on
which he had lately appeared at the inn.
He went outside with the sergeant and listened to his story attentively.
'The brigands are in the Maniace woods,' he said at last. 'They left
Noto some days ago. But one might as well try to find pins in a ploughed
field, on a dark night. It would take at least five hundred men to beat
the woods through and surround the fellows.'
'A thousand, sir,' suggested the sergeant, by way of comment. 'It took a
regiment to catch Leone alone, in the old days.'
The lieutenant broke off the end of a black cigar thoughtfully, but
seemed to forget to light it, becoming suddenly absorbed in his own
reflections. The sergeant stood patiently at attention.
'Have we any information this evening?' asked the officer, suddenly, as
though he were looking for something.
'No, sir.'
'Any arrests to-day? Any suspicious characters?'
'No, sir.'
The lieutenant seemed dissatisfied, and looked a long time at his
unlighted, black cigar, in deep thought.
'Very well. Good-night, sergeant.' He nodded and turned away, but looked
round before he had made two steps. 'Have two men ready all night, in
case I should need them,' he added.
'Yes, sir.' The sergeant saluted again, and went back to his quarters.
The officer returned to his game of dominoes. He made one or two moves
and then called the servant.
'Don Tebaldo Pagliuca is staying in the house, is he not?' he enquired.
'Present my compliments and ask if he will not come down and play a
game.'
'The signore is out, Signor Lieutenant,' answered the servant.
'Indeed? I am sorry. I suppose he is strolling in the town. It is cooler
in the streets.'
'I do not know,' the man replied, though he knew very well that Tebaldo
had the innkeeper's horse.
The officer nodded, as though satisfied, and went on with his game. The
deputy prefect looked at him enquiringly, but he vouchsafed no
information. The official representative of the government was a rather
foolish man, very much afraid of the Sicilians and of doing anything to
attract the ill-will of the mafia.
The lieutenant sat over the game later than usual. The windows of the
public room, which was at once the dining-room and the café of the clean
little inn, looked upon the main street and were open, for the air was
hot. It would have been impossible not to hear Tebaldo's horse if he
came back. But he had not come when the officer went home. The latter's
own lodging was also on the main street, towards the upper gate, and
Tebaldo would have to pass it to reach the inn. The lieutenant sat up
very late, but still Tebaldo did not come.
'They have either taken him,' reasoned the officer, 'and in that case he
will not come back at all. Or else he is on good terms with them and is
spending the night with them, and will return in the morning.'
But at seven o'clock in the morning, being about to show himself at his
window, the lieutenant heard the tread of a shod saddle horse in the
street. It was Tebaldo, looking pale and weary, leaning a little forward
and dangling his feet out of the stirrups, as though he had ridden far
and wished to rest himself. He had the unmistakable look of a man who
has worn his clothes twenty-four hours, and the soldier's sharp eyes,
looking after him when he had passed the window, saw little bits of
bramble and leaf clinging to his coat.
The lieutenant shaved himself carefully and thoughtfully and dressed
with his usual scrupulous care. When he had buckled on his heavy cavalry
sabre, he opened a drawer in an old Sicilian cabinet and took out two
little Derringer pistols, examined them to see that they were properly
loaded, and slipped one into each pocket of his trousers. The tight
swallow-tailed tunic of his uniform made it impossible to carry a
revolver concealed. He might be going to risk his life as well as his
reputation on that morning.
When he left his lodging, he went first to the quarters of the
carabineers and gave the sergeant an order. Then he went straight to the
inn, and asked to be shown to Tebaldo Pagliuca's room. An hour had
passed since the latter had come back. The servant looked up in
surprise, for though the officer and Tebaldo were on terms of civility,
the man knew that they were not well acquainted. He had to obey,
however, and led the way up one flight of stairs, and knocked at a door
on the landing.
'Come in,' answered Tebaldo's voice, indifferently, for he supposed it
was the servant.
The officer entered at once, taking off his cap.
'Good morning, Don Tebaldo,' he said courteously, before the other could
speak. 'Pray forgive my intrusion, but could you lend me your revolver
for a few hours? I suppose you have one? My only one is out of order,
and I prefer to carry one for what I have to do. I should be extremely
obliged.'
'Certainly,' answered Tebaldo, rather coldly, but a good deal surprised
by the request.
He crossed the room and took the weapon from a table, with its leathern
case.
'I should be glad if you could return it by two o'clock,' he said, 'as I
am going away.'
'Certainly,' replied the officer, quietly taking the revolver out of its
case. 'It is loaded, I see. Thank you. Now Don Tebaldo, will you kindly
sit down for a few moments? I wish to speak to you.'
He held the revolver in his right hand, and his quiet gray eyes looked
gravely at the man he had caught. Tebaldo started at the sudden change
of tone, and faced him, in renewed surprise.
'I borrowed your revolver in order to speak with you,' said the
lieutenant, 'for I have heard that you have a sudden and violent temper.
But I wish to speak in a quiet and friendly way. Shall we sit down?' He
took a chair with his left hand.
'I am at a loss to understand you,' answered Tebaldo, with rising anger.
'What do you want?'
'I will explain. I am aware that you have spent the night with the
brigands, who are friends of yours. You will either lead me to them, or
you will go to prison. I have a couple of men downstairs, waiting. Now
choose.'
'This is outrageous!' Tebaldo's voice rang high, as he sprang forward.
But the sight of the revolver's muzzle close to his face stopped him,
though his eyes blazed with fury.
'It is of no use to be angry,' said the officer, who was perfectly cool.
'Choose, if you please.'
'It is outrageous! You cannot prove anything against me!'
'You are mistaken,' answered the other, boldly. 'I can prove many
things.'
'What? What can you prove?'
