(_AN ADVANCE SHEET FROM MR. PUNCH'S PROPHETIC HISTORY OF EUROPE._)
["Italy is bound to maintain abroad the appearance of a great
and rich country, while at home she ought to conduct herself
as if in straitened circumstances."--_Daily Paper_.]
The Italian Army had been completely victorious. There was but one
drawback to the entire satisfaction of the Commander-in-Chief--one
of his favourite Generals was under arrest, and was being tried by
court-martial. The accused had refused the assistance of Counsel, and
had insisted upon pleading "Guilty."
"But," urged the Commander-in-Chief, "you surely have some excuse.
To sack a private house belonging to your own countryman was
unpardonable. It was an aimless piece of Vandalism! For your own
reputation--for the sake of your ancestors--on behalf of your
descendants--some explanation should be afforded."
"Surely this is no time for levity," murmured a Warrior-Journalist,
who was suspected of combining with the duties of a hero the labours
of a Special Correspondent for a Roman journal.
"Do I look like a jester?" asked the Prisoner; and then he added, "My
brave companions, it is for the honour of our country--to conceal her
poverty from the sneers of foreigners--that I carry with me the secret
of my action to the family vault. Press me no further--see, I am ready
for the firing-party!"
There was nothing further to be said, and the little procession made
its way to the Barrack Square. The Prisoner shook hands warmly with
his Judges, and with the weeping soldiery who were to act as
his executioners. "I will give the words of command myself.
Ready--present--"
"Stop!"
An aged man had approached the group. He was out of breath with
running. The firing-party paused, and lowered their rifles.
"Do not listen to him!" shouted the Accused. "And if he will not
desist, shoot him too--shoot us both."
"You exceed your duties, Sirrah," said the Commander-in-Chief, with
some severity--for discipline was strict in the Italian Army. "It is
for me to command, not you!" The Prisoner lowered his head at the just
reproof, and then his superior officer continued, "Why do you ask us
to desist?"
"Because the Prisoner is innocent. He acted from the best of motives.
I was the proprietor of the shop he sacked, and I (for, after all, I
am a patriot) demand his pardon!"
"You!" exclaimed the Commander-in-Chief. "Surely you ought to be the
last to urge such a plea. We do not know what your shop contained, but
presume that the contents was your property."
"You are right in the presumption," acquiesced the aged man; "but
these documents will show that he was right, from a military point of
view, to sack my shop."
The Commander-in-Chief hastily glanced at the papers, and with a
thrill of pleasure, ordered his favourite General to be released.
"This mystery must never be revealed," he murmured. And it never
would, had not the hero-journalist printed the story. Thus it was that
the tale became international property. Now it is known all the
world over that the General sacked a shop to obtain the arms and
accoutrements of the Italian Army. But it is still (comparatively)
a secret that the proprietor of the establishment carried on on the
premises the business of a pawnbroker!
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