'I do not intend to provide you with the means of defending your case by
telling you what I know. But I give you your choice. I have full power
to do so. Lead me and my men to a place where we can catch Mauro, and I
give you my word of honour that no accusation shall be brought against
you. Refuse to do so, and I give you my word that you will be handcuffed
in five minutes and taken to Messina this afternoon. You know, of
course, that complicity with a band of outlaws entails penal servitude.'
He saw plainly enough that he had not risked his reputation for nothing.
Tebaldo was brave still, though he was unstrung and broken, but his face
now showed the perplexity he could only feel if he were really in the
situation the officer had prepared for him.
'I deny the whole charge,' he said, after a moment's thought. 'This is
an outrage for which you will have to answer. Be good enough to stop
threatening me and leave my room.'
The lieutenant drew a nickel whistle from the bosom of his tunic with
his left hand.
'If I whistle for my troopers,' he said, 'you will be in handcuffs in
five minutes. I will count twenty while you make your choice. One, two,
three--' and he continued to count.
Tebaldo grew pale by quick degrees, as he listened, and his heart beat
violently with excitement. The officer reached twenty in his counting,
and raised the big whistle to his lips.
'Stop!' exclaimed Tebaldo, hardly able to speak.
'Well?' asked the officer, holding the whistle ready near his mouth.
'You give me your word of honour that no accusation whatever shall be
brought against me?'
'None on the ground of complicity with the brigands,' answered the
lieutenant. 'I give you my word as an officer.'
'There is no other to bring.' Tebaldo was white.
'None that concerns me,' replied the other, coolly. 'There is a good
deal of diversity of opinion about your brother's death, as you must
know.'
'This is an insult--'
'Oh no! I do not accuse you at all. I only wish to limit my own promise
to the matter in hand. I have done so, and I understand that you agree,
do you not?'
'By force, for I suppose I must,' replied Tebaldo, in a sullen tone.
'You must further engage to protect me from the mafia, when you have
caught the fellows,' he added.
'You shall have an escort wherever you go and as long as you please to
remain in the country.'
'That will not be long,' said Tebaldo, almost to himself.
'So much the better. And now, if you please, at what time shall we start
this evening?'
Tebaldo inwardly cursed himself for having trusted the Moscio in the
first instance, but he quickly reflected that he might still improve his
position in the eyes of the officer and thereby, perhaps, have less to
fear in the future.
'Look here, lieutenant,' he said, changing his tone and sitting down. 'I
have been forced into this, from first to last. I was riding by myself
yesterday afternoon, in the country I know so well, and I had not the
slightest idea that the outlaws were in the neighbourhood. I met a
couple of your men, who at first took me for one of the brigands myself,
and then recognised me and apologised, telling me that the band was in
the neighbourhood. They rode off, and I took a short cut through the
woods. I came upon the encampment unexpectedly.'
The officer listened attentively and gravely. Tebaldo proceeded.
'In former years, even a year ago, when we lived at Camaldoli before
selling the place, we were obliged, as a matter of personal safety, to
put up with a great deal from these men, and if we had informed against
them, we should have been murdered. That is how it happened that my
brother Ferdinando knew some of them. You know the conditions of the
country as well as I do.'
'I wish I did!' exclaimed the soldier, devoutly.
'You know them well enough, at all events. Poor gentlefolk, as we were
then, cannot always help themselves. Yesterday afternoon I found myself
suddenly surrounded by the whole band. There are fifteen of them. One of
them recognised me, and a long discussion began. They wish to get into
Camaldoli to-night and carry off the Marchese di San Giacinto.'
'Fifteen armed men might do it,' observed the officer. 'There are only
two troopers there at night.'
'Yes. But the brigands do not know the way to the weak point at the
back. I will explain.'
Tebaldo told the whole truth now, for he saw that his best chance of
safety lay in that direction. Then he proceeded to exculpate himself.
'They also gave me my choice, something in your manner,' he went on.
'They offered, by way of alternative, to roast me alive, if I refused to
show them the way to-night, and they assured me of what I knew perfectly
well, namely, that if I did not keep the appointment they could murder
me wherever I might be. This was because I insisted on coming here again
before to-night. It was not easy, but they yielded at last. However, it
was very late by the time we had come to an agreement, and I could not
have got back to Randazzo, for there was no moon, and the woods are dark
and full of pitfalls. I got back this morning, and intended to go down
to Messina and catch the train at Reggio to-night, and take my chance of
safety in Rome. They never could get up to the back of Camaldoli without
me. There you have the whole story in a nutshell.'
'I see,' answered the officer, who only believed half of the plausible
story. 'You were in a most difficult position. But it is now in your
power to do the country a great service. All that is necessary is that
you should lead the band to the foot of the wall, as you promised. I
will take care of the rest. In the woods it is impossible to catch them.
But it is important that we should recognise you, in order not to kill
you by mistake if there is any fighting, as there probably will be,
though I hope to take most of them alive. The wisest thing would be that
you should be the first to mount the ladder, by agreement, on the ground
that you can lead them inside, whereas they might lose their way.'
'Yes--that is best. It is a very complicated place, like a labyrinth,
between the rampart and the court.'
'You will pardon me for reverting to the conditions,' said the
lieutenant, suavely. 'You realise, of course, that in case you should
not wish to carry out your part of them, you are always in the power of
the law, unless you turn outlaw yourself, which, in your position, you
would hardly like to do.'
'I understand my position perfectly,' answered Tebaldo, coldly. 'I shall
lead the band to the foot of the ladder at about one o'clock, I fancy.'
'Thank you,' said the officer. 'I am much obliged for the loan of your
revolver, which I return to you, as you may need it this evening.'
He laid it on the table, bowed civilly, and went out, leaving the
betrayer to his own reflections